An equal length of sections and a
proportionate use of instruments were Bach’s dogma for writing music. As a result,
this German composer seemed to effortlessly summon his talents at will. His harmony
was predominantly polyphonic. He chose his ornaments so carefully that their effects
were never lost on the listener at mass, in court or in concert. Why? Born in 1685,
Bach wrote Baroque music, and baroque
means highly decorated. So, it wasn’t
enough to just balance the sections, the phrases had to wear ornaments in the same
way a beautician skillfully makes up a woman, adorning her gorgeous dress and
graceful hair with expensive matching trinkets.
Yet all that balance and beauty
happened naturally for Johanne Sebastian Bach so that today, almost 270 years
after his death, we enjoy his Minuet in G
minor for the keyboard, Badinerie
from Suite in B minor and the orchestral arrangement of Fugue in G minor which he had written for the organ. Of course, he wrote
several pieces for voice: cantatas, oratorios, songs, arias and so forth. But he
seemed to have done all that and more while intentionally hiding his sweat. Morale:
When we are easy in our own skin, expertise
emerges effortlessly.
For Legends of the Score on Johanne Sebastian Bach.
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