Bach is not only one of the greatest composers in the Western canon, but also a remarkably interesting and mysterious man. Little is fully known about his life, which is in some cases to our benefit as listeners. Sometimes I find that the more you know about a composer or an artist, the less you value their work for what it is; we start to judge their work with 'interest', or in other words, judging their music solely based on their moral character or their beliefs in general (although understanding an artist's beliefs is important when viewing their work). If one is to say an artwork is 'great' they must judge it at face value, meaning, to judge only whether it is 'beautiful'. This begs the question then: why is Bach great? There are many answers to this question, and I will try to unpack, in my opinion, the strongest.
First, Bach was a musical theorist unparalleled in his time, and even now is considered a genius, if not the genius, of music composition. His work with polyphonic textures is still considered to be the best example of counterpoint in the history of music. Arguably, even the musical period he fell in, which was the Baroque period (1600-1750), could be considered an era of the most complex music ever written. After the Baroque period, contrapuntal complexity wanes and all music thereafter was centered around the musical idea that a song or a piece has just one melodic line and a second line which acts as a harmony and ornamentation to the main melodic line.
¹ Mozart, and Wolfgang Amadeus. “Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ‘Piano Sonata No. 16 in C Major, K. 545: Allegro’ Sheet Music (Piano Solo) in C Major - Download & Print.” Musicnotes.com, www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0082162&gclid=Cj0KCQiAyp7yBRCwARIsABfQsnTOuD1HROroBNx1-deyjuAhivOMjq2slJ97pydqU899so6whjjLiQgaAnyDEALw_wcB.
First, Bach was a musical theorist unparalleled in his time, and even now is considered a genius, if not the genius, of music composition. His work with polyphonic textures is still considered to be the best example of counterpoint in the history of music. Arguably, even the musical period he fell in, which was the Baroque period (1600-1750), could be considered an era of the most complex music ever written. After the Baroque period, contrapuntal complexity wanes and all music thereafter was centered around the musical idea that a song or a piece has just one melodic line and a second line which acts as a harmony and ornamentation to the main melodic line.
For example, in this Mozart sonata, you can see the melody on the upper clef, and the harmonies on the lower clef
But in the Baroque period, the technique of counterpoint was common. Counterpoint is the technique of playing two independent melodies in conjunction with one another at the same time. This technique is more complex because two individual melodies are played together to create one harmony.
In this Bach fugue you can see the two melodic lines on each clef intertwined to create one harmony
This technique requires a unique mastery and knowledge of music theory. (I am in no way denouncing all music after Bach's death; Mozart and Beethoven etc. are complete geniuses in their own right). To understand this in greater detail I suggest you watch this video which shows what a fugue is and what counterpoint is very clearly by graphically displaying the polyphonic lines to follow.
Secondly, Bach also used musical structures which weren't used again until centuries later. In Bach's E major Prelude from The Well-Tempered Clavier Book I in bar twenty, Bach uses a Gmaj7#5 chord which is taken from the third mode of the E Melodic Minor scale. This chord is not heard again until the 20th Century. For example, in Alan Rawthorne's Oboe Concerto composed in 1950, Rawthorne uses the same chord. The Gmaj7#5 chord that Bach utilizes is 230 years ahead of its time.³ This is only one example of Bach's use of complex chord structures that display his wealth of musical imagination that was unprecedented at the time.
You can make hundreds of these theoretical arguments to defend Bach's mastery, but my third argument is a little more subjective, and that is that Bach's music is one the greatest examples we have of the nature of God's creative mind. Why do I say this? Well, let's take the book of Genesis as an example. The first phrase that God ever speaks in scripture is, "Let their be light."⁴ The relevance of this passage is that God doesn't 'think' light into existence, but 'speaks' light into the universe. God actually makes a 'sound'. Music, fundamentally, is sound. Sound is a medium of immense creative and mathematical power. But then one could ask, all music is sound, why does this prove Bach's greatness? To find out, let's first take a look at what light actually is. Light is a form of electromagnetic energy, and is a particle and a wave. Light as a wave is three dimensional, composed of two individual waves: the magnetic field and the electric field, hence electromagnetic energy. Light as a particle behaves as a group of individual particles that travel through space. However, despite the scientific explanation of light, light is also aesthetically beautiful. It illuminates dark places, it creates unique shadows, it's why we see color. What am I getting at? Light has two natures, the aesthetic and the 'mathematical'; Bach's music is the same. In fact, Bach is often called the Mathematician of Music. The fugue, which was perfected by Bach, is a mathematical monolith. It is incredibly complex, where each note of each melody perfectly works together to form a logical composition. It is mind-boggling, just the same as light's wave-particle duality. But, Bach's music is not only this, it is indescribably beautiful, illuminating the inner corridors of the soul just as light does with physical objects. Furthermore, God spoke light into existence as an incredibly complex entity, but also as a simple picture of beauty and aesthetic magnificence. Bach, created in God's image, allows his music to give to us a perfect picture of God's mind as a mathematician and an exhibitor of beauty and sublimity. Bach is undeniably a musical genius, but his ability to perfect divine simplicity and complexity in one piece of music elevates our understanding of God as the origin of these contrasting qualities.
These are my arguments for why J.S. Bach is great with a capital G. His music is mathematical flawlessness, aesthetic perfection, and a perfect example of God's mind and God's image in us, as we are creators like God: mathematicians and artists. What a unique gift Bach had to ultimately achieve God's calling in him as a musician.
¹ Mozart, and Wolfgang Amadeus. “Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ‘Piano Sonata No. 16 in C Major, K. 545: Allegro’ Sheet Music (Piano Solo) in C Major - Download & Print.” Musicnotes.com, www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0082162&gclid=Cj0KCQiAyp7yBRCwARIsABfQsnTOuD1HROroBNx1-deyjuAhivOMjq2slJ97pydqU899so6whjjLiQgaAnyDEALw_wcB.
² Bach, and Johann Sebastian. “Johann Sebastian Bach ‘The Art of the Fugue: Fuga VII’ Sheet Music (Piano Solo) in D Minor - Download & Print.” Musicnotes.com, www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0128535&cmpid=pad_roigoogleshopping&gclid=Cj0KCQiAyp7yBRCwARIsABfQsnRpf-QW2hjTdK8RB7GsW-OIV-7FF41w7c6SNSl8x9zgTKGihBConWcaAnhAEALw_wcB.
³ Beato, Rick, director. What Made Bach Great? Johann Sebastian Bach 1685-1750 (Edit). Youtube, Oct. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcvUHdhROrk.
⁴ “Genesis 1:3.” The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (ESV), Containing the Old and New Testaments, Crossway Books, 2011.
This mans so far up Bach's ass fr...
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