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Bach and the High Baroque
- Narrated by: Professor Robert Greenberg Ph.D. University of California Berkeley
- Length: 25 hrs and 5 mins
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Bach and the High Baroque
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Publisher's Summary
Though unappreciated in his own time, Johann Sebastian Bach has ascended to Olympian heights, the verdict of contemporary audiences long since overruled by succeeding generations of music lovers. But what makes his music great? In this series of 32 lectures, a working composer and musicologist brings his exceptional teaching skills to the task of helping you hear the extraordinary sweep of Bach's music. You'll understand the compositional language that enabled him to compose such extravagant, unbridled music while still maintaining precise control of every aspect - beat, melody, melodic repetition, interaction, and harmony. Whether devoted admirer or casual listener, you'll gain a new appreciation of the composer and a heightened skill at listening to his work.
You begin by learning the musical traditions and composers that inspired Bach, and how he absorbed those influences to become the transcendent composer of the High Baroque, more representative of the period and its aesthetic of emotional extravagance and technical control than any other. And you'll learn how both his German Lutheran heritage and family background - at least 42 relatives professionally involved with music - helped shape him as an artist.
Above all, though, you experience an abundance of music, with Professor Greenberg highlighting his discussions by playing major excerpts from several of Bach's most important works - including the Brandenburg Concerto no. 2, the Goldberg Variations, and the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor - and also showing you how to compare Bach with other composers both before and after his time.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
What listeners say about Bach and the High Baroque
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- SW TUBBS
- 28-10-2022
Impressive
Perhaps a little too much time was spent on the Passion but otherwise, the professor's depth of knowledge in analysing Bach's music and his influences was impressive.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- O R
- 12-06-2022
Long but worth it!
Prof. Greenberg is the star of classical music story telling. He delivers the lectures in a spotless, humorous and fascinating manner. I didn't want these lectures to end!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Reuben Schwarz
- 06-07-2018
fantastic music course
fascinating insight into Bach's life and music. highlight was the Goldberg variations discussion. so much going on I wasn't aware of.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Karen
- 27-04-2014
Entertaining and informative
Where does Bach and the High Baroque rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
I choose this as I have little music knowledge and wanted to understand more about Bach music. I was surprised about how much I enjoyed these lectures. They were basic enough for me to understand only loosing me a couple of times, they gave me great insight into now only Bach and his music, but the era in which he worked. The lecturer Robert Greenberg was passionate and knowledgeable, surprising funny and was able to convey some of the complex musical issues in a way I could understand and follow. I would recommend this to other listeners. Karen
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Dirk Bertels
- 02-09-2017
Great analysis of Bach's music
Any additional comments?
Prof. Greenberg is a great performer himself - passionate and knowledgeable. He does an extensive analysis on a narrow but vital selection of Bach's music. Not being keen on opera and recitative, he managed to warm me to it in the St Mathew Passion, and not being keen on the harpsichord, I was relieved his extensive talk on the Goldberg Variations used the piano.
However, I was dismayed at his lack of acknowledgement to the performers. His referring to the amazing performer of these Goldberg Variations for example, deserved more than 'the pianist...'!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- jude_s
- 17-04-2019
This book Bachs up the right tree
This is narrated by Professor Robert Greenberg, an American teacher, composer and academic whose passion for classical music is deserving of a cult following. He provides a deep insight into JSB the man, who hated teaching Latin during his time as Kappellmeister to the extent that he paid someone to get out of it, who spent time in jail because of a work dispute and who was hugely Lutheran but wrote a raunchy cantata about a father's struggle with his rebelious and coffee-obsessed teenage daughter.
I learnt lots about Bach's music, including the amazing St Matthew Passion and of course the Goldberg Variations (which I listened to while en route in the air). I also loved Professor Greenberg's dissection of his Fugue in C minor. This is a great introduction to Bach. It humanises the mind beneath the wig and explores the historical, religious and societal forces that converged to produce the music and the man.
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3 people found this helpful