Johann and Me

In a recent post I mentioned my indifference to Bach and begged not to be bombarded with outraged comments of horror.  Nobody did but I received a couple of mildly surprised expressions of disagreement (thank you for being so polite!) and I decided I would post about me and Johann Sebastian so you can take a pop at me if you wish to.

I am SUCH a thoughtful person

OK so how did my love/hate affair with Bach begin?  I don't know.  At school one of my favourite tunes played by our music teacher was Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring.  Didn't know it was Bach, just thought it was lovely.  Other bits of Bach have floated round on the periphery of my life for ever but have never seriously impinged.  I think what did for me was an occasion some twenty years ago.  My then-husband was singing in a performance of the St Matthew Passion in a church at Coggeshall and being a dutiful wife I went along armed with score as I did not know the piece and thought it best to be able to follow what was going on.

So it started and all went well and I was thinking oh this isn't too bad and then I realised with horror what da capo meant.  It means go back to the beginning and sing it all over again.  And they did.  Every single aria.  And it went on and on and on an on.  The pews were rock hard, it was icy cold and all feeling in my feet and bum had gone.  To make it worse I was dying to go to the loo.  When the interval finally arrived the entire audience, as one body, raced to the exit as fast as their benumbed feet would take them, and headed to the pub next door for reasons of warmth and usage of facilities.  The landlord at the time was not a Dickensian Mine Host exuding warmth and cheer and he made it very clear that we were not going to come in here, have a pee and exit (considering half the audience were knocking back double brandies in order to warm themselves up, I thought this was a bit mean) and so I headed for the churchyard and searched for a remote gravestone behind which I could do the necessary as matters had now reached a crucial point.  Well, let me tell you gentle readers, that every single gravestone was Engaged.  Each time I thought I had hit pay dirt somebody in the throes would rear up and scream at me.  It was like the Night of the Living Dead.  Eventually got sorted just in time to stagger back to the church for the second half and yes, they da capo'd everything again.  By the end of the evening I was slumped in my pew in a state of frozen petrification and I took a solemn vow that I would never sit through a performance of the St Matthew Passion fo the rest of my life and to eschew all things Bachian.  (Oddly enough this church is the location of my daughter's upcoming wedding and the landlord at the pub has gone).

The years went by and I had a rethink and decided perhaps I ought to give Bach another bash.  At this time I was singing in a choir and rehearsing for a performance of the St John Passion.  Though this particular passion seemed to have a plethora of Hohenpresters droning on at regular intervals, it seemed much shorter and because I was studying it and learning the music properly I came to love it.  However, I find when I am in an audience listening to it, I love it less so I have come to the conclusion that Bach is best for me if I am actually joining in.  A few years later, another choir, and the Bach Magnificat and I loved that too.  Throw in my liking for the Brandenburg concertos, double violin concerto, some of the unaccompanied violin and/or cello sonatas which I found beautiful and you will see that I am not totally bereft of taste. However, I cannot take his organ works (including the famous Toccata and Fugue - first 30 seconds is OK, after that it is downhill all the way) and his cantatas make me lose the will to live.

So there you have it.  Not quite such a lost cause as you may think.  I used to be Chairman of a music festival, all early music played on original instruments featuring a huge amount of the (to me) more tedious output of Johann Sebastian and his extended family, and I made the error of saying at a committee meeting that I did not care for Bach much.  Well, you would have thought I had just admitted to being a serial killer the looks of total and utter horror on the faces of all of those in the room.  I decided to go for broke and said 'quite frankly I prefer Wagner'

Not sure they ever got over the shock...........

Comments

[GeraniumCat]

Elaine, I'm amazed you weren't ousted on the spot, what an admission! Loved your description of the graveyard, and I do remember that when I went to St Matthew Passion in Exeter Cathedral many years ago, we emerged pretty frozen and stiff, but I do love Bach...da capo for me means, oh joy, we get it all again. On the other hand, I have such a blank spot about anything written after about 1840, that I would never dream of being critical. And I suspect, from some of your earlier posts, that your idea of opera starts where mine ends! Jodie :)

[Eloise]

I love Bach but must agree that some of the organ works are not much fun to listen to, although when a man has written that much music I suppose it can't all be wonderful! However, the solo cello suites are so exquisite that for me they make up for anything else. This was a very funny post, thanks!

[Ex Libris]

I don't mind the organ pieces but a little of them go a long way. Same with the harpsichord. But there is so much of his music that I do love (the Brandenburg concertos, the unadorned cello pieces, etc.)that I still consider him a favorite. After reading (and laughing along with) your post, I can understand why you feel the way you do! Thanks for the graveyard visual :)

[Ann Darnton]

I came to Bach very late, which perhaps was a blessing. I do remember when at College my music lecturer assuring me that one day I would think Bach, Mozart and Beethoven were the greatest composers and come back and listen repeatedly and my thinking he must be mad. Mr Greenwood, should you read this, I apologise. I've just ordered a batch of CDs for winter listening and with the exception of a Handel and a couple of Schubert they are all by those three gentlemen. I do know what you mean about repeats though. My ex used to go wild if a performer skipped a repeat, but if they happen to be playing badly anyway to have to listen twice over is definitely too much.

[Elaine Simpson-Long]

Beethoven is the one composer I would never do without and if I was asked to choose one such who I could listen to for the rest of my life and none other, I am afraid, much though I adore him, Wagner would be for the chop and Beethoven would be with me. His symphonies, piano concertos, violin concerto are all sublime, the Missa Solemnis is the greatest piece of choral music ever written and I am now, again late in life when I think I am ready for them, discovering his string quartets and sonatas.

I feel a post about Ludwig and me coming on....