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Post by jk on Mar 12, 2021 8:57:04 GMT -5
I know, don't tell me, the topic title… Well it was either that, In The Bach of My Mind, Bach Home or (ahem!) Brian's Bach. The fact is, there is a lot more to the name Bach than just good old Johann Sebastian. Considered by many to be the greatest composer who ever lived, JSB had quite a few musical sons, of which four were reputable composers, and at least two music-writing cousins. I must confess to not being particularly familiar with the music of any of them -- a most unsatisfactory state of affairs, you will agree. So, as in the "Little Band scene" topic, I shall be feeling my way forward with the rest of you. This is what I'm listening to right now: the central "Andante" from Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's Cello Concerto in A Minor (Wq. 170), and most pleasant it is too on a rainy Saturday afternoon below sea level: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Philipp_Emanuel_Bach
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Post by jk on Mar 16, 2021 4:55:54 GMT -5
Without the Big Fella, there would be no CPE, JC, JCF or WF. I don't know how musical JSB's ancestors were, and, if so, whether anything of theirs has survived. I'll, um, look into it. Anyway, here's Bach the father's Fantasia in G Major (BWV 572), recorded in 1961 by arguably the greatest Bach interpreter on the organ of the past century, Marie-Claire Alain (1926–2013). Its central section (the part without the accompanying score) has the majesty and logical structure of a cathedral: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie-Claire_Alain
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Post by jk on Mar 18, 2021 13:11:51 GMT -5
Next up is J.N. Bach. His wiki page is so brief as to bear reproducing in full: " Johann Nicolaus Bach (or Johann Nikolaus Bach) (20 October [O.S. 10 October] 1669 – 4 November 1753) was a German composer of the Baroque period. "Johann Nicolaus was the eldest son of Johann Christoph Bach and the second cousin of Johann Sebastian Bach. He was educated at the University of Jena, where he later became organist. He was probably born at Eisenach, where his father was employed as a musician, attended the Eisenach Latin school until 1689, and was a student of the Jena city organist J.M. Knüpfer, a son of Sebastian Knüpfer; after an Italian sojourn in 1696, he became organist at the Stadtkirche and the Kollegiatkirche in Jena. He was influenced by Antonio Lotti. He later joined the Danish army. He then returned to Jena where he lived for the rest of his life. Few of his compositions survive. He was also a maker of harpsichords and organs. "Surviving pieces include a mass [see video], two chorale preludes on " Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g'mein" and a Singspiel Der jenaische Wein- und Bierrufer, this in the form of a quodlibet on Jena student traditions." [ Source]
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Post by jk on Mar 24, 2021 10:20:45 GMT -5
Next up (in any old order) is composer and organist Johann Christoph, the father of Johann Nicholaus in the previous post. Once again the wiki page is brief enough to reproduce (with the odd tweak) in full: "Johann Christoph Bach (baptised 18 December [O.S. 8 December] 1642 – 31 March 1703) was a German composer and organist of the Baroque period. He was born at Arnstadt, the son of Heinrich Bach, Johann Sebastian Bach's first cousin once removed and the first cousin of J.S. Bach's father, Johann Ambrosius Bach. He was also the uncle of Maria Barbara Bach, J.S. Bach's first wife and second cousin. Johann Christoph married Maria Elisabeth Wiedemann in 1667. They had seven children, including four sons who became musicians: Johann Nicolaus (10 October 1669 – 4 November 1753), Johann Christoph Jr. (29 August 1676 – 1738), Johann Friedrich (1682–1730), and Johann Michael (1685–unknown). He is not to be confused with Johann Sebastian Bach's son, Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach. "Johann Christoph had a reputation as a composer that was only equalled by that of Johann Sebastian within the Bach family during his lifetime. [source?] He was organist at Eisenach and later a member of the court chamber orchestra there. His brother, Johann Michael Bach (Johann Sebastian Bach's father-in-law and Maria Barbara's father), was also a composer. Some of the works were later attributed to Johann Sebastian, but were recently recognized as written by Johann Christoph. One of his most famous works is the cantata Meine Freundin, du bist schön, based on the Song of Solomon. "Despite his success as a musician, Johann Christoph experienced financial difficulties, which may have resulted in his not having been selected as the guardian of Johann Sebastian when the latter's parents died. Yet Johann Christoph found the money to have his portrait painted in oil several times, including the well-known portrait of him now on display in a Berlin museum. Johann Christoph was heavily in debt when he died at Eisenach, just ten days after his wife Maria died. "Johann Sebastian Bach described him in his Genealogy ( Ursprung, 1735) as 'the profound composer', thus hinting at his reputation, not just within the family, but within society." [ Source] This is his aria Es ist nun aus mit meinem Leben (no idea when it was written -- sorry!), sung at Baroque pitch by The English Baroque Soloists under John Eliot Gardiner:
