# J. S. Bach - the Three Hour Taster.



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Hi - I'm on to Bach in my project of listening to each Baroque composer on the Wiki short list. My aim (apart from enjoyment) is to have a mind-map of the way that baroque music developed between 1600 and 1760. And a bonus is to hear other people's opinions and observations. 

I've heard and even played quite a lot of Bach over the yesrs. He is my husband's and my East Anglian fiddle teacher's favourite, though I myself tend to prefer Handel and Vivaldi, as well as composers such as Purcell and Lully. 

Do you have any suggestions for a Bach Taster, a sample which includes his excellence in different genres, but which is not going to take me years to accomplish? i don't have that time, now I'm a third-ager. 

Your 'taster' can be longer or shorter than 3 hours of course - I'm just interested to hear what you'd recommend as a place to start, and grateful for any pointers. 

Thank you. :tiphat:


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

St. Matthew Passion
Mass in B minor
Goldberg Variations
Chaconne in Busoni transcription and also on violin
Concerto for 2 violins BWV 1043
Brandenburg concertos
French suites
some selection of his organ works


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Sonatas for Violin & Harpsichord






Cello sonatas






Goldberg variations






Violin concertos






Musical Offering, BWV1079
And the St John Passion, BWV245 (150)
St Matthew Passion, BWV244 (196)
.
So... for starters


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

About 3 hours:

Cantata BWV 147 "Wachet auf"
Cantata BWV 106 “Actus Tragicus”
Magnificat in D Major
Mass in F Major
Brandenburg Concerto No. 5
Keyboard Concerto No. 1 in D Minor
Violin Concerto No. 2 in E Major
French Suite No. 5 in G Major
Keyboard Partita No. 1 in B Flat Major
Cello Suite No. 6 in D Major


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## classical yorkist (Jun 29, 2017)

I adore:
The Musical Offering
Goldberg Variations
Brandenburg Concerto no 5
Mass in B Minor

What I really mean is, I love listening to any Bach. His cantatas are usually outrageously good and I could just stick any of them on. For a sideways look I suggest trying his Coffee Cantata. This is an unusual secular cantata that takes a humourous look at coffee shop society in late baroque Germany (no really!).


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

It's pretty amusing that this request for a 3 hour playlist mostly has responses with 6 to 12 hours of music listed. but it's understandable! I tried making myself a 3 hour playlist in itunes last night, and it's nearly impossible to make a really satisfying one. I did end up with a lot of smaller pieces plus some excerpts from longer works, but it's all very unsatisfying.


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

I've just started on the French Suite No 5 as I get back to the piano (again). That's certainly a tuneful introduction to Bach.

Most of the recommendations are great. We've heard Rachel Podger doing a cello concerto on the violin and her cd of that is another good start.

The nice thing about Bach is that his music is so good, it can survive major changes in instrumentation.


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## Dorsetmike (Sep 26, 2018)

The Passacaglia BWV582 has to be considered either on organ or pedal harpsichord.

Richters pedal work from around 12.30 is fascinating


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

Dorsetmike said:


> The Passacaglia BWV582 has to be considered either on organ or pedal harpsichord.


Passacaglia is definitely in my 3 hour playlist, but I like it in piano transcription. My favorite is the Zhukov performance of his own transcription.


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## Krummhorn (Feb 18, 2007)

Die Kunst der Fuge - Helmut Walcha (organ)

Samples can be heard here


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

Ok I've ended up with a 3 hr 13 min playlist but it could probably be a little shorter if you picked some quicker performances of these same pieces. I'm not sure if Bach's transcription of Marcello's oboe concerto in d minor counts, but I love this piece and wanted to include part of it.

St Matthew Passion selections - 
- Kommt, ihr Tochter
- Buss und Reu
- Ich will bei meinem Jesu wachen
- Erbarme dich
- Mache dich, mein Herze, rein
- Wir setzen uns mit Tranen nieder
Mass in b minor selections -
- Kyrie: Kyrie eleison
- Kyrie: Christe eleison
- Kyrie: Kyrie eleison
Goldberg Variations selections - Aria, vars 7, 18, and 23
Art of Fugue selection - Canon 15 alla Ottava
Cello suite 5 in c minor
Concerto for two violins in d minor
English suite 2 for keyboard in a minor
Concerto in b minor (after Marcello) selection - Movement 2, Adagio
Partita 2 for solo violin in d minor selection - Movement 5, Chaconne
Chromatic fantasy and fugue for keyboard
Fantasy and fugue in a minor for keyboard
Prelude in b minor (arr Siloti) for keyboard
Passacaglia and fugue in c minor for keyboard
Chorale preludes for keyboard
- Nun komm der Heiden Heiland
- Ich ruf zu dir


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## Dirge (Apr 10, 2012)

*Cantata "Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit"* (aka *Actus tragicus*), *BWV 106* (1707?)
:: soloists, Leonhardt/Leonhardt-Consort [Teldec '80]




This beautifully integrated and flowing early cantata eschews the strongly demarcated aria/recitative/chorus movement scheme for something with more suavely negotiated segues and transitions.

