Bach: Essential Works for Beginners
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ก.ย. 2023
- Bach: Essential Works for Beginners
6 Organ Trios BWV 525-30
Magnificat BWV 243
Two and Three-Part Inventions (Inventions and Sinfonias) BWV 772-801
4 Orchestral Suites
French Overture (for keyboard) BWV 831
Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht, BWV 211 “Coffee Cantata”
Goldberg Variations
6 Brandenburg Concertos
Mass in B minor
The Well-Tempered Clavier Books No. 1 & 2 - เพลง
As a fan of psychedelic, prog rock and complex electronic music, Bach is now a revelation for me. I can't stop listening. Loved Bartok, Stravinsky, Ives, Debussy, but not as much as him.
I was introduced to the Coffee Cantata decades ago. The aria where the father bemoans the “hundred thousand problems” is priceless.
Can’t than you enough for the recommendation of the organ trios. It’s not something I might have heard about or listened to otherwise but it’s going to be in heavy rotation for a while. I tried John Butt’s recording first.
First off thank you so much for doing what you do. I am from India a music buff (jazz , blues metal everything). I have always wanted to get into classical music in a planned way but it always has slipped me aside from a few symphonies here and there that I happened to pick up at random to give it a shot. I have loved the music of greats like Beethoven yet it always felt vacuous until I came across your channel. Regarding the music of Bach my first exposure was a american colleague recommending the Mass in B Minor and i remember being blown bu the Gardiner version of it. My soul seemed to lift from my body. It was quite the experience. But I have never been able to get my head around the rest of his works because of its enormity. The other musician who pointed me to Bach was the little known yet great American guitarist Ted Greene who seemed to love Bach's music and transcribed some of his works beautifully. He also laid out a beautiful system of arranging contrapuntal style of playing chord melodies. One may want to checkout his only recorded album titled "Solo Guitar" ...
The 3 violin concertos (for 1 and 2 violins) may be also ideal works for beginners, for their freshness and lyricism (not so frequent at that level in Bach's music !).
I used to listen to some Beethoven and Brahms that my dad had but the first ever classical recordings I owned as a teenager were the Brandenburg Concertos, on two CDs, performed by the English Chamber Orchestra under Philip Ledger. I went into the classical section of my local record shop which was a separate little room partitioned off behind double doors, presumably so the clientele would not have their refined senses assaulted by the lowly pop music being piped into the rest of the place, and cluelessly browsed the racks until the assistant came over and asked me if I was looking for anything in particular. Unable even to bluff, and probably telegraphed as an impostor by the biker jacket, dashiki and beads, I fessed up that I had no idea what I was doing and he suggested these recordings, which had just been released. I still remember listening to them from start to finish when I got home and feeling like I was being transported back in time, powdered wigs, brocade coats, gold panelled walls, plague, the whole shebang. I never knew if it was a considered recommendation or they were just trying to shift these CDs but it certainly hit the spot.
Hello Dave…thank you as always for another wonderful list (love your inclusion of the Coffee Cantata!). Listening to your thoughts and analysis of music is a joy. I can’t thank you enough for introducing me to so many, new works over the last couple of years, since I discovered your wonderful channel. I’m sure I’m not alone in looking forward to being both educated and entertained each day, by every new post…with great appreciation and thanks. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
The title means, "Shut up!". I LMAO. You're someone I would love to have coffee with someday.
Couldn't agree more about the Coffee Cantata's inclusion here. When I was dipping my toe into classical music, it was on a student's budget, which meant it was largely by way of the repertoire on those budget labels like Seraphim, Richmond, Vox, Everest, etc. In some cases that meant getting odd performances of the works (though in others it could mean stumbling on to great stuff like Brendel's Beethoven on Vox). Anyhow, it was on one of those cheap Seraphim LPs that I got my first exposure to Bach: the Coffee Cantata w/ F-Dieskau, Lisa Otto, Josef Traxel, Karl Forster conducting. I went in thinking that Bach was difficult, cerebral, unrelentingly religious, and came away thinking Bach was wonderfully accessible, tuneful as hell, and anything but dour and penitential. When F-Dieskau launched it all with that huffy, outraged father I damn near doubled over. What fun! And what a total joy all round. And the final trio I must have played to death. So yes, a big Amen to putting this delicious work on a Bach beginner's menu.
