Justadad Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 I came across the following page which claims to have MP3s of the complete organ works, recorded "for Bach’s tricentennial in 1985 at St. John’s Cathedral in Albuquerque by Dr. Dennis Schmidt, former Artistic and Executive Director of the Bach Festival of Philadelphia." http://www.bach-fest.org/podcast.aspx#Schmidt I apologise if this has been posted here before. Best wishes J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazman Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Thank you. I sometimes wonder if the organ would be worth playing if we didn't have the works of JSB..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Lauwers Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Thank you. I sometimes wonder if the organ would be worth playing if we didn't have the works of JSB..... As if JSB had not existed, 98% of the music that followed would not have existed.... This would have left us with music from the Renaissance to Buxtehude, a neo-baroque paradise also... Pierre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusingMuso Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 As if JSB had not existed, 98% of the music that followed would not have existed....This would have left us with music from the Renaissance to Buxtehude, a neo-baroque paradise also... Pierre ========================== Why do you say that? There were others who did similar things, though perhaps not to same level of absolute perfection. Bach studied Pachelbel and French Music, and absorbed a lot of the Italian style, whilst other worked perhaps quite indpependently. Cernorhorsky in Bohemia is a good example, even if they did meet and play music together. Handel was his equal in so many ways; probably writing even more memorable tunes, and the Handel influence was enormous. One could easily take the hypothetical view that to blend Bruhns with the Italian school active in Germany, and then add a bit of French salt & pepper, would produce similar results, and besides, by the time of his death, Bach was considered old-hat and far too academic. Haydn derived from the Bohemian tradition, and Mozart at least as much likewise. Mozart's discovery of Bach could easily have been a similar discovery of Handel and some of his contemporaries. Now if we're talking about Mendelssohn, Brahms, Beethoven and Reger, then perhaps their works may not have been quite so technically brilliant so early on, but I feel sure that they would have produced great music nontheless. At his best, Reger could come close to matching Bach; albeit using quite different harmonies, but somehow, I doubt that the baroque would have washed over him if Bach had never existed. It begs an interesting question. Could Bach EVER have written Brahms' 4th symphony, even if he had been immersed in the harmonic language of the day? Somehow, I doubt it....but then....we'll never know! Next thing we know, someone will claim that Chopin wouldn't have been Chopin without an Irish composer! MM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Lauwers Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Yes MM, This is of course a "mechanical" view; if we remove a main bearing, the Spitfire roadster we're tinkering with will not start any more, despite a fully rebuild Lucas-queen-of-the-darkness electrical system. The role Bach had -to gather all styles of his period and end up with an unique synthesis- could have been achieved by others, probably a dozen guys tough. And it launched a process leading towards Max Reger (sooooo close to Bach!). Pierre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Ball Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 And it launched a process leading towards Max Reger (sooooo close to Bach!). Pierre Much as I (and other organists) enjoy Reger's music, those non-organist musicians who have actually heard of him hardly regard him worthy of the premier league. Bach's reputation is somewhat different! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vox Humana Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 That's interesting. I have been led to believe that his chamber music at least is very highly regarded by those who know it. Not quite the same thing as being premier league, to be sure. I must admit I have never been the slightest bit inclined to find out for myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprondel Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 That's interesting. I have been led to believe that his chamber music at least is very highly regarded by those who know it. Not quite the same thing as being premier league, to be sure. I must admit I have never been the slightest bit inclined to find out for myself. The chamber music, or much of it, positively is premier league (piano trios / quartets / quintets, string sextet, clarinet quintet ...). If you happen to be in a explorative mood, start with the op. 74 quartet (one of the Munich masterpieces, along with the variations op. 73 etc.). There is an absolutely wonderful, and unsurpassed, recording by the Philharmonia-Quartett Berlin (on Thorofon, Reger, Max: Streichquartett op. 74, EAN 4003913121165, CTH2116). Best, Friedrich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusingMuso Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 That's interesting. I have been led to believe that his chamber music at least is very highly regarded by those who know it. Not quite the same thing as being premier league, to be sure. I must admit I have never been the slightest bit inclined to find out for myself. ============================= I feel inclined (unusually) to quote one of my music lecturers, who said:- "Arriving at a critical, objective judgement does not start with liking or disliking something." On this basis, perhaps Herbert Howells really was a proper composer after all........over my dead body! MM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusingMuso Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Much as I (and other organists) enjoy Reger's music, those non-organist musicians who have actually heard of him hardly regard him worthy of the premier league. Bach's reputation is somewhat different! =================== I wouldn't get too upset by them. The same people seem to think that Brahms is out of fashion to-day! Just treat them as musical peasants! MM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusingMuso Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Yes MM, This is of course a "mechanical" view; if we remove a main bearing, the Spitfire roadster we're tinkering with will not start any more, despite a fully rebuild Lucas-queen-of-the-darkness electrical system. The role Bach had -to gather all styles of his period and end up with an unique synthesis- could have been achieved by others, probably a dozen guys tough. And it launched a process leading towards Max Reger (sooooo close to Bach!). Pierre ==================== That's SU carburettors and Lucas fuel-pumps for you! Mine was much better after the influence of Weber! MM PS: With a missing main-bearing, it would start, but it wouldn't run for very long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Maslen Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 ========================== 'Handel was his equal in so many ways; probably writing even more memorable tunes, and the Handel influence was enormous.' I always feel that Handel wrote more singable tunes than Bach, but that Bach was more adept at counterpoint. I love both, but had I to choose between them JSB would win the day - just - because as a recent BBC intro. put it, 'he gets under your skin in a way that Handel doesn't'. As regards his influence, every earlier act by anyone in any field of endeavour makes an impression on future generations. In many cases it will be very small, sometimes even negligable, but the influence is there nonetheless. For a start, JSB's championing of tempered tuning, coupled with the composition of so many superb pieces which demand such tuning, made later harmonic practice possible. Yes, I know he wasn't the only one, but such ideas gain ground far quicker in the hands of a genius than they do in the hands of more mundane, though still gifted, contemporaries. So yes, probably much of what followed would not & could not have happened as it did without JSB. I think. But as you say, we'll never know for sure. Regards to all John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Lauwers Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 ==================== That's SU carburettors and Lucas fuel-pumps for you! Mine was much better after the influence of Weber! MM So you'd even "better" a Triumph ??? Why not four Dell'Orto, then, like in an Alfa Romeo ? Just as a Ripieno in a Harrison, isn't it ? :) Pierre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusingMuso Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 So you'd even "better" a Triumph ???Why not four Dell'Orto, then, like in an Alfa Romeo ? Just as a Ripieno in a Harrison, isn't it ? :) Pierre ================= OK then.....4 X Amal. A high-lift race cam and you've got the same as a Sharp Cymbel on an Arthur Harrison! MM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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