Category: Music >> Classical Music/Symphony

Problem description:

I always feel that Bach’s music is very profound and difficult to understand. I always feel confused when listening to his music.

Analysis:

Bach’s musical works can be said to be numerous. He pushed polyphonic music to the peak of perfection that no one in later generations can surpass. The beauty of Bach's music is reflected in two aspects: on the one hand, it is the beauty of strictness and balance, which is mainly reflected in its perfect application of musical form. The understanding of this aspect must be combined with relevant knowledge of musical form; Profound lyrical beauty, this aspect is not difficult to understand as long as you listen carefully. His unaccompanied violin, Well Tempered, Brandenburg, Gothenburg, which one is not full of incomparable affection? Much of Bach's music is full of contemplation, and of course there are also lively and exciting ones. His works are of various genres, including six "Bradenburg Concertos" and four "Orchestral Suites" for orchestra. The organ is his strong point, with countless works. We are familiar with "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor", "C Passacaglia Minor, etc. Other keyboard ones include the thunderous "Well Tempered", "Gothenburg Variations", "English Suite", "French Suite", "Old Suite", etc., and the violin ones include "Unaccompanied Violin Suite" and Sonatas", multiple "Violin Concertos", multiple "Violin Sonatas (with Accompaniment)", etc. For cello, there are "Unaccompanied Cello Suites and Sonatas", etc...

Bach ( The music of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) can be said to be an important pillar of the European music palace. For the music of the entire Baroque period, Bach's musical achievements can be said to be the dome that stands on this palace; for the subsequent development of European music, although Bach did not have real influence until the 19th century , but once this influence occurred, it had a profound impact on the development of European music. Only when Bach takes on new cultural significance in a new historical and cultural context will his musical works have a "revelation" significance to modern music. For future generations, it is impossible to understand European music without studying Bach; without in-depth study of Bach's works, it is difficult to become a rigorous and proficient musician; if one cannot understand through the simplicity of Bach's music, Forms, refined techniques and even the "shell" of religious music form, to experience the deep thoughts and emotions contained in Bach's music, it is difficult to fully understand the essence of Bach's music...

In Bach In the era he lived in, Germany was politically divided, economically backward, and its culture and art were lackluster. Foreign cultures, such as those from France, Italy, and England, have an absolute advantage in Germany, and its own national culture is looked down upon. Engels once described, "From that time on, sticks and whips have dominated the country; like the whole of Germany, the German peasants have been reduced to an extremely humble status." Under such circumstances, the church has naturally become a place where people can place their spiritual emotions. place.

In Thuringia, Germany, "Bachs" once became synonymous with musicians. This is because the Bach family can be traced back to several generations, and their profession is a music profession that forms a guild. According to legend, they belong to a special social class such as music artists. Bach's social status in the lord's court was that of a servant, listed on the same list as the cook. He does not have the social status of a free musician, and the works he creates do not directly become a source of economic income, but belong to the lord. Even if he became Thomas's court musician, it would be difficult for him to maintain his life in Leipzig, and he would have no inheritance after his death, unlike Beethoven who left stocks after his death. Apart from being performed in churches, his works were rarely performed at the time and remained unknown for a long time after his death.

Many of his works were written for the rulers and praised them. However, he was not satisfied with his humiliating status and current situation, so he constantly changed his benefactors in search of better performance. A home for your own artistic talents. He even said that he had to live in an environment where he was hated and jealous by others, and he also had conflicts with benefactors in the court and the church, so he also had an arrogant and stubborn side.

Bach served as organist at the church in Arnstadt in 1703 and also composed music for the court. Since then, he has written many famous works. The Toccata in D minor composed in 1704 has a certain power, as if it is speaking in a very powerful language. In the middle transition, he made outstanding use of many minus seven ***, which was as powerful as a strong wind. In the past, some people believed that this was his late work. Just because he brought the woman who later became his wife to sing in church, he resigned voluntarily after being listed as a crime by the city council.

In 1708 he served as organist at the Weimar court. At this time, although his status was also very low, as an organist, his status and reputation gradually increased. In Dresden, Bach was invited to compete in improvisation with a French player. Although the Frenchman ran away, he became a good example for German musicians to win their first victory in competition with foreigners.

In 1717, Bach served as the music director of the Kuiden court for the first time in his life.

Since Duke Quiden was very fond of music, he even used one-thirtieth of the national expenditure to form an 18-piece band. Bach served at the Court of Kuiden for six years, and all his important instrumental compositions were completed during this period. The "Brandenburg Concerto" he dedicated to the Marquis of Brandenburg is full of life and has a proud and gorgeous aristocratic character. In addition, he also wrote "Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue", three sonatas for solo violin, three "Partita" (Partita), etc. In addition, in 1721, Bach wrote orchestral suites in C major and D minor, and a French suite; in 1722, he wrote the first volume of "The Well-Tempered Clavier"; in 1723, he wrote two and three creative pieces, etc. The creations of this period are considered to have broad and bold ideas and technical techniques.

Bach arrived in Leipzig, a prosperous commercial city, in 1723. It was also a free city at that time, and legally it was not subject to the rule of the Duke of Saxony there. There he played a self-composed church cantata, which greatly impressed the city's councilors, and he got the job of music director of St. Thomas Church. In addition, he serves as music director for three other churches. During this period, he wrote many excellent musical works for the church, such as the famous "John Passion" and "Matthew Passion". In addition, in order to obtain the position of court composer, he wrote a great work "Mass in B minor". Like "The Passion of John" and "The Passion of Matthew", this work is a religious work, but its musical spirit is so broad that it seems to speak to all mankind and has far exceeded the limitations of religion.