It took me a looong time to come to Bach. I'm now a complete, dyed in the wool Bach nut, but when I was younger it was Romantic music that spoke to me, not Baroque, and I hated having to learn Bach for piano exams.
But my Dad bought me the LP of the Bach Violin concertos with Perlman and Zuckerman, and it was this that really made me sit up and take note. Then Gould's Goldberg Variations, and it's been downhill ever since. The English Concert Brandenburgs just about blew my head off when I first heard them, so for me these were my Beginner Essential Works. Yours is a fine list, however.
I'd probably say that for beginners the Clavier works might be easier to listen to when played on a piano, although my preference these days is for a decent harpsichord (a nice Ruckers - how I wish I had one!)
A wonderful introduction to Bach for beginners--and for veterans a reminder of why we love this composer so much! I would make bold to add an eleventh recommendation for those who want to get acquainted or further acquainted with JSB. Try the Six Sonatas for Violin and Keyboard. Unlike all Baroque solo sonatas I am aware of, these works are not for violin and supporting "continuo" (consisting of cello or viola da gamba and imporvised keyboard), but an equal partnership between the two instruments. Three-part counterpoint dominates: violin, keyboard right hand, and keyboard left hand. As an equal partnership, these sonatas prefigure those of later periods, such as Beethoven's violin/piano sonatas. And they are among Bach's most expressive works, covering a huge spetrum of emotions from ecstatic joy to deep sorrow. If you don't know them, these sonatas will draw you deeply into the very heart of Bach's genius.
Thank you for the recommendation of the six sonatas. Any reccomended recordings?
@@jakobpetropoulos8850 Too many to mention here! However, if you want to get into the Bach Cantatas there are in addition to complete sets, boxed collections that gather together some of his most popular and greatest works in this genre. For instance, Hänssler Classics has put out two modest volumes culled from Helmuth Rilling's complete cantata cycle, under the titles Christmas Cantatas and Praise Cantatas, respectively (titles may actually be in German). These are fine performances with modern instruments, traditional mixed choir, and superb traditionally trained soloists. They all know their way around Bach, however. If you prefer "historically informed" performance practice with period instruments, then you might explore Harmonia Mundi's various reissues of Herreweghe's Cantata series. Happy exploring!
Your most brilliant video so far.
Haydn and Bazh are my music favourites!
Love from George
Thank you for your insight in Bach's music!
My first real introduction to Bach was the st Matthew and boy did it put me off from his music. The beginning is in my opinion the best thing about the whole piece and after that almost 2 hours of more music..
I was actually shocked that after an hour or so there was a second part after the pause. I seriously considered just leaving, but maybe the 2nd part was more to my liking. I did find the erbarme dich and the part where they all scream BARABAM pretty cool. Well anyway, maybe starting my Bach project with some shorter pieces you recommended will finally open the doors to him for me!
I've never warmed to Bach but I'll give these suggestions a try.
A piece that seems universally and deservedly loved by all is the concerto for two violins. I’d mention that, if I may, as a wonderful beginners piece. Interesting list. Quite a bit for me to learn from this list as a long-time beginner.
Hi David great video I too took a long time to come to Bạch but my appreciation has slowly blossomed after watching Gardiners interesting Documentary-on Bạch which expanded my interest especially the works of his Kothen period
Wonderful intro and refresher even for seasoned listeners😊
I would also include the Italian Concerto very nippy and memorable.
It was included in the film Hannah and Her Sisters I always think a film connection helps to cement public awareness.