Sonatina from *Actus tragicus* (arr. Kurtág for piano 4 hands)
:: M. & G. Kurtág [ECM '96] from the Játékok album
https://s.mp3-music-downloads.com/stream/buWBZB:YuS3rB 
Kurtág takes the beautifully pared-down and distilled Sonatina from _Actus tragicus_ and pares it down and distils it some more … for piano 4 hands.

*Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582* (1708-12?)
:: E. Power Biggs [Columbia Masterworks '70] from the album _E. Power Biggs Plays Bach in the Thomaskirche_, also released by Eterna/Berlin Classics as _Famous Organ Works_




I've never completely come to terms with Bach's organ works, but the Passacaglia and Fugue, with its ingenious variations, is a glaring exception.

Ciaccona from *Partita for violin solo No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004* (1720)
:: Grumiaux [Philips '61]




Listening to the great Chaconne 13 times in a row might well be the best three-hour Bach sampler of them all.

*Suite for cello solo No. 6 in D major, BWV 1012* (1717-23)
:: Fournier [Archiv '60]




In the old days, I listened to the Sixth Suite more than all the other suites combined; I've spread out my suite-listening a bit in recent decades, but the Sixth Suite is still my favorite.

Adagio ma non tanto from *Sonata for violin & harpsichord No. 3, BWV 1016* (1717-23)
:: Zimmermann & Pace [Sony '06]




 (begins at ~7'10")
The Sonatas for violin & harpsichord have become great favorites of mine over the last twenty years or so, with the Adagio ma non tanto being a great highlight.

*Partita for keyboard No. 4 in D major, BWV 828* (1728)
:: Gould [Columbia '63]




The Fourth Partita is perhaps my favorite Bach keyboard work on the whole.

*Motet "Jesu, meine Freude" BWV 227* (between 1723-27?)
:: Kuijken/La Petite Bande {Accent, live '92]




This is the longest, most complex, and most popular of the motets.

Ricercar a 6 from _*Musikalisches Opfer, BWV 1079*_ (1747)
:: Rosen [Epic '67]




«The keyboard music of Johann Sebastian Bach cannot be called piano music, but there is one magnificent exception. Many musicians consider the six-voice ricercare from _The Musical Offering_ to be his greatest fugue, and I would choose this as the most significant piano work of the millennium, as it is perhaps the first piece composed for the recently invented piano-at least, the first piece that a composer knew would certainly be played on a piano.» Charles Rosen, from a 1999 article in _The New York Times Magazine
_
_*Die Kunst der Fuge, BWV 1080*_ (arr. Vuataz) (1742-46, rev. 1748-50)
::Scherchen/Radio Beromünster Orchestra [Decca '49] Tahra ~ 1937 Roger Vuataz orchestration




The abstract nature of the writing and the unspecified/open instrumentation leave _Die Kunst der Fuge_ open to the broadest range of interpretation, which performers have fully exploited over the years. The problem for the poor listener, then, is sifting through the vast array of different interpretations/performances to find one that "clicks" with him-it often becomes an exercise in the art of trial and error.

_Oops! I forgot to include my first Bach recording …_

"Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" from *Cantata "Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben," BWV 147* (1723)
:: Leo Kottke [Tacoma '69]


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

Brandenburg concertos - they were my first really successful introductions to Bach.
Next the WTC book I. 
And the violin concertos, particularly the double concerto BWV 1043.
And the Passacaglia for organ BWV 582.
And the violin/harpsichord sonatas BWV 1014 - 1019.


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## Marc (Jun 15, 2007)

Secular Cantata "Laß, Fürstin, laß noch einen Strahl" BWV 198
Magnificat BWV 243
Brandenburg Concertos 2 & 5, BWV 1047 & 1050
Orchestral suite/Ouvertüre 3, BWV 1068
"Double" violin concerto BWV 1043
Cello Suite 2, BWV 1008
Sonata 6 for violin & harpsichord, BWV 1019
Partita 4 for harpsichord, BWV 828
4 Duetti for either organ or harpsichord, BWV 802-805
Organ chorale preludes on "Nun komm der Heiden Heiland" BWV 659-661
Passacaglia & Fugue for organ BWV 582
Trio Sonata 4 for organ BWV 528

It's more than 3 hours, but (maybe) less than 4... not sure though.
Works like the _Matthäus-Passion_, _Das wohltemperierte Clavier_, _Clavier-Übung III_ and _Die Kunst der Fuge_ (and many others ) are actually mandatory in their entirety, but hey, they last quite long.


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## Ariasexta (Jul 3, 2010)

I must recommend some cantatas for girls, BWV 156, BWV 157, BWV60,BWV 33, BWV 34, BWV 56. The point here is must not be too long, also melodic and elegant. Except for girls like Ingelou, also For JSB cantata starters, these are the good pieces to step up some interests. 
:tiphat:


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