Re:Can any composer equal Bach?
by _emacsomancer_ on Saturday March 10, 2018 @12:17AM
(#16557214)
Adams also wrote: "The familiarity of the Brandenburgs should not blind us to their magnitude. I’m convinced that Bach is the greater genius who ever walked among us, and the Brandenburgs are what he wrote when he was happy."
The article describes an agnostic man being drawn to faith by Bach's music. I am no Christian, but this is my own experience as well. Douglas Adams is correct.
I'm a Mozart (and Haydn) fan and this quote is still correct. I prefer the humanist approach to music of the late 1700s over Bach's. They're all great though :-)
Re:Can any composer equal Bach?
by stagbeetle on Friday March 09, 2018 @10:49PM
(#16556991)
And Vivaldi reminds you what it's like to be a child again.
I can feel extreme sublime elevation from form few pieces of music I'm completely familiar with. One is Bach's Goldberg Variations (Glenn Could's first faster recording is my favorite) and another is "He Loved Him Madly" from Miles Davis (there are few others). In all cases it fist happens after I listen nothing but the same piece over and over again maybe 10-15 times in a period of week.
It's amazing feeling. Something just clicks.
But the experience is different from different pieces of music. Miles Davis is expressing something based on humanity. Bach is, like you said, something else that transcends everything.
As a musician, I understand this. It's our goal as musicians to channel and convey emotion. Bach channels something much greater than himself or myself or ourselves. It's really incredible. His music sounds vast.