It ’s one of the names you ’ve probably hear dropped so systematically ( and possibly pretentiously ) throughout your life , you ’ve likely never questioned the greatness ofJohann Sebastian Bach . After all , the German composer is often celebrate alongside classical greats like Mozart and Beethoven , but the Baroque era player really precede those legends by almost a century , pave the way for artists from a variety of genre . So what made the guy such a universally see natural endowment who ’s still being heralded on his 336th birthday ?
While there ’s no exclusive answer as to why Bach remain one of music ’s most beloved contributors , experts do have some idea . " This is not to say that JS Bach is everybody ’s favourite composer – of course of study not , " wrote English spreader Clemency Burton - Hill in apiece for BBC.comon why herradioshow features a daily segment called Bach Before 7 . " But he is the ultimate composer . adjudicate to explain why is a fool ’s plot : It ’s like the famous quote ascribe to several that ' write about music is like trip the light fantastic toe about computer architecture . ' " bazaar detail . But Burton - Hill does outline some pretty compelling point that at least help clear up some of the global Bach obsession .
" Bach ’s instinctive agreement of human nature , his rhetorical skills and his innate skill as a playwright are 2nd to none , " Burton - Hill writes . She references an interview with Bach music director and biographer John Eliot Gardiner who told her , " Being in Bach ’s music has that gumption of otherness : It ’s another world we enter , as performing artist or auditor . You put your mask on , and you go down to a psychedelic world of myriad colours . "
In fact , other euphony pros like philosopher Alain de Botton conceive Bach proffer a sort of ghostlike conduit to mass of his generation and beyond . " Most contemporary euphony is about love between two people,“he told the Guardian . " What makes Bach ’s music particularly salient is that it ’s about the love of God . This should present a vault to someone who , like me , does n’t believe in God — but it does n’t . What I revalue in Bach is his power to evoke to me what a belief in God feels like . His music seems to me to be about devotion to a staring ideal — something purer , better , higher … "
And while all that big - picture view on Bach ’s greatness is persuasive , it does n’t address the nitty - gritty reality of how he became so capable of composing transcendent melodies . " An extremely crucial reason that Bach is so good is his vivid study of music itself , " evoke Open University scholarly person , Deborah LeFer , in aQuora thread re - published in Slate . " He referenced so many composer , both older and contemporary . " LeFer says that while Bach was known more as an organist than a composer in his day , he was a devoted devotee of the earned run average ’s more well - known influencers like Dietrich Buxtehude , who he reportedly traveled miles on foot to see .
And finally , when it comes to the technical side of things , it does n’t get more accurate than Bach . " I love Bach in particular for his enjoyment of two - part line and his way of double musical phrase and modulating so cleverly into relate keys and tones , " rock music musician Suzi Quatrotold the Guardian . " Also for his fingerbreadth exercise , something which very much strengthened my finger to be able to play sea bass guitar and which I still do in cookery for my tour . "
So whether you ’re a professional player or an expert auditor , consider spread your ears to some Bach and see if you’re able to discern why Burton - Hill ultimately inquire whether the composer is in reality the humankind ’s first careen star . As piano player James Rhodestold her , " Here is a serviceman who was orphaned by the historic period of 10 , who lost 11 of his 20 fry in infancy or childbirth , whose first wife and dearest of his life die suddenly . So there ’s Bach , drenched in grief , catch some Z’s with groupies in the organ loft ; a duelling , fighting , hard - drinking rock star with a piece of work ethic that makes Obama expect like a ass and producing music that still , 300 years later , inspires , stuns and rocket us into a fourth proportion of being . "
larn more about Johann Sebastian Bach in " Johann Sebastian Bach : The Learned Musician " by Christoph Wolff . HowStuffWorks pick related to titles based on ledger we recall you ’ll like . Should you pick out to buy one , we ’ll welcome a portion of the sales event .
