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141: Bach's Orchestral Debut
As part of his new job, the 22-year-old Bach had to provide music for Mülhausen’s city council elections. For the first time, he officially had an oc…
2 months, 2 weeks ago
140a: Passacaglia Supplement
I hope you get something out of this experiment!
Enjoy Paul Jacobs’ beautiful live performance, followed by, at 16:20, an extremely slow MIDI version…
2 months, 3 weeks ago
140: PASSACALIA
Bachian folklore claims Bach used to disguise himself and wander into random churches to play the organ. After a few minutes the warden was frightene…
2 months, 4 weeks ago
139: Bach's Second (or Third) Cantata
At just 22 years old, Bach set the immortal words of David, ‘Out of the depths I cry to thee, O Lord.’ From the opening bars, we see depths, cries:
Th…
3 months ago
138: Bach's Very First Cantata
Who is Doctor Conrad Meckbach, and what is he doing in the middle of cantata 150?!
Using clues from a clever acrostic spread throughout the text, scho…
3 months, 1 week ago
A Classical Musician's Thoughts at a Party
Yeah.Evan.Likewise.What I…? Oh what I do…
Right, well, if you ask me what I do, I’m going to tell you: I breathe, I walk, I sit, I sleep, just like yo…
3 months, 2 weeks ago
137: Special Guest! Peter Wollny
Last December, I spoke with Peter Wollny, one of today’s most important Bach scholars. We discuss how one becomes a Bach scholar, what it’s like to b…
3 months, 3 weeks ago
136: Bach's 12-Tone Fugue (WTC Finale!)
(Fear not the length of this episode: the last 25 minutes or so are three different playings of the piece.)
Having written a prelude and fugue in eve…
4 months, 1 week ago
135: H Major! The Final Major (And Tuning It...)
We reach the last note in The Well-Tempered Clavier, B natural. To this point, Bach has climbed chromatically from C, visiting both minor and major m…
4 months, 2 weeks ago
134: 5 Flats, 5 Voices: Bach in B-flat Minor
“While the c# minor fugue awakens the conception of a mighty cathedral, the two numbers in b-flat minor may be likened to artistically wrought side-c…
4 months, 3 weeks ago