[mr. nice]

just listening to some of them again and MY GOD! is all that really comes to my mind. i love getting lost in his fugues!

simply divine! after listening to Bach everything else sounds repetitive and boring including Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart etc.....

 

[TheMadPianist]

hi,

yes Bach is essentially music, but you can't compare his music with the past masters like beethoven, chopin or mozart. its like saying whats a better car? a mercedes or a bmw?

if you like bach, listen to his violin's sonatas or partitas, his complete 48 preludes and fugues, the english or french suites and if thats not enough, try the goldberg (which happens to be one of my favorite pieces)

if you like organ music, my favorite is the albonini g minor for strings and organ (one of the most saddest pieces ever written)

cheers

HL

 

[mr. nice]

im in no way comparing because there is no comparison of his music to the rest.

i do make my bread and butter writing post modern classical music and some jazz, come from a family of musicians a couple of which were and are professional performers so ive heard most if not all of the repertoire you mentioned and lots of modern and past "classical" music.

all i know is this....when i speak to musicians and even when i was at the mannes college of music all were very critical of all composers except one. yes even beethoven, chopin, and let's not get started on mozart.

it's the highest form of the art form we call music and it is logical (each note is there for a reasons) which can't be said about anybody else. something else which is fascinating is how modern and interesting it still is in 2008. actually i can't think of anything more modern than some of the fugues in his WTC. you even have parts in his Mass in Bminor where he escapes from tonality completely (aTonal) and we think of him as the father and organizer of tonality.

im not saying his music is better than...... cuz it's not, there is no comparing. it's the greatest art every created. i remember reading theory book after theory book and learning lots of harmony. then i remember playing all of his chorales at the piano and learning more in two chorales then all of the theory books ever written. what he does is baffling and will always be to the modern day musician. parallel 2nds?!?!?!?!? and it all makes sense and sounds like God himself is singing to you.

ok i might be getting a little carried away, but like i said all that comes after his music seems empty.

 

[mbhaub]

I am not a huge Bach devotee. However, the Well Tempered Clavier, the Preludes and Fugues, and the Musical Offering are mind blowing. Maybe it does take some musical training to fully appreciate them. But Bach makes it sound so easy and natural. It's the fugues especially that are so awe inspiring. Untrained listeners just don't realize what goes into them, and how miraculous they are. And to me, Bach doesn't sound old, like his contemporaries. Bach's music sound so very modern in many ways -- at least when played by someone like Glenn Gould. I can't remember who said it, but Bach's music is like God thinking. Very apt.

 

[IceClass]

Hmmm...thanks for reminding me about Keith Jarrett's versions of some of Bach's work.

Time to go rummage through the CD crates.

 

[mr. nice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbhaub /img/forum/go_quote.gif I am not a huge Bach devotee. However, the Well Tempered Clavier, the Preludes and Fugues, and the Musical Offering are mind blowing. Maybe it does take some musical training to fully appreciate them. But Bach makes it sound so easy and natural. It's the fugues especially that are so awe inspiring. Untrained listeners just don't realize what goes into them, and how miraculous they are. And to me, Bach doesn't sound old, like his contemporaries. Bach's music sound so very modern in many ways -- at least when played by someone like Glenn Gould. I can't remember who said it, but Bach's music is like God thinking. Very apt.

very well said. i agree 100%

 

[Tyson]

Ah, finally someone who feels the same way about bach as I do. I don't believe in god, but bach's music is almost enough to convince me that one does exist.

 

[mr. nice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyson /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ah, finally someone who feels the same way about bach as I do. I don't believe in god, but bach's music is almost enough to convince me that one does exist.

EXACTLY!

 

[reprise]

Oh everyone's better than Mozart

 

[mr. nice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by reprise /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh everyone's better than Mozart

not true at all, but we're talking about Il Padrino here! actually Mozart himself stated that he finally had something to learn from when he looked at Bach's music.

 

[reprise]

Ok ok, DJ Rowdy Riggz isn't better than Mozart, let's say maybe it's a tie, but what Mozart didn't quite comprehend you could learn from any bum on the street -- genuine emotion! But he's just a showoff. Oh! I like the Requiem though.

 

[Assorted]

Quote:

Originally Posted by reprise /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh everyone's better than Mozart

I have enough confidence to say that Mozart's style has more musical value than 90% of the content on a pop rock station, and maybe 99% of the country genre. Just in my opinion.

While we're at it, let's name the exact organ piece your really like, from Bach

I hate to be "generic", but the famous Fantasie and Fuge in g-moll, and the Toccata and Fuge Dorisch BWV 538 are my favorite pieces, after the great Passacaglia. Performed by Karl Richter on a non-period organ.

 

[mr. nice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by reprise /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ok ok, DJ Rowdy Riggz isn't better than Mozart, let's say maybe it's a tie, but what Mozart didn't quite comprehend you could learn from any bum on the street -- genuine emotion! But he's just a showoff. Oh! I like the Requiem though.

not sure what you are getting at here? do you like his music? some of it? just the requiem?

his music is more important and inspirational than 100% of the stuff you mention above. showoff? genuine emotion? what do you mean by this?

im really loving the following right now, but this changes daily:

Prelude and Fugue in E flat major ("St. Anne"), BWV 552
Tocatta & Fugue in D min (Dorian) BWV 538

played by Wolfgang Rübsam