Your Favorite Bach Works?

[Thatfabulousalien]

If there has been a favorites thread on any of the Bach family please let me know.

What are your favorite works, from the Bach's? Obviously JS is the center of attention but I want to hear what this diverse community thinks.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

I've heard barely any of Bach's works but I'll have to mention the following BWV numbers for cantatas

4
26
29
50
60
61
62
103
140
201
211

And also the following choral works
Christmas Oratorio
St John Passion

And I have to also mention the following BWV numbers for solo works
532
537
543
995/1011
996
997
998
1000
1001
1006/1006a
1008

And these too:
Brandenburg concertos 2, 4, 5, 6
Keyboard concerto bwv 1052
Orchestral suites 1 and 3
Musical Offering

[Jo498]

If you want to try out more non-JSB:
Wilhelm Friedemann: Double concerto for two harpsichords, "symphony" (= adagio and fugue) in d minor
CPE: Hamburg string symphonies (6) and also the 4 orchestral symphonies from Hamburg, quartets for flute, viola, keyboard
Johann Christian (this is mostly not all that interesting early classical "style galant" but quite influential) quintets with flute and oboe, concertante symphonies, symphony g minor (a dark exception within the often fluffy pleasantries).

There are also several anthologies of older or contemporary uncles/cousins etc. of JSB, I'd recommend the cantatas by Musica Antiqua on Archiv. The so-called "Alt-Bachisches Archiv" of mostly pre-JSB Bach family kept by CPE was mostly lost during WW II but some had been preserved in copies and some other things were found around 1990 after the Russians returned some stuff they had plundered at the end of the war from east/central Germany.

[North Star]

Just J. S.

Art of Fugue
Musical Offering
Clavier Übung I, II, III
Goldberg Variations
Cello Suites
Sonatas & Partitas for solo violin
Cantatas 4, 12, 21, 27, 38, 75, 82, 84, 95
St Matthew Passion, Mass in B minor, Magnificat
Concerto for 2 violins, and all the Brandenburgs, I guess.

[Sergeant Rock]

A Top 10

Keyboard Concerto D minor BWV 1052
Keyboard Partita No.2 C Minor, BWV 826
French Suites
Violin Partita No.2 D minor, BWV 1004
Violin Concerto A minor BWV 1041
Brandenburg Concerto No.1
Brandenburg Concerto No.2
Weihnachtsoratorium
Cantata 80 Ein Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott
Toccata and Fugue D minor

[North Star]

But, I could just as easily say: everything he wrote.

Indeed.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Well, I purposefully refrained from meantioning Mass in B Minor, Goldberg and the Matthew/St John passion's.
They don't do it for me as much that I'd hope, they're brilliant works of course.

What us some of (any of the Bach's) best organ works besides stuff already meantioned? Nothing beats organ music, when it comes to Baroque music for me 

I do love all the organ works I've heard, but the ones I've mentioned are just my favourites. Which others do you like in particular?

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Definitely not organ works but add these BWV numbers to my list: 911, 971

[Karl Henning]

I do love all the organ works I've heard, but the ones I've mentioned are just my favourites. Which others do you like in particular?

http://www.youtube.com/v/MPscpDG1vF0

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

http://www.youtube.com/v/MPscpDG1vF0

One of the better orchestrations of any Bach organ work too

[James]

Much to choose from .. just a quick, good primer list ..

BWV 54, 169, 170, 654, 659, 662, 825-830, 910-916, 1047, 1048, 1050, Dona nobis pacem

[Dee Sharp]

Limiting myself to 10.  There are 100 more. All J.S. Bach

Art of the Fugue
Brandenburg Concertos
Cello Suites
Goldberg Variations
Passacaglia and Fugue in Cm
Orchestral Suite #2 in Bm
Die 6 Motetten
Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin
Toccata and Fugue in Dm
Violin Concerto in Am

[The new erato]

Just J. S.

Art of Fugue
Musical Offering
Clavier Übung I, II, III
Goldberg Variations
Cello Suites
Sonatas & Partitas for solo violin
Cantatas 4, 12, 21, 27, 38, 75, 82, 84, 95
St Matthew Passion, Mass in B minor, Magnificat
Concerto for 2 violins, and all the Brandenburgs, I guess.

At last somebody mentioned cantata 21, my all time favorite Back work (with the b minor mass, Goldbergs and St Matthew)...but with Bach it's hard to know where to stop.

[Mandryka]

The piece that made me interested in Bach, and so I guess is my favourite, is Widerstehe doch der Sünde, BWV 54, as sung by Alfred Deller.

After that, and so equally a favourite, was the 4th partita, as played by Glenn Gould. At the same time and I remember really loving the way that Reinhard Goebel plays the 6th Brandenburg and Furtwangler's recording of the end of the Matthew Passion, from Am abend da es kühle war. Leonhardt's Brandenurg 5 too.

And at the same time, the 6th cello suite's prelude as played by Pablo Casals (he's not quite as good in the rest.)More recently I've found myself just as moved by Dmitry Badiarov playing the second cello suite. And while we're on the string music there's something really special for me about Wolfgang Schneiderhan playing the famous chaconne.

And from the organ works, there's something very special for me  about the experience of listening to the first two thirds of Orgelbuchlein, I like the way the mood of the music changes to reflect the different moods of the festivals.

Over the past few years I've really focused a lot of attention on a handful of works, so I guess they're favourites too. They are Opfer, AoF, WTC 2 , Clavier Übung 3 , the Leipzig Chorales and The French Suites.

Over the past few weeks I've listened a lot to the solo violin music, and I've been increasingly moved by  John Holloway's daring, original and intimate conception. So this is a favourite too!

I've listened to some keyboard music by the other Bachs, but I don't like it enough to call any of it a "favourite."

[Ken B]

Well, like a few others I like virtually all of his music, and more than I like most other music too. But picking just a few

Cantata 106 Actus Tragicus
Goldberg Variations
P&F A-  BWV543
WTC
Partitas for keyboard

Just about the only thing I do not much care for is the TMO. I just have never been able to get into that one.

I do like CPE Bach quite a lot, and some by WF Bach, but none that would float up to the favorite level like those above.

[Marc]

Definitely NOT BWV 565.

[North Star]

At last somebody mentioned cantata 21, my all time favorite Back work (with the b minor mass, Goldbergs and St Matthew)...but with Bach it's hard to know where to stop.

Ahem

... Cantatas ... 21...