Bach Cantata BWV 54
Bach is my favorite composer. His music resonates deeply with me. In the book,
“Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life” by William Deresiewicz (Links to an external site.), he shares this idea :The reason we study history is not because we don’t want to repeat it. It is because you learn about yourself. The reason we study the classics is because the authors of the past know us better than we know ourselves.
We will start with Canadian pianist, Glenn Gould.
He speaks eloquently and deeply about Bach, and performs just as beautifully. (Links to
an external site.)
1. Use Google to find text and the translation. Write about how the music and the
performance reflect the meaning. See if you can feel what Gould means about: “… and
both of the outer movements of this cantata are full of that wonderful and torturous art of intense cross-relation and suspension which Bach always reserved for those subjects …[music]… on which he felt most keenly, most deeply.”
This piece was written around 1711-1714. Though it was more than 300 years ago,
Bach is revered by musicians of all genres. Musicians often bring Bach alive in their
own ways.
2. What does this arrangement and performance by Frankfurt Radio Band (Links to an
external site.) do with the same cantata?
3. What about this take by Nicolas Godin (Links to an external site.)? Metal, zombies,
surfing, how is Godin using Bach to speak to himself or the present?
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