# Bach's Grand Religious Works-How to Listen?



## classical yorkist (Jun 29, 2017)

As some of you may know I'm pretty new to classical music and totally in love with baroque and JS Bach but I'm finding his large scale religious works very intimidating. How is one supposed to listen to the Passions or the Mass in B Minor and do it justice? They are absolutely massive works and I Keep putting off listening to them because I don't think I can do them justice. How do I approach these works?


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

One way is to listen to the "highlights" of the passions See these playlists.

https://sites.google.com/site/kenocstuff/bach-s-passions-reader-s-digest-versions

Purists, of course, will have conniptions!


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

classical yorkist said:


> How is one supposed to listen to the Passions or the Mass in B Minor and do it justice?


From start to finish, giving it your full attention, following the text in the booklet (especially the passions) if you do not speak German.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

It's fine to listen to a few tracks at a time. Of course, at some point you need to sit through the entire work; that's the goal.


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## ST4 (Oct 27, 2016)

For me the same as any other music (classical or other), just put it on and soak it up, listen again and listen again and get to know it (if need be) :tiphat:


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## Resurrexit (Apr 1, 2014)

I think in general, trying to tackle it in the same way as "absolute music" -- just listening, is probably going to be doing yourself a great disservice. That's a lot of music to tackle abstractly, and they're not meant to be abstract. Not only is there a great deal of appreciation to be gained from hearing how the words and music relate to one another, but the structures of these works are intrinsically tied to the drama and narrative. So embrace them for what they are, and follow along with the words as you listen.


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## classical yorkist (Jun 29, 2017)

Resurrexit said:


> I think in general, trying to tackle it in the same way as "absolute music" -- just listening, is probably going to be doing yourself a great disservice. That's a lot of music to tackle abstractly, and they're not meant to be abstract. Not only is there a great deal of appreciation to be gained from hearing how the words and music relate to one another, but the structures of these works are intrinsically tied to the drama and narrative. So embrace them for what they are, and follow along with the words as you listen.


This what I thought would be the case. I want to do the works justice and I do most of my listening while doing other things so I think I'll need to set aside a listening time. However, I am hoping to go to performances of Handel's Messiah and Bach's St Matthew Passion in my local cathedral in the future, perhaps that's the best way to experience them.


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## Botschaft (Aug 4, 2017)

The cantatas are a good start, this one in particular:






And the Magnificat:






Also make sure you're listening to this recording of the B minor mass.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

classical yorkist said:


> As some of you may know I'm pretty new to classical music and totally in love with baroque and JS Bach but I'm finding his large scale religious works very intimidating. How is one supposed to listen to the Passions or the Mass in B Minor and do it justice? They are absolutely massive works and I Keep putting off listening to them because I don't think I can do them justice. How do I approach these works?


With the Matthew Passion the thing that opened it up for me was a dramatisation by Jonathan Miller on the BBC - I've never seen it released anywhere unfortunately. I think you just have to accept that you're dealing with a major masterpiece, stature of The Iliad or The Ring, and that you could devote a lifetime to it to do it justice. But you can get a lot of pleasure and not go that far, and anyway you have to begin, So my suggestion is that you do just that - relax about it, put it on, listen as long as you want, follow the text certainly and see how it goes. Maybe get a video performance with the text as subtitles.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

classical yorkist said:


> As some of you may know I'm pretty new to classical music and totally in love with baroque and JS Bach but I'm finding his large scale religious works very intimidating. How is one supposed to listen to the Passions or the Mass in B Minor and do it justice? They are absolutely massive works and I Keep putting off listening to them because I don't think I can do them justice. How do I approach these works?


If you love Bach, you may want to consider investing in Robert Greenberg's audio lecture course "Bach and the High Baroque":

http://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/bach-and-the-high-baroque.html

Among other things, it includes about three hours about the St. Matthew Passion.

Edit: Looks like it's even cheaper at Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Great-Courses-Bach-High-Baroque/dp/1565853733


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