The WTF Bach Podcast

Discover the fascinating connection between the golden ratio and Bach's music. Explore how mathematical principles like Phi influence his compositions, showcasing examples in pieces like the 'Art of Fugue' and 'Confiteor.' Delve into the intrinsic emotional depth in Bach's works, where music intertwines with profound themes. Hear about the historical significance of the Fibonacci sequence in art and nature. This podcast blends mathematical elegance with musical beauty, illuminating Bach's innovative spirit and his dedication to harmony.

In this episode I delve into two very diverse chorale preludes: one from the so-called, “Great 18” and one from the individually transmitted. Here is a link to Bach’s own autograph of the Leipzig chorales. Beautiful handwriting! Marie-Claire Alain’s recording of BWV 655 (completely different to Koopman’s) The “Organ Sonatas” I recorded with LH/RH hard panning On Spotify on Apple MusicP.S. This is the first episode released on the new substack website- please shout if you experience problems!Support us:https://www.paypal.me/wtfbachhttps://venmo.com/wtfbachhttps://cash.app/$wtfbachWrite us:bach (at) wtfbach (dot) com Get full access to WTF Bach? at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe

--I AM STARTING A SUBSTACK SOON SO JOIN THE FUN:WTFBACH.SUBSTACK.COM--Thanks for listening! In this episode we discuss the history of the Chorale- how it became called 'Chorale' and how it factors into Bach's music.Pieces featured:BWV 691 and BWV 93 (Chorale) at the same timeBWV 651BWV 682Performers were: Michel Chapuis, Kay Johannsen--Here are the links to the cantata cycles mentioned at the end, thank you, Tucker! From the profile you can access different ensembles' complete cantata cycles as well as other great selections.Tucker's Spotify Playlists Support us:https://www.patreon.com/wtfbachhttps://www.paypal.me/wtfbachhttps://venmo.com/wtfbachhttps://cash.app/$wtfbach Write us:bach (at) wtfbach (dot) com Get full access to WTF Bach? at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe

Though this episode starts with quite the extended introduction, this is in factEPISODE THREEIn a four-part study into the 14 additional canons on the back of the Goldbergs, BWV1087.Here in this video, we dismiss a popular Bach video, and examine which videos are in fact Möbius strips. Here is the disproven crab canon video.Here are two studies which don't quite go far enough:One. I love this channel, don't get me wrong- they just didn't quite examine the consequences of chromatic inversion.Two. The American Mathematical Society publishes similarly.Both studies miss the technical inversions that I have pointed out in this episode.--And now the blurb from the other two episodes studying BWV 1087: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 discuss engraving and canons 5-9.Here is what they look like as seen on the back of Bach's own copy:and HERE is the link to engraving- you can see how Balthasar Schmid (I accidentally added an 'S' to his name in the episode) engraved Bach's BWV988.Support us:https://www.patreon.com/wtfbachhttps://www.paypal.me/wtfbachhttps://venmo.com/wtfbachhttps://cash.app/$wtfbachIdeas? Wanna sponsor an episode?Write us:bach (at) wtfbach (dot) com Get full access to WTF Bach? at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe

Finally! The influential Joshua Rifkin guests on the WTF Bach Podcast. Rifkin made Bach fame with his groundbreaking (and controversial!) theory that Bach’s vocal works (and other 17th & 18th century) composers’ works were sung with only one singer per part. He recorded the b minor mass, several cantatas, and other Bach works in this format. We spoke for almost three hours about ragtime, the Beatles, PDQ Bach (my distant uncle), even crossword puzzles, coffee and meditation. For this episode, though, I culled it quite severely to only that which deals with Bach’s music. It’s fascinating to hear him talk about his scholastic endeavors dealing with first-hand examination of source material. Do you agree with Rifkin? Do you like the sound of one singer per part?- -Follow Evan's instagram, because... well... it's the only one you should follow.- -Support us:https://www.patreon.com/wtfbachhttps://www.paypal.me/wtfbachhttps://venmo.com/wtfbachhttps://cash.app/$wtfbach--Suggestions? Want Evan to analyze a specific piece of Bach? Have other questions for Evan about music or... anything... anything at all?Write us: bach@wtfbach.com Get full access to WTF Bach? at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe

Q: What if those really slow interpretations of the cello suites from the 30s and 50s could be sped up?A: Exactly. https://www.jsbachcellosuites.com - check out this website! It's a great source on the history of the recordings of these pieces. Thanks for all your feedback, donations, ideas, everything. Please follow @wtfbach on instagram for (almost) daily Bach content. We thank YOU for supporting us!https://www.patreon.com/wtfbachhttps://www.paypal.me/wtfbachhttps://venmo.com/wtfbachhttps://cash.app/$wtfbach Write us:bach (at) wtfbach (dot) com Get full access to WTF Bach? at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe

Thanks for supporting us through 50 episodes! What makes Bach, BACH?!As a special celebration, the 50th episode of The WTF Bach Podcast is a live lecture presented by Tonebase.The topic is the ever looming one: why is Bach's importance so great? Studying the ideas behind a few of his instrumental collections, we see that Bach's ideas are always expanding outward, perhaps lending to his all-pervasive influence. Learn more about Tonebase. Support us:https://www.patreon.com/wtfbachhttps://www.paypal.me/wtfbachhttps://venmo.com/wtfbachhttps://cash.app/$wtfbach Ideas? Wanna sponsor an episode?Write us:bach (at) wtfbach (dot) com Get full access to WTF Bach? at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe

EPISODE TWO: 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 discuss engraving and canons 5-9.Here is what they look like as seen on the back of Bach's own copy:and HERE is the link to engraving- you can see how Balthasar Schmid (I accidentally added an 'S' to his name in the episode) engraved Bach's BWV988.Support us:https://www.patreon.com/wtfbachhttps://www.paypal.me/wtfbachhttps://venmo.com/wtfbachhttps://cash.app/$wtfbach Ideas? Wanna sponsor an episode?Write us:bach (at) wtfbach (dot) com Get full access to WTF Bach? at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe

I was recently asked to explain chromaticism, so I thought I'd give it a try here.Bach's fugue based on a theme by Tomaso Albinoni in B minor, BWVs 951, and 951a: the subject itself contains a chromatic descent (B, A#, A, G#, G, F#) and though Albinoni himself wrote it, it was Bach who brought the ideas behind such chromaticism to the next level. HERE is the recording which I was not able to credit. If you know whose recording this is, please write me, I'll fix it!and HERE is the version (BWV 951, not BWV951a) which I played on the MIDI harpsichord, highlighting the chromatic lines on one of my favorite youtube channels. As always, thank you for your support, your feedback, your passion! -esSupport us:https://www.patreon.com/wtfbachhttps://www.paypal.me/wtfbachhttps://venmo.com/wtfbachhttps://cash.app/$wtfbach Ideas? Kvetches?Write us:bach (at) wtfbach (dot) com Get full access to WTF Bach? at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe

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/wtfbachhttps://www.paypal.me/wtfbachhttps://venmo.com/wtfbachhttps://cash.app/$wtfbach Ideas? Kvetches?Write us:bach (at) wtfbach (dot) com Get full access to WTF Bach? at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe