The Essential Bach 2

These are pieces that, although not so famous as the previous ones, is essential to know them. I’ve choosen these pieces just by personal taste, so consider this as a little guide for discovering the most important, to later go your own way in the sometimes confusing ocean of music that means Bach.

The audio files are in Ogg Vorbis format. Click here to know more about it.

1. Aria Erbarme Dich from St. Matthew Passion

The St. Matthew Passion is Bach’s most ambitious and impressive work, with its generally 3 hours of duration in a normal performance. To absorb this wonder of music you need a lot of time and various listens.

Before you go into that journey, maybe it is easier to first listen to some highlights of the work. This Aria (german for song) is one of its most famous movements.

It is the “saddest” piece of music I’ve heard. You have to know the context and read the lyrics to really get the feeling of the music. The text is taken from the Bible and it is said by apostle Peter.

When Jesus was arrested and the soldiers asked Peter if he was with him, he answered: “I do not know this man”. This happened three times as Jesus said. After that Peter went to cry alone:

Erbarme dich,
Mein Gott, um meiner Zähren willen!
Schaue hier,
Herz und Auge weint vor dir
Bitterlich.

Have mercy Lord,
My God, because of this my weeping!
Look thou here,
Heart and eyes now weep for thee
Bitterly.

Here I put a link to a video of a performance of this aria, is the best I found.

Video by the Brandenburg Consort. Soloist: Michael Chance

2. English Suite No. 2 in A minor – Bourée I and II

The english suites are not little studies for harpsichord. They are masterpieces for keyboard. This english suite is one of the most outstanding, and this movement is specially appealing, because of its beautiful melodies and clever repetition.

Just listen to each voice of the counterpoint, and how they are perfectly joint.

Download Audio File
Free download of the full suite performed by Josh Hillmann

3. Gigue from Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor

The violin partita No. 2 is my favorite piece of music. Everyone should give a listen to the complete work. But for starters I recomend this movement. I think is the most “diggestible”, with its fast figures and dynamic nature, as this work as a whole is difficult to “understand”.

If you like this individual movement, you surely would want to listen to the complete partita.

Download Audio File
Read about the full Partita

4. Allegro from Brandenburg Concerto No. 2

I bet some were asking where were the Brandenburg Concertos. Well, here I’ll start with them.

This is a typical Bach piece in a major key that uses modulations to a minor key that give chills. The movement starts very optimistic, then has its passages of subtle melancholy. All this resolves in a happy ending, returning to the theme of the beginning. Simply a masterpiece.

Pay special attention to the trumpet!

Download Audio File

5. Allegro from Brandenburg Concerto No. 3

This is the third allegro, not to be confused with the first, as this concerto has two. This is the first composition by Bach that I’ve heard. It was the last track of a compilation of “Classics of the Classics”. From the first second of music I wondered how was possible to make something so well planned and crafted, it was the beggining of my passion for Bach.

I hope this piece will produce the same feelings in you.