There’s one composer that’s so hard not to like when you study his works intensely in school, and that is the infamous J.S Bach. Before I began my music degree, I thought Bach was boring because he was from the Baroque period. I was judging him solely on the fact he was from a time period where sacred music was the popular style so everything sounds churchy. Little did I realize how much fun it would be singing his Missa in B minor. This is the major work we are singing in Choral Society this semester for our fall concert this coming Saturday, November 3rd. Yes it’s music for the church, but after having all the knowledge of five semester Music theory, Bach’s melodic lines stand out as being genius. They’re genius because of the abundance amount of notes which create an extended harmony sound light and simple but being a musician I know that’s a hard thing to get right. His melodic lines are set to perfect phrases which make both our vocal chords and musical brain work. He also is one of the few composers who can incorporate the letters of their name into music, in German B stands for B flat and H stands for B natural so his name spelled out in musical terms is: B flat-A-C-B natural. And of course he uses these notes in one of the main motives of the Kyrie. Take a listen:

If you don’t like Choral music, then take a listen to Bach’s piano preludes and cello suites. They’re full of character. His piano preludes even have some “jazzy” qualities to them. For example:

And to prove that the harmonies used in this prelude have some jazz pizazz in them, here’s what could be done to this prelude to turn it into a full jazz tune(from one of my favorite movie soundtracks):