The Greatest Composer That Ever Lived

Johann Sebastian Bach was born today in Germany in 1685. I know it's just my opinion, but I think he's the greatest composer of all time. I don't say this lightly. If you've read my previous blogs, you know how much I like the music of so many other composers, especially Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin... and the list goes on.

But if I had to choose only one composer whose music I could listen to for the rest of my life exclusively, I think I'd have to say Johann Sebastian Bach. In fact, when I was young, I went through a phase where I disliked listening to anything else (I think around age 7 to 9). I was in love with the music of Bach and I couldn't get enough, nor did I need any other music. My musical tastes have obviously widened since then, but I still come back to Bach as my "first love" in classical music. I owe this in large part to my oldest brother, who taught me to love Bach when I was very young (thanks, Tim!). I'm doing my best to pass down this love of good music to my beautiful 20-month-old daughter. I have little plastic classical composer statuettes that I gave to her to play with. Her favorite is Bach. She says "Ock! Ock!" and runs and gets the little Bach statuette, then runs over to the CD player and says "Ano! Ano!" Translation: "I want to hear some Bach piano music, please!" Which, of course, means hearing Glenn Gould play, since I mostly have his recordings of Bach.



What do I love so much about the music of this composer? One of my piano teachers said, "Throughout all of Bach's music, there is an inner joy." His music has so much substance, order, and stability. There is also great emotional depth, though the emotion is under control. There is also great intellectual satisfaction from his music. The more you study it, the more you realize how expertly it is put together, and marvel at the symmetry of form. Bach was a master improviser at the keyboard. This plays out in many of his works, where his improvisatory skill leads to so much beauty and diversity.

I'd like to highlight his best. He wrote so much music (over 1000 works), and so much of it is just so good!

For solo keyboard:

OK, so before I list his solo keyboard works, I have to say something about a certain pianist who was very influential in my life, and particularly in regard to my love of the music of Bach. The Canadian pianist Glenn Gould deserves a separate blog entry, but for now, briefly, Glenn was sort of a personal musical hero of mine growing up. He was highly eccentric, yet highly articulate and intellectual. His playing of Bach was out of this world, although sometimes controversial. His impeccable timing and clean playing (where every note can be heard with precision) is stunning. Critics may say this can lead to an overly mechanical sound, but hey, nobody can have it all. I'll be drawing heavily from his playing in the following links.

- The Well-Tempered Clavier (2 books of 24 Preludes and Fugues in every key, both major and minor). This has been called the "Old Testament" for pianists (the "New Testament" being Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas). Here's the Bb minor Fugue from Book II, B Major Prelude and Fugue from Book II

- The Goldberg Variations - perhaps Bach's finest solo keyboard work (in my opinion). It begins with a slow aria, transcendently beautiful in its simplicity, followed by an amazing set of 30 variations. Every 3rd variation (except for the last) is a "canon" (where the melody is repeated exactly, note for note, one measure after the melody begins, and trails the initial melody for the duration of the whole piece). Canons are difficult enough to write and not sound forced, but Bach steps it up a notch. The first canon (3rd variation) is a "traditional" canon (with each note exactly repeated), but each successive canon increases the interval at which the notes are repeated. For example, the second canon (variation 6) is done with an interval of a 2nd, the third canon (variation 9) with an interval of a 3rd, the fourth canon (variation 12) with the interval of a 4th, and so on until variation 27, which has an interval of a 9th. I listened to these variations from the womb, and didn't realize this until I played and studied them in my teens, when I was completely blown away with the symmetry and intellectual depth to the piece. Even if one is completely unaware of all these things, though, this piece remains one of the most uplifting and satisfying works to listen to of all time.

Glenn Gould was sort of responsible for reviving this piece in the mid-20th century. He did the unthinkable and made it his debut recording in 1955. Usually pianists would save little-known, bold, difficult pieces to record when they are well-established and well-loved by critics and the public, but Gould made it his first recording, and pulled it off. Now over 50 years later, this recording still remains a sensation. Before Gould, this piece was played slowly, with all of the repeats (making it last 90 minutes or so). Gould sped through in 38 minutes with no repeats, shedding off the drudgery of previous recordings and catapulting the work into popularity. Gould recorded the piece a second time in 1981, playing it very, very differently. I personally don't like it as much, but it is interesting nonetheless.

Here's the last few variations from Gould's 1981 recording.

- Partitas - here's a great clip of Glenn Gould practicing the opening movement of Partita No. 2 at his home. And here's a later clip of him playing the very feeling opening of Partita No. 6.

- Toccatas - these tend to be more free-form than his other works, with lots of improvisatory material, slow and fast sections alternating, and full of emotion. Here's a fine version of the C minor Toccata, part 1 and part 2.

