The most achingly beautiful Bach please...
My suggestions:
Aus Liebe Will Mein Heiland Sterben (especially that introduction on flute and two oboes...) and Erbarme Dich from the St. Matthew's Passion.
Sarabande from the Second Cello Suite in D minor
C# minor fugue, Book 1
Quote from: Guido on May 22, 2009, 11:29:59 AM
The most achingly beautiful Bach please...
Sarabande from the Second Cello Suite in D minor
Great one Guido! I also really like the
Sarabande from Cello Suite # 5.
Yes that one is astonishing - one of Bach's most amazing movements, and in its way as great and powerful as the solo violin Chaconne - it is it's polar opposite, though its effect is just as strong. I wouldn't say it was as obviously beautiful as the other movements I mentioned above though (its beauty is a very strange beauty).
Quote from: Guido on May 22, 2009, 12:25:12 PM
Yes that one is astonishing - one of Bach's most amazing movements, and in its way as great and powerful as the solo violin Chaconne - it is it's polar opposite, though its effect is just as strong. I wouldn't say it was as obviously beautiful as the other movements I mentioned above though (its beauty is a very strange beauty).
I agree with you. I just love the strong sonorities and vibrato? ??? of the 5th Cello Suite Sarabande. On some performances, it may be overdone, but when it's done just right, it sends me shivers!!!
I think there are many beautiful moments in Bach's music. From WTC to Italian Concerto to Sonatas for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord to St. Matthew Passion, this grand master of all composers of the western world has created such a large body of monumental works that it is impossible to just zero in on one or two works.
Indeed, I found the track "Arie: Können Tränen meiner Wangen" in St Matthew Passion very beautiful and touching. My personal favorite for this track was conducted by none other than Karajan and the BPO with Christa Ludwig singing the Alto ...
Difficult question (or answer) because Bach´s music abunds in beautiful moments.
The two Sarabande´s mentioned above (from Cello suite no.2 and 5) may be good contenders.
Others might be the Sarabande from he First violin partita b-mnor, or the First movement (Siciliana) from the Fourth sonata for violin and harpsichord c-minor.
Is anyone with me on the selections from the Matthew Passion? About as beautiful as music gets...
The slow movement of the Concerto for Two Violins. Gorgeous intertwining of the two solo lines. Also Bach's musical tribute to his first wife who died around the same time if I'm not mistaken.
Quote from: hornteacher on May 22, 2009, 06:22:48 PM
The slow movement of the Concerto for Two Violins. Gorgeous intertwining of the two solo lines. Also Bach's musical tribute to his first wife who died around the same time if I'm not mistaken.
BWV 1041-1043 are some of the best violin works ever composed. Indeed, we can find beautiful movements in just about most works ever composed by JS Bach. This put Bach in a league all by himself.
Quote from: Coopmv on May 23, 2009, 03:04:08 AM
Indeed, we can find beautiful movements in just about most works ever composed by JS Bach. This put Bach in a league all by himself.
Without wishing thereby, to seem to serve only as a damper (for why should
Bach not have an enthusiast thread?), there is no paucity of composers of whom can say,
we can find beautiful movements in just about most works [he] ever composed. In this regard, no, I should not consider
Bach in a league by himself.
Thread duty:His harmonization of
O Jesulein süß! O Jesulein mild! One of my best-loved musical rituals at Christmastide.
So many:
-So ist mein Jesus.... from the St. Matthew
-The return of the minor section in the violin chaconne, and also the part that has the repeated 'A' alternations shortly after
-the da capo of the aria in the Goldberg Variations
-the coda of the slow movement of Brandenburg no.1
-first Kyrie, the Et Incarntus Est, Agnus Dei and Dona Nobis Pacem from the Mass in B Minor
-Adagio from the Sonata for Violin and Harpsichord no.5
-Ricercar a 6 from the Musical Offering
-Contrapunctus I and XIV from the Art of the Fugue
-opening movement of Cantata 54 (Widerstehe doch der Sunde)
-Sarabande from the English Suite no.3
-Prelude and Fugue in B minor, Prelude and Fugue in Bb Minor from WTC I, and various fugues from WTC II
-slow movement from Keyboard Concerto in F minor
-slow movement from Keyboard Concerto in D minor
there are many more astonishing moments, of course!
I don't even know why I replied to this thread with a single answer in the first place. It must've been a moment of drowsiness.
