Juke Box - Episode 10
In Celebration of JS Bach's 340th Birthday!
Today the Mighty Wurlitzer spins a selection by the man whom many consider to be the greatest church musician of all time: Johann Sebastian Bach.
Hello again SkepsisNation, and welcome to another installment of Ol’ Doc’s Juke Box.
Being a former FM radio jazz DJ and professional church singer, my musical interests are many and varied. This is my Substack side-hustle for sharing music both close to my heart and worthy of your time.
Feel free to leave a comment, including suggestions for future episodes.1
Johann Sebastian Bach (31 March 1685 – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the orchestral Brandenburg Concertos; solo instrumental works such as the cello suites and sonatas and partitas for solo violin; keyboard works such as the Goldberg Variations and The Well-Tempered Clavier; organ works such as the Schübler Chorales and the Toccata and Fugue in D minor; and choral works such as the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor.
Since the 19th-century Bach Revival, he has been widely regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music.
Amen to that!
It took considerable thought to select one opus from JSB’s ginormous portfolio. As mentioned in the wikiblurb, he composed in every musical genre of his time period; but during his life he was best known as a prolific church organist and composer, and for the last 30 years of his life occupied one of the most prestigious posts in Germany - music director at St. Thomas Church and School in Leipzig.
Tempted as I was to choose from his sacred music canon, I decided to opt for a lesser-known piece from his instrumental music: the Triple Concerto in A minor for baroque flute, violin and harpsichord with string orchestra, BWV 1044.
The concerto has three movements:
Allegro
Adagio ma non tanto e dolce
Tempo di Allabreve
JSB was a master of adapting his earlier thematic material for new compositions, and you can read more about the sources he used in this instance at the link above.
Our performance is by the ARCO Chamber Orchestra, with soloists Angela Jones, flute; Shakhida Azimkhodjaeva, violin; and Evgeny Rivkin, harpsichord
Conductor: Levon Ambartsumian
I hope you enjoy today’s selection, and TYVM for listening.
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Glad to see some JSB love.
Let's see…
Which is better—Bach or Cardi B?