Violin Concerto in A minor: II. Andante (opening)

What is it that makes some magical moments of music feel like freefall or floating? What is it that makes some moments feel like firm, steady ground? The key is in the bass -- the lowest part of the music, which (by Bach's time) had developed a foundational role in all current musical styles. Listen here how Bach takes a firmly grounded bass line and toys with it -- pushes and pulls it. After a magical feeling of floating, Bach employs the wonderful trick of "dropping" the bass back in; this trick is going strong in the present day in musical styles like EDM. In a second moment from this wonderful opening to the slow movement of this violin concerto, we hear a strange and sudden "cross relation." These two moments occur in just five measures of slow music!   Netherlands Bach Society performs the concerto under the leadership of the soloist Shunske Sato: https://youtu.be/VSwLeKWKtis?t=244

Om Podcasten

Welcome to A Moment of Bach, where we take our favorite moments from J. S Bach's vast output—just a minute's worth or even a few seconds—and show you why we think they are remarkable. Join hosts Alex Guebert and Christian Guebert for weekly moments! Check your podcast app and subscribe for upcoming episodes. Our recording samples are provided by the Netherlands Bach Society. Their monumental All of Bach project (to perform and record all of the works of J. S. Bach) will serve as source material for our episodes. https://www.bachvereniging.nl/en https://www.bachvereniging.nl/en/allofbach Artwork by Sydney LaCom