Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

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Thursday, December 21. 2023

Live music


Mrs. BD is a big fan of live music. She loves opera and chamber music. Yes, she also loves the NYC Ballet. Yes, she loves New York. So do I.


As with church, I find feeling confined in a seat difficult. ADHD? Who knows. I am restless. Most of us know Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, but it is interesting to watch the 10-12 musicians. Instead of getting a wall of sound from a recording, it's easier to watch each musician making a sound.


I understand why chamber music was meant to be performed in a room where you can move your chair, maybe talk with somebody, have a cocktail - and not in Alice Tully Hall. You can barely hear the harpsichord in an auditorium.


Regarding brains, how does the bass fiddle guy remember every note to play for 6 Bach concerti? Or everybody else on the music team? It is complicated music.


 Is Bach the greatest achiever of all time?


Posted by Bird Dog in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 16:05 | Comments (4) | Trackbacks (0)

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Bach the greatest achiever of all time?

Don't know, but he definitely achieved. As a master musician/music teacher said, he wrote a truckload of music. He was the master of counterpoint. If I hear a work done in counterpoint, and it is not simple counterpoint, it is easy to nail the composer- Bach.

The discussion at the link suggests others, such as Newton, Darwin, or von Neumann.
#1 Gringo on 2023-12-21 16:20 (Reply)
Without a doubt, Bach is near the top of that heap. The sheer volume and quality of his output is astounding, incredibly undervalued in its time, by today's standards of notable achievement.

And we should all bear in mind, if it weren't for the hard work of Felix Mendelssohn in the mid-1800's, virtually all of Bach's works may have been lost to history.

The old saying goes: When you listen to Beethoven, you learn about Beethoven. When you listen to Mozart, you learn about the human condition. When you listen to Bach, you learn about the Universe.
#2 Aggie on 2023-12-21 17:53 (Reply)
If you have a highly resolving home audio system, playing a good recording, you will be able to hear the individual instruments in an orchestra, placed in space realistically. You'll also get a nice sense of depth. Wall of sound, will only happen with Phil Spector recordings.
#3 Lectrolink on 2023-12-22 10:24 (Reply)
I can no longer watch live music, not since my wife forced me to take ballroom dancing lessons and converted me to dance addict, worse than cocaine.

Movement is all, movement is life, don't sit on your arse watching others live. Don't be a dumbass dullard, with your belly sagging and your mouth agape.

Get up and shake that arse.

Plus, and this is my wife's only regret, you'd be amazed at the number of attractive single ladies who take dance lessons.
#4 Fred Z on 2023-12-23 01:08 (Reply)

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