took me while to find how to play a performance. Once you get there it's easy to keep playing pieces, and it's really not THAT hard to find. But putting a big play button when you see the big title would be much quicker and intuitive than first clicking a small tab in the bottom of the screen.
All of Bach
141–150 of 152 posts
Re: All of Bach
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
Even if I had a bunch of CD players around, the idea of swapping between 172 discs doesn't sound great.
Since you only have to change the CD once about every hour, its not as bad as it might seem. ;)
Yes, if you're talking about using Exact Audio Copy to rip to FLAC once.
Otherwise you'll still be left with a whole bunch of fragile and physical plastic discs that can only be played on specific ancient devices...
Re: All of Bach
#143Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would absolutely love subscribing to that list, would you be open to share the Spotify link? Thanks!
Here's what I've got, grouped by broad swaths of BWV numbers: * 1-224 (cantatas): http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/0RkVeCJ3iMVc1My... * 225-524 (various works, mostly vocal, sorta dull in the 300s): http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/2sCCwEMpTXPsOBa... * 525-771 (organ works): http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/1aGTiGWlnSiGNcJ... * 772-994 (mostly keyboard works): http://open.spotify.c…
Thanks a lot. Subscribed to all!
Re: All of Bach
#144And to think, his music was almost forgotten. It wasn't until Mendelssohn almost single handedly revived his music nearly a hundred years after Bach's death. A surprising number of great composers that came after didn't even know of him, yet when they were exposed to his music suddenly started picking up select elements of his style. He was one of the few composers Mozart admired. A stunning triumphant genius who's m…
That's also true about other composers. Some composers we consider cornerstones of classical music today were, for a long time, completely neglected. Hardly anyone today probably realizes that before the 1930s, Antonio Vivaldi was not a household name at all; he was pretty much completely unknown outside the field of musicology.
Vivaldi had been popular in his day as a virtuoso violinist and a composer of operas, until his musical style became too unfashionable for Venice, and he faded into obscurity, and was buried in a pauper's grave. Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians of 1910 devotes a scant page to Vivaldi, and while it praises him as a technical innovator, also criticizes him as a style-over-substance showman ("Vivaldi in fact mistook the facility of an expert performer ... for the creative faculty, which he possessed but in a limited degree") and spends much of the article talking about how much better Bach was.
What's also interesting is that, aside from changing tastes, part of the reason was that a large portion of his works were simply considered lost. In 1926, a trove of manuscripts was discovered in an Italian monastery, and this coincided with a concerted effort of evangelism by a group of musicologists, composers and poets (including, interestingly, Ezra Pound, who coincidentally seems to have adopted Vivaldi and Italian fascism with equal passion) who reintroduced Vivaldi into the public and rehabilitated his reputation.
Of course, to the public — ie., people who are not hard-core music buffs — there are still a large number of composers who are completely unknown. For those who enjoy baroque music, I particularly recommend:
- Van Wassenaer: The six Concerti Armonici. A Dutch diplomat who dabbled in music on the side, but published his works pseudonymously; after his death his works were for a long time assumed to be by Pergolesi. The concerti are beautiful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8lzbFkrlUs
- Biber: The Mystery Sonatas, aka the Rosary Sonatas. For someone used to the jollier, frothier side of baroque music, these will seem fantastically bare and stark. One of the monumental masterpieces of the baroque era. I specifically recommend the performance by John Holloway et al: http://open.spotify.com/album/0BJib6o3KcAxlPqwoydZNO. YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU4Xa_sFXak
- Marais: Tombeau de Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe. Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/album/5oKSW9dTwR7vTK1WEsMJLt. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nlq69pmADo
- Pergolesi: Stabat Mater. One of my favourite sacred works. Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/album/0WUzijy3MNKxp9OiOdSfhB. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mrVZHPikqM
- Couperin: Leçon de ténèbres (Lessons of darkness). In my opinion one of the finest vocal works of the baroque era. Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/album/3OfFUiLQ6BtEm7XatiFm72
Re: All of Bach
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
Bach's friend Telemann is also relatively unknown today. He was extremely productive and there are lots of great pieces, I especially love some of his trumpet works. They are played on the radio occasionally.
Thanks for bringing up Telemann. I wouldn't say he's unknown today, but definitely not in the "pop" composer category the way Bach is. His music is definitely in the repertoire of most serious violinists while studying late Baroque. Here's one I studied for a while when I was studying the instrument many years ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OQ0jPy8FrQ and another I never had the chance to study but enjoy https…
Telemann produced such an enormous number of works. I'm still discovering new pieces. Thanks for the links!
