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I was listening yesterday afternoon to one of my favourite pieces of music, Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in G minor. It was being played by the virtuoso Daniel Chorzempa and, from watching a church organist as a youngster, I could visualise the dexterity and accuracy of hands and feet that this piece of music requires.
Born in Eisenach in Germany in 1685 and taught by various members of his family, Bach was an accomplished musician. At the age of fourteen he was awarded a choral scholarship to study at St. Michael's School in Lüneburg. His two years of study there gave him a grounding in a variety of musical forms and instruments, and it is possible that here he was also able to play the school’s organ.
At around the age of eighteen or so, Bach composed his famous toccata and it occurred to me that this piece, along with many other pieces of 18th century music, is still popular not only among fans of classical music but, in different formats, by others who do not even realise they are listening to classical music.
I have, for example, over a dozen different renderings of the toccata. They include Jacques Loussier’s laid-back piano version, Vanessa Mai’s vibrant violin one, Wendy Carlos’s atmospheric synthesised one, Myleene Klass’s pop version ... as well as others played by orchestras, brass bands, flute, guitar and a variety of other instruments.
The toccata has wound its way into popular culture. It opens, for example, the 1940 Disney film Fantasia, features in various pop/rock albums by bands such as Sky, Deep Purple and Megadeth. It appears in a number of movies to give atmosphere to dark scenes, and also in a number of video games that are so popular these days. And you sometimes hear part of it as an irritating mobile phone ring tone.
All these thoughts led me to another. And that was to wonder what Johann Sebastian Bach would have thought not only about the longevity and popularity of his compositions but of the great range of variations it spawned.
Alas, we will never know.
.
I was listening yesterday afternoon to one of my favourite pieces of music, Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in G minor. It was being played by the virtuoso Daniel Chorzempa and, from watching a church organist as a youngster, I could visualise the dexterity and accuracy of hands and feet that this piece of music requires.
Born in Eisenach in Germany in 1685 and taught by various members of his family, Bach was an accomplished musician. At the age of fourteen he was awarded a choral scholarship to study at St. Michael's School in Lüneburg. His two years of study there gave him a grounding in a variety of musical forms and instruments, and it is possible that here he was also able to play the school’s organ.
At around the age of eighteen or so, Bach composed his famous toccata and it occurred to me that this piece, along with many other pieces of 18th century music, is still popular not only among fans of classical music but, in different formats, by others who do not even realise they are listening to classical music.
I have, for example, over a dozen different renderings of the toccata. They include Jacques Loussier’s laid-back piano version, Vanessa Mai’s vibrant violin one, Wendy Carlos’s atmospheric synthesised one, Myleene Klass’s pop version ... as well as others played by orchestras, brass bands, flute, guitar and a variety of other instruments.
The toccata has wound its way into popular culture. It opens, for example, the 1940 Disney film Fantasia, features in various pop/rock albums by bands such as Sky, Deep Purple and Megadeth. It appears in a number of movies to give atmosphere to dark scenes, and also in a number of video games that are so popular these days. And you sometimes hear part of it as an irritating mobile phone ring tone.
All these thoughts led me to another. And that was to wonder what Johann Sebastian Bach would have thought not only about the longevity and popularity of his compositions but of the great range of variations it spawned.
Alas, we will never know.
.
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