Bach Ten Little Pieces


Bach

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In the middle of all the music we listen to,

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sometimes there is one band, one singer,

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one composer that cuts through.

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One musical voice that seems to be speaking just to us.

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MUSIC: Toccata And Fugue In D Minor by JS Bach

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When I was about six years old,

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my dad bought a new record player

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and it came with a free record.

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It was an album of organ music by Johann Sebastian Bach,

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and I must have listened to it hundreds of times.

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To be honest, it was the only record we had for a while.

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And I sort of fell in love with it.

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I went on to learn the piano and the flute and the saxophone

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and, eventually, the harpsichord.

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I studied music at university, and I suppose, today,

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I can't really imagine my life

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without a classical music soundtrack.

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And that's all down to a free Bach record.

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MUSIC CONTINUES

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This piece is probably one of Bach's most famous.

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It was written about 1706 and he, of course,

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would not have known that it would eventually be used in gaming or...

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RINGTONE PLAYS

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..or as a ringtone.

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Or, indeed, as a form of shorthand meaning something

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well spooky's about to happen.

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That's probably for the best.

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It's called Toccata And Fugue In D Minor,

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and it's a piece of two parts.

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The first part, the toccata,

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is basically an opportunity for the musician to show off a bit.

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To grab everyone's attention.

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To get them ready for this amazing ride ahead.

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Hold on a minute.

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I reckon the orchestra's itching for a go now.

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MUSIC CONTINUES

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That was a section of the toccata,

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but now, we come to part two -

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the fugue.

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Do you mind if I have a go?

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Yeah, sure. Be my guest, please.

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Cheers.

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A fugue is like a sort of perfect musical pattern.

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Bach would start off with a fairly straightforward,

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simple little melody...

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Like that one, and then he might repeat it higher up.

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Or maybe lower.

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And then he might turn it upside down,

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break it up into fragments and so on.

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But, gradually, this incredible piece of music emerges.

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Bach's brain could work out these patterns better than

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any brain before or since.

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Apparently, he could improvise this stuff.

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He could make it up as he went along.

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But, remarkably, this never created chaos,

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it just created incredible, beautiful music.

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And, in fact, the word fugue means flight in Italian,

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and that's what this music seems to do to me.

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It does take flight. It takes off on a journey,

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an incredible one,

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and it's a different journey every single time you listen to it.

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That's what's so amazing about it.

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MUSIC CONTINUES

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