Music Discussion thread

[Froge]

Actually, I will admit without hesitation that Bach's compositions are quite emotionally empowering. But I want to do a quick comparison between Bach and Chopin to elaborate on what I mean by "energy." First, let's look at Bach's most famous composition:





This piece radiates a dark and grandiose aura and indeed, it is this majestic ambiance that propels the music. In particular, you can feel a buildup of something truly ominous at 2:14 with the two voices playing in nearly identical similar motion. When the fugue kicks in at 2:50, it really does feel empowering after all the buildup from before.

But it's not the same kind of empowering as can be felt here:





In particular I want to take a look at 7:56 - 8:53.

I cannot explain how Chopin does it, but every time I listen to that section I'm in complete euphoria. It starts with the descending staccato octaves at 8:04 - 8:07, the slamming of minor chords from 8:08 - 8:11, and then the ecstatic but pure and simple melody from 8:12 and onwards. The buildup feels just that much stronger and more raw than anything I've heard from Bach, and I've listened to all his prelude and fugues, many toccatas, english and french suites, and the lute partita that you posted. I know that it's a bit unfair to compare the two, since there was no way any baroque composer could create something like Chopin's grande polonaise with the keyboards they had back then, but still.

It might just be a matter of opinion, but my thoughts can be summarized as follows: when I listen to Bach's toccata and fugue in d minor I feel like a powerful king sitting on a throne and watching a majestic sunset. But when I listen to Chopin's grande polonaise I feel like I'm weeping as if I've experienced at once the greatest joys of life as well as the greatest pains. And the latter is much more of a life-changing journey than the former.