J.S. Bach - Medieval Metal?

I am not a real big fan of classical music in general. Some pieces however are remarkable and can capture me even more than many of my favorite metal tunes, which is not easily done. My wife gave me a J.S. Bach album several years ago; Orchestral suite no1 Bwm 1066 (can't remember which orchestra recorded it though) which is still very often playing in my car. I have also been known to force my poor friends to sit and listen to a few passages very late at night after a few too many glasses of wine.  They are probably just happy that I didn’t put on some In Flames or Killswitch Engage and actually seem to appreciate it. Or maybe they are just being polite.

But why Bach? Don’t know, as I haven’t listened enough to different composers to say that I like this or this or that. I am an amateur. But in a way it is like listening to metal. In most really good metal albums, you can listen to songs over and over and over again, and still every time notice something new, some detail you’ve never thought of, or a specific or an arrangement that suddenly just become so clear, simple and logic. Also, like with metal, you should never play Bach as background music.  It is simply too complex in my opinion. The right way of listening is by yourself and really loud. The musicians are unbelievably skilled. Which reminds me that I really wanted to play the violin when I was a kid, but mom and dad didn't think it was such a good idea. I am still trying to get over this...

But also, with my very limited knowledge of classical music, Bach might be the only Baroque composer that I have actually listened to and it could be the case that there is a whole world of Baroque music that I would just love if I ever came across it. Could it be the genre as such that I like and not specifically J.S. Bach.

Anyway, as most of you metal-lovers out there know, there are plenty of references from great musicians referring to Bach in different ways. The late Clifford Lee Burton (RIP) has said that one of his greatest musical inspirations was J.S. Bach. Richie Blackmore also referred to J.S. Bach in many occasions and as it happens, he himself left the hard rock scene many years ago and actually spends his time playing Baroque inspired music on a classical guitar while Mrs Blackmore plays the flute, all dolled up in time typical costumes.

Yngwie Malmsteen is also a great fan of Bach, and is probably the guitarist that has taken this classical influence the furthest into his own songwriting. Yngwie has a very unique style of playing and uses harmonies, chords, scales and more usually found only in classical music. (I will get back to Yngwie in later posts as I think he is a true genius, however slightly misunderstood…)

Anyway, as usual, I have to post a clip from YouTube to serve you all as I know you won’t go searching for this on your own. The problem is that there is not that many clips of Bach’s Orchestral Suite no1 BWV 1066 which is part of the album mentioned above. The interesting thing when searching and listening to a few different recordings is that the conductor/producer has such great influence on how it is being performed. I listened to the same passage by four different orchestras, and neither of them sounds like the version I have. And the difference is huge. It is very interesting while slightly disturbing  as you expect certain melodies and instruments to be more dominant or other small things that actually make a big difference.

Please pay attention to what sometimes sounds as 10 distinctly different and quite advanced melodies at the same time brought together in a perfect harmony and in a structure and a flow that is amazing. I can’t even imagine where one begins when composing this stuff. Truly amazing.

For those not really into this, please stay around 2min 50sec into the clip and I promise you what you will find it pretty awesome. Definitely 1 of 10 albums I would keep if all else was to be destroyed by evil forces.

And for everybody who reacts to the headline, yes I know, the medieval times were between 10^th and 14^th century and Bach was born 1685 I think, but I just like the way “Medieval Metal” sounds :-)

Until next time...

Patrik