Well-fortified with a good cup of strong coffee, I return to Bach, and am pleasantly surprised. The first piece on my list for today is the “Well-tempered Clavier Prelude No. 1 in C Major” which sounds like an enthusiastic music box. It is vibrant but not too demanding. Is ear candy a phrase? If not, it should be, and this is an example. Good start!
I continue on to the “ ‘Little’ Fugue in G Minor” , which has an undertone of evil. This could be the background music of political mischief-making or other elegant terrors- nothing brash, just sinister, white-collar evil. This is music that demands your attention. If this were the song of a music box, there’d be an evil clown inside it.
Moving right along to “Passacaglia in C Minor” is like a progression into the circles of evil, a Dante’s Inferno of modern villainy. This is the music that should play when the audience knows bad things are going to happen but the characters in the movie/play are oblivious. This could easily be the theme music for the entrance of evil characters into a dinner party or a Washington D.C. reception or a gentlemen’s club thick with cigar smoke and glasses of sherry or brandy everywhere. Bach seriously had a dark side. I’m impressed.
I conclude my whirlwind romance with Bach with the famous (infamous?) “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” , which to me remains the epitome of scary music. We are at Dracula’s castle, the madman is scaling the fence to the old English estate, Rochester’s wife is ready to burn the whole place down!
Or maybe I just think the organ is inherently sinister. Either way.
My overall impression of Johann Sebastian Bach is that he is the composer of the soundtrack of places you don’t necessarily want to be. Whether that place is a wedding, a formal tea, in the company of lobbyists or hiding in the closet from the monster at the window, Bach has got the piece for you.
Composer 1 out of 52 complete. Next week: Composer 2/52 – Schumann.
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