One scene in Ingmar Bergman's Persona made me realize just how moving Bach could be: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx9iW3bOBhs
Or try the start of the St. Matthew Passion, imagining Christ carrying the cross up Golgotha: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6As1Pvz-mHs
I still remember where I was when I first time I saw the piano partitas (BWV 825-830) performed. Gould playing the one in C minor moves me about as much as any music, along with some of the others you mentioned.
Bach's compositions are unquestionably beautiful and technically brilliant, but not all of his music was written to stir an audience. He composed in a different time and for different reasons than the classical composers that came after him.
“The purpose of art is not the release of a momentary ejection of adrenaline but rather the gradual, lifelong construction of a state of wonder and serenity.”
― Glenn Gould
The Goldberg Variations is a good starting point because it evolves gradually to builds in complexity. And it was designed to relax, so it's a perfect companion for a long session of coding.
Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor (BWV 582). Actually, just the Passacaglia.
Re:Can any composer equal Bach?
by notyourwork on Saturday March 10, 2018 @12:31PM
(#16559320)
I don’t agree, music is art and subject to interpretation to different people in different ways.
What about the pieces for solo cello (BWV 1007-1008)? The Goldberg Variations? The solo violin sonatas (BWV 1001-1006)? His motets (e.g. BWV 227) and cantatas (too many to mention)? Or the Matthäus Passion (BWV 244)? Most people would also mention the Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major (BWV 1068, more famously known as "Air on the G string"). Then, for sheer awesomeness, his Mass in B Minor (BWV 232) is hard to beat.
That said, aside from some of the above pieces, Bach is often too dense, complex and (heh) baroque to be truly moving. The beauty of many of his pieces are in their construction, not in their ability to give you goosebumps.