- Inventions and Sinfonias (2 and 3-part variations) - these are easier pieces to play, often played by young people learning how to play the piano. They are not any less masterful in a capable pianist's hands, though. Here's a very fast-tempo version of the popular Invention 13, and a very beautiful Sinfonia No. 2.

- French Suites - for variety, here's the Gigue of the G major (5th) suite, played on harpsichord, which is probably mostly what Bach intended for his keyboard works to be played on.

- English Suites - here's a clip of one of the more well-known movements of the suites, the Gavotte from the G minor (3rd) suite.

- Art of the Fugue (for organ) - Bach's last work, not quite completely finished. An extremely cerebral work devoted to the fugue form. It is a set of fugues and canons based around one subject, varied in every possible way you could imagine (and more!). Here's Glenn Gould waxing eloquent about the piece. There is a lot of chromaticism in Bach, and in the last fugue (which is not quite finished), there are parts that sound as if they could have been written by a 20th-century composer. The very last subject introduced in the last (unfinished) fugue (there are 4 subjects in that massive fugue alone!), is the note-pattern "b - a - c - h" (b = B-flat in German, and h = B-natural in German). So Bach was signing his name to the work he knew would sum up his life (Gould comments on this in the clip). Here's Gould playing the end of the last fugue until it abruptly breaks off. Bach's last musical words... it's a rather emotional experience to listen to this! Here's the opening fugue played on organ.

For other solo instruments:

- Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin - 6 suites total: the last movement of the 2nd partita is one of Bach's finest works, called "Chaconne" (or "Ciaconna"). Here is composer Johannes Brahms' comments on the work: "On one stave, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings. If I imagined that I could have created, even conceived the piece, I am quite certain that the excess of excitement and earth-shattering experience would have driven me out of my mind." Chaconne was originally written for solo violin, as seen here, part 1 and part 2. The piece has also been transcribed for solo lute/guitar, as heard here. Several composers have made arrangements of it for other instruments, including Brahms' left-hand piano version, and Busoni's very grandiose piano transcription.

- Suites for solo cello - all delightful pieces. The opening movement of Suite No. 1 is a very beautiful introduction to these pieces. The Prelude of Suite No. 5 is a very intensely emotional piece, probably my favorite of them all. Here's a stunning recording of the pieces that I'd highly recommend done by Cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

- Suites for solo lute (guitar) - many great pieces here. I listened to them growing up, as my other older brother played many on the guitar. Some of them were transcribed by Bach from the solo violin or solo cello suites, but they have a very different character on guitar. Here's the opening movement of the E Major suite (originally for violin), played by world-renown guitarist John Williams.

For Orchestra or Ensemble:

- Brandenburg Concertos - 6 concertos written for small- to medium-sized ensembles of instruments. These are some of Bach's most popular, and for good reason. They are all very uplifting, full of highly satisfying melodies and harmonies, and each one features a different (or several different) instruments, with frequent solos. Here's Concerto No. 4, Movement 1, 2, and 3, and here's Concerto No. 5 Movement 1, 2, and 3.

- Orchestral Suites - another high quality set of pieces (4 total), written for large ensemble. Here's the Overture from Suite No. 1, my favorite orchestral suite.

- Keyboard Concertos - Concerto in D minor, 1st movement - another stunning performance by a young Glenn Gould. And here's a concerto for 3 keyboards (played on harpsichords), first movement.

- Violin Concertos - there are several, some of which are the same as the keyboard concertos. One of my favorites is a concerto for violin and oboe - this has some really beautiful melodies and amazing interplay between the two solo instruments. Here's movements 1, 2, and 3. Movement #2 is especially moving (no pun intended).

For Voice/Orchestra:

Bach wrote a lot of music for the church. This is just a brief highlight of some of it. He was a committed Christian, and signed all of his music "Soli Deo Gloria (To God be the Glory)".

- St. Matthew Passion - written to the chapters 26 and 27 of the Gospel of Matthew, this focuses on the passion of Christ (his death and suffering). If this piece were in English instead of German, I'd probably listen to it more. Even so, I enjoy the music greatly. One of the themes running throughout, sung by the chorus multiple times, is the same theme used in the Christian hymn "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded". Here is the beautiful common theme running throughout, used for the aforementioned hymn. Here is the opening movement, and the last movement.
- Cantatas - Here's some introductory commentary by Glenn Gould and a performance of Cantata No. 54. Another Cantata includes the famous "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring", played here in a beautiful arrangement. Another favorite from the Cantatas is "Sheep May Safely Graze", played here.

This is only a small portion of Bach's wonderful music. He was a man truly gifted by God who wrote beautiful, uplifting music that draws me closer to the One who created him, and Who created all music.