# Bach as an inspiration



## gpaulot (Aug 14, 2013)

Does anybody know why Bach seems to be the biggest inspiration for all composers?
We know the transcription of Bach Choral by Busoni
Or the ave maria by Gounod.

Here is another one by Silosi.
Great interpretation by Emil Gilels





I do not see any composer having such a posterity.

Gabriel


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Bach is an inspiration to many great composers.

Mozart and Beethoven both turned to imitative counterpoint and fugue after studying Bach's music.
Mendelssohn's love of Bach is well-known.
Schumann arranged the solo violin and cello suites to include piano parts (in a move that baffles pretty much everyone today).
Gustav Mahler modeled the counterpoint in the first movement of his Eighth Symphony after one of Bach's cantatas.
Arnold Schoenberg transcribed Bach's "St. Anne" Prelude for orchestra: 



Anton Webern, Schoenberg's student, transcribed the Ricercar a 6 from A Musical Offering for orchestra.
Toru Takemitsu would play through the St. Matthew Passion before beginning a new work, if he lacked inspiration.


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

Bach had different kinds of influences in different periods (speaking generally). Some of his works--like the Art of Fugue, above all--had a pedagogical purpose. Early students--including composers until the Romantic period--seemed to use Bach primarily to learn counterpoint. Composers still study Bach to learn things, but he's also gotten into people's blood. Many have learned to see passion--and even mysticism--in Bach, and so allusions to his work can be more complicated and personal. Berg's use of Bach in his great Violin Concerto is an example.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Mahlerian said:


> Bach is an inspiration to many great composers.


No mention of Brahms? On Bach's Chaconne: "On one stave, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings. If I imagined that I could have created, even conceived the piece, I am quite certain that the excess of excitement and earth-shattering experience would have driven me out of my mind."


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

I find Bach to be quite inspiring; Emil, not so much.


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## gpaulot (Aug 14, 2013)

Thanks for this answers but my question is more around why Bach and not Mozart of Beethoven or Chopin.
Bach has been much more 'used' than any others.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Mahlerian said:


> Mozart and Beethoven both turned to imitative counterpoint and fugue after studying Bach's music.


So did Bartok, if I am not mistaken. E.g. the first movement from his _Music for strings, percussion and celesta_ is very Bach-like, in a Bartokish sort of way.


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## drpraetorus (Aug 9, 2012)

The reason for Bachs influence is that he combines the deep mental and theoretical aspects of music with the most emotionally moving and satisfying aspects of music. It is not easy to have a theoretically perfect construction that can move so deeply on the emotional side.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

brianvds said:


> So did Bartok, if I am not mistaken. E.g. the first movement from his _Music for strings, percussion and celesta_ is very Bach-like, in a Bartokish sort of way.


I see that movement as arising from the C# minor fugue in Bach's WTC Book I, as channeled through Beethoven's C# minor fugue, the first movement of the Op. 131 quartet. Of course I could be totally unhinged! But even if I am, that doesn't mean I'm wrong. :lol:


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

There are also Reger´s "Bach Variations" for piano (one of his major works), Liszt´s "Variations on Weinen, Klagen ..." for organ, and the obscure Rimsky-Korsakov´s "Variations on BACH" op.10 for piano.

In late 20th-century music - Gubajdulina´s 1st Violin Concerto and Lukas Foss:"Phorion" for orchestra, Denisov´s "Es Ist Genug"-variations for ensemble.



> I find Bach to be quite inspiring; Emil, not so much.


Concerning Gilels, it´s matter of investigating among the various recordings and finding the right ones. In Beethoven or the Liszt Sonata for instance, tempi and attitude can vary a lot.


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## Muddy (Feb 5, 2012)

drpraetorus said:


> The reason for Bachs influence is that he combines the deep mental and theoretical aspects of music with the most emotionally moving and satisfying aspects of music. It is not easy to have a theoretically perfect construction that can move so deeply on the emotional side.


Wow, this would be called Nailing It! Bravo!


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