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Today is the 320th Birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach
WGMS - Washington, DC's Classical 103.5 ^ | March 2005 | James Bartel

Posted on 03/21/2005 7:24:25 AM PST by Pyro7480

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To: Billthedrill

"... but the lion of his day was somebody named Wagner for reasons that honestly escape me unless they were other than musical, which they probably were."

That's my man!


61 posted on 03/21/2005 12:37:23 PM PST by Gotterdammerung
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To: Zivasmate

Sounds good to me! It might be THE business in a few years! (That and tattoo removal!)


62 posted on 03/21/2005 12:45:08 PM PST by Polyxene (For where God built a church, there the Devil would also build a chapel - Martin Luther)
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To: Zivasmate

What the sub-moronic punks with their blasting "music" are attempting to do is shut out the silence in their minds.


63 posted on 03/21/2005 2:45:15 PM PST by Argh
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To: Pyro7480

Bach's da man!


64 posted on 03/21/2005 3:10:23 PM PST by Diva
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To: Pyro7480
I was listening to Musical Offering on my iTunes as I stumbled upon this thread. The non-orchestral music of Bach is an acquired taste but well worth the effort to appreciate. No matter how many times I listen to a particular Bach work, I discover something new each time. It is the gift that keeps on giving!
65 posted on 03/26/2005 8:42:46 AM PST by SamAdams76 (Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out Of Hand?)
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To: ConservativeDude
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.

Well said. Bach, Beethoven and Mozart comprise over 80% of my classical collection. I could spend a lifetime exploring their works alone. The other composers aren't even in the same league. That's not to disparage them, just an indication of the brilliance of these three.

There is a second tier of composers who are also sort of "in their own league" and I would definitely put in that tier Handel, Monteverdi, Haydn, Wagner, Verdi, Mendolssohn, Mahler, Schubert, and perhaps even Vivaldi and Telemann. Arguments could be made for a few others to join this select group as well.

The composers listed above have thousands of compositions between them. A vast ocean of music that one could not possibly have time to discover in just one lifetime. So I'm hoping heaven has an extensive music library with a good set of headphones!

66 posted on 03/26/2005 9:04:09 AM PST by SamAdams76 (Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out Of Hand?)
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To: Polyxene
I fear we have a generation coming up that is populated with tattooed, pierced, illiterate, ill-mannered, ill-dressed sloths who are also going to be quite deaf from listening to that noise.

There is hope for them.

When I was young and dumb, I was one of those driving around with the radio blasting out my eardrums. In those days it was Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, etc., but it was as much noise to those with more sophisticated ears as the music of today is.

If I knew black then that 30 years later, I'd be listing to mostly classical, country & western, and adult contemporary, I probably would have hung myself.

Glad I didn't know!

67 posted on 03/26/2005 9:19:30 AM PST by SamAdams76 (Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out Of Hand?)
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To: SamAdams76

Good post. I like your follow up, also. I think it is funny that for a long time, I only listened to classical and C and W...but that was when country was a genre of its own, not pop. The classic stuff is priceless...Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash...and the neoclassical stuff was good, too: Garth Brooks, Clint Black. Then there's George Strait. Great stuff. For casual listening, that is. A true American genre, also.

I generally agree with your repertoire of composers. Of the second tier, I ike Schubert...he died at the age of 34, you know. Tragic. A true genius. Also -- speaking of genius -- are you familiar with Berlioz?? Colossally arrogant, but stunningly original and brilliant. I would have likely wanted to murder the guy had I known him (could say the same of course about LVB and WAM). But a true genius he was, no doubt.

In heaven by God's grace, as someone pointed out to me that since we are not God still, that we will necessarily continue to learn. Therefore, it is not much of a leap to contemplate that not only will we get to study this music without time constraints, and learn all the instruments we can't play here..and also...fathom this...maybe we too will get to compose to the glory of the Lamb. Perhaps Bach can even help us in so doing. That is too glorious to really comprehend. I don't just mean the Bach part, but to think that maybe then in a sinless state we will get to compose to Him. We do not deserve that; yet, I imagine that His grace may be amazing enough to just well allow us that privilege.

Now...on a fairly dramatic non-sequitur...I see you know a bit about the revolution. I had a question pop into my head today.

Why didn't Patrick Henry sign the Declaration???

Was he not elected to the Continental Congress from VA? The Signers were THE most promiment of the day. Yet, the strongest revolutionary, Henry, didn't make it. What's up with that??? Do you have any thoughts???

(Don't you just love FR, by the way??)


68 posted on 03/26/2005 5:32:13 PM PST by ConservativeDude
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To: ConservativeDude
I never get tired of classic country and western. Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, etc. There is still good country music coming out today. Recent examples are Lee Ann Womack's I Might Hate Myself In The Morning and Drugs And Jesus by Tim McGraw. But it's not worth slogging through all the "pop" country that gets played on country radio these days like Shania Twain and Lonestar. So I stick to the "oldie" and "outlaw" country stations. Thankfully satellite radio has plenty of choices.

I was thinking after my last few posts here that maybe if heaven is what I think it might be, we might even get to hear Bach live! Now that would be something.

As for your question on Patrick Henry, wasn't he Governor of Virginia at the time of the Declaration of Independence?

69 posted on 03/26/2005 6:31:26 PM PST by SamAdams76 (Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out Of Hand?)
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To: SamAdams76

Great reply, on all fronts. We will hear Bach, I am confident, and his music will be even more glorius since it will be much closer to being in the presence of God.

I think you may be right on Henry. The Governor of a State would likely not have been eligible to be elected to the Cont Congress...Though I'm sure he was honored to serve as Governor, don't you think in the back of his head he was thinking, "they did WHAT - and I wasn't there???".


70 posted on 03/28/2005 6:26:29 AM PST by ConservativeDude
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To: Pyro7480

Happy 323rd!


71 posted on 03/21/2008 9:29:43 AM PDT by Borges
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To: Mr. Jeeves
Actually Bach wasn't the greatest of melodists. Neither was Beethoven. Someone like Vivaldi wrote bettert tunes. It's not a prerequisite for being a great composer.
72 posted on 03/21/2008 9:33:34 AM PDT by Borges
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