5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Bach
The New York Times
Listen to all the moods from the grand master of Western classical music: consoling, rousing, peaceful, passionate.
In the past we’ve chosen the five minutes or so we would play to make our friends fall in love with classical music, piano, opera, cello, Mozart, 21st-century composers, violin, Baroque music, sopranos, Beethoven, flute, string quartets, tenors, Brahms, choral music, percussion, symphonies, Stravinsky, trumpet and Maria Callas.
Now we want to convince those curious friends to love the stirring, consoling music of Johann Sebastian Bach, the grand master of the Western classical tradition. We hope you find lots here to discover and enjoy; leave your favorites in the comments.
People occasionally say that Bach is too mathematical or intellectual, which of course is an opinion I don’t share. To me, his music lives at the intersection of the algorithmic and the spiritual, his logical structures working together with his humanity and emotional sensitivity. When I need to remind anyone of this, this is the track I turn to. Lorraine Hunt Lieberson delivers a cantata about the acceptance of death with profound grace, in a dialogue with the oboist Peggy Pearson. It’s gorgeous, moving and, thanks to the deep structure underneath, timeless.
