One piece? For fun? Okay, how about Partita #1 in G-major (Allemande) but ONLY if played by Glenn Gould.
May I have one more? Pretty please? Ah, thanks! Let’s go for his Oboe Concerto in D-minor (the 2nd movement). Sublime, no?
Can I just say: Yay Bach!
That is all.
I couldn’t name a specific Bach piece without a bit of prompting, but the choreography of his harmonies produces a sonic dance in my brain like no other. I have cited on the 'Dope before how jazz players like Charlie Parker loved Bach - the pinballing counterpoints in his harmonies can have a bebop echo at times.
His work is the e=mc^2 of western music.
Right you are. In fact, this is the tune on the Voyager golden records: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_lTztAWK-A&feature=related
For more on the records: Voyager Golden Record - Wikipedia
So, in the past week my daughter:
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Picked out the main melody of the Little Fugue on her piano (doesn’t have a hope in hell of playing the song just yet), and
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Started singing, with the melody, “Lit-tle Fugue. In G Min-or by J. S. Bach!”
Which, actually, is the sort of thing I would have done at her age as well - I just wouldn’t have told my parents. However, Sophie comes with running, outspoken commentary and the amount of time that she is actually silent is strikingly little.
i don’t really know bach pieces individually, i just put on everything i have and listen to it through… i’m not like a music buff though, i just llike bach and mozart
Aaahh, Bach. [/radar o’reilly]
The Sarabande from Cello Suite No. 5. It’s completely otherworldly.
Invention 14. That one is just a bitch to play (for me).
I love his music. It’s almost as good for me as my anti-anxiety meds.
I seem to recall from music school, I think it was a Bach piece that the German name was something like
(sp) Watchet off, mein hertz
OK seriously I love just about anything some favs would include
Cello Suite #1 in G (prelude)
Goldberg Variaions (theme aria)
Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor (there is a great orchestral version in the move White Knights)
Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme?
Close call, but I have to give it to the B-minor Suite – that gorgeous set of dances for small orchestra, featuring lots of flute (or recorder) – you know, the one that ends with the famous “Badinerie”. The whole thing is an exercise in sublime and catchy melodies, subtle counterpoints, nice contrasts in rhythms, dynamics, and arrangements, and just overall blissful Baroque lovelieness.
My favorite version of this is by the English Concert (directed by Trevor Pinnock), with Stephen Preston playing the transverse wooden flute, but I’m sure there are many other great recordings of it out there.