Re: Classical music, anyone?

On Nov 29, 7:23�pm, David Tate <dt...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
On Nov 29, 6:31 pm, djhe...@xxxxxxxxxxx (Dorothy J Heydt) wrote:



There's a movement in [Mendelssohn's] second symphony for strings, also
written as a teenager, that sounds *exactly* like Bach. �He was
studying Bach's manuscripts, of course, every well-educated
composer did. �

This conflicts directly with what I have heard in several places -- to
wit, that J.S. Bach was mostly forgotten by the 19th Century, and that
Mendelssohn (first among others) rediscovered and repopularized his
works. �Is this urban classical music legend?

BTW, for Mendelssohn don't forget his voice works. �"Elijah" has some
great bits, but I really really like the sacred motets. �Those really
show his interest in Bach, and make a really neat bridge to Brahms's
later (and also fabulous) motets.

And, of course, a beginner should really hear the symphonies. �#4 (The
Italian) is most popular, but #3 (Scottish) and #5 (Reformation) are
also wonderful.

David Tate

Mendelssohn did not so much "rediscover" Bach for himself so much as
begin the process of public popularization, starting, off the top of
my head, about 1840? So "throughout the 19th century" is a bit of a
stretch.

Bach's music (1685-1750) had been studied by pianists and composers
all through the 18th century -- Mozart (1756-1793) drew major
inspiration from both J.S. and J.C. Bach throughout his life, and
Chopin's preludes (contemporaneous with Mendelssohn -- 1811 to about
1848, I think) were directly inspired by the Well-Tempered Clavier, so
there's a chain of continuous study of JSB to the mid-19th century
reintroduction into the repertoire, and well into the 20th century --
Shostakovich's preludes and fugues, the reinvention of the concerto
grosso during the Neoclassical period, and of course the Baroque
revival starting in about 1970.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Classical music, anyone?
    ... that sounds *exactly* like Bach. ... studying Bach's manuscripts, of course, every well-educated ... composer did. ... But Mendelssohn, also very strongly influenced by Bach, ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)
  • Re: Can you proofread this for me?
    ... Johann Sebastian Bach was born in l685. ... The work that I am going to play today is Sonata in A flat, ... [movements, namely the variations, the scherzo, the funeral, and a rondo finale]. ... George Gershwin was an American composer, pianist, songwriter and ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: Transitional styles musing
    ... all informative to the changes of the classical period. ... I guess that all depends on what you mean by Rococco. ... S. Bach children, but there was the beginning of the classical ideal as ... transitional composer but of a different evolutionary branch than ...
    (rec.music.classical.guitar)
  • Can you proofread this for me?
    ... Johann Sebastian Bach was born in l685. ... final years of Bach's life, he acted as the music director in Leipzig ... The work that I am going to play today is Sonata in A flat, ... George Gershwin was an American composer, pianist, songwriter and ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: Feedback appreciated for 90 second composition
    ... you are trying to use the voice leading of Bach, ... expectations in the listener. ... should be) "here's yet another composer trying to sound like Bach, ... elements of the composer/style the composer is trying to emulate. ...
    (rec.music.compose)