A Complete Introduction to J.S. Bach

🎁 FREE - Accelerate your ear training, sight reading, and musicianship skills with this free mini-course:

Your journey towards musical mastery begins here... 🛤️

This video looks at why Bach is widely considered as a genius - one of the greatest musical geniuses in history.

It looks at his life works - the Orgelbuchlein, the Well Tempered Clavier, the Art of Fugue, the Goldberg Variations, the Brandenburg Concertos, the Cantatas, The St Matthew Passion and St John Passion, and the B minor Mass. It also talks about his counterpoint, style, and so on.

[InsidetheScore]

Hello! If you want to skip straight to a talk about his musical qualities, why his music is of great interest, and where you might want to start, skip to 9:34. The first part of this video (after the brief introduction) runs through his massive catalogue of works. I unfortunately realised a little too late that for some, this might come across as a bit tedious - so if you want to cut his life's works and get to the discussion about his musical qualities, skip to 9:34.

Also - I missed out the Orchestral Suites - sorry. Oops. And God knows what else I missed out. As I said, you can barely scratch the surface in a single video...


Lots of love

[FighterFred]

I've studied and played JSB for 40 years now, and his universe is infinite and beautiful. He is etenal and will be with us until the end. I regard him as a life-long friend, healing my soul. The father I never had.

[citizenerased]

Dont know why I'm taking a sudden interest in classical music and composers out of nowhere but my eyes have been opened.

[cageynerd]

The greatest thing about Bach is that underneath all the intellectualism and genius, there is a quiet but stirring melody of just simple notes that grab your soul and brings tears to your eyes. Like, you're listening to a piece, and underneath it, you hear pieces of a melody and realize it is the most beautiful thing you have ever heard. To experience that level of intimacy with Bach's music is like realizing that he's your soulmate and everything he tells you is everything you always thought you knew about yourself but you're learning about who you are for the first time. It is like, being a child and discovering yourself in the world around you but you have a higher cognitive ability to understand how beautiful that is... Bach's music is beyond magical.

[lintflas]

"Bach's Mass in B minor is the highest peak in western music"
- Franz Liszt

[jamesmcbeth]

If you're a musician who learned any of JSB's music, you know he was indeed a genius.

[ThomasKarabela]

God, I can’t go a day without listening/playing Bach. I’m addicted

[Ogurets]

The genius of Bach's music is its ability to make you want to weep or cry out in pleasure without forcing it on you like some romantic music does. The music is never overly melancholic, as if to say: "come now, you must go on." I started out as a melancholic Chopin fan boy early on in my musicianship, but noticed that as I grow older and experience more and more the banality and disillusions of life, I grow more and more fond of Bach. After all: he experienced all kinds of hardship his whole life through and still, despite dying wifes and continuous fighting with his employer(s) somehow found the strength to compose (and enjoy playing) tons of music, lovingly educate his kids and be a loving husband. He's a role model.

[divoxpqr]

“I’m going to the place where music originates”....Some of his last words before he passed from this life. I will gladly support you Sir.Thank you so much for your presentation.

[txt]

My life would not be the same without Johann Sebastian Bach.

[ZOB]

The Chaconne from the 2nd Partita for violin is probably the greatest piece of music ever written for any instrument. It hits all of your points - extreme complexity, emotional depth, and intellectual stimulation. It's a work of unparalleled genius.

[thomasakerberg]

I can´t emphasize enough how important and valuable Bach´s music are!
My 25 year old daughter (mezzo-soprano) is now studying opera singing at "Stockholms Konstnärliga Högskola". Her current project is "Erbarme dich" from S:t Matthew Passion. I´m profoundly proud of her!
Stay calm and take care of each other!

[mattjames]

I've noticed that in English, when people say "One of the greatest" they literary mean "The greatest", which he undoubtably was. I'm sure Mozart and Beethoven would have agreed too.

[LesterBrunt]

To me the moment I was hooked by bach was when I played some of his music on piano. Under your fingers you can feel his music in a different way than by listening. His chords just feel more resonant, the melodies are counterintuitive but perfect, removing a single note destroys the entire structure. It feels as if the music is outside of reality, as if they are a force of nature. There is this realm in music where chords and melodies get this extra shine, sometimes you grace that realm by accident or luck. Bach seemed to live in that realm.

[haisheauspforte]

I like St. John's Passion the most. It touches me even more than St. Matthew's in my heart. I am so lucky that I can understand Bach in my native language, German. The text is such an important part of his cantatas and passions.

[trindinwright]

I haven’t listened to any of his music up to this point, but wow this video just the snippets of his music has made me feel lifted from the world and taken to another higher place, somewhere else where tears flow smoothly around smiling cheeks.

[garymcaleer]

As one who has performed numerous compositions of J.S. Bach in his solo, chamber music, and full orchestrations the one thing I can contribute to this delightful documentary is how every musician had an equal role in the music of J.S. Bach. None on the stage ever felt neglected or merely played an accompanying role. No boring lines for any of the musicians. Everyone is a soloist in the music of Bach!

[perfectblue]

As a superficially educated amateur, I'm always looking for a few things in Bach:

1. Modernity in harmonies. He sounds much more "modern" and creative than his contemporaries.

2. Melodic genius. No need to explain.

3. Total mastery in contrapunct. He made me pay attention and enjoy the art of intertwined melodic lines

4. Variety in forms. Is there anything he didn't do apart from opera? chamber music, orchestral suites, oratorio (passions), solo work, he composed for all the instruments of his time and the human voice

5. Spiritual enlightenment. His whole lifetime work revolves around praising God, making the listener feel a divine presence.

[alaaobaid]

I can't believe you mentioned Bach's orchestral works and didn't mention Vivaldi's influence on him, Vivaldi is rarely mentioned anywhere and vastly under appreciated, please do a video on him

[Nikioko]

Every choir singer should sing each of Bach's four great choral works (St. Matthew Passion, St. John Passion, Christmas Oratorio and B Minor Mass) at least once in his/her life.