Quote from: Norbeone on May 24, 2009, 10:51:53 AM
-the da capo of the aria in the Goldberg Variations
Oh, yes! It's so special.
The slow movement from the concerto for two violins in D minor.
Quote from: Norbeone on May 24, 2009, 10:51:53 AM
So many:
-So ist mein Jesus.... from the St. Matthew
-The return of the minor section in the violin chaconne, and also the part that has the repeated 'A' alternations shortly after
-the da capo of the aria in the Goldberg Variations
-the coda of the slow movement of Brandenburg no.1
-first Kyrie, the Et Incarntus Est, Agnus Dei and Dona Nobis Pacem from the Mass in B Minor
-Adagio from the Sonata for Violin and Harpsichord no.5
-Ricercar a 6 from the Musical Offering
-Contrapunctus I and XIV from the Art of the Fugue
-opening movement of Cantata 54 (Widerstehe doch der Sunde)
-Sarabande from the English Suite no.3
-Prelude and Fugue in B minor, Prelude and Fugue in Bb Minor from WTC I, and various fugues from WTC II
-slow movement from Keyboard Concerto in F minor
-slow movement from Keyboard Concerto in D minor
there are many more astonishing moments, of course!
Thanks for these - I'll have to search many of them out.
Quote from: erato on May 24, 2009, 11:04:23 AM
The slow movement from the concerto for two violins in D minor.
Is there an echo in here? ;D
Quote from: hornteacher on May 24, 2009, 05:21:19 PM
Is there an echo in here? ;D
You are in en echo chamber with time delay ;D
Quote from: hornteacher on May 24, 2009, 05:21:19 PM
Is there an echo in here? ;D
Maybe some imitative counterpoint :)
Gavrilov's playing of Concerto, BWV 1056 in f: II: Largo on this CD is just absolutely beautiful ... ;D
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41NXT97VS0L._SS500_.jpg)
All those moments in Bach choral works when traditional (or popular) Lutheran chorales (NOT originally composed by Bach) suddenly come in. Bach uses those tricks sparingly but most effectively at the most appropriate moments. Simply magical!
Quote from: springrite on May 27, 2009, 11:31:22 PM
All those moments in Bach choral works when traditional (or popular) Lutheran chorales (NOT originally composed by Bach) suddenly come in. Bach uses those tricks sparingly but most effectively at the most appropriate moments. Simply magical!
Look no further than Cantata No. 80 ... ;D
Aria (Duetto): Mein Freund ist mein by Elly Ameling and Samuel Ramey from Cantata No. 140 from this CD is beautiful ...
No.19 Aria (Soprano): Ich will dir mein Herze schenken in Bach St Matthew is one of these universally beautiful movements that it seems most good conductors with a good soprano can deliver with good effect.
Out of so many--how is it possible to narrow down? ;D But a few of my current and long-time favorites:
Cantata #6 opening; I love the way he handles the two oboes and oboe da caccia. (I recently played that part on English horn. :D)
Brandenburg #1, 2nd movement opening
Violin Concerto in E, 2nd movement
And perhaps the most beautiful of all: B minor Mass, "Dona Nobis Pacem," trumpet entrance; I half-expect to hear that trumpet passage when I get to Heaven.
Two that immediately come to mind:
"Wahrlich, dieser ist Gottes Sohn (http://www.weta.org/fmblog/?p=457)", St.Matthew Passion
(At least with Guttenberg)
"Tod, Du Schlafes Bruder (http://www.weta.org/fmblog/?p=140)" from "Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen"
There is lots of music by Bach that can be described by a word starting with the letter "B". But that word isn't "beautiful". That word is "BORING".
Tiresomely BORING. BORING to the point of sleep induction in the listener.
So BORING that it makes me turn off my audio system.
I have never owned a recording of music by any of the Bachs, and never will.
The only Bachian experiences I have had were in the concert hall. And they never failed to put me in a catatonic trance of severe ennui and boredom.
UGH, the Bachian style makes me PUKE!.
Don't bother rebutting. My mind and my taste CANNOT be changed. Not after 60 yrs of listening.
Quote from: Iago on May 31, 2009, 04:04:05 PM
Don't bother rebutting. My mind and my taste CANNOT be changed. Not after 60 yrs of listening.
If not your mind, how about your manners? ;D
Bach's exiquiste setting of An Wasserflüssen Babylon BWV653, when played with the right sympathy and tranquility. Or the intimate setting of Ich ruf'zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ BWV 639 when with the right pathos.
