Bach

86 Posts
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Cannibal Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a ferocious musical cannibal! He habitually borrowed from himself and others in order to adapt a composition to a particular performing venue or occasion. In 1729 he was appointed director of the Collegium Musicum in Leipzig.
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Listening to Bach with New Ears
The art of the transcription has been with us for centuries, coming into play whenever someone tried to play a work written for one instrument on another. We were listening, the other day, to a recording of J.S. Bach transcribed
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Bach’s Blues
When people see the name Anton Webern on a concert bill, they habitually run for cover! But Webern would not be Webern if he hadn’t studied the old masters during his student years at Vienna University. In fact, he studied
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Switched-On Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach started his work on The Art of the Fugue, one of the most celebrated and extensively studied collection of contrapuntal movements, in 1743. At the time of his death, on 28 July 1750, the collection remained unfinished
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J. S. Bach: Kothener Trauermusik BWV 244a / Pygmalion / Raphael Pichon
Köthener Trauermusik BWV 244a XII. Mit Freuden sei die Welt verlassen (Aria) From J. S. Bach: Kothener Trauermusik BWV 244a / Pygmalion / Raphael Pichon (2014) Released by Harmonia Mundi J.S. Bach: Köthener Trauermusik BWV 244a – XII. Mit Freuden
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What’s “English” about Bach’s English Suites?
Throughout his long and industrious musical career, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) never strayed far away from home. Content to live and work in his native community, and possibly remembering that he was once thrown in jail for overstaying his leave
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The Special Meaning of Bach’s Solo Cello Suites
Without a doubt the six J.S. Bach Solo Cello Suites are a pinnacle to be reached for any cellist. Although I’ve performed them many times, there is one occasion that stands out more than any other. My father was also
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Bach and Beethoven – a legal comparison
Hans von Bülow famously said that in piano music “Bach is the Old Testament and Beethoven, the New Testament”. With all respect to the great man, I would content that a better framework to compare the two is not a
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