On the back of his own personal copy of the 'Goldberg Variations', Bach notated an additional fourteen canons. These were discovered only as late as 1974(!) and are among the most interesting compositional exercises we know from the composer.  From eight bass notes (the first 8 notes of the 'Goldberg' Aria- the structure in a sense,) Bach creates, yes, fourteen other canons. In this episode, we introduce the history, the idea behind the canons and the first four canons. Here is what they look like as seen on the back of Bach's own copy: and here are the Handel variations on the Chaccone of which I speak in this episode: https://youtu.be/X_Lp9ZWWI-Q?t=73   Support us: https://www.patreon.com/wtfbach https://www.paypal.me/wtfbach https://venmo.com/wtfbach https://cash.app/$wtfbach   Ideas? Kvetches? Write us: bach (at) wtfbach (dot) com

This episode was inspired by my recent discovery and purchase of an Encyclopedia Britannica. It's a fascinating collection of knowledge and I highly recommend finding some volumes and reading them. This is the Bach article appearing in the EB from as early as 1926 even until the 1960s, written by D.F. Tovey.  We also listen to fugue BWV 959, very early, very wild, very W.T.F. in unequal temperament.  More episodes on the way! Spread the love! -- LINKS: The text of the Borges story I mentioned Donald Francis Tovey (author of the article I read) The archived scan of a 1926 Encyclopedia Britannica volume containing, "Bach, J.S. Homepage of the EB: https://www.britannica.com -- Support us: https://www.patreon.com/wtfbach https://www.paypal.me/wtfbach https://venmo.com/wtfbach https://cash.app/$wtfbach   Complaints? Confusions? Write us: bach (at) wtfbach (dot) com

More than simply, “in tune” or “out of tune” a temperament is a solution to the ancient problem of creating a circle out of a spiral. By the time Bach had his shake at this problem, the musical world had advanced far enough, setting the stage for his great mind to create a well-tempered solution that allowed him to compose in all 24 keys. Not all keys sound the same in the vast majority of temperaments, in fact, in only our modern equal-tempered one do we find all keys equal. Does our insistence on this system destroy the whole point of temperament? Or is it the most perfect arrangement of tones?  Plus:  -Actually listen to a pythagorean comma, the root of the problem... -The circle of (pure) fifths -Bach chorales in different temperaments -The Art of Fugue, 6th fugue in a funky temperament   Try the frequencies experiment yourself!  Pull up multiple windows on: https://onlinetonegenerator.com   Support us: https://www.patreon.com/wtfbach https://www.paypal.me/wtfbach https://venmo.com/wtfbach https://cash.app/$wtfbach   Complaints? Confusions? Want to sponsor us? Write us: bach (at) wtfbach (dot) com  

How much more famous can music be than that one Prelude in C? The Prelude BWV 846, the first prelude in the Well-Tempered Clavier, is heard everywhere, but why? How? What purpose could such a piece have served in Bach's day? We discuss two early, shorter versions of the prelude, and one erroneous version with an inauthentic bar (the 'Schwenke measure' - be on the look out if your copy has 36 bars and not 35!) Answering, "How has this prelude influenced musicians even today?" we explore modern versions by John K. Stone, Elaine Comparone, my challenge to Brad Mehldau, and invert this prelude (and a few others) note for note to hear the 'photo negative'.  Links: 'Jesu Joy' in a Japanese Forest (Cell Phone Ad) John K. Stone's 'Fantasy on a Bach Prelude' Elaine Comparone's version of the same prelude   As always: Thank you for listening! Support us: https://www.patreon.com/wtfbach https://www.paypal.me/wtfbach https://venmo.com/wtfbach https://cash.app/$wtfbach   Got suggestions? Complaints? Confusions? Want to sponsor an episode? Write us: bach (at) wtfbach (dot) com

It started with an Instagram Post, but like all questions about Bach, to answer the question of Bach's 'longest' piece required posing further questions:   Longest how? Minutes? In terms of Measures? In terms of the longest single piece on a concert? ...wait, what is a 'piece' anyhow? Does one of the passions count as a single piece? What about just the amount of notes?  You may be surprised to hear the answers... or maybe you've know the answer in your heart of hearts all along. Follow Evan on Instagram for interactive content: www.instagram.com/WTFBach Support us: https://www.patreon.com/wtfbach https://www.paypal.me/wtfbach https://venmo.com/wtfbach https://cash.app/$wtfbach   Suggestions? Want to sponsor an episode? Write us: bach (at) wtfbach (dot) com