Posted on 03/21/2005 7:24:25 AM PST by Pyro7480
Shameful disregard! But then, Mozart, for all his genius and contributions to art and civilization, was buried as a pauper in a mass grave and his grave is lost. I often wondered why SOMEONE who loved his work couldn't at least have sprung for a funeral! So my sympathies on the disregard shown J.S. Amazing how short sighted people can be. Sometimes it takes stepping away a few hundred years to really see the sun shine!
Happy Birthday Johann!
I have enjoyed many hours of listening to your compositions and hope to enjoy many more!
Incidentally, the popular belief that Bach's music was not appreciated in his own lifetime has been challenged by recent scholarship. My brother (a graduate student in violin at Juilliard) recently read a biography of Bach (I forget the author) that he said completely demolished this myth. Bach's music was underappreciated during the period between his death in 1750 and the Mendelssohn revival. But his genius--as a composer, not only as an organist--apparently was widely recognized when he was alive.
If you get a chance, try to hear Murray Perahia's recording.
Oh, my, this could be a good debate. But lest anyone resort to fisticuffs, I might offer the following.
The top tier - so far above all the others it is incredible - are Bach, Mozart and Beethoven.
I think how you rank those three if you want to get into nuances is almost a subjective opinion. Sort of a preference for what you value as a great composer.
Hashing this out is good and fun, but, I would suggest, that absolute reconciliation is not going to happen because the big 3 are all wildly great in their own ways...an objective ranking which should be universally agreed upon is impossible.
That said, I would reiterate that objectively, you must have the big 3 at the top. Then you have a pretty big jump down to number 4....as for me, I think I will focus on the big 3 for the rest of my life. That is a lifetime's work, really.
Alas, J.S. Bach had a lot of run-ins with his patrons in eastern Germany, and as a result he didn't get the type of continent-wide acclaim late in his life and just after his passing that should have been his. In the latter half of the 18th Century, composers that had far better relations with their patrons got wide public acclaim, and Joseph Haydn definitely belonged in this category. In fact, at the time of the American Revolution the well-off people in the Colonies who could afford to have musicians entertain them frequently played Haydn's music.
Just for the record, I put Bach at the top, followed by WA and then Ludgig Van. In my book, the guy who composed to the Glory of God and who fathered 20 kids (most of whom died) is simply one of the greatest men who ever lived.
His cantata productin in Leipzig is one of the most unbeleivable explosions of creativity in a short time period inthe history of art in the west. I think the author comparing it to Shakespeare doesn't quite do it justice....
I also don't agree when the author describes the music as "forward looking stoicism". For me, I hear joy...pure joy. I guess the fugues sort of sound like forward looking stoicism, but the rest of it is pure joy. Mozart is more like...play. Beethoven, good heavens, what can one say?
I'm going to enjoy his glorious music all day!
Uh-oh. Me thought it was his 319th.
Need another candle for the cake!
I think it may be Brandenburg #4 that has an amazing "blue note" in it, which I find virtually astounding.
I wish you all a happy remembrance of JSB's life, and his glowing human example. How fortunate we are that so much of his work survives for us.
He contacted Bruce Willis, Harrison Ford, Nicholas Cage, and Arnold Schwarzeneggar to see if they would be interested in the project. After he explained his vision to them, he asked them if they would be interested, and if so, which classical musician they would like to play.
Bruce Willis said "I've always liked Chopin and think I could do a decent portrayal of him."
Nicholas Cage said "I'd love to play Beethoven because of the remarkable adversity he overcame to be such an accomplished composer."
Harrison Ford said "I think I could play Handel. His works, like "The Messiah", have made a lasting impression on music and history. I'd like to play him."
Spielberg turned to Arnold and asked, "Well Arnold, who would you like to play?"
Arnold replied "I'll be Bach!"
BOOO, Vast!
We had several Bach pieces played at our wedding - he's my husband's favorite composer. DH was raised Lutheran, and grew up hearing lots of Bach played on his church's magnificent old organ. Unfortunately, this church has lately become enamored with "contemporary praise" music and now has a drum set in the sanctuary! Every week, Bach competes for attention with electric guitars. It is very sad :(
LOL
Thanks for the recommendation--I will look for it.
Why do they always let the Marxists write these tributes? What is so profoundly wonderful about Bach's music is melody, something he was just plain better at inventing than any other composer before or since.
I don't know if the author is a Marxist, but he is a host on the classical music station whose website I took the article from.
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