Word: bache
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Harvard--and everyone else--bringing back Bach? This year also marks Handel's 300th birthday, as well as Scarlatti's, but neither of these has drawn nearly as much attention...
...Harvard, this is partially explained by the types of works each excelled in. "You can't really have a major Handel festival without paying attention to his operas, and the difficulties for undergraduates in putting together an opera are nearly insurmountable," Wolff explained. "If you look at Bach's works, you have an ideal repertoire that can be tapped by chamber music, choral and orchestral groups...
...scale beyond the University, Jameson N. Marvin, director of choral activities at Harvard, said Bach's birthday is receiving more attention than Handel's because "the level of Bach's genius as a composer is so constant, and there are such pinnacle works in all categories, where as Handel only has them...
...Bach was not acclaimed as a genius composer in his own time. "If you look at Bach's obituary notice in 1750, they praised him as the greatest organist and clavier player of all times, but they had very little understanding of him as a composer," Wolff explained. Marvin added that in Bach's time, other composers, like Handel and Telemann were more acclaimed...
...Wolff said, there are hints that Bach was aware of his own talents. "I think he did recognize his own greatness," Wolff said. "He composed the Mass in B Minor with an eye toward posterity...