Music Discussion thread

[Froge]

Improvising a four figure fugue is impossible. I'm sure I could do it if I practiced until I can dream four voice-harmony in my sleep, but I wouldn't be able to do it well. Not as well as Bach, that's for sure, as he tends to add a ton of other articulations. I think Bach's also done seven-figure fugues (something was up with his brain).

It takes unthinkable genius to compose like he can. But to be honest, I still don't find Bach's compositions that enjoyable to listen to. Maybe I'm just too much of a romantic, but as I listen to and analyze his fugues (and many of his other compositions, like his suites and toccata) voice by voice, I find Bach to be rather mechanical. I can best describe it by saying that his pieces are amazingly fun to play. When you hear each individual voice harmonizing together under your finger tips, it's an astounding experience. But what these pieces lack is ambiance, and the energy derived from that ambiance. When I listen to something like Beethoven's tempest (3rd movement) or his moonlight sonata, although they might not be as complex as Bach's compositions, there is just some hidden energy within that clicks with me, and I can feel its sheer raw force. Once I tap into that music, I feel like I'm painting the world. Same thing with Chopin (and perhaps to an even greater degree). But not Bach.

A fugue leaves me satisfied, but it does not energize and empower me.