Lots of lovely Bach, all familiar, played in today's programme. I enjoyed the music very much, but REALLY? The idea of the show was to link all of Bach with....agriculture. Did anyone else find this spurious? Sounds like a way-out PhD thesis to me!
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At first, I found the male voice a welcome change from Lucy Skeaping's. But as time went on I found the commentary very tiresome. As far as I know, there is no basis for linking JSB to agriculture, gardens, flowers , vegetation....Originally posted by ardcarp View Post
Music OK, however. -
I agree, was intrigued at first then I thought was this an elaborate spoof originally planned for April 1st - but the music was of course great and his radio voice was pleasant to listen to. But I'm no expert on Bach though I thought most if not all of his extended family were townsfolk.Originally posted by Quarky View PostComment
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It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.Comment
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.... "This project looks at musical metaphors that were operative in early eighteenth-century Lutheran Germany. I map these out as a constellation of pervasive tropes (music as liquid, as seed, as wind, and as heat) and thus understand musical listening as modes of engagement within these models (listening as bathing, drinking, farming, etc.). I explore the historical interactions of Lutheran congregants with performed music through the cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach. This thesis encourages a conception of Bach’s scores as documents of historical events in which the musical flows of a cantata performance were incorporated in the bodily and spiritual flows of listening congregants. My approach thus refines an understanding of historical listening to have constituted agential acts of devotional and corporeal reconfiguration... "
dontcha love doctoral abstracts!
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Well, actually, since you ask …Originally posted by vinteuil View Post
It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.Comment
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This thread might be an opportunity to suggest silly PhD abstracts.
However, one subject that has always fascinated me, and is not too silly I hope, is 'The use of repetition in the compositional process'. Once you've noticed it (e.g. whole four-bar sections played one after the other, maybe with a tweak at the end to lead somewhere else) it can get on your nerves. But those who've dabbled in composition will know that you have to use a lot of ink to write even a minute or two of music. Unless you're a minimalist of course....
So repetition has its uses.
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A real "treat" coming up on the 19th of January 2025... a repeat of "On Bach's Farm" - ei ei oh NO!!!!!!!!!!
With 20+ years of EMS to call upon - why pick this one?
I'd rather hear MS playing his Baroque violin, ideally with Rachel Podger at the Wigmore Hall in a restored Lunchtime Concert.Comment
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Gardiner's book on Bach's sacred choral works talks about the rhythm of the physical seasons as one of the formative influences on the young composer. Haven't checked the footnotes and it's earlier than Seow's published research, but they could have shared ideas in conversation.Comment
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Possibly, but, apart from the music, this was still not a great EMS. Was it "Music in the Castle of Heaven" chapter 9 "Cycles and Seasons"?Originally posted by mopsus View Post
Zipser's thesis “Pumpernickel as a factor in the politics of 16th century Westphalia” springs to mind...Comment
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I'm sure that Bach, like many people before the age of central heating and modern lighting, was very influenced by the changing seasons, and having to compose music for the revolving year of worship would have added to this. I expect this is a fairly commonplace idea that has occurred to many writers since the revival of the wider parts of Bach's output.Comment
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Wasn't there a dubious theory of some sort put forward by the disgraced Philip Pickett regarding the Brandenburg Concertos in his recording of them? I don't have the set and thus cannot look at the booklet notes but I seem to remember at the time various people finding his theory rather fanciful to say the least.Comment
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I have the CDs (in "The Baroque Era" box set) but not the notes, however the original booklet is viewable on Discogs...Originally posted by MickyD View Post
He does seem to read rather a lot in to them.
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Thank you! Interesting to see them in full. I'll take my time, looks like a lot to digest!Originally posted by AuntDaisy View PostComment
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