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#bach

8 posts7 participants1 post today

Suddenly from my choir-singing early teens comes a snatch of #Bach lyrics.

Herr, wenn die stolzen Feinde schnauben,
So gib, daß wir im festen Glauben
Nach deiner Macht und Hülfe sehn!
Wir wollen dir allein vertrauen,
So können wir den scharfen Klauen
Des Feindes unversehrt entgehn.

Since childhood, I've been obsessed with #Bach's #Prelude in C Major, specifically the chord progression he penned. That's a long, long time ago. Yet, as an amateur, I still find delight in studying the score, watching professional musicians on YouTube dissect the #harmony, and listening to professionals put their spin on the piece. My favourite version is still that of Glenn Gould's. (All right, let those arrows and daggers fly my way.)

For children learning the #piano, this hour-long harmonic analysis by Ryan Abshier is perhaps the most gentle.

Intermediate piano students would find this video slow going. But then, they have tens of thousands of other 10-minute-long videos on this subject that they can consume.

PS—I'd advise children learning this piece to not worry too much about "period accuracy", but simply to enjoy the surprises and delights that this great composer threw our way, from centuries ago.

Ryan's analysis
youtu.be/jlpJ2emRPD4?feature=s

Lang Lang's advice
youtu.be/z9Zi4Tu6dO4?feature=s

The Great Composer
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prelude_.

"Erbarme dich, mein Gott, um meiner Zaehren willen."

"Have mercy on me, my God, for my tears' sake."

Marian Anderson (1897-1993), singing JS Bach's "Erbarme dich mein Gott" in 1939 in front of the Lincoln Memorial, perhaps the best ever performance of this most painful and most loving of all of Bach's arias, and also the most political of them all.

Anderson was black, and she was prevented from performing at Constitution Hall. Eleanor Roosevelt helped letting her perform at the Lincoln Memorial. (From Wikipedia.)

What a voice.

This song is Bach's deepest plea for mercy, of all his songs, and the warmth of Marian Anderson's voice makes us experience it fully. So fiitting to see the connection to Black Liberation.

youtu.be/_E7zjNiz2ZI