With increased use of instruments, structures arose that created balance, unity, and coherence. These ideals carried through the Baroque and gave its music the characteristics that set it apart from music of the past. Pieces were written in movements, and those movements each had a dominating affect, creating a unifying idea throughout the piece. There were also single musical ideas that were given focus in each of these movements, and were expanded on to create interest in the piece. Key areas were developed and harmonic structure became very clean cut, with specific ways to write in certain genres or styles. (These later became the rules we know today for counterpoint.)
I would like to focus on J.S. Bach. A composer who was so influential to, not only this time period in music, but to the entirety of music history itself. It is impossible to appropriately say and learn all there is to know about Bach during a few minutes in class- and even impossible in one semester. I graduated from Baldwin Wallace Conservatory from my undergrad. This music school is very special in that we have the oldest collegiate Bach Festival in the nation. Each year in March and April, the orchestra and choir prepares one of Bach's four main works: "The Christmas Oratorio, The St. John Passion, The B Minor Mass, and The St. Matthew Passion". Professional soloists join the orchestra for a weekend filled with performances of the main work, cantatas and instrumental works by Bach and other works by Bach's contemporaries. I was fortunate enough to perform in three of the main works as well as numerous cantatas by Bach. It was so great being taught how to play in the style in which his music was written. I feel so fortunate to have had that training. It is rare in music schools these days. I also was able to take a semester-long seminar on Bach during my senior year. BW has an extensive Bach Library with a full copy of the Bach Journal and even manuscripts with Bach's original handwriting on them. If you are ever near Cleveland, I highly suggest stopping by campus to see this.
I definitely was taught the importance of Bach simply by attending BW. I had a very large appreciation for Bach before my undergrad, but now it is a full out love affair. Every musician, no matter what genre they specialize in, should learn about Bach and his genius.
Bach held many church jobs during his lifetime and the majority of his music was mainly sacred music. There has always been a debate over whether or not Bach was truly a spiritual person...or if he was in fact just writing music for his employers. My favorite quote (not only by Bach, but by anyone) is:
“The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.”
-J.S. Bach
I don't know if someone would have said that if it weren't part of their beliefs. I'll just settle on the idea that Bach was extremely fortunate to write music in praise of God and also to make money doing so. I'd be content.
He perfected the styles of the time in his music. (Except opera-but his choral/orchestra works are so magnificent that I don't think anyone is whining that he didn't write opera.) His music is pleasing aesthetically, spiritually, analytically, and technically; so that even if one who studies his music is not religious, they can still relate and find unity with it. That was definitely a development of music in itself during music history.
There is so much music of Bach's that I could just go on and on about. I will share some of my favorite movements here. I hope you can find the same joy and excitement in this music as I do. Even simply the feeling it gives me when listening is enough to justify my love for it.
This first piece relates very directly to our studies thus far in class. It is Bach's cantata BWV 80 "Ein Feste Burg". Sound familiar? Yup, it's written based on Luther's chorale tune from 1529.
Enjoy the first movement: (ps: Phillipe Herreweghe's interpretation of Bach is AWESOME...in my opinion..!)
Another piece I absolutely love is his Magnificat BWV 243. I performed this with a Bach Festival in Cochabamba, Bolivia in 2010. It was a great experience to say the least. Here's a picture from that. (I'm in the back left corner....the only blonde...easy to spot....)
Here's a link to the sixth movement....an aria between the tenor and alto.
The text is "et misericordia eius in progenies et progenies timentibus eum." which translates to and "his mercy [continues ] from generation to generation for those who fear him". Note the affect of this movement and how it represents the text. Also, pay attention to the bass line. Note how much it has developed (and also just how plain epic it is. Good speakers are recommended.)
Finally, I want to share an arrangement of a fugue. I first heard this piece when I was a wee child playing an old computer game on my cool Windows 95 computer. It was called Sim Tunes. You basically placed little pixels on a blank screen and assigned different "bugs" to run over them and make different sounds. Does anyone know this game? It was so fun. This fugue was one of the pre-made songs on the game. I had a field day when I realized it was Bach I had been hearing all that time!
Leonard Slatkin – Bach - Fugue a la gigue in G major (arr. of BWV 577)
One last thing. We all know how great the Messiah is and I am glad we were able to discuss it in class. Just wanted to share another one of my favorite albums (another being the Sting John Dowland album). This is an album that I heard during the entirety of my childhood. My parents played it all the time and I have very vivid memories of my siblings and me dancing insanely around my living room to the first piece on the album. The album is entitled "Handel's Messiah: A Soulful Celebration". It was performed by black musicians and the first movement (the equivalent of the Sinfonia) is entitled "Overture: A partial history of black music". Take a listen!
It's so great.
Also, listen to the first minuet of this:
And then listen to this:
And with that, welcome back to the 90's. Handel and Bach...they live on.
Thanks for reading!
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