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Post by jk on May 23, 2021 15:08:33 GMT -5
After languishing for almost two months, this thread is now back on the rails thanks to my favourite Dutch religious music programme. Yesterday it included two movements from this splendid Overture-Suite in D major by JSB's second cousin Johann Bernhard Bach (1676–1749), in this version by L'Acheron, directed by François Joubert-Caillet: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Bernhard_Bach
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Post by jk on Feb 19, 2022 4:52:03 GMT -5
Heard this work earlier today on Dutch radio by Johann Ludwig Bach (1677–1731), a third cuz to the Big Fella. It's "Quoniam tu solus sanctus: O Heiliger Geist, du höchstes Gut", the penultimate movement from his (to quote Wikipedia) "Kyrie–Gloria Mass in E minor, Missa super cantilena 'Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr', a.k.a. BWV Anh. 166, formerly attributed to Johann Nicolaus Bach. Short addition by J. S. Bach in his Leipzig copy of this composition. The text of the Gloria is partly in German: it intersperses the Latin text of the Gloria with, as cantus firmus, all four stanzas of 'Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr' (which is itself a paraphrase of the Gloria), a Lutheran hymn by Nicolaus Decius and Joachim Slüter." It is performed here (as it was this morning) by Ex Tempore directed by Florian Heyerick: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Ludwig_Bach
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Post by jk on Aug 21, 2022 16:44:21 GMT -5
This Saturday our weekly religious classical music programme featured the Bach family, something I would have thrown my hands up in horror at three years ago. Evidently, tastes change -- one sometimes requires a gentle nudge in this or that direction. Actually the first piece they played was [Arpeggio] in D Minor (WKO.205), a prelude for viola da gamba by the renowned gambist Carl Friedrich Abel (1723–1787), who although not related to the Bach family (as far as I can tell) had connections with various of its members throughout his life and so in the OP's eyes warrants a place in this thread. It's played here, as it was yesterday morning, by Lucille Boulanger: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Friedrich_Abel
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Post by jk on Aug 28, 2022 3:48:57 GMT -5
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Post by jk on Mar 2, 2024 16:25:46 GMT -5
Here's a family member from the Classical Era to add to the collection. Today I heard Johann Ernst Bach's mixed voice motet Aus der Tieffen on my favourite religious music programme on Dutch classical radio. The son of Johann Bernhard Bach, J.E. Bach (1722–1777) entered the Thomasschule in Leipzig in 1737, where he then became a pupil of his uncle Johann Sebastian Bach. Aus der Tieffen was sung then as now by Ensemble Polyharmonique under their director Andreas Küppers: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Ernst_Bach_II
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Post by jk on Mar 10, 2024 5:46:48 GMT -5
Getting back to the Big Daddy, I heard this fascinating arrangement of the aria "Erbarme dich! Lass die Tränen dich erweichen" from his cantata Ich armer Mensch, ich Sündenknecht (BWV 55). The use of a vibraphone sharply divided opinions among listeners to the programme. Thankfully, it's playing what Bach wrote, rather than jazzing it up, a tendency I detest. Well done, folks (folks being the Continuum ensemble with tenor Benedikt Kristjánsson). I'm sure ol' JSB would have loved this! Ich armer Mensch, ich Sündenknecht (recalcitrant wiki)
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Post by jk on Mar 11, 2024 17:11:00 GMT -5
First off, here are the four recordings that represent the absolute pinnacle of what the music of J.S. Bach means to me: – One by harpsichordist Pierre Hantaï (a JH recommendation): The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1– Two conducted by Sir Neville Marriner: The Art of Fugue & The Musical Offering– And this Juno 106 Synthesizer Modulation Remix: The Goldberg VariationsNow here's a fascinating page featuring (flourish of trumpets) the Bach Family Tree! www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Family-Tree.htmIt will be a great help in unearthing new musical Bachs for this thread. The following is a list, in chronological order of birth, of those already represented here. The dates are courtesy of Wikipedia: Johann Christoph Bach (bapt. 1642–1703) Johann Michael Bach (bapt. 1648–1694) Johann Nicolaus/Nikolaus Bach (1669–1753) Johann Bernhard Bach (1676–1749) Johann Ludwig Bach (1677–1731) Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710–1784) Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714–1788) Johann Ernst Bach (1722–1777) Johann Christian Bach (1735–1782)
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