I read something about both Bach and Handel being treated for failing eye-sight by an incompetent doctor, malpractice from whom may have led to their untimely blindness/deaths. Might be something that merits a video.
Having listened to some of the music of Dietrich Buxtehude, it seems clear that this was another large influence on Bach. On the other end, despite the lack of publication of most of Bach's music, he did have an influence on some succeeding composers -- not only his own composer children, but other underrated composers such as Johann Ludwig Krebs, and even much later composers such as Max Reger.
Very interesting stuff! I read John Eliot Gardiner's book about Bach, "Music in the Castle of Heaven", a few years ago; a very good read! One thing that stuck with me was that Bach, while working as a teacher, wasn't very happy that he had to teach other subjects than music. As far as I can remember, he even wrote a letter to his boss complaining about it. I take comfort in it when I have a hard time finding music work; even Bach had to do other jobs to make ends meet 😂
Haha, yes, it's true! He taught voice and general music instruction (I believe?) at the St. Thomas School, but teaching Latin was also supposed to be part of his job there, which he refused to do, even though it was one of the reasons he was hired since other candidates for the job also didn't want to teach Latin, haha! 😂
There is a story, possibly apocryphal, of Mozart, touring in northern Germany. The locals were really anxious that he should come and listen to something by their town composer. Apparently he had been through this before, and was not enthusiastic. But just to be polite, he went along to the church to hear the organ. And they weren't more than 5 or 6 bars into the piece before "his soul flew to his ears." Who IS this guy? He can teach ME!. The town was Leipzig.
Thank you, this is very interesting. Some things I did not know, i. e. the information about the BWV. Besides I was always a little bit surprised that Bach travelled very little (compared to Händel, who even lived in Italy and England). Bach seldom left Thüringen and Sachsen (Thuringia and Saxonia), which is about 100 km max.. Surprisingly he had no wish to get much influence from travelling.
Fascinating stuff, truly. While I gravitate toward more avant pop and avant rock music I am wondering if (by today's standards) if Bach borrowed heavily from other composers of the day ( don't want to say rip off).
As far as I know he didn't borrow extensively from other composers! He did sometimes rewrite or rework music by others into his own arrangements, such as with his keyboard arrangements of various works by Vivaldi, the two Marcellos, and other Italian composers, but he didn't really take bits of these pieces to insert into his own--he would just arrange the work as a whole. He also *did* borrow a lot from his own music, however, often reworking and re-texting arias and chorale movements from his cantatas and reusing them in other works, for example. Handel did this sort of reusing of his own material, too!
@@harpsichord Thanks, that is actually nice to know and borrowing from yourself only enforces a sort of signature sound. I appreciate your learned timely response. I have been into progressive forms of alt rock, post punk and such since the 80's and find myself wanting to delve (a bit) into some classical music for the first time in my life.
A obituary was published two years after he dies written by one of his sons and a close friend/ student of bach. It’s not hugely well known but I enjoyed reading it. Name is Bachs nekrolog which is another name for obituary
I heard this story once and I don't know if it's true, but in his early years, Bach lived as a lodger of a butcher, and when it was time to move, he couldn't carry all of his music so he left most of it there. The butcher found the sheet music and wrapped meat in it. 😁
I am not an expert regarding Bach’s life, but if I remember correctly, he was an orphan since the age of 11. Another interesting fact is that he learnt in a religious school, where the pupils were qualified to be a priests. I am not sure regarding the last thing...
The forgotten Bach came up again with the German Nationalism. He was used as a flag. The style of interpretation was romantic. Later the Nazis invented "Deutsch" as the style, Bach had to be played. This was not obviously propaganda, ist was just looked upon as modern and spread worldwide. Some decades after the war it changed to the authentic style.
I think this was the case toward the very end of his life, and I know he had eye surgery to try and correct it, but it went poorly and I believe he died from a subsequent infection caused by the surgery!
