Herr Johann Sebastian Bach

[Robert Newman]

Hi there Margaret,

3 pieces to go still ! The next one is really majestic.

[Robert Newman]

2/4

J.S. Bach
Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major
BWV 1068/1
1st Movement (Overture)

The composer Mendelssohn did so much to revive interest in Bach's musical legacy in the 19th century after almost a century of neglect and described the opening movement to Orchestral Suite No. 3 in this way -

‘This seems to me a movement depicting the magnificent return of a much loved king down a grand staircase, news of which was met everywhere with great happiness’.

I'd heard this piece many times before I read Mendelssohn's remarks but have seen it the same way as him ever since. Noble, happy and majestic music from the incomparable Johann Sebastian Bach -

http://www.mediafire.com/?muwlmwn3zjd

[Robert Newman]

3/4

J.S. Bach
Violin Concerto in E Major (1723)
BWV 1042/2
Second Movement - Adagio e sempre piano

In this marvellous Adagio to Bach's E Major violin concerto (which follows a happy, dance-like first movement) we are unexpectedly confronted with the atmosphere of a tragedy which has somehow recently struck and which is generally felt, the news of which is first presented by the orchestra in a theme which could almost come from mediaeval times. It returns over and over. The theme itself is grim, forbidding, authoritarian and even menacing but it forms the context for the entrance of the soloist on a single sustained note and on what is played by the soloist throughout the rest of the whole movement. So great is the tragedy the violinist emerges only slowly from it - as if he/she is glad to realise they’ve survived. The orchestra reveals the nature of its theme only at the end of the movement, as it dies in a cadence so much like that of church music itself. The rest of the movement is the individual (the violinist) coming to terms with this broken environment with glimpses of highly personal hope. It is shattering, amazing music.

Note how, (around 3’ 04’’ on this particular recording, for example - the very centre of the movement) the soloist finds the strength to look hopefully upwards for a few moments before the general mood of the movement returns.

http://www.mediafire.com/?n2yzhhzdtmw

[Robert Newman]

4a/4
And finally two arias, the first being -

J.S. Bach
Cantata No. 20 (Leipzig, 1724)
‘O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort I’
Aria
‘Gott ist gerecht in seinen Werken’
BWV 20/5
Bass Soloist - Klaus Mertens
Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
Conductor - Ton Koopman

http://www.mediafire.com/?jlfynzzodmm

Erato

''Gott ist gerecht in seinen Werken:
Auf kurze Sünden dieser Welt
Hat er so lange Pein bestellt;
Ach wollte doch die Welt dies merken!
Kurz ist die Zeit, der Tod geschwind,
Bedenke dies, o Menschenkind! ''

[Robert Newman]

And here to end this short thread on Bach is the beautiful Prelude and Fugue in C Sharp Major, from the '48 Preludes and Fugues' -

J.S. Bach
Prelude and Fugue in C Sharp Major
BWV 848
Pianist - Sviatoslav Richter

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-c8WG...eature=related

//

[Robert Newman]

Not forgetting -

J.S. Bach
Opening Chorus
Magnificat in D Major
BWV 243
Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Soloists
Conductor - Ton Koopman
Live Performance - Leipzig

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo1x-6...eature=related

[marval]

Hi Robert,

Thank you for all the Bach you have shared with us. I have been having an enjoyable time listening to it all.


Margaret

[Robert Newman]

Thanks Margaret !