John Smyth wrote:

>What I miss in Bach, (and it's not his fault), is orchestral
>color, and changes in meter and dynamics within single movements.  His
>music, *within movements,* is infused with what I would call a sort of
>"mono-emotionalism".  There is no sense of ambiguity and mystery.  The
>Baroque is characterized by logic, restraint, and understatement; and while
>one can always find exceptions, the era as a whole just doesn't turn me on.

I wrote about a month ago that Bach was lacking in emotion and got a
roasting for it.  Maybe I am not so crazy!  Some posters mentioned works
of his that in their view contradict the theory.  I haven't checked them
out yet.

>What Bach does within the musical environment of his times is, of course,
>beyond reproach, but I prefer the music of the composers who stood on his
>shoulders--even though their excessive indulgence can sometimes be at the
>expense of musical logic.  Maybe someday this will change.  One of my piano
>teachers once said that no one under fifty has any business performing Bach
>or Mozart--an absurd statement, but haunting.  Could I be missing the
>emotional depths?

It is interesting that you link these two composers because I find Mozart
not so much mono-emotional as zero-emotional.

Your piano teacher's statement is another variation on the theme of trying
to use perverse logic to back the received idea that these composers are
endowed with some magical quality that the average Joe just doesn't
understand.

Dare I say that this is another form of intimidatation that I have
mentioned before.

Bach doesn't need this sort of help.  One doesn't need to invoke mysticism
to appreciate him.

Bob Draper
[log in to unmask]