--Boris
"When Johann Sebastian was born in 1685 in Eisenach, Germany, the Bach name was already synonymous with the musical trade. More than fifty musicians bearing that name are remembered by musicologists today. Even as a boy, Bach appeared eager to find expression for his emerging musical talent."
"Orphaned at the age of nine, Johann moved in with an older brother, and his musical training began. He soon developed into an outstanding singer, and demonstrated a remarkable ability to play the organ, the violin and numerous other instruments....Throughout his life he was known much more as an organist than a composer. Amazing to us, only ten of Bach's original compositions were published during his lifetime. It was not until the nineteenth century that his brilliance as a composer was truly appreciated. Only then would he be revered by such masters as Beethoven, who claimed, "His name ought not to be Bach ("Bach" is the German word for "brook") but ocean, because of his infinite and inexhaustible wealth of combinations and harmonies."
"It is clear that Bach possessed a deep, personal religious faith. Indeed, it appears his entire life revolved around his spiritual convictions....As a sincere Lutheran, Bach was a devoted reader of the Bible and other religious volumes. His personal library contained 83 books, inventoried at his death. All of them explored spritual matters."
"When asked the secret of his genius, he answered simply, "I was made to work; if you are equally industrious you will be equally successful." It is doubtful whether anyone in the world of music has matched Bach's industriousness. When his multitudinous scores were finally collected and published, the job took the Bach Gesellschaft 46 years, and the completed edition filled 60 huge volumes."
Bach Calov Bible pages - Concordia Seminary Library
J. S. Bach (1685-1750) was a Lutheran church organist. He wrote his music for the church. Every year Concordia Seminary-St. Louis hosts a number of sacred concerts featuring his music, in a series called, Bach at the Sem
Most conductors set the opening chorus at too fast a tempo. Klemperer, however, proceeds at a pace leisurely enough to give this dramatic and emotionally charged opening movement a tremendous sense of presence.
Klemperer was an astute conductor who knew that the dynamic tempo of a piece had to be adjusted, within limits, to accomodate the acoustics and reverberations of the recording site. His initial recording of this monumental opening chorus (which involves three separate antiphonal choirs), in a large church in England, lasted a full 14 minutes. But because the recording session had begun in winter, the church proved to be too damp, cold, and uncomfortable a site to labour in. So the final recording was done at a smaller but warmer hall, and the tempo was "speeded up" to 11.47 minutes.
I play the notes as they are written, but it is God who makes the music. - J.S. Bach
Bach
BUMP
