Personally i love to play Johann Sebastian Bach , the freedom it gives to my playing is magnificent! I have enjoyed several of he's pieces.. Im very found of playing the Contrapunctus No.1 from the Art of Fugue BWV.1080 a very late piece of Bach.. And a piece from a very hard time of his life.
Which pieces to you enjoy to play from him , when you feel this kind of freedom to it?
And what's youre favorite "set" of pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach?
For me the Partita's for the Keyboard & Kunst der Fuge stands very high on the list.

Regards,

I don't yet have the technique or experience to seriously tackle most Bach, but I do enjoy dipping into the Two-Part Inventions.

Also, I have an old book of piano accompaniments for Bach chorales. I use it for sight-reading practice and play slowly enough that I can enjoy hearing the chord changes. Makes for good analysis material as well, since the chord voicings are relatively simple.

Favorite? What day is it? I love every Bach piece I've played but I'm partial to WTC book 2.

Almost everything he wrote. I have yet to find a way to play the Art of the Fugue that doesn't sound heavy and repetitive but aside from that it all works for me. WTC I and II, two- and three-part inventions, French and English Suites, the Partitas (difficult generally) etc...etc... "He is the father of all music - we are his children!"...

Same. WTC I is more fun to listen to, WTC II is more fun to play.

Could you elaborate a little on this?

Everything. I can't believe that when I joined PW I "thought" I didn't like him too much.

I love playing Bach, but I actually enjoy his non-keyboard works even better, particularly the cantatas.

my relation with Bach is quite difficult, I was forced to play his music as a child, I hated it, I was forced to play his music as a student, I gruefully obliged, I was never forced to play him as a pianist and now I revel in his Goldbergvariations, I even play some Toccatas and Partitas and some of the 48, can you imagine?

I love everything by Bach, and I'd really really love to play this either with friends, or grow 6 more hands over night....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dFkc11GCqc

That story could be almost mine, except that I had to endure Bach when I was a high school student. I didn't like his music back then, but I thought there had to be some reason why my teacher assigned it to me. In hindsight I now know he was right. In the following years, I never touched any Bach, until I learnt to play the organ and found that his chorale preludes were quite nice. Then I delved some more into the preludes and fugues and subsequently went back to the piano works as well; I'm particularly fond of the toccatas now.

that is amaaazing... just to see all those voices separated out like that. Sometimes I play along with these just for ear training and to get a better feel for swingin' Bach, but sometimes happy just to identify what basic chord we are on! But this is really masterfully done.

Everything. Bach, for me, is part of the Holy Trinity.

It's a simple opinion, nothing more. WTC I seems to me to be musically very strong at the expense of being comfortable to play. WTC II fits in my hands perfectly, but any individual prelude and fugue might not be as interesting and engaging as in WTC I.

I like just about everything, but I'm especially fond of adagio minor pieces like the 2nd movement of the Italian Concerto and the eb minor prelude from book 1.

Bach, Beethoven, and _______?

Your dog?

Mozart, I assume.

-J

Bach, Beethoven, Brahms?

I have 6: Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Brahms.

His dog is Ludwig (=Beethoven).

Robert Schumann was the one who opined (and I'm paraphrasing): "If one can speak of Daily Bread for the pianist, it is the Bach WTC." Over the past 10 years or so, I've made a point of at least getting working acquaintance with all 48 Preludes and Fugues, and regularly use them as "warm-up" material in lieu of technical exercises. I believe I can sense what Schumann is talking about -- there is something about this magnificent set of pieces that resists getting "old". I always run into new and unexpected relationships (particularly in the Fugues), and their Return on Investment, to use business-ese, has been inexhaustible to date.

I actually like playing Bach keyboard music more than listening to it.

As a player, the raw music gives one an amazing amount of freedom to phrase, articulate, or, more broadly, interpet as one thinks to in the moment. In baroque music, in my experience, it's not a sin to add or delete ornamentation as one's mood or feelings or (importantly) skill suggest. More than in music of the classical period, the score is a hanger on which to hang one's own ideas rather than try to suss out the original ideas of the composer.

Moreover, Bach's music "goes places". It always seems to be reaching for something more. This is tough to explain.

I write this as someone who has played only: Several Inventions and Sinfonias, a French Suite (Cm) and a half dozen or so of the Goldberg Variations. I've yet to tackle a Prelude and Fugue from the WTCs. Coming soon, I hope.

You know what they say - performing Bach is more for the performer than the audience! There's always such a great sense of accomplishment when a Bach piece is learned. Look Ma! 3rd species counterpoint!

Yes, Mozart. He doesn't quite inhabit that which Bach and Beethoven possess, but no other composer comes as close.

I enjoy playing Prelude and Fuge in C. I simply love that piece. What a genius he was!

I've been listening lately to his ten mature string quartets. If he doesn't quite inhabit it... dang, he comes really close, and maybe even has something no one else does.

-J

Goldberg Variations WTC I and II.. love his organ music. some of it is still too hard for me... the toccatas.

Back is all good.

Absolutely.

i like Bach, but it's just too difficult to play or memorize most of his work. right now, i could only play his 1st 2 preludes from WTC1 without score, however i enjoy playing them.

I've always liked playing and listening to the Sinfonias. They are all original and unique in their own ways. I also like the French Suites. I learned some of the parts from no. 5 and performed them in the Bach Festival! I did pretty well too. This year I want to venture into some of the English Suites and Partitas, because I have not learned or even really heard any of them.
Right now I am working on Prelude & Fugue in d minor (book 1). It's more difficult than I had thought, but I'm sure my hard work on it will eventually pay off.

-Will