Sign In/Register




You are here: Home » Articles » Three Reasons Why Johann Sebastian Bach is Worth Listening Today


Three Reasons Why Johann Sebastian Bach is Worth Listening Today

Posted on: September 24, 2011

The first and probably the foremost reason is that Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750) was a German composer of the 1st rank who came from a family of musicians. In other words the man has an outstanding musical pedigree.

If one will hire or avail himself of any service today, then an expert or specialist will definitely be a good choice. In the same token, anyone who wants good music will not regret listening to a great master who can really make one's innermost being or soul deeply benefit in the long run. With Bach, there is an affirmation of the truth that music is the language of the soul.

Johann Sebastian Bach was the youngest child of Johann Ambrosius Bach who was himself a musician and who taught the young Bach how to play the violin and harpsichord. Several of Johann's uncles played as professional musicians in churches and court chambers. In fact Bach learned organ music from an uncle too. Bach proudly recognized his musical lineage and drafted his family's great (musical) genealogy which he called: "Origin of the musical Bach Family."

Orphaned at an early age of 10, the young Bach was taught music by his elderly brother Johann Ambrosius who was a church organist. Bach formally studied music and was exposed to German, French, and Italian masters. He sang in the choir and played the organ and harpsichords. In addition to music he probably received a good grounding in various academic subjects like theology, history, and Latin and must have rubbed elbows in school with the sons of distinguished noblemen in Germany. Bach later on played his music in many of the famous cities in Germany. In short, Bach – even mundanely speaking, was among one of the wolves during his time.

The second reason has something to do with Bach's great original musical compositions which are highly praised for their pristine profundity, mastery of contrapuntal musical technique, and baroque artistry.

Pianist Simone Dinnerstein commenting on the music of Bach said that "…when I hear it I feel … clean. There is something about the depths of his writing that reflects, like a crystal, all different kinds of light and it's just very unusual to find a composer who does that. Bach's music feels like it comes from the ground and goes to the sky…"

Bach composed the following which could send one to the heights of profound inner pleasure: The Brandenburg Concertos, Goldberg Variations, Partitas, the Well-Tempered Clavier, Mass in B minor, St. Matthew Passion, St John Passion, Magnificat, A Musical Offering, The Art of fugue, English and French suites, Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, Cello Suites, hundreds of Cantatas and a number of organ pieces like the Toccata and Fugue in D minor, Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes, and Organ Mass.

The third reason – and probably the most significant, has something to do with our Christian identity. Bach was undeniably a Christian composer who made his music for God.  He was a Lutheran protestant, and indeed there was much "faith" in his music.  With temerity we can even say that his compositions were sacred.

In our present time when there are so many ungodly sentiments - inordinately unleashed via secularism and other rebel causes that whimsically take God out of the human equation, the great Bach reminds us of the truth that all our talents really come from God and that even with 7  musical notes we ought to glorify Him in return with all those beautiful concertos and fugues and chorals.

American Pianist Simone Dinnerstein was right in saying that Bach was clean, clean in the sense that his music was Godly as reflected in his major works. And like a tree that is planted in a nearby brook, his music has become a practical and relatively inexpensive but fruitful solace for one who has opted to seek the Godly paths of righteous living and inner serenity –  both experienced while listening to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.

 

 


Source: www.articlesbase.com

Powered by Epik