I think my absolute favourite Telemann work is the 12 fantasies for solo violin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=UO... (Spotify link: http://open.spotify.com/album/0XlgfMIccHwIVouK0G0lOF).
Two other favourites: The trumpet concerto in D (TWV 51:D7; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKUyeMe-_j4) and the oboe concerto in E minor (TWV 51:e1; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i39yf0OHXG8).
Re: All of Bach
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is absolutely correct, but for choral music Janet Cardiff's 40 Part Motet might actually come close. http://www.cardiffmiller.com/artworks/inst/motet.html
Better than close. When in real life would you get to hear a choir of that caliber, and just walk into the middle of them singing?
Yes, I suppose that's usually frowned upon during the performance. :)
Re: All of Bach
#147Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are CD ripping services around. In the UK they charge around ~60p/CD (gets cheaper at ~500 CDs). Some will rip lossless, which is what I was after for the 800 or so CDs I stupidly ripped at 192Kbps over the years.
I've found myself in a similar position. I even ripped some CDs at 128kbps, back in the day when my computer had a 4GB HDD. I really need to go back and redo them all, but the amount of effort required is really demotivating. How do such services work? You take all your CDs to them? I imagine postage costs would be astronomical otherwise!
Most will collect. Some will let you drop your collection off. Some[1] will ask you to load your CDs into their spindles. I think all of them want your CDs out of their jewel cases. Note that I've only looked at services in or around London.
[1] http://www.russandrews.com/product-CD-Ripping-Service-4300.h...
Re: All of Bach
#148Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would absolutely love subscribing to that list, would you be open to share the Spotify link? Thanks!
Here's what I've got, grouped by broad swaths of BWV numbers: * 1-224 (cantatas): http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/0RkVeCJ3iMVc1My... * 225-524 (various works, mostly vocal, sorta dull in the 300s): http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/2sCCwEMpTXPsOBa... * 525-771 (organ works): http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/1aGTiGWlnSiGNcJ... * 772-994 (mostly keyboard works): http://open.spotify.c…
Thanks so much for sharing these. I subscribed and have been listening since Friday.
I noticed yesterday that some of my favorites are no longer there. Have some pieces been removed since Friday?
Some of the pieces from AllOfBach.com were there, as well as the concertos "after vivaldi". Can't find them now. Thanks so much!
Re: All of Bach
#149I'm not into classical music, except from the very famous composers and everything Tchaikovsky has ever written (my sister took ballet classes since I can remember myself). That said, what's exactly the reason Bach's work made everyone here so excited? Can't we find these compositions on YouTube? ps. I'm listening as I write. Bach sounds really cheerful :-) Awesome music.
Paul Graham's essays discuss how the most exciting work in many media was done by the generation that invented them. For example, the most interesting paintings were done centuries ago, when oil paint was new. Bach is like that. When he was writing, the piano was a new invention, and a system of musical scales had been found that allowed you to change key mid piece, without retuning your instrument. Those things are…
von Bulow said something along the lines of Bach being the old testament of piano music and Beethoven being the new testament. Bach for the first stage of development and Beethoven for the end of the development stage.
Maybe an answer to OP could be Beethoven is a reaction to, or maybe, completion of, Bach's work. Or Beethoven is a bit more playful and experimental than Bach in general?
Or TLDR is physical development of the instrument didn't end with Bach it ended with Beethoven. So its kinda hard to talk about one without talking about the other.
Re: All of Bach
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
Here's what I've got, grouped by broad swaths of BWV numbers: * 1-224 (cantatas): http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/0RkVeCJ3iMVc1My... * 225-524 (various works, mostly vocal, sorta dull in the 300s): http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/2sCCwEMpTXPsOBa... * 525-771 (organ works): http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/1aGTiGWlnSiGNcJ... * 772-994 (mostly keyboard works): http://open.spotify.c…
Thanks so much for sharing these. I subscribed and have been listening since Friday. I noticed yesterday that some of my favorites are no longer there. Have some pieces been removed since Friday? Some of the pieces from AllOfBach.com were there, as well as the concertos "after vivaldi". Can't find them now. Thanks so much!
I do shuffle around pieces because I'm trying to pick the version I like the best. I don't think I'm removing that much overall, but this is a work in progress.
I also decided to fact-check myself after posting the links, so I deleted some things that multiple sources say are spurious (not by J. S. Bach at all). If all of those happened to be your favorites, it might be that there's another Baroque composer you like better than Bach that you should look for!