Representative composers of the Western hemisphere

[Monsieur Croche]

With this I agree, but my point was that no revival takes place in a vacuum, out of the blue sky: someone wake up in the morning and say "Hey, it would be nice to revive the music of X!". Behind every revival there is an underlying philosophy and aesthetics and since these are inextricably linked to their time, someone´s living exactly in the time he lived does have an influence on his ideas and actions, including whose music to wipe the dust off.

I'm sure part of what you say might be true.

I think you well know that despite being a child of his time, Mendelssohn was a hard-core classicist as per his personal aesthetic and musical M.O. I mean, at his most 'romantic' sounding, his works are about as romantic as Schubert's music up through his first two symphonies, which is to say, markedly classical.

I may have been mistaken about your fervor in attributing something innate to romanticism as being a prime reason to have Mendelssohn thinking to bring Bach into public awareness.

If I was not mistaken, using that rationale and armed with the undeniable fact that Mendelssohn was a classicist who happened to live in the romantic era, I think it is just as possible and far more plausible to attribute Mendelssohn's interest in 'bringing back Bach' [he also revived more than a little of the near to moribund Beethoven] to classicism.

I know, classicism is not nearly as warm, fuzzy, or as sexy as, romanticism, but, there it is.

[71 dB]

If it weren't for a small number of devotees, Bach probably would be about as famous now as Myslivecek is today.

For some reason Myslivecek never had such devotees.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

For some reason Myslivecek never had such devotees.

Hmm...perhaps Kraus would have been a better comparison.

[Florestan]

Mendelssohn was a hard-core classicist as per his personal aesthetic and musical M.O. I mean, at his most 'romantic' sounding, his works are about as romantic as Schubert's music up through his first two symphonies, which is to say, markedly classical.

Whatever you say.

If I was not mistaken, using that rationale and armed with the undeniable fact that Mendelssohn was a classicist who happened to live in the romantic era, I think it is just as possible and far more plausible to attribute Mendelssohn's interest in 'bringing back Bach' [he also revived more than a little of the near to moribund Beethoven] to classicism.

I know, classicism is not nearly as warm, fuzzy, or as sexy as, romanticism, but, there it is.

Yawn.

[starrynight]

If it weren't for a small number of devotees, Bach probably would be about as famous now as Myslivecek is today.

Unless Bach's music had been thrown away before it could be rediscovered I think there was always a chance of rediscovery.  Even in recent times lots of names have been unearthed from earlier periods, it's just limited by whether the music is available anymore or not.

As for why Mendlessohn in particular wanted to revive JS Bach, well you could just as much say why were earlier composers like Mozart or Beethoven interested in Bach.  And romanticism could be considered a fuzzy term with ideas that go back before the nineteenth century anyway, as has been expressed here before. 

[Monsieur Croche]

As for why Mendlessohn in particular wanted to revive JS Bach, well you could just as much say why were earlier composers like Mozart or Beethoven interested in Bach.

As performers, it seems neither Mozart or Beethoven saw fit to play any Bach in a public concert.

Many a musician, post Bach, was completely aware of Bach, just as they were as aware of Fux and Palestrina ~ all well known contrapuntists, all were used to study counterpoint.

Beethoven's piano teacher had the younger student Beethoven regularly working from the Well-Tempered Clavier. By going through these, since they are some of the knottier and technically problematical keyboard works, a lot of technique is secured. When composing his Missa Solemnis, Beethoven studied a score by Palestrina.

Mozart learned modal counterpoint after the manner of Fux and Palestrina, in his mid to late teens while studying at the Academy in Rome. Mozart knew nothing of Bach until the latter part of his brief life, when Baron Gottfried van Swieten, a patron of the arts and a friend of Mozart, showed Mozart some Bach scores.

It was the general public who were mostly unaware of Bach.

Mendelssohn was from a highly intellectual family who valued scholarship, and it can be guessed from that, they also valued history and great works of the past; this was not the usual mental climate, general or familial, of the times. 

It was Mendelssohn's grandmother who gave him a copy The Saint Matthew Passion, which was at the time nearly all but forgotten, and four years later, and 79 years after Bach's death, Mendelssohn conducted the work in a public concert.

[starrynight]

In earlier periods like the classical period I'm not sure there was that much interest in older music in general anyway, the public wanted new things to hear.  And importantly performing editions of older works weren't available as much as later.  I don't think there was that much interest in Vivaldi until a whole load more of his missing works were found in the 20th century.

[James]

By this token, your beloved Stockhausen is a failure too. 

I can agree with that, but less so than Carter and many of the others mentioned earlier. Some of his innovations are key to the century (i.e. surround sound, electronic music). In fact, most 20th century classical music has been swept under the carpet, much of it is too complicated or overtly intellectual for regular music lovers, who tend to focus on surface & expression above the musical plane. Then there is the issue of length. That is the truth, I'm afraid.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

I can agree with that, but less so than Carter and many of the others mentioned earlier. Some of his innovations are key to the century (i.e. surround sound, electronic music). In fact, most 20th century classical music has been swept under the carpet, much of it is too complicated or overtly intellectual for regular music lovers, who tend to focus on surface & expression above the musical plane. Then there is the issue of length. That is the truth, I'm afraid.

What did Carter fail at btw? Getting his music performed and recorded? Creating and individual style based on a unique way of treating melody, harmony and rhythm? What?

[Monsieur Croche]

What did Carter fail at btw? Getting his music performed and recorded? Creating and individual style based on a unique way of treating melody, harmony and rhythm? What?

Lol. Carter failed to please James, "pure and simple."