tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post4408643575108642065..comments2024-03-27T23:06:03.736-05:00Comments on The Music Salon: Composers and MusicologistsBryan Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-45157230298294617522011-09-17T10:51:37.272-05:002011-09-17T10:51:37.272-05:00Yes! Bach is rather a special case: I cannot think...Yes! Bach is rather a special case: I cannot think of another composer who studied so thoroughly the works, not only of his contemporaries and immediate predecessors, but also music going back a hundred years. This is what enabled his project of truly summarizing the Baroque by synthesizing French dance and ornaments, Italian crisp harmonies and German contrapuntal complexity. <br /><br />Learnedness is rather less admired by contemporary composers.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-43143399246136305202011-09-16T20:44:55.748-05:002011-09-16T20:44:55.748-05:00Bach used to touch up his old work all the time. I...Bach used to touch up his old work all the time. In fact it was part of a musician's training to take older scores by other musicians and edit/arrange them. Bach did that with virtually every published composer in Europe (his personal library was huge) and that's why he was such a master of all musical traditions, from Italian opera to French keyboard and dance music to Dutch organ music. Great poets often used to hone their skills by translating foreign language poetry, which when you think about it is a very challenging literary endeavor. All wonderful practices.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com