Bach's style

[allchopin]

I dont understand why Bach was considered one of the greatest composers of all time... I realize that his studies of counterpoint, fugue, etc. helped people understand melody, but why is it so great to listen to? I find his music repetivie, unoriginal, and unexciting, becuase just about every song is THE SAME STYLE and the SAME rhythms over and over, just in differnt keys.  While chopin's ballades never repeat parts, and are constantly on the move, changing keys, transforming, etc.  Why is Bach so exalted?!

[AMR]

Give it some time, and you will understand.  

[Hmoll]

I don't know if you're serious, allchopin, but don't go away because you're funny as hell.

Oh yeah, and there's no point in adding any more to what AMR said.

[ned]

Allchopin:
I agree that nothing surpasses the Chopn  ballades for excitement. But remember that your idol Chopin worshipped Bach and played his works regularly. In fact he took along the WTC to Majorca to work on preparing an new edition.
Now on to Bach, his solo harpsicord works are in general not the most gripping of his output.
But take a listen to:
The Christmas Oratorio, which Sviatoslav Richter, who played the Chopin Ballades like no one else, LOVED.
Brandenburg Concertos No's 2, 4 and 5
Chromatic fantasy and fugue (Angela Hewitt, piano)
Some of the great organ works
Concerto for keyboard in D minor
Concerto for three violins in C (I think)
B minor Mass

Of course, it is finally a matter of taste, and you are free to choose your own gods and composers.

[bachopoven]

I used to fell exactly like you , allchopin. I was also an "all Chopin."

I never liked Bach either. I made some arguments in this forum that Bach is repetitve. I still find many Bach works that still sound unexciting and repetitive to me. But I belive it's a matter of time until I change my mind.

(But Not because Chopin and others looked up to him as a composer or learned from him. It's good that Bach's works helped for more beautiful music. But can't a student be better than his teacher? And some teachers are not even close to their students in the end.)

Music is like discovery. The more you listen to and experience music, the more you will find your taste has no boundaries. Of course, you can have favorites. Chopin is still mine.

I never liked the Goldberg variations except for the first one (aria.) I bought the CD and listened. Now there are many variations I can't get enought of.

As has been said by others too, it takes time, but you'll like Bach too.

[pripyat]

I very much like Bach. It my most favourite composer. If you have not understood its music, it only your taste.

[cygnusdei]

While chopin's ballades never repeat parts, and are constantly on the move, changing keys, transforming, etc.

That Chopin's Ballades never repeat parts is simply not true!

Actually a bulk of Bach's style can also be characterized as 'constantly on the move, changing keys, and transforming'.

I totally get you though, that extensive survey of a composer's works often reveals a 'sameness' of style - other composers are not immune to this. Schumann is very fond of block chords, Prokofiev is fond of percussive tones, etc. Even Chopin can be too self-indulgent in the slow episodes, e.g. Op. 49.

[term]

Ahh, i still remember it was...4 years ago, when i listened to bach fugues and was disappointed by the kind of mechanical-arbitrary melodic development and the incomprehensible sound wall of many of his fugues.
Now, bach fugues (and some other fugues) are all i listen to for hours a day. The fugues i didn't even notice back then became so dear to me I listened to them many times almost every day for the last years. I find his music intellectually brilliant and precise as a clockwork while being truly heartfelt, exciting and creative. It expresses much more than the transitory feelings and overly thick and - in my opinion - pompous formats of many romantic composers, although there are many exceptions and a little variety is always good, i don't mean to say they're all bad.
I also find that his music has so many different facets that every time you hear something different, different relationships between the lines, harmonies and different melodic patterns.

That being said, i get how you find his rhythms repetitive, because years ago i thought that too. But he also uses rhythms very intelligently, to bring some momentum into the piece, and many of his pieces have a sense of dance rhythm to them. Also, his frequent use of the same patterns (be it gesture or rhythm) sometimes has a sense of religious repetition to it - don't know if that makes sense to you.

[arumih]

I think Ned sums it up pretty well. I prefer Scarlatti's keyboard works over Bach. Can't use enough positive superlatives to describe some of Scarlatti's Keyboard sonatas. Bach on the other hand represents (to me) the epitome of counterpoint and exploration of harmony. I love counterpoint and the thorough exploration of it that Bach goes through. Yes, sometimes the solo keyboard pieces may not be to everyone's liking, but you can't deny the genius of the compositions.

Follow Ned's advice and listen to some other works. I'd recommend the Matthaeus Passion if you're looking for excitement etc. I think if that was the only composition Bach made, he would have still been regarded as a musical genius.

Also remember, Bach was a teacher. Some of his work would have been composed for teaching purposes, not with the aim of them being widely played.

Also, I find a lot of Chopin's work to be of the same style . Of course there are the standout pieces, but come on, not every waltz or mazurka deserves a 2nd listen. It just comes with the territory of composing so much work!

(n.b. I am not by a long shot an expert on Bach, Chopin or Scarlatti! Just wanted to say that to clear myself if the above post is utter nonsense!)

[ahbach]

For me it's everything about Bach, I just love him, He was a brilliant composer who has been looked up to for hundreds of years. His music is brilliant yet I find his family history very interesting and what obstacles he over came to compose, just like many composers. I feel if given the chance and enough time everyone would come to love Bach.

[communist]

but your saying Chopin is original?