Bach's Project

3. Symphonies
I have heard Symphonies Op.6 nos 1-6

Bach left some 60 symphonies as well as 20 concertante symphonies for one or more solo instruments, not counting 30 solo fortepiano or harpsichord concertos.

I feel brightness, freedom from sorrow, joy in the symphonies. The scope of the orchestra is relatively small compared to the Mahler's. It's simple and relax.

Some famous works of Bach that u can't miss:
1. Minuet in G major, BWV Anh. 114
Im sure most ppl hv heard this piece when we were a kid. It's a minuet which is for dancing. The rhythm is simple.
2.Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
It's the 10th movement of the cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147. The piece is so sweet and it's a paise to God. There are lyrics and u can sing along. I feel sacred and warm when I listen to it.
3.Cello suites No.1 Prelude
I feel quite tranquil when I listened to it. I love the arpeggiated chords and the increasing intensity of the piece.
4.Toccata and Fugue in D minor
It is often used at Halloween and for horror films and is a piece of organ music.

Bach's Project

2. Bach Kantaten (Bach Cantatas)
Bach wrote more than 200 Kantaten when he was a Kantor at the St. Thomas Church, Leipzig and the St. Nicholas Church.It was part of his job to perform a church cantata every Sunday and Holiday, related to the readings prescribed by the Lutheran liturgy for the specific occasion. In his first years in Leipzig, starting after Trinity of 1723, he composed a new work every week and conducted soloists, the Thomanerchor and orchestra as part of the church service.
Three annual cycles of cantatas survived.

1.church cantatas he composed sacred cantatas for functions like weddings or Ratswahl (the inauguration of a new town council)

2.secular cantatas for anniversaries and entertainment in nobility and society

3.Glückwunschkantaten (congratulatory cantatas) and Huldigungskantaten (homage cantatas).

The words for many cantatas combine Bible quotes, contemporary poetry and chorale, but he also composed a cycle of chorale cantatas based exclusively on the verses of one chorale.

A typical Bach cantata of his first year in Leipzig follows the scheme:

Coro - opening chorus
Recitativo
Aria
Recitativo (or Arioso)
Aria
Chorale


I hv heard Canatatas BMV 110, 40 and 71
BMV 110 and 40 are for liturgical ceremonies marking the 1st and 2nd day of Christmas, so it is more religional! The mood is solemn, but on the other hand,the chorus erputs into jubilant cheers.
BMV 71 is composed for a secular celebration so the tone is a bit different.
But to tell the truth, i duno how to appreciate opera and canatatas. It's sth that i want to learn.

Bach's Project

Try to listen as much as Bach as possible the past week!
1. Variations Goldberg
The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, are a set of an aria and 30 variations for harpsichord by Johann Sebastian Bach. First published in 1741, the work is considered to be one of the most important examples of variation form. The Variations are named after Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, who may have been the first performer.

The work opens and closes with a tranquil Aria in the form of an ornamented sarabande in the French style.

In these variations without a theme in G major (only 3 variations, nos 15,21 and 25 are in minor, all three of them highly expressive), in which Glenn Gould saw 'neither a beginning nor an end', Bach systematically explores all the possibilities of keyboard style with an intensity rarly attained.

More details in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldberg_Variations

My favourite pieces:
No.1 so cheerful and lively! Think of the springtime in Leipzig!
No.5 I love the hand-crossing n the lively beat n rapid melody-line! It keeps on going and going!
No.7 Love the trills and the 6/8 meter n it is suggested that it's for dancing:)
No.23 I love the rhythm, so energetic and u can hear different voices at once!
No.28 love the great deal of hand-crossing and the fast pace! It's so colourful
No.29 Big surprises in the beginning and a sharp difference from no.28!It's so exciting:)
No.30 The end! Bach ended with a touch of humour, on a joyous quodlibet (A quodlibet is a piece of music combining several different melodies, usually popular tunes, in counterpoint and often a light-hearted, humorous manner. The term is Latin, meaning "whatever" or literally, "what pleases." ) built on the combination of 2 folk tunes!

Bach's Project

Niki and I start a music project. We have chosen 15 composers and would like to introduce one every week!
This week is Bach's week!


During the week, we will listen to Bach's music and find our favourite and the most famous pieces and introduce them to you!

First, I want to share my experience with Bach's music

Leipzig, the city that im living in, is a Bach's city! There is Bach museum and Bach has been working as the Cantor of the Thomasschule at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, as well as Director of Music in the principal churches in the town for 27 years. Bach's tomb is in St. Thomas Church in Leipzig and I have been there as well. I have also listened to his music inside St. Thomas Church. It was an amazing experience. The organ in the church used to play by Bach and the lovely St. Thomas choir sang the beautiful lyrics and music created by Bach.

