Posts Tagged ‘George Frideric Handel’
“Study Bach. There you will find everything.”*…
When eminent biologist and author Lewis Thomas was asked what message he would choose to send from Earth into outer space in the Voyager spacecraft, he answered, “I would send the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach.” After a pause, he added, “But that would be boasting.” (Indeed.)
Evan Goldfine agreed– and decided to devote a year to listening to Bach… all of Bach…
… Take your favorite author and read all of it! The early exploratory stuff, the later material you’ll throw against the wall, the angry letters to publishers and daffy love letters, every word. (This strategy also works for visual artists and filmmakers, etc.)
I’d listened to only about a third of Bach’s work prior to Year of Bach. Why so little? I loved what I’d heard…
How much of Bach do you know? You’ve tasted only a morsel of the world’s biggest cake.
That said, of all the great artists, Bach has the lowest variance in style and quality of output from youth to old age…
…
My Year of Bach ended in December, but I’m still listening to plenty of JSB. I’m happy whenever my algo serves it up. The music is fundamental and infinite…
… My gamble last January was that I’d enjoy listening to all 200 hours of Bach’s compositions. My goodness, did Bach live up to his part of the deal. The music was never less than excellent…
See also here
A year of majesty and beauty: “37 takeaways from 200 hours with Bach.”
(Image at top: source)
* Johannes Brahms
###
As we celebrate completists, we might recall that it was on the date in 1749 that George Frideric Handel’s “Music For The Royal Fireworks” debuted in London’s Green Park. Bach and Handel were contemporaries; they (and Domenico Scarlatti) were born in 1685.
“Your memory and your senses will be nourishment for your creativity”*…
On which senses do great creators rely? Randall Collins investigates…
Beethoven started going deaf in his late 20s. Already famous by age 25 for his piano sonatas, at 31 he was traumatized by losing his hearing. But he kept on composing: the Moonlight Sonata during the onset of deafness; the dramatic Waldstein Sonata at 32; piano sonatas kept on coming until he was 50. In his deaf period came the revolutionary sounds of his 3rd through 8th symphonies, piano and violin concertos (age 32-40). After 44 he became less productive, with intermittent flashes (Missa Solemnis, Diabelli variations, 9th symphony) composed at 47-53, dying at 56. His last string quartets were composed entirely in his head, left unperformed in his lifetime.
Handel went blind in one eye at age 66; laboriously finished the oratorio he was working on; went completely blind at 68. He never produced another significant work. But he kept on playing organ concertos, “performing from memory, or extemporizing while the players waited for their cue” almost to the day he died, aged 74.
Johann Sebastian Bach fell ill in his 64th year; next year his vision was nearly gone; he died at 65 “after two unsuccessful operations for a cataract.” At 62 he was still producing great works; at 64 he finished assembling the pieces of his B Minor Mass (recycling his older works being his modus operandi). At death he left unfinished his monument of musical puzzles, The Art of the Fugue, on which he had been working since 55.
Can we conclude, it is more important for a composer to see than hear?…
And given examples like Milton, that it’s more critical to poets and writers to hear than see? More at “Deaf or Blind: Beethoven, Handel,” from @sociologicaleye.
* Arthur Rimbaud
###
As we contemplate creativity, we might recall that it was on this date in 2013 that Google– Google Search, YouTube, Google Mail, and Google Drive, et al.– went down for about 5 minutes. During that brief window, internet traffic around the world dropped by 40 percent.
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…
As the regular resort to allergy meds testifies, Spring is upon us; and with it, thoughts of Summer and the sea…
Thankfully, the prudent folks at SimplyBeach have shared “The 15 Deadliest Beach Creatures.” Given the presence of the predators featured there, one simply can’t be too cautious. Consider, for example,
The Marble Cone snail shell looks beautiful but the sea creature inside is deadlier than any other possible beach inhabitant listed here. One drop of venom could kill 20 or more people. Found in warm, tropical salt water, if you find one, don’t touch it. A sting immediately begins showing symptoms or the onset may be days later. The intense pain, numbness, swelling and tingling-feeling can result, in severe cases, muscle paralysis, respiration shut down and vision changes or death. It is fortunate that only 30 people have been killed by envenomation because there is still no anti-venom available. (source)
As we replan and rebook for the mountains, we might recall that it was this date in 1742 that George Frideric Handel’s oratorio Messiah (often incorrectly called The Messiah) made its world-premiere in Dublin. The version debuted then was composed in in the summer 1741. But Handel revised his masterpiece repeatedly; the version with which modern listeners are familiar was first performed in 1754. (In fact, a version orchestrated by Mozart in 1789 was the most frequently heard until the mid-twentieth century, and the return of the “historically-informed” performance.)
You must be logged in to post a comment.