Video & Multimedia
Related: About this forumCTyankee
(63,893 posts)what it means to us now.
All is forgiven, Paul.
Sophia4
(3,515 posts)Between 1723 and the first performance of the St Matthew Passion on Good Friday 1727, Bach wrote over 150 cantatas, recycling existing pieces and inventing new music at the punishing rate of almost one a week. If he wrote under pressure from his bosses, as some scholars have suggested, he also did so for Gods greater glory and with devotion to his task.
http://www.classicfm.com/composers/bach/guides/bach-cantatas/
There are 12 tones in the Western chromatic scale. And therefore a plentiful but, yes, limited number of combinations that sound good to the ear.
A good musician often hears familiar tunes, phrases in "new" music. It's the way music works.
I'm not suggesting that all music is based on old tunes, but some of the best of it is. Different harmonies. Different rhythms. A lot of people don't even notice it.
CTyankee
(63,893 posts)at the time.
Thanks for clarifying. My husband was the music major, not me (I was more into visual art).
I actually admire Paul Simon for borrowing the (borrowed) Bach piece. A good tune is a good tune!
Sophia4
(3,515 posts)I love Paul Simon's music.