I love music from the Baroque era, 1600-1750. Especially anything composed by Bach. Good old Johann Sebastian. He’s the Man!!!
I
have many memories of this particular concerto.
My sisters and I made up dances to it when we were young. I’m not sure why we even had a recording of it,
but we did. It’s not that my family was
all that cultured. Lawrence Welk and Hee
Haw were about as fancy as we got. Maybe
my piano teacher gave me the record, I don’t know. Anyway, the little gray house on Fisk Street
in Pullman, Washington had its walls rattled as we pranced around. It was a combination of moves from the 1600’s
with a little do-si-do square dance thrown in for fun. I can still picture us dancing in our
pajamas. We’d be all serious with, what
we thought were, the official dance moves from the era, and then giggle as we’d
swing our partner at the end of a phrase.
Years
later while in college, my fellow music major friends and I would play it and take
turns directing the pretend ensembles in our dorm rooms. Ah, music nerds.
If
find it interesting, and quite telling about me, that I love Baroque music so
much. Dynamically, there are no
crescendos or swells. It pretty much
goes from loud to soft quite instantly (mostly due to the abilities of the
instruments at the time). Like with me,
I’m strolling along during my day just fine at a quiet(ish) level, when boom,
something happens and I either burst out with a huge laugh or voice and my volume
goes from pianissimo to forte just like that.
No warning. Just, "Here I am!"
And
once the piece begins, it rhythmically keeps driving to the end. That’s me.
It’s, “Let’s get ‘er done time folks.”
That’s why Baroque music is my music of choice when cleaning the
house. Boom, boom, sweep, dust, scrub
and look at that, we’re done!
This
is not the piece you want to listen to when you’re tired and need a nap. This is “go time” music. So the next time you’ve fallen behind on a
project, need to organize your thoughts, or just wanna get your groove on, take
a listen to something Baroque.
Preferably this piece by my man Bach.
My lovely friend
Tina and I try to attend the Oregon Bach Festival every year. This year’s dates are June 26-July 13. We even get a T-Shirt like true Bach groupies.
Question: What is your favorite era of music?
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