Quote from: jlaurson on May 31, 2009, 07:57:42 PM
If not your mind, how about your manners? ;D
Just what about my "manners" bother you?
Quote from: Iago on May 31, 2009, 04:04:05 PM
There is lots of music by Bach that can be described by a word starting with the letter "B". But that word isn't "beautiful". That word is "BORING".
Tiresomely BORING. BORING to the point of sleep induction in the listener.
So BORING that it makes me turn off my audio system.
I have never owned a recording of music by any of the Bachs, and never will.
The only Bachian experiences I have had were in the concert hall. And they never failed to put me in a catatonic trance of severe ennui and boredom.
UGH, the Bachian style makes me PUKE!.
Don't bother rebutting. My mind and my taste CANNOT be changed. Not after 60 yrs of listening.
;D ;D
Thanks for "dropping" by! ;)
Q
Quote from: Iago on May 31, 2009, 11:01:25 PM
Just what about my "manners" bother you?
Taking some of your precious time, just to puke over our object of adoration, for one.
Strikes me as akin to someone going out of his way, literally and metaphorically, just to tell a buddy how incredibly ugly his wife is. :)
One of 3 marvellous arias from the cantatas heard recently -
Cantata No. 151
Opening
Aria
Süßer Trost, mein Jesus kömmt
BWV 151/1
http://www.mediafire.com/?jmjdve2jdzg
Quote from: jlaurson on May 31, 2009, 07:57:42 PM
If not your mind, how about your manners? ;D
Don't bother. Some of us have tried. ;D
Quote from: jlaurson on June 01, 2009, 02:28:43 AM
Taking some of your precious time, just to puke over our object of adoration, for one.
Strikes me as akin to someone going out of his way, literally and metaphorically, just to tell a buddy how incredibly ugly his wife is. :)
That only works if the "buddy" subconsciously thinks his wife IS ugly. If not, they only go home and laugh and kiss. :D
Quote from: Iago on May 31, 2009, 04:04:05 PM
There is lots of music by Bach that can be described by a word starting with the letter "B". But that word isn't "beautiful". That word is "BORING".
Tiresomely BORING. BORING to the point of sleep induction in the listener.
So BORING that it makes me turn off my audio system.
I have never owned a recording of music by any of the Bachs, and never will.
The only Bachian experiences I have had were in the concert hall. And they never failed to put me in a catatonic trance of severe ennui and boredom.
UGH, the Bachian style makes me PUKE!.
Don't bother rebutting. My mind and my taste CANNOT be changed. Not after 60 yrs of listening.
Wow.
If a little rain on your parade causes such monumental hand wringing, can you imagine what a severe thunderstorm would cause?
You LOVE Bach's music. I loathe it.
Am I not as entitled to my opinion as you are to yours?
And am I not as entitled to state that opinion on this forum, as you are to state yours?
Iago, Feel free to start an anti-Bach thread. This was not really a general discussion thread, more a request for recommendations. So, your comments, valid as they are, do seem out of place on this specific thread.....a sorbet between courses perhaps.
I would provide a list as long as your arm, but it means getting the CDs out to ensure the spelling is correct. There are so many beautiful moments of stasis in the cantatas, contemplation and a timelessness within the music.
Sometimes it depends very much on the performers. Auger for me always hits the spot with Soprano arias. BWV105, 'Wie zitten und wanken.' 'How tremble and waver' One of the many arias where Bach sets up a duologue between voice and a wind instrument. I would say just the same about BWV92 'Meinen Huirten bleib ich treu' 'To my Shepherd I'll be True.'
I was once in a performance of the St Matthew Passion conducted by Abbado. The female soloists were Margaret Price and Jessye Norman. In the final rehearsal, I was so transfixed by them singing the duet which is almost interrupted by the double chorus singing about thunder and lightening; I missed my entry altogether.
Mike
I suggest the entire disc of Auger Bach Arias......I am listening to it now. I would just end up listing the tracks.
Hanssler: Auger, Helmuth Rilling 13 Bach arias.CD 98.958
Mike
Quote from: knight on June 01, 2009, 01:54:39 PM
I was once in a performance of the St Matthew Passion conducted by Abbado. The female soloists were Margaret Price and Jessye Norman. In the final rehearsal, I was so transfixed by them singing the duet which is almost interrupted by the double chorus singing about thunder and lightening; I missed my entry altogether.