9, the vast majority of his music for key instruments, is written for single manual instrument. (which makes me think it is for clavichord). After having been fascinated by JBS for most of my life, I have the impression that for him music was his primary language. By which I mean that he did not have to realize, or hear music in order to know how it sounds. There simply is more to his music than any other music, that I know and understand. It is a joke to think about him as another Baroque composer. Of course he was a baroque composer, but that is not the most important aspect. Just so I don´t sound like a JSB fanatic, I over the last few years actually have grown some dislike of the person. He was a genius for sure, and never meet any that even came close to him and his abilities, but he did not appear to have any interest in the best thinkers of his time, that challenged the Church, and were developing the modern sciences ... this was simply lacking in his universe.
Not a lot of anecdotes about him. For instance, zero impressions from the audience. And he wrote very little himself about his music, I guess he thought it should speak for itself. A marker of his very high intelligence is that he refused to be controlled by the authorities. That's one factor why he never become famous, in contrast to Handel who sucked it up to royalty. This is evident in the way they treated his widow, they threw her out on the street where she died.
@@henrykwieniawski7233 Too good to be allowed to work for anyone else, but not good enough for decent working conditions or to be paid what he was worth. Yeah, the duke was a real sweetheart.
Bach's visit to Buxtehude in 1705 - Bach walked over 400 kilometres to see him - is endlessly fascinating, and recounted, in delightfully racy style, by Richard Townend in a 2015 lecture, 'Walking to Fame: Bach's Visit to Buxtehude'; transcript at: www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/walking-to-fame-bachs-visit-to-buxtehude (naturally, Bach got into trouble with the authorities by overstaying his leave).
@@spanishmasterpieces5203You're absolutely correct! According to google maps, the quickest route on foot from Arnstadt to Lübeck is actually only 381 km and takes 87 hours. Then again, it is possible that his phone ran out of charge, meaning he got lost along the way, bringing the total distance back up to around the 400 km mark.
What other questions do you have about Bach? What are you dying to know about the man, the myth, the legend?
I read something about both Bach and Handel being treated for failing eye-sight by an incompetent doctor, malpractice from whom may have led to their untimely blindness/deaths. Might be something that merits a video.
Did Bach ever get exposed to the Mandolin?
I’m interested in what he was like as a person. Is there any such evidence?
Having listened to some of the music of Dietrich Buxtehude, it seems clear that this was another large influence on Bach.
On the other end, despite the lack of publication of most of Bach's music, he did have an influence on some succeeding composers -- not only his own composer children, but other underrated composers such as Johann Ludwig Krebs, and even much later composers such as Max Reger.
Very interesting stuff! I read John Eliot Gardiner's book about Bach, "Music in the Castle of Heaven", a few years ago; a very good read! One thing that stuck with me was that Bach, while working as a teacher, wasn't very happy that he had to teach other subjects than music. As far as I can remember, he even wrote a letter to his boss complaining about it. I take comfort in it when I have a hard time finding music work; even Bach had to do other jobs to make ends meet 😂
Haha, yes, it's true! He taught voice and general music instruction (I believe?) at the St. Thomas School, but teaching Latin was also supposed to be part of his job there, which he refused to do, even though it was one of the reasons he was hired since other candidates for the job also didn't want to teach Latin, haha! 😂
This was great! Thank you for your wonderful videos!
Thank you so much for watching, Ruth!
That was excellent. Very informative! Love the narration style.
Cool keyboard, too. What is it?
Bach, the greatest of them all!
There is a story, possibly apocryphal, of Mozart, touring in northern Germany. The locals were really anxious that he should come and listen to something by their town composer. Apparently he had been through this before, and was not enthusiastic. But just to be polite, he went along to the church to hear the organ. And they weren't more than 5 or 6 bars into the piece before "his soul flew to his ears." Who IS this guy? He can teach ME!. The town was Leipzig.
Very nice video! Congrats and thanks!
Thanks so much! I'm so glad you liked the video!
Please keep making videos.
Thank you, this is very interesting. Some things I did not know, i. e. the information about the BWV. Besides I was always a little bit surprised that Bach travelled very little (compared to Händel, who even lived in Italy and England). Bach seldom left Thüringen and Sachsen (Thuringia and Saxonia), which is about 100 km max.. Surprisingly he had no wish to get much influence from travelling.
I love your narration style
Cool video!
Fascinating stuff, truly. While I gravitate toward more avant pop and avant rock music I am wondering if (by today's standards) if Bach borrowed heavily from other composers of the day ( don't want to say rip off).