I also played many pieces composed by Bach and I quite enjoyed playing them!
Not long ago, I learnt to play Inventions No.1 in C major and No.13 in A minor. There are many ups and downs, f and p, the rhythm and the theme is simple. It's fun to play these pieces:)

I also played the Toccatta in E when I was in Aberdeen. The 1st part is serious and intense, as a pianist, you need to use more strength when attaching the keyboard. The 2nd part becomes a bit relaxing and you can hear a few ups and downs and Bach creates different variations. The 3rd part is funny. There are some excitements and surprises. Sometimes the tempo is fast, sometimes is slow. It feels like children are playing in a field and they are hving fun. The 4th part (Fugue) is even faster and more exciting. It's like a dance. Ppl are drinking and the party is ongoing:) Many chitchats and the scene is reli lively. Or maybe it's a sunday market! Ppl are selling and buying nice stuff and fresh meat and fruits. Ppl are shouting. There are always energy around the market:)

I found a reli nice webiste which is called Bach's project. It invitied musicials to play Bach's music and express their views towards Bach:)
http://www.mlfilms.com/frontpage
Bach's cello works is amazing:) http://www.mlfilms.com/productions/bach_project/zuill_bailey

Hope you enjoy it:)
To be cont.

Lisbon Story

New and fresh thoughts about images and sounds:)
A glimpse of the city Lisbon! Simple and naive:)

The story is quite speical which is abt Rudiger Vogler is called to Lisbon by Friedrich Monroe (Patrick Bauchau), a filmmaker who has mysteriously vanished. Using his microphone as a divining rod, Winter begins roaming Lisbon in search of sounds. And as he looks for the exact accompaniment to match Friedrich's abandoned images, the film creates the urban portrait that is much of its raison d'etre.

This film is different from the film made in Hollywood!
It's nature,rural and philosophical.

philosophical:''What use is the universe?'' ''We want to imitate God and that's why we have artists.''

Passionate ending:''Why waste your life on junk images when you can make indispensable ones with your heart on magic celluloid?

Encouragement for all human beings on earth:)

Wols: The blue Phantom

Interested in Abstract art/modern art after the visit of the art gallery in Hk!
There are now abstract paintings in my room. I reli feel gr8 when i c them everyday.

Try to learn to appreciate abstract paintings. For some ppl, they are not art at all, i still need some time to figure out this question.

Wols-aka Alfred Otto Wolfgang was a German painter and he was famous for his post war movement in painting often referred to as “gestural abstraction”

In this painting, i can imagine a machine or creature lives deep down in the sea. In fact, the creature is quite interesting, hving some sparkling and shining, octopus like light bulbs. They are moving in different directions and attempt to extend the territory and prove their existence to the deep and big world (sea). The creature also has a tail and some other generations.
It's interesting to notice that the creatures are surrounded by a coloured edge. I love the mix of different colour. With the edge, it confirms the existence of the creatures and give ppl a sense of security and peace. Like if sth bad dev from the dark creature, the colour would absorb and turn it into good.

I also like the different degree of the colour blue and textures in the painting. It's clear to see both horizontal and vertical lines in the blue sea. For me, the blue sea remains a mystery. It comforts and disturbs you at the same time.

Some quotes or gd pts of an article talking abt Wols:

His paintings are a search for a way of visualizing the inhuman (following the end of World War II)

His photographs are neither optimistic nor pessimistic as these are ethical categories whereas the subject matter of his photography is the object as it exists beyond moral judgment.

For a photographer such as Wols the world is not to be made more knowable through the lens of the camera – but more mysterious and inexplicable. His photographs stand as enigmatic evidence of a (somewhat surreal) world composed of fragments.

It is precisely in these images that Wols reveals how much he understands about the power of the object and the ultimate unknowability of the human – even in a self portrait. For Wols, no matter how close we get with the camera, the mask each of us wear in public remains at least somewhat intact.

Hope u enjoy studying the painting:)

Edward Hopper: Nighthawks

以前睇Alain de Botton 的書，總有加上Edward Hopper的畫作，來顯示都市人的寂寞(in english: solitude)，我又覺得他的畫予人有內在反思的能力。
Edward Hopper (1882-1967) 生於美國紐約，他是紐約寫實畫派的畫家，是北美最受歡迎的藝術家之一。

他的繪畫手法寫實具象, 但放棄精細的描畫, 畫中人和物都只畫出大面的整體立體層次, 而題材多是社會寫實生活情景, 平平無奇的日常片段。他的畫中的主角只是普通人，沒有特別個性，讓人感覺空洞和孤獨，畫出現代人的疏離與孤獨, 有一種沈默、孤立無助的感覺。

Nighthawks的靈感來自一個在Hopper居住地，紐約格林威治村的餐廳。霍普在珍珠港事件後不久就開始畫夜遊者，因為在珍珠港之後，他深深地感受到籠罩着美國的一片愁雲慘霧，而他也把這種感覺融入這幅畫作裡。在餐廳外，城市的街都是空空如也的，在餐廳裡的三個人也沒有對對方談話或看着其他人，但都在自己的世界中迷失了。左邊的兩人是情人，背對的男人孤獨地坐着。而餐廳內的唯一一個侍應生，雖然有抬起頭來，但似乎是望着顧客們後面的窗戶。各人看似身處同一幅畫面，但又其實各自活在自己的空間中

畫作描繪了現代城市生活的苦悶、孤獨；這是Hopper一向慣用的主題。如果細心一點看，會發現餐廳沒有明顯的門口可以讓客人走出去，突顯了畫作的另一個主旨：囚禁與限制。霍普否認他是故意畫成這樣的，但他承認「也許，我的確是無意識地在描繪一個大城市的孤獨。」