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J.S. Bach the Rebel: The subversive practice of a canonical composer

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31–40 of 85 posts

Re: J.S. Bach the Rebel: The subversive practice of a canonical composer

#31
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bach boring? No arguing about taste I guess. As for the organ not being very versatile compared to a piano: think of an organ not as a piano, but as a very early version of a synthesizer without 'touch sensitivity'.

Could one describe a famous mathematician's output (as a whole) as boring and put this opinion down to taste?

You can describe output as boring, but you can't argue about correctness. Music does not have definibility of the latter.

Re: J.S. Bach the Rebel: The subversive practice of a canonical composer

#32
post #16

Maybe he was a dissident, but his music is still boring to me. Or maybe his predecessors were just so boring that he was the first step away? I usually don't understand from his music why he is celebrated. Is it that he is just historically important? Like the discovery of logarithmic tuning of sqrt_12(2)? It could also be that I am just moved more by the romantic era. Mozart generally gets relegated lower in my list…

Downvoting opinions just because you disagree is specifically discouraged in the HN guidelines.

Re: J.S. Bach the Rebel: The subversive practice of a canonical composer

#33
post #16

Maybe he was a dissident, but his music is still boring to me. Or maybe his predecessors were just so boring that he was the first step away? I usually don't understand from his music why he is celebrated. Is it that he is just historically important? Like the discovery of logarithmic tuning of sqrt_12(2)? It could also be that I am just moved more by the romantic era. Mozart generally gets relegated lower in my list…

Bach boring? No arguing about taste I guess. As for the organ not being very versatile compared to a piano: think of an organ not as a piano, but as a very early version of a synthesizer without 'touch sensitivity'.

Yes, exactly. So Bach was limited by his era and this is my suspicion about why I am not that interested in his music.

Re: J.S. Bach the Rebel: The subversive practice of a canonical composer

#34
post #20
post #16

Maybe he was a dissident, but his music is still boring to me. Or maybe his predecessors were just so boring that he was the first step away? I usually don't understand from his music why he is celebrated. Is it that he is just historically important? Like the discovery of logarithmic tuning of sqrt_12(2)? It could also be that I am just moved more by the romantic era. Mozart generally gets relegated lower in my list…

I think it has little to do with the music and everything to do with the interpretations and the instruments. I realized that when hearing non-traditional versions used by Andrey Trakovsky in his films, e.g.: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=p3SUEWCddsQ

Interpretation is an important point. My music teacher discouraged interpretation of Mozart. I in turn refrained from discussing much about composition with the teacher and instead did that independently. She wasn't a bad teacher, but I don't think she liked me.

Re: J.S. Bach the Rebel: The subversive practice of a canonical composer

#35
post #16

Maybe he was a dissident, but his music is still boring to me. Or maybe his predecessors were just so boring that he was the first step away? I usually don't understand from his music why he is celebrated. Is it that he is just historically important? Like the discovery of logarithmic tuning of sqrt_12(2)? It could also be that I am just moved more by the romantic era. Mozart generally gets relegated lower in my list…

Agree with you. Mendelssohn and Dvorak are my favorites, though Bach’s cello suites are pretty good.

Re: J.S. Bach the Rebel: The subversive practice of a canonical composer

#36
post #32
post #16

Maybe he was a dissident, but his music is still boring to me. Or maybe his predecessors were just so boring that he was the first step away? I usually don't understand from his music why he is celebrated. Is it that he is just historically important? Like the discovery of logarithmic tuning of sqrt_12(2)? It could also be that I am just moved more by the romantic era. Mozart generally gets relegated lower in my list…

Downvoting opinions just because you disagree is specifically discouraged in the HN guidelines.

HN guidelines are an absolute joke. "Anything that would satisfy intellectual curiosity" basically means "whatever we decide it is at the moment".

Re: J.S. Bach the Rebel: The subversive practice of a canonical composer

#37

> take, for example, the B minor fugue in Book I of The Well-Tempered Clavier, whose theme employs all twelve notes of the chromatic sequence, defying traditional notions of what constituted a beautiful melody. Chromaticism doesn't defy traditional notions of melody. For example, Purcell's got all kinds of chromatic noodles in his melodies and people love to sing them. What's melodically defiant is how disjunct that…

For comparison the B minor fugue in Book I which I think is rather good. Not quite so sure about the Nancarrow.

https://youtu.be/pSaMSsMukx8?t=318

Re: J.S. Bach the Rebel: The subversive practice of a canonical composer

#38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Netherlands Bach Society has done an incredible job capturing his pieces, using stunning camerawork and high quality recordings. It’s such a pleasure. https://youtu.be/74suFWTO8P0 Also frankly the harpsichord is a much better instrument for WTC Books 1&2, especially with the added focus on video. Something about it just speaks to the soul.

> Also frankly the harpsichord is a much better instrument for WTC Books 1&2, especially with the added focus on video. Maybe. Personally, I love listening to the harpischord but for limited periods of time whereas I can listen to piano all day long.

You kind of miss the variation in volume. I think Bach used harpischords partly for technical reasons - the piano hadn't been invented - and preferred the clavichord but that was too quiet for performing to many people.

Re: J.S. Bach the Rebel: The subversive practice of a canonical composer

#39
post #31
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could one describe a famous mathematician's output (as a whole) as boring and put this opinion down to taste?

You can describe output as boring, but you can't argue about correctness. Music does not have definibility of the latter.

[deleted]

Re: J.S. Bach the Rebel: The subversive practice of a canonical composer

#40
post #26
post #3

Bach was the first rock star https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ho9rZjlsyYY Don't miss the chance to listen to this in a church.

Bad example, because Bach's authorship of this piece is questionable

Weeeell. It's questionable in the sense that "Shakespeare"'s authorship of his plays is questionable. But just as no one has come up with a fully convincing alternative to William Shakespeare of Stratford, no one has come up with a fully convincing alternative to JSB writing 565. It has stylistic quirks, yes - but should that be surprising for "J.S. Bach the Rebel"?
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