Kevin's Watch

You could play Bach on kazoos and I'd revel in the glory of it.


And I'll talk Beethoven as long as you want!!

That's okay, F&F. I'm just teasing you and LF. I don't necessarily need to talk Ludwig...I got my CD's to keep me warm.

Now let's get back to Bach before LF has a fit.

Matrixman wrote:Back to Bach: have any of you listened to Wendy Carlos's "Switched On Bach" or Don Dorsey's "Bachbusters"? JS Bach sounds fabulous, whether in acoustic or electronic form.

Wendy Carlos is cool! Never heard of Don Dorsey... Have you heard Swingle Singers doing Bach? They made two brilliant albums doing only works of Bach in the 60's. Six voices with drums and double-base. Beautiful! Their version of Air is magical...then they did a lot of other stuff too, but their Bach stuff is best...

kasten

Sorry, kasten, I had never heard of the Swingle Singers. But I looked them up on Amazon. I'm guessing the "Jazz Sebastian Bach" albums are the ones you're talking about. Maybe my local used record shops will have them (cheap bastard that I am).

Don Dorsey's "Bachbusters" is Bach on modern synthesizer, in the spirit of "Switched On Bach", you might say. It was one of the early wonders of CD audio that showed what the digital format was capable of waaay back in 1985! It was a flagship title for then upstart label TELARC, an early adopter of all things digital. The company was one of the first (if not the first) to produce every one of its recordings entirely digitally (the recording, mixing, and mastering process kept in the digital domain--no analog stuff here). Thanks to this process, and TELARC's engineers, "Bachbusters" remains a sonic marvel--to my ears, anyway.

Dorsey followed up "Bachbusters" with "Beethoven Or Bust" in 1988. Lotsa fun for Ludwig listeners!

Yes MM, "Jazz Sebastian Bach" it is, followed by volume 2...going baroque is good too...

kasten

I just saw that the Emerson String Quartet has a recording of Bach's Art of Fugue. Reviews say it's great, and, knowing other recordings of theirs, I believe it.
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00008O ... 51-4909668

Oh. The Emerson String Quartet. I had forgotten that I had listened to their DG live recording of Bartok's quartets a few years back. Yeah, I would trust anything done by Emerson. (Gets throttled by Fist for "forgetting" Bartok's string quartets...)

Haven't we talked about Bartok's quartets in one thread or another? My first exposure to Emerson was their Bartok quartets. (Not the live that you mention, and that I've never heard of before.) I did an independent study of those pieces, needed a recording of all 6, and heard Emerson was good. HOLY COW, I'm still in awe, all these years later.

To change the subject a bit, have any of you ever heard a song by the Dave Brubeck Quartet called The Brandenburg Gate? It's a jazz tribute to Bach, in the form of a fugue. Love that song! It's on the Jazz Impressions of Eurasia CD, songs that were inspired by Brubeck's tours of Europe and Asia following WW2.

Just bought this: www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000000 ... 11-9039957


I'm going to play all the CDs at one time, thus revealing the secret "grand cantata", which I just know Bach stuck in there somewhere.

Yeah, suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure you just bought that.

I have not heard that, duchess. Could be very cool!! I'll have to check it out.

Ok, got an email today from one of the groups in Ann Arbor that brings in musicians from all over to give concerts.

There is a group from the Netherlands coming into town, and they only play Bach. They are going to perform something called the Great Mass as their concert.

I am unfamiliar with that piece.

Worth going to hear?

First of all, any Bach is worth going to hear. Let's not hear that question again!



Now then... If you're talking about the Mass in B minor, then I'm about as jealous as can be. It's a giant thing, unbelievably gorgeous all the way through. GO! GO! GO!

And please see if you can find the name of the group!

Fist and Faith wrote:First of all, any Bach is worth going to hear. Let's not hear that question again!



Now then... If you're talking about the Mass in B minor, then I'm about as jealous as can be. It's a giant thing, unbelievably gorgeous all the way through. GO! GO! GO!

And please see if you can find the name of the group!

That would be the name of the Mass. And I believe the name of the group was the Netherlands Bach Society. All they do is Bach.

But when I get home and can access the website (the work filters block it ) I will double check for you.

Here you go, Fisty (the work filter actually let me through for once):
www.ums.org/secondary/season/artist/art ... pageid=374



This concert along with the London Philharmonic (doing Sibelius's violin concerto) were the ones that immediately caught my eye.

I'm sure the NBS will do a great job! Although I don't know them, I am very familiar with the label they're on. Channel Classics is top-notch! One of their artists is cellist Pieter Wispelwey, who I am extraordinarily grateful to have seen perform Bach's first cello suite and Kodaly's cello sonata at a sales conference, and I own many of his recordings. I've listened to a lot of other cd's on this label, and have full confidence in the NBS. I'm VERY excited for you!!!!

Since I had a make-your-own-sale coupon for Borders, I picked up Bach's Great Mass (among other things ). Fist is right - it was well worth listening to.

Yes, it is. Again, and again, and again!

A friend sent me Bach Fantasy by Isao Tomita while I was in the hospital for two months and he does some interesting electronic versions. His version of Wachet Auf is quite amazing and unique. Some of the pieces leave much to be desired though. Anyone else ever heard this one?

I haven't heard it. I've heard a little of Wendy/Walter Carlos' stuff. In general, I think Bach works with these, with any, orchestrations.