Johann Sebastian BachWhen I was studying Music History in my undergrad, I always dreaded the Baroque period. I wasn't sure exactly why but something about the music didn't correspond with my young aesthetic sensibilities. I enjoyed the listening assignments most of the time and found them fascinating, but they never moved me like my favorite pieces do. Perhaps my outsider perspective made the intricacies present in species counterpoint seem unattainable and pretentious...or maybe because, like the weather in public schools, I was forced to study this material ad naseum throughout my musical education. Whatever the reason, J.S. Bach wasn't even in the top twenty of my favorite composers. That all changed however after hearing one piece for the first time. The balance is exquisite. The original theme is unbelievably beautiful on its own but when paired with its sibling lines, the dissonance and resolution are some of the most incredible I have ever heard. This piece, a 3 Part Invention which was no doubt written for his students, turned out to be my key into Baroque music. It inspired me to study the process and all of Bach's music with new eyes! I do however, still have one more dirty little secret to reveal. When this piece is played on the instrument it is written for, I love it but not nearly as much as I love this version. This version nearly brings me to tears, every single time I hear it! As does this version! Sinfonia XI starts at 21:05 but listen to them all if you get a chance! The piano is one of my all time favorite instruments, which is a big statement coming from someone who loves all of them (except for the Erhu...Gross. More on that later probably.), so why do I find the String Trio more moving, and the human voice more moving than that? Maybe its the human voice that connects me on a spiritual level to the genius of the piece and the inherent expressiveness that all strings have over other instruments due to the complete control over pitch, volume and sustenance. I'm still not entirely sure but I hope like me, this piece in one of its 3 presented forms, moves you like it moves me. This wonder in G minor is a pick me up and a constant source of inspiration. If I feel stuck, it somehow always provides a new view and always reminds me how truly amazing the art form that I first loved is.
I hope you have a chance to listen to this as well as others from Bach's Oeuvre of amazing work. This is the first post of many regarding music that I find incredible and inspiring. I'm not going to lie, if I wanted to cover all of it, it would be several lifetimes worth of material, but I hope at least a few will move you too.
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A Love Song for Amanda Fehring
By Cameron Michael Fehring The Sun's bright yellow light Upon my face, The oceans never ending blue, The sky at night When the stars take flight The atromentous imbued height, Just to name a few. But life is relative to those who know A day can take a month, a year. Suddenly a discovery An epiphany, dawned on me. My darling I'm curious it's true I've done the problems Read the books and Didn't have a clue 'Cause I never Understood forever Until I started loving you Days fly by Years rush through When I think forever I only think of you And how if God would allow us that, It's still to short a time. My darling It's silly but it's true For me there's no Eternity without Loving you. 'Cause I never Understood forever Until I saw your eyes of blue. No I never Understood forever Until I started loving you. I'm can't remember exactly when the notion came to me, but I do remember the aspiration. Maybe it's because I was in the midst of an in depth study of forms in classical music; perhaps the series of unfortunate event in that year of my life were operatic in scope and required music of that magnitude to be expressed properly; maybe it's even my own pretentious beliefs in the inherent beauty of art with layers that can withstand in depth analysis and my own selfish wants to create art of that caliber; in any case, I knew that the show I was going to create from my experiences in the Corporate American Retail world would be sung.
Originally, the plan was to glimpse very specific moments of that year through a series of songs that re interrelated, and held together by some larger tonal scheme, but not dependent on each other: essentially a very traditional, Liederkreis based in the traditions of Schubert and Schumann. with some contemporary harmony, counterpoint, and a touch of leitmotif thrown in for good measure. Essentially, it was supposed to be a dramatic piece that told my story with little tidbits and goodies that appealed to my innate nerdiness: both music and theater. As the writing actually happened though, it got complicated. The forms of classical music have been around for hundreds of years and evolved from the very base natures of music and the physics there in. They also directly reference hundreds of years of innovation, imagination, and the genius of various practitioners. The results are incredibly expressive, incredibly diverse, and unpredictable yet satisfying music. The more I wrote, the more I realized that various forms throughout western musical history, have very interesting and expressive options when paired with aspects of my story. So far I have a mass, a fugue, a rondo, a waltz and am in the middle of a theme and variation. When this thing is finally performed, I may have to have a "How Many Forms Do You Count" competition in the playbill just for fun. |
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