That sounds normal. The other day a friend related a story about meeting a rock superstar at a social gathering. She was so flabbergasted that when she took a sip of her drink, she poured it down the front of her blouse!
J.S. Bach
Duetto
'Wohl mir, Jesus ist gefunden'
From Cantata 154
'.....and, around evening, an announcement was made in the corridor that amongst the visitors was old Seb. Bach, cantor of the Thomas School at Leipzig, who had just arrived in Potsdam for a long promised visit. On receipt of which news Frederick (the Great) broke off from conversation with his musicians and straightway headed towards his visitor'. (Court Diary - Potsdam, May 1747) -
LOL ! :)
http://www.mediafire.com/?knwlinmlvow
Quote from: Iago on June 01, 2009, 01:39:57 PM
If a little rain on your parade causes such monumental hand wringing, can you imagine what a severe thunderstorm would cause?
You LOVE Bach's music. I loathe it.
Am I not as entitled to my opinion as you are to yours?
And am I not as entitled to state that opinion on this forum, as you are to state yours?
The nearest topic here along those lines was this... ;D
http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,1790.0.html
In our Solar System is one Sun, around which the planets, big and small, all rotate and reflect, to greater or lesser degree, the light it gives off. If it was different we would all be plunged into long periods of near darkness and would soon become idolators of the Sun and not its daily consumers.
In the same way, to have available and be able to hear a talent so stupendous, so deep and miraculous as that of the musical Bach, and for this astounding talent to be manifested among men and for it to be appreciated as a common, everyday miracle like salt or water, and for it to be a source of inspiration for the most talented musicians and for all others, so that we can even at times indulge our imaginations and speculate that it can be musically equalled or surpassed is, to me, evidence of free musical speech for we as musical children that should be gently humoured, tolerated, but never taken seriously.
LOL ! :)
Thread duty:
One of those Bach bits which have always melted me, is the chorale of the second section of the E-flat major Prelude in Book I of WTC.
Quote from: robnewman on June 02, 2009, 09:13:05 AM
In the same way, to have available and be able to hear a talent so stupendous, so deep and so miraculous as that of the musical Bach, and for this astounding talent to be manifested among men and for it to be appreciated as a common, everyday miracle like salt or water, and for it to be a source of inspiration for the most talented musicians, so that we can even at times indulge our imaginations and speculate that it can be musically equalled or surpassed is, to me, evidence of free musical speech by we as musical children which should be gently humoured, tolerated, but never taken seriously.
Reminds me of a certain Salzburgian.
On the subject at hand, I still never get tired of the third movement of the second Brandenburg Concerto. That trumpet moves me to tears.
Other worldly beauty -
J.S. Bach
Aria from Cantata BWV 170
'Vergnugte Ruh, Belibte Seelenlust'
http://www.mediafire.com/?m12zzzoz2nj
I'll toss out the famous Passacaglia & Fugue, as I haven't seen it mentioned. I've got a soft spot for fugues....
Not forgetting -
Aria from Cantata No. 8,
"Doch weichet ihr tollen"
BWV 8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LgYzwns-Uc
Cantata No. 105 (Part 2)
"Herr, gehe nicht ins Gericht mit deinem Knecht", BWV 105 Part II
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTe1gViB_LY
From
Cantata No. 105 (Part 3)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD01nAZv_UE
//
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who could not hear the music.
— Angela Monet
This is best summary I can find.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bach_works
Sinfonia
Cantata 156
BWV 156/1
http://www.mediafire.com/?m14txy2dmnk
Quote from: Catison on June 04, 2009, 01:19:10 PM
This is best summary I can find.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bach_works
JS Bach just towers over all other composers ... 0:)
Quote from: Coopmv on June 06, 2009, 10:53:25 AM
JS Bach just towers over all other composers ... 0:)
Was he a six-footer?
Quote from: Bulldog on June 06, 2009, 02:18:22 PM
Was he a six-footer?
He was a nine-footer when it came to his trade ... ;D
Quote from: Coopmv on June 06, 2009, 02:29:24 PM
He was a nine-footer when it came to his trade ... ;D
I heard Bach had a nine foot organ.
Quote from: Catison on June 07, 2009, 01:36:15 PM
I heard Bach had a nine foot organ.
