Composer Profile 1
Johann Sebastian Bach

Bach’s music is beyond reproach for many. Listener’s exalt in the purity and perfection of Bach’s music. Some raise doubts about the authenticity of its human origins.

His music can be so simple and pure as to bring a smile to the face. By turns, some of his fugues are so incredibly complex that they bewilder the listener.

Bach wrote so much music (over 1000 pieces are extant in the catalogue), of such a high quality, that you could spend the rest of your life coming to grips with it. Many do. His music is an institution in it’s own right.

Here’s a bunch of well-known starters:

1. Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, BWV 1048 – 1. Allegro moderato
2. Cantata No.140: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140 – Chorale: Zion hört die Wächter singen (Sleepers Awake)
3. Italian Concerto in F major, BWV 971 – 1. Allegro
4. Lute Suite no. 4 in E major, BWV 1006a – 1. Prelude
5. Mass in b minor, BWV 232 – Credo (Symbolum Nicenum) XVI: Et incarnatus est
6. Oboe Concerto in F major, BWV 1053 – 2. Siciliano
, or
Keyboard Concerto No. 2 in E Major, BWV 1053 – 2. Siciliano
7. (Overture) Orchestral Suite No. 2 in b minor, BWV 1067 – 7. Badinerie
8. St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244 – Part Two – 39. Aria: Erbarme dich, mein Gott
9. Suite No. 1 for Solo Cello in g minor, BWV 1007 – 1. Prélude
10. Violin Concerto in a minor, BWV 1041 – 2. Andante