philosopher avecdominique paganiPaths ofPraxis
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Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach · German composer (1685–1750) · 1685–1750

Appears in 94 videos · 153 passages, 53 of them in depth.

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What Dominique Pagani says

Dominique Pagani makes Bach the model case of learned music that stays in step with popular music. Gigues, bourrées and sarabandes run through his work, all the way to The Art of Fugue, and a peasant of the time recognises the gigue in the finale of the Sixth Brandenburg1. He often comes back to Bach's regular, binary metre, which "swings" like jazz. Bach makes up for this monotony with highly complex harmony and melody, taking risks at the edge of dissonance2. He stresses that Bach's originality comes from imitation, since he copied Vivaldi note for note3. He also quotes Bach's words "whoever applies himself as I did will do as well", which he sets against the Romantic theory of genius4. He recalls that the Romantics, with Mendelssohn, rediscovered the St Matthew Passion after it had been forgotten. He links Bach to the Lutheran chorale and to Protestant discipline. He reads The Art of Fugue closely, with its canon by augmentation and diminution and its blue note, which he calls modern5, as well as The Musical Offering, improvised on Frederick II's theme6.

  1. 1Musicosophie 2. De Lévi-Strauss à Nerval à propos de la musique3 Dec 2020 · 9:51
  2. 2Discussion entre Aliocha Allard et Dominique Pagani, 29 Mars 201726 Feb 2019 · 3:27
  3. 3Musicosophie 5. Bonheur contre pulsion de mort en musique11 Dec 2020 · 40:37
  4. 4Musicosophie 6. La Variation Jazz... de Beethoven15 Dec 2020 · 1:51:20
  5. 5Musicosophie 3. Qu'appelle-t-on une musique moderne?3 Dec 2020 · 6:45
  6. 69 #23 "C'est réglé comme du papier à musique !" • Bach • Nerval • Lévi-Strauss9 Jun 2021 · 3:28

Summary produced automatically from 150 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.

Portrait: BachWho is this?

Johann Sebastian Bach (31 March [O.S. 21 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. […]

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Text: Wikipédia, CC BY-SA 4.0, excerpt · Portrait: Elias Gottlob Haussmann, Public domain

Series · 16 Dec 2014B for Bach
  1. 3:29His music shares with rock and jazz a regular, binary meter: it swings.
  2. 5:06He trained himself by copying Vivaldi's concertos: his originality comes from imitation, a fine dialectic.
  3. 6:30He balances rhythmic constancy with harmonic risk-taking, bordering on dissonance.
  4. 7:49His originality is better perceived by listening to Beethoven and Bartók.
  5. 8:57The Art of FugueHis counterpoints are the higher mathematics of music, but his pieces bear the names of popular dances, in tune with the peasant ear.
Series · 22 Jun 2022FROM BACH TO THE PYGMIES • Pagani Parle Musique
  1. 1:57The Well-Tempered ClavierHe devotes to the tonal scale, then in the process of stabilizing, a monument founded on equal temperament.
  2. 9:11The emblematic musician of learned music and polyphony; Pygmy polyphony is as complex as one of his fugues.
  3. 15:39An obscure musician charged with cantatas, he became known as an improviser at the organ and improvised a fugue on a theme by the King of Prussia.
  4. 18:28Brandenburg Concerto No. 6Taken as an example of popular music: the finale is a gigue, the most learned writing at the service of the lightest music.
Series · 25 Mar 2021Musicosophy 17. Interpretation
  1. 8:59His scores indicate almost nothing: musicians were emerging from millennia of improvisation; the invariant is what he wrote.
  2. 10:08The Art of FugueWith no indication of tempo or instrumentation, the work can be played on any instrument without losing its coherence.
  3. 29:47The Musical OfferingImprovises a fugue on the royal theme at Frederick II's court.
Series · 3 Dec 2020Musicosophy 4. Sound ghettos
  1. 13:56The Art of FugueMusician of the code whom he pushes to the extreme by feigning to transgress it; the blue note of the canon in the Art of Fugue.
  2. 43:20St Matthew PassionThe "boss"; forgotten at his death, he is rediscovered by the Romantics, who create the vogue for baroque music.
  3. 47:46Brandenburg ConcertosInvariant meter but complex rhythm, syncopations of the horns in the first Brandenburg concerto.
Season 9.2 · 9 Jun 20219 #23 "Ruled like music paper!" • Bach • Nerval • Lévi-Strauss
  1. 3:28The Musical OfferingComposed on Frederick II's royal theme; his most didactic works are paradoxically the most poignant.
  2. 28:56The Musical OfferingThe facsimile of the first page illustrates the video.
  3. 1:47:45St Matthew PassionThe aria "Erbarme dich" expresses mourning and dejection.
  4. 1:48:51Cantata BWV 21 "Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis"From tragic oboes to the jubilant aria of the forgiven sinner, accompanied by a cello that frolics.
Talks · 26 Apr 2015The Music of History
  1. 4:52Bach's Lutheran chorale, which slaves imitated in creating the spiritual
  2. 29:13Brandenburg Concertosconstant meter down to the last chord; he enriches harmony and melody through polyphony
  3. 1:24:42improvises a fugue in several voices before the King of Prussia on a royal theme
Season 5.2 · 26 May 2019#5.7 Nature or Landscape?
  1. 5:51His repertoire is played on period instruments by the early-music specialists.
  2. 30:24A man from before the Revolution, he attributes his perfection to work and states that anyone who applies himself will do as much: humility and transmissibility.
  3. 1:39:25His Passions are appreciated for their musical value.

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