In a sense, it can be said that Bach’s fame depends on his joy of suffering. The tragic experience of Jesus expressed in the Passion not only has a certain epic nature, but is also a manifestation of real-life emotions. This kind of religious music expresses sad, heavy, and depressing emotions. It should be said that only the Germans at that time had emotions. This kind of emotion, from what we can hear, is only written by the Germans the most deeply. Of course, since Bach himself was a Protestant, and religion was obviously his spiritual sustenance, it is difficult to separate this kind of emotional expression from some kind of religious feeling. It’s just that the religious atmosphere created by Bach in the Passion is no longer in the ordinary sense, but a religious atmosphere that allows one to experience certain social emotions and mentality at that time. Even Bach himself has played an emotionally powerful role in it. Through his own musical expression, he sometimes lyrically depicts the details of Jesus' tragic experience, and sometimes unfolds the epic breadth and grandeur. So much so that the audience in Leipzig complained that an opera-like work was being performed in the church.

In the "Matthew Passion", Bach used two sets of choruses and two sets of orchestral music to dramatically oppose each other, leaving the theme of the psalm to float freely above them. This work also has a strong lyricism. The closing chorus of the work is very powerful. It uses two choruses and eight voices to describe people's emotions when Jesus was buried. The broad bass part is like a vast river bed on which the melody flows. The feeling of polyphony is maintained, while the huge chorus sings freely and broadly, full of power:

Even in his instrumental works such as "Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue", "D minor" "Toccata Fugue", you can also feel an emotional expression that breaks through the constraints and has impact. Among them, the tune of "Toccata Fugue in D minor" is free and bold, with a large melody line and a wide range. It is like the ups and downs of a recitative tone, turbulent and full of exciting emotions. "Chromatic Fantasia Fugue" is more inwardly focused, not seeking superficial magnificence, but a rich inner portrayal, with a stronger expression.

Since German religion is the soil of German music, and German religious organ music has also developed very well in history, Bach still maintains the typicality of polyphonic music and plays a leading role in his creations. . However, this way of thinking about polyphonic music is precisely the way of thinking about polyphonic music that was established on the basis of the development of tonal harmony music to a considerable level. It is different from the polyphonic music with traces of church modes in the past. Upon careful analysis, there are clear harmonic structures and functions. From another perspective, it may be that Bach's approach to integrating polyphony in the field of polyphony finally developed it to perfection.

In terms of the melodic characteristics of the music, because his music is polyphonic, imitation techniques are important. As a result, the music is continuously interwoven and developed, but it lacks the methods of later classical music. Whole, clear paragraphs and structure. And this is exactly the characteristic of Bach. Obviously, we cannot use phrases and sections to analyze Bach. In addition, from the perspective of the development of harmony, the major and minor functional system harmony was finally determined and formed by Bach. Even by the middle of the 18th century, the achievements that harmony could achieve at that time were attributed to Bach, who was even called "the creator of harmony" by Beethoven.

It was not until 1892, when the young Mendelssohn first performed the Matthew Passion, which had been dormant for nearly a hundred years, in Berlin that Bach's artistic value became more understood. Wagner once said that Bach is a record of the inner spiritual life of the German people in a completely bleak and tragic century. From the perspective of German history, the Protestant Chorale occupies a special position in German folk songs. Bach's music combines his works with German national culture through Protestant chants.

It is worth mentioning that Bach wrote many secular cantatas. In his "Peasant Cantata", the works all use folk dance music and popular folk songs. This is an indispensable aspect of understanding Bach. In a sense, in Bach's music, it is the pulse of the German people that beats, and this is also the soul of Bach's music.

J.S. Bach was a devout religious believer. Most of his music expresses worship of the Lord and the harmony of the world created by the Lord. It expresses not emotion but faith. J.S. Bach believes that everything in the world is the creation and gift of God, and is bathed in the light of God. What music should sing is the harmony created by God, and the look up to the light of God in the harmony. According to J.S. Bach, music is his ladder to heaven and to dialogue with God. Music itself is a miracle of heaven. Music is a hidden rational way that makes people feel the existence of God.

In J.S. Bach’s music, in addition to organ music, masses, passions, and motets created directly for religious ceremonies, instrumental music often expresses complex balanced relationships through contrast and changes in rhythm. . Through this balanced relationship, polyphony, counterpoint, and changes are achieved to achieve an extremely rich cycle. His music is the most complex at the same time. It is based on the complex changes of the most basic points, lines and surfaces, which is close to mathematics and logic. Therefore, studying the authority of Bach, the famous organist Schweizer believes that Bach's music is an ontological phenomenon as incredible as the universe itself.

See also: Philippe Charru's "Bach's Theology of Music"; riccibase/docfile_gb/art-ms01-g

Many of Bach's works reflect the tragic religious themes of The author's realistic feelings about the darkness, poverty, and suffering in Germany after the Thirty Years' War, as well as his stubborn and proud spirit. His works with secular content are full of folk joy.

Bach made a huge contribution to the development of music: the development of polyphony reached its peak in his works; the harmony of the major and minor systems has matured; and he developed and established a series of musical genres. Bach's creations had a profound impact on the development of modern European music.