Monday, February 21, 2011

Singing With Planets

Bach is like an astronomer who finds the most wonderful stars.

Frederic Chopin
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I know that most of the readers to my humble blog are not classical music lovers. If you are then you know about Johann Sebastian Bach, (1685 - 1750). Today is his birthday.

I like to say that Bach was not inspired the way Mozart, Beethoven and others were. Bach was music. Music flowed out of him like breath. He was the inspirer, the inspiration for all music that followed him.

Even if you aren't a music lover or just a Rock fan, if you can do it and haven't really listened to at least some of the music he wrote you must consider your life incomplete, at least as far as music, and all that it implies, is concerned.

Here, thanks to Krissy Knox, is the Bach Cantata #131. Enjoy the brief lecture before it, by the conductor. Then listen. Listen into it, deeply, not just to it. It's in three parts, so click to the next part as shown on the screen.

There are some amazing things happening. Both the bass and tenor solos are accompanied by a quiet descant from the chorus, something that rarely happens. The second chorus has music that could have been written in the 20th Century. The tenor solo is accompanied by a solo bass violin. Imagine that. And the final chorus is bright and lively, and very modern.
It's not just beautiful music, it's cosmic.
Enjoy
DB
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http://youtu.be/_JY2RsBYSEM
J S Bach - cantata BWV 131- Aus der Tiefen - Ton Koopman ( 1 )
lecture on: explanation of Bach composing the music to Psalm 131 after the fire

http://youtu.be/GmNuL-mSPeQ
J S Bach - cantata BWV 131- Aus der Tiefen - Ton Koopman ( 2 )

http://youtu.be/cU-xnyHWy2U
J S Bach - cantata BWV 131- Aus der Tiefen - Ton Koopman ( 3 )

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Weekend Contest Results

HELL'S BELLS
Last weekend people had fun with the ball.
This weekend let's play with the bells

It was a close race with three excellent entries but, a new contestant, my very own Niece, Lora, came through at the eleventh hour (actually at the 11:55 hour) with the most bells on. She gets the grand prize, a replica of the Liberty Bell in marshmallows. Good going Lora

DB

1 comment:

Big Mark 243 said...

Will check the music out posthaste!!