292 Years Later, Bach Might Have A New Hit

[Mrs. Overall]

http://www.komotv.com/stories/37286.htm

BERLIN - Experts have discovered a previously unknown work by Johann Sebastian Bach in a German library, a research foundation devoted to the composer said Wednesday.

Historians found the aria in May in the Anna Amalia Library in the eastern city of Weimar, the Bach Archiv foundation said on its Web site. There was no doubt about the authenticity of the handwritten, two-page score, dated October 1713, Leipzig-based the foundation said. It was the first unknown vocal work by Bach to surface since the discovery of the single-movement cantata fragment "Bekennen will ich seinen Namen" (BWV 200) in 1935, the foundation said.

"The find is a well-rounded composition - not a major work, but a casual piece of superior quality," the foundation said. Bach composed the work for a soprano, to be accompanied by strings or a harpsichord, to mark the 52nd birthday of the duke of Saxony-Weimar, for whom he worked as a court organist, the foundation said. The work was Bach's only known strophic aria, in which several stanzas are set to the same music, and the precise date made it valuable to researchers studying the development of the German composer's style, the foundation said.


(ah, some great, happy, historical news...)

[RevCheesehead]

1. Hooray!

Good news, indeed, for Bach-lovers everywhere! :)

[merh]

5. Ahh Bach!

(Radar O'Reilly's line in an episode from MASH)

That reminds me of the old joke about Bach, scientist's want to test his DNA, see if there is anything special about his relative to his talent. They get the court order, dig up the casket, open the lid and low and behold, they find him sitting in there, madly erasing notes from pages, he looks up at his intruders and yells out "Shut the lid, can't you see I'm decomposing!"


:hi: Hey Rev, I hope this means you will be kickin' in on the organ when this piece is released. You must remember to take time to make music, the soul's way of praising the Lord. O8)

O8)

[RevCheesehead]

12. A kid once wrote on his music history test:

"Johann Sebastian Bach was a musician who had 21 children, and his favorite instrument was the organ." :7

[ltfranklin]

2. Now if they could just discover...

...something undiscovered by Bach's unfavorite son, PDQ Bach!

By the way, can anybody tell me why PDQ Bach's musical style reminds me so much of GW Bush's speechifying style?

[AlGore-08.com]

4. Perhaps it's the jingle "Double-U Double-O F - - Hoople!"

Or good ole PDQ's natural gravitas...

[sdfernando]

8. PDQ wrote some great operas too.

Like "The Abduction of Figaro" and "Hansel & Gretel & Ted & Alice" subtitled "an opera in one un-natural act" - PDQ is great for a laugh. I often wonder which of Bach's wives was his mother.

[ltfranklin]

9. When is Prof. Schickele touring again?

I'd love to see him down here in Florida again...it's been years and years since I saw PDQ Bach in concert. It's a sight to be reckoned with!

[realisticphish]

11. Maybe shrub

graduated from the university of southern north dakota

[ewagner]

3. I'm anxious to hear it

performed.....it should be a major event when it happens....

Just what soprano should perform it first? (Okay wiseasses! Not TONY!)

[cliss]

6. That's awesome.

Thanks for the update, Pax. I love Bach. In fact, I'm listening to him right now. Every day, I need my Bach Fix.

I can't wait to hear this new composition.

[Zerex71]

7. Ahh, that's old Yurrip.

Besahds, we got arselves sum Kenny Ches'ny! Yee-frickin'-haw!!!

[KansDem]

10. Uh-oh...time to revise the ol' Groves...

Not to mention the collected editions...