No, it was at least sixteen feet, maybe even 32'. ;D
Quote from: Catison on June 07, 2009, 01:36:15 PM
I heard Bach had a nine foot organ.
I heard he had a nine
inch organ...
QuoteBach had 20 children. He was an old master of the grand organ.
And so begins our organ recital... ;D
For a change of pace, how about Bach works where he puts on his power-pack and streaks through the heavens. I nominate the following super-charged works from the Leipzig Chorales:
BWV 651 - 657 - 661 - 665. Saving the best for last - BWV 667.
Quote from: Bulldog on June 18, 2009, 11:48:48 AM
For a change of pace, how about Bach works where he puts on his power-pack and streaks through the heavens. I nominate the following super-charged works from the Leipzig Chorales:
BWV 651 - 657 - 661 - 665. Saving the best for last - BWV 667.
But who delivered the turbo-charged versions of these works? Weinberger - no clue since my set is still in its cellophane. Perhaps Marie-Claire Alain or Helmut Walcha?
Quote from: Coopmv on June 18, 2009, 05:39:02 PM
But who delivered the turbo-charged versions of these works? Weinberger - no clue since my set is still in its cellophane. Perhaps Marie-Claire Alain or Helmut Walcha?
Most organists deliver them.
I'll just add that I've been greatly enjoying John O'Donnell's Liepzig Chorales on the Melba label. He gives the more powerful pieces a clarity of musical lines not often found in other recordings.
Quote from: Guido on May 22, 2009, 12:25:12 PM
Yes that one is astonishing - one of Bach's most amazing movements, and in its way as great and powerful as the solo violin Chaconne - it is it's polar opposite, though its effect is just as strong. I wouldn't say it was as obviously beautiful as the other movements I mentioned above though (its beauty is a very strange beauty).
Undoubtedly the greatest and most epic movement ever composed by Bach. The piece could've stood by itself without being a component of the D minor Partita.
The single most glorious and perfect work has to be the Benedictus from the Mass in B Minor. A voice, a cello, a flute and Bach has given us the purity and eloquence.
Only that aria, and the Ingemisco from the Verdi Requiem moves me to tears every time I hear it.
Quote from: Catison on June 04, 2009, 01:19:10 PM
This is best summary I can find.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bach_works
;D
Good choice!
BWV 996 in e minor - just because I'm working on it, hehehe!!! ;)
Quote from: James on August 04, 2009, 03:52:02 PM
So much beauty in Bach, some personal faves...
-Gratias agimus tibi/Dona nobis pacem from the B minor Mass
-Leipzig Organ Chorales BWV 654, BWV 659 & BWV 662
Totally agree. For me, the most beautiful Leipzig Chorale is BWV 656.
Quote from: hector murrieta on August 04, 2009, 03:17:59 PM
BWV 996 in e minor - just because I'm working on it, hehehe!!! ;)
I was such a lousy pianist, but I remember when I played the Bourrée as a kid, my entire body was moving. Sweet memories!
Goosebumps:
http://www.youtube.com/v/HFd8VBV5eCg
Just stumbled over one of the many: Aria (Duetto) for soprano and alto "Gottes Wort, das trüget nicht" in Cantata BWV 167 "Ihr Menschen, rühmet Gottes Liebe".
The reprise at the end of the Goldbergs.
http://www.youtube.com/v/ONE0s528hl0
http://www.youtube.com/v/NU-P-ToqlZI
Gottes Zeit... (Actus Tragicus)
(http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B001AL6KO8.01.L.jpg)
J.S. Bach, Actus Tragicus
T.Koopman / ABO
Challenge (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001AL6KO8/goodmusicguide-20)
German link (http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001AL6KO8/goodmusicguide-21) - UK link (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001AL6KO8/goodmusicguideuk-21)
http://www.youtube.com/v/0bxt6WrhNxc
http://www.youtube.com/v/ClvoBwsJ5KQ
this whole cantata is pretty amazing but I guess the highlights are the soprano/oboe duet at 6:15 & bass recitative at 12mins
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8g-9zXv1O8
There's also the sarabande from violin partita #2, loure from partita #3, allemande from cello suite #6, gratias agimus tibi (or dona nobus pacem) and cum sancto spiritu from his b minor mass...
It's challenging naming just ONE magnificent section of Bach's music, but here's one I always find transcendent (not my fave performance, which is JEG/EBS/Monteverdi Choir): Et in Terra Pax from the Mass in B Minor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9DLMhcYBBE