As far as I know he didn't borrow extensively from other composers! He did sometimes rewrite or rework music by others into his own arrangements, such as with his keyboard arrangements of various works by Vivaldi, the two Marcellos, and other Italian composers, but he didn't really take bits of these pieces to insert into his own--he would just arrange the work as a whole. He also *did* borrow a lot from his own music, however, often reworking and re-texting arias and chorale movements from his cantatas and reusing them in other works, for example. Handel did this sort of reusing of his own material, too!
@@harpsichord Thanks, that is actually nice to know and borrowing from yourself only enforces a sort of signature sound. I appreciate your learned timely response. I have been into progressive forms of alt rock, post punk and such since the 80's and find myself wanting to delve (a bit) into some classical music for the first time in my life.
@@americanpancakelive After checking out some of the music of Dietrich Buxtehude, I would say that must have been a big influence.
A obituary was published two years after he dies written by one of his sons and a close friend/ student of bach. It’s not hugely well known but I enjoyed reading it. Name is Bachs nekrolog which is another name for obituary
I heard this story once and I don't know if it's true, but in his early years, Bach lived as a lodger of a butcher, and when it was time to move, he couldn't carry all of his music so he left most of it there. The butcher found the sheet music and wrapped meat in it. 😁
That’s horrible
So basically his work rate was🔥🔥🔥
I am not an expert regarding Bach’s life, but if I remember correctly, he was an orphan since the age of 11. Another interesting fact is that he learnt in a religious school, where the pupils were qualified to be a priests. I am not sure regarding the last thing...
I remain in denial about Bach’s cantata output.
The forgotten Bach came up again with the German Nationalism. He was used as a flag. The style of interpretation was romantic.
Later the Nazis invented "Deutsch" as the style, Bach had to be played. This was not obviously propaganda, ist was just looked upon as modern and spread worldwide. Some decades after the war it changed to the authentic style.
And he was almost blind, right?
I think this was the case toward the very end of his life, and I know he had eye surgery to try and correct it, but it went poorly and I believe he died from a subsequent infection caused by the surgery!
9, the vast majority of his music for key instruments, is written for single manual instrument. (which makes me think it is for clavichord).
After having been fascinated by JBS for most of my life, I have the impression that for him music was his primary language. By which I mean that he did not have to realize, or hear music in order to know how it sounds. There simply is more to his music than any other music, that I know and understand.
It is a joke to think about him as another Baroque composer. Of course he was a baroque composer, but that is not the most important aspect.
Just so I don´t sound like a JSB fanatic, I over the last few years actually have grown some dislike of the person. He was a genius for sure, and never meet any that even came close to him and his abilities, but he did not appear to have any interest in the best thinkers of his time, that challenged the Church, and were developing the modern sciences ... this was simply lacking in his universe.
Not a lot of anecdotes about him. For instance, zero impressions from the audience. And he wrote very little himself about his music, I guess he thought it should speak for itself. A marker of his very high intelligence is that he refused to be controlled by the authorities. That's one factor why he never become famous, in contrast to Handel who sucked it up to royalty. This is evident in the way they treated his widow, they threw her out on the street where she died.
I’m sorry, Bach went to jail?
Yup! He was so good, that when he attempted to leave his employer, he was imprisoned!
Bach wasn't a union member but he went on strike and was sent to jail for it.
haven't you ever heard of non-compete clauses?
@@henrykwieniawski7233 Too good to be allowed to work for anyone else, but not good enough for decent working conditions or to be paid what he was worth. Yeah, the duke was a real sweetheart.
Bach's visit to Buxtehude in 1705 - Bach walked over 400 kilometres to see him - is endlessly fascinating, and recounted, in delightfully racy style, by Richard Townend in a 2015 lecture, 'Walking to Fame: Bach's Visit to Buxtehude'; transcript at: www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/walking-to-fame-bachs-visit-to-buxtehude (naturally, Bach got into trouble with the authorities by overstaying his leave).
He didnt walk really 400 km.
@@spanishmasterpieces5203You're absolutely correct! According to google maps, the quickest route on foot from Arnstadt to Lübeck is actually only 381 km and takes 87 hours.
Then again, it is possible that his phone ran out of charge, meaning he got lost along the way, bringing the total distance back up to around the 400 km mark.