The Brandenburgs and the Suites are a given. If you own just those, you might be happy. Then move on from there.
The recording that really got me into Bach as a youth was The Bach Album by Eugene Ormandy. Purists may balk, but to me this was all that was great about Bach as a composer but with an orchestral warmth far afield from the clanging harpsichords or monotonous pipe organ that had so turned me off of other recordings at the time.
This is a useful talk re. how to find one's way through Bach as a beginner.
Thank you, as always for this well thought out introduction. This is not a disagreement, just my own Bach journey. My first classical recording was the Vox box of the violin concertos and Brandenburgs. This was at the beginning of high school. I don’t recall why, but a bit later I bought and fell in love with Gould’s recording of the Well Tempered Clavier.
This video was so good I felt like applauding at the end.May I mention two other works which I found particularly helpful as I got to know (and overcome my resistance to) Bach this past year? They are:the sonatas for violin and bc and the partitas, which I found my accessible than the inventions and which helped me find my way from the piano to the harpsichord version of his solo keyboard works and progress to the Goldbergs and the WTCs..
The accompanied violin sonatas are lovely, but the solo violin works take some getting used to, especially as the tone of the solo violin rapidly becomes wearisome, particularly when employing long passages in double (and triple) stops.
Totally agree. I have the Pinnock Plodger sonatas for violin and harpsichord and when I get up in the middle of the night and want to hear music I turn to these and not the Goldbergs lol. @@DavesClassicalGuide
I can listnen to the 3 sonatas and 3 partitas for solo violin in one go whithout pause.
This is an excellent post David. I have found some of Bach’s works, especially his sacred cantatas and sacred masses, too difficult to listen to. That said I love his keyboard and orchestral works.
Strangely enough I have had an instant love for
The Magnificat;
The Brandenburg Concertos;
The Goldberg Variations; the English and French Suites;
The Orchestral Suites and
BWV 62.
I’ll have to list to the organ trios, thanks for the suggestions.
I often find it hard to believe Handel and Bach were born the same yearI find Handel so much more approachable
Very nice talk, Dave. Can’t disagree, was thinking about the keyboard partitas (never ever get boring) or something from the “chamber” works, as so many non classical people like the cello suites so much. But your list is just so well-constructed :)
I believe the coffee cantata originated because Bach and family would do concerts in Zimmerman’s coffee shop in Leipzig. So a recommendation for any newcomers to Bach who are more comfy with orchestral music would be that marvellous set on Alpha of pretty much all of it (including the suites and Brandenburgs) by the appropriately named Cafe Zimmerman. Just delightful and I think the way they intersperse the suites and Brandenburga with the range of other concertos is very effective, so you’re not always having to plod dutifully through the complete sets.
Great list. Your audacity in selection and your focus on "the beginner" seems to make short work of a daunting task: "How can you include x and not y?" The list makes the point that we must begin somewhere.
It so happens that Bach is one of the first classical composers I remember hearing. My mother, who studied to be a concert pianist, used to play the English Suite #2. It was one of the pieces 4-year-old me used to pester her for. The counterpoint in the first movement fascinated me, since I wasn't used to hearing music like that. I didn't know what was going on, but it seemed to me that time was looping back on itself because of the imitative entries.
Man, this is a great video, Dave. I love that you include the Organ Trios which so many overlook. What I also find makes Bach prohibitive for curious listeners is that he, moreso than any other composer, has a fundamentalist crowd that is assured they know the ONE way to perform his works even 300 years later...The musical Taliban that follows recordings of his work and decries certain versions as "wrong" is perhaps the most tedious part of talking classical music. Anyway, I also like to include the first two cello suites when introducing folks to Bach since they provide great and accessible music but do it on the opposite ends of the emotive/expressive spectrum. Thanks for a great video.
0:29 Interesting, that's exactly how I feel about Beethoven.