If I Could Choose Only One Work By...J.S. BACH

It Would Have To Be...The Goldberg Variations

The List So Far...
1. Ravel: Ma Mère l’Oye (Mother Goose Ballet)
2. Bruckner: Symphony No. 7
3. Schubert: String Quintet in C major
4. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4
5. Mahler: Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection”
6. Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker
7. Debussy: Preludes for Piano (Books 1 & 2)
8: Handel: Saul
9. Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro
10. Brahms: String Sextet No. 2 in G major
11. Vaughan Williams: Job

[samuelstephens]

The Art of Fugue. The strangest musical thing a composer ever wrote that is also addictively listenable - fugues that are slow and sad, skippy, twisty, and just pure evil genius.

[TenorCantusFirmus]

Bach has written so much Music virtually all of which at such high levels, he's the only composer of which you cannot choose just one Piece, but if you have to actually do it you can pick whethever you want and be sure you'll be satisfied.

[mdlouie]

It's gotta be Art of the Fugue for me. Has more replay value for me than the Goldberg variations, which I've worn out, so to speak.

[GG-cupg]

Two fun Bach quotes to mark the occasion:
Bach is the beginning and end of all music.
- Max Reger
“The one Bach piece I learnt made me feel I was being repeatedly hit on the head with a teaspoon.”
— Dodie Smith

[kinggeorge]

The Goldberg Variations are not only my favorite Bach work, not only one of my favorite pieces of music of all time but also one of the first pieces of classical music that I listened. And I loved every second of it. One of the most fascinating too - I've been listeing to it for over 15 years (and I'm 32 so that's half of my life) and still listening to it I sometimes notice new things that I haven't before. It's just an absolutely magnificent piece of art. I'm generally much more into classical/romantic repertoire than baroque one, but the Goldberg Variations are something special.

[johanr]

Interesting motivation. I wholeheartedly agree as far as Bach’s keyboard music is concerned. My choice would have been the b minor mass, of course it’s encyclopedic, but also because of its richness in orchestration…solos, duos, trios, quartets etc, counterpoint just about anything in one massive work.

[MDK_Radio]

With Bach, it’s almost impossible to go wrong with any selection. My own preference would have been the Brandenburg Concerti but the Goldberg Variations certainly match that set In pretty much every critical category, in terms of what one meant for Bach’s abilities as a keyboard composer and the other for the baroque concerto. May mighty Cancrizans have mercy on us.

[barryguerrero]

Excellent choice. I'll go with the B-minor Mass. And, of course, the six Brandenburg Concerti are among the first, truly great orchestral works. It's Bach, so much of it is tough to beat.

[albastros]

I agree with you. This work is the human masterpiece that I would take to the desert Island.
Perfect technique, intellectual and emotional at the same time. Each variation is a gem.

This work proves that there's intelligence in this planet.

[joncheskin]

This is actually the one pick so far that I seriously disagree with. At first I thought the Art of the Fugue, but actually the Goldberg Variations is a better pick than that because it shows more of Bach's range as a composer. The problem with the Goldberg Variations is that I have come to believe that a quintessential piece by Bach has to be a sacred work--his personal faith and work in the church dominated so much of his life. This is a slightly different argument than the notion that keyboard music was more important to Bach than vocal music. Thus, I think the quintessential work is either the B minor Mass or the St. Matthew Passion. The sacred works also possess plenty of range and contrapuntal ingenuity, but also have the added aspect of Bach's religious side. In other words, a more complete picture of Bach as a composer.

[OuterGalaxyLounge]

Sonatas and Partitas for violin, for me. Cello Suites next.

[flexusmaximus]

Bach was sublime as an organist. He makes that instrument sing. So I make the case for the toccata BWV 540 as my candidate. Its obsessively magnificent and life affirming! Goldberg is good also, but I love the 540.
Paul

[jerelzoltick]

Great Pick....My two non vocal pieces by BACH are the Goldberg Variations and the Sonatas and Partitas for the violin... both are timeless..

[LyleFrancisDelp]

Excellent choice Buy mine would be Brandenburg #5. I really couldn't live without this work

[nelsoncamargo]

Good choice, Dave! I would choose the Well tempered Clavier, the Old Testament of the piano!

[MichaelCWBell]

For the gamut of his skill and expression there cannot be many in good company that would disagree with the Goldbergs as a worthy singular exhibit.
Even the aria alone has a poise and elegance that is timeless. The approachable joy of his early variations, the driving rhythm and interplay of others, the astonishing depth of the black pearl (25). The journey is epic. Perhaps the greatest moment of all comes with the second hearing of the aria at the finish. It is heard anew, filtered and perfected by the permutations.

[hansvaneck]

Great game this. In the case of Bach I would have chosen the Mattheus Passion, but the Goldberg is also beautiful.
Some other early music:
To fill the gap of missing a baroque passion: Keiser: Brockes-Passion -a very nice work and Bach leans a bit on this music.
Biber: the Rosary Sonatas
Corelli: Concerti Grossi op 6
Purcell: Dido and Aeneas
Monteverdi: That is a problem for me, it is difficult to choose between his Madrigals (book 8!), Maria Vespers or the Opera's (Orfeo or l'Incoronazione di Poppea)
Cavalli: La Calisto
Sweelinck: Fantasia chromatica -the beginning of the German organ school. this work is a good example of his ingenious counterpoint

Renaissance:
Gesualdo: Madrigali Libro Sesto
Palestrina: Missa Papae Marcelli
Lassus: Lacrime di san Pietro (very beautiful in the performance of Paul van Nevel)
Josquin: This is also a very versatile composer, you can choose chansons, motet or a mass. Perhaps a mass, but then which? Because the solmisation masses are very special I would go for one of these. And the 'Hercules dux Ferrara' is a good example of such a mass and it is a good way to portray the relation between artist and master.
Isaac: 'Innsbruck ich muss dich lassen' -very popular melody (Luther)
Obrecht: Missa Fortuna desperata
Ockeghem: Requiem -One of the earliest requiems by a great composer, a very dark piece
Dufay: chanson 'Vergine belle' I really love this one

Middle Ages:
a lot to choose as well. But sure the 'Messe de Notre Dame' of Machaut
Leonines and Perotinus
The early Troubadours

[davidaiken]

Cogent arguments for the Goldbergs as the lone "survivor" of the BWV catalog. That work really does sum up Bach's lifelong achievement as a composer. I would add one further point. In Bach's case there is no sharp distinction between sacred and secular. The act of composing, for him, was an act of worship. Moreover, as you pointed out, his sacred works often contain "borrowed" music from "secular" works, including the Secular Cantatas. The Christmas Oratorio, and even the B-Minor mass contain such borrowings. My choice for Bach had been the Art of Fugue, which also sums up the composer's genius for counterpoint, though it doesn't have the variety of idioms and moods that the Goldbergs does. It is his most abstrct work, and as such a work of incredible genius. And I think we listeners are past the old prejudice against Art of Fugue, to the effect that it really was only an abstract treatise on counterpoint not meant to be played or heard. The best realizations on record give the lie to that old stereotype. But, in the end, I agree that the Goldbergs hits the target.

[rbmelk]

Yes, I got two of them, and two in a row at that:) Dave nailed this one - it has to be Goldberg, of course!

[tbarrelier]

Good choice. I wonder if you considered the unaccompanied violin partitas and sonatas as well? The Chacone is, perhaps, the best thing Bach wrote.