WTF Bach

149: The Battle Between Life and Death

“The consummate expressiveness of {BWV 4] has always been marvelled at. Each verse is as if chiselled in music.” -Albert Schweitzer, Vol. 2 Bach’s early Easter cantata r

148: Ballooning! (Flying in the 18th Century)

Sometimes an article from the EB strikes me as so amusing, I simply have to share it with you. See you next week (or the week after, latest) for the conclusion of our ear

147: Is This Cantata Even By Bach?

Q: If, after you attended a Bach concert, someone told you that your favorite piece on the program was not, after all, by Bach… how would you feel? Does this cantata act

146: Toccata’s Twin! Double Fugue in F

Forever paired with the giant Toccata BWV 540, it’s unlikely the two were conceived together. Still, owing to certain sources and the fact that this fugue is a dignified

145: Der Herr denket an uns, BWV 196

Bach married his second cousin, Maria Barbara, on October 17, 1707, in St. Bartholomäi’s Church (pictured in the cover image) in a charming little village called Dornheim

144: Why (And How) I Became An Organist

Opsimath Organist My first trip to Germany (I was 21) I walked into a church in Weimar and heard— by beautiful coincidence— an unseen organist play Bach’s Passacaglia an

143: Special Guest, Emma Smith (University of Oxford)

“For something to be relevant, is it outside of time, or is it somehow speaking to us directly, now?” -Emma Smith Today’s guest is Emma Smith! Professor of Shakespeare s

142: Monster Toccata in F, BWV 540

About four years ago I made an episode about Bach’s ‘longest’ piece: Somehow I missed a piece which should definitely be in contention for his ‘longest.’ At 437 measures

Classical Music ...Robots.

PG-13 Warning Songs Without Lungs Of course I’m not worried about AI replacing me. I’m a pianist. No one will ever pay to watch robots perform. And then we met Sophia.

141: Bach's Orchestral Debut

As part of his new job, the 22-year-old Bach had to provide music for Mülhausen’s city council elections. For the first time, he officially had an occasion to write for a

140a: Passacaglia Supplement

I hope you get something out of this experiment! Enjoy Paul Jacobs’ beautiful live performance, followed by, at 16:20, an extremely slow MIDI version of BWV 582. The id

140: PASSACALIA

Bachian folklore claims Bach used to disguise himself and wander into random churches to play the organ. After a few minutes the warden was frightened it was either the d

139: Bach's Second (or Third) Cantata

At just 22 years old, Bach set the immortal words of David, ‘Out of the depths I cry to thee, O Lord.’ From the opening bars, we see depths, cries: The second and fourth

138: Bach's Very First Cantata

Who is Doctor Conrad Meckbach, and what is he doing in the middle of cantata 150?! Using clues from a clever acrostic spread throughout the text, scholars have securely

A Classical Musician's Thoughts at a Party

Yeah.Evan.Likewise.What I…? Oh what I do… Right, well, if you ask me what I do, I’m going to tell you: I breathe, I walk, I sit, I sleep, just like you! Just like you. W

137: Special Guest! Peter Wollny

Last December, I spoke with Peter Wollny, one of today’s most important Bach scholars. We discuss how one becomes a Bach scholar, what it’s like to be in close proximity

136: Bach's 12-Tone Fugue (WTC Finale!)

(Fear not the length of this episode: the last 25 minutes or so are three different playings of the piece.) Having written a prelude and fugue in every possible key, ha

135: H Major! The Final Major (And Tuning It...)

We reach the last note in The Well-Tempered Clavier, B natural. To this point, Bach has climbed chromatically from C, visiting both minor and major modes in every half st

134: 5 Flats, 5 Voices: Bach in B-flat Minor

“While the c# minor fugue awakens the conception of a mighty cathedral, the two numbers in b-flat minor may be likened to artistically wrought side-chapel’s vaults, in wh

133: ¿Por qué César Vallejo?

César Vallejo (1892-1938) is one of my favorite poets. To define his style is difficult: one doesn’t understand his poems so much as one absorbs them. His words— seemingl