Bach is the greatest Western musician of all time

[cuberdrift]

Come on.

We all know he outranked Presley.

Wagner wasn't the bonfire, but a mere candle; that title's reserved for Bach.

The great Machaut, not quite so, either.

Nor is Bieber.

Or Grieg.

Or Glass, Joplin, Cramer, Hendrix, Chopin, Coltrane, Sweelinck, Malik, Roslavets, Placido Domingo, Morley, Beethoven, Jackson, Michaelangeli, Cowell, Williams, Mozart, Williams, Brahms, Armstrong, Clementi, Scarlatti, Rossini, Bussoni, Ferrari, Liberace.

Paul McCartney himself probably won't compare.

And most intriguingly,

Not even Art Tatum himself was probably at par.

Yet...

https://www.classicfm.com/discover/music/composer-insults/bach/

The composer Bax criticized...of all people...

J.S. Bach?!

 

How DARE this happen?!

How can this be explained?

Hmph.

Regards,
cuberdrift

[visitor]

johnny cash. greatest western musician.

[stevensk]

-No, Bach is actually the worst musician of all time.

1) Hundreds upon hundreds of mindless cantatas, need I say more? Thank god most of them were lost.

2) Never had the balls to write opera. Just writing his silly polyphonic sudoku puzzles.

3) Twenty kids! Seriously, how much of the world's overpopulation is the result of this oversexed satyr?
Both his music and his domestic circumstances might have been better if Bach had spent more time alone playing his organ.

4) Bach didn't even write Beethoven's 9th Symphony nor Don Giovanni
I'm not even sure he wrote the Toccata and Fugue in D minor.
Not one string quartet? Was he unaware of Haydn?

[boxjuice]

Bach is boring. He's good for sightreading practice because of the sheer volume of his catalogue, but for listening he is, at best, good for background music. His music is just a series of notes with very little rythmic variation and with dull harmonies. If you want some real music, some interesting music that'll make you feel something, get at ya boy Liszt

[stevensk]

Bach is boring. He's good for sightreading practice because of the sheer volume of his catalogue, but for listening he is, at best, good for background music. His music is just a series of notes with very little rythmic variation and with dull harmonies. If you want some real music, some interesting music that'll make you feel something, get at ya boy Liszt

Exactly! And, seriously, I tried using the chorale from "Sleepers Awake" for my alarm clock. Slept right through it and showed up to work an hour late...

[outin]

If you want some real music, some interesting music that'll make you feel something, get at ya boy Liszt

Didn't work.. Mostly his is boring as well and at worst makes me want to slam the lid on the pianist...figuratively speaking of course.

[themeandvariation]

Steve, you mention  "Not one string quartet? Was he unaware of Haydn?"

Well, Haydn was 18 when JS died in 1750.. so...

the rest of your response, is just  banter..   

[rmbarbosa]

Bach is the most genial composer I know.

[kevonthegreatpianist]

The greatest Western musician is our future president in 2020.

[boxjuice]

Kanye? He doesn't count though given that he's not human, he's a god. At least, according to him.

[yale_music]

1) You have to be musically inept to think Bach is the worst Western musician of all time.
2) He's certainly one of the most refined composers I've ever heard; you can hear his lifetime progress throughout his cantatas, for example, which are mindless only to those who, again, are musically inept.

[stevensk]

1) You have to be musically inept to think Bach is the worst Western musician of all time.

-Have you ever heard the word "humour"?

[reiyza]

Why all the bach criticism? Personal preference perhaps?

I find his goldberg variations and WTK pieces good.

I find bach to be a fundamental part of every classical pianist. (in my opinion)

[chopinawesome]

I like Bach