First Time Hearing BACH Was Life Changing
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- čas přidán 18. 09. 2023
- In this episode, I talk about how learning double bass as a 12-year-old shaped my career in music.
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Hey, Rick, I’m Ken Brown’s older daughter! I’m a studio violinist in Nashville now :) Thank you so much for your shoutouts to my dad and Fairport! Means so much coming from you!
🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 your dad was the best teacher!
@@RickBeato hearing the piano, I could totally see you doing a breakdown video of the stranglers "Golden Brown"
Bless your dad Rachel. You can measure the impact he had with higher profile musical spawns like Rick but I’m willing to bet money that his collective impact was far greater. I go on a Bach binge twice a year fro about a week, minimum. I don’t know why aside from the fact that I love him but I think it’s me going back to the source to find an original approach to expressing myself musically. Every good wish to you and the family.
@@RickBeato Can you do a breakdown and comparison on the two pipe organ masterpieces from Bach & Boston , ”Toccata and Fuegue” and how it inspired and influenced “Foreplay (/Long Time)”?
Please and Thank You!
"Music is an agreeable harmony for the honor of God and the permissible delights of the soul. I play the notes as they are written, but it is God who makes the music. The final aim and reason of all music is nothing other than the glorification of God and the refreshment of the spirit" - Bach
What a lovely tribute to not only JS Bach, but also music teacher and public libraries.
Truly an amazing story. You may never see this comment, but I am Ken Brown’s son (I played in that same chamber orchestra at Minerva growing up) and he just sent me this video. I always considered my father to be an amazing person and I count myself fortunate to be his son. Your story was very touching to listen to, and makes me even more proud to know him as my dad.
I am glad your father say this!
Well many many of Rick’s fans would surely give your father a standing ovation….express our gratitude and give him a big hug 👏👏👏🥂
Wow, i really hope @RickBeato gets to see your comment here!
I meant saw not say. Your father is a great teacher!
Rick should feature him on the channel as a guest sometime. I’d love to hear a child’s music teachers’ taste in music.
Rick, thank you for this incredible tribute to my father in law, Ken Brown. He is so very proud to have been your teacher, and the teacher of so many others.
Please say hello to him for me!
How wonderful! I was going to leave a comment asking if Rick knew whether Mr. Brown was still alive. A pivotal educator needs to hear his kudos.
@@1957DLT he is alive and thriving!
Wow how wonderful
@@RickBeato- it would be so beautifully apposite if you were to be able to interview him for your channel!!
There is something so authentic about Rick. He bares his soul, and it's refreshing.
🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Rick, everything you share is rich and beyond price. Your knowledge. Your rapture and enthusiasm over music you share. The stories of your family of origin, your extended family, and your family you have at home. You share deeply, without pretense or embarrassment. You speak to us all as friends, and that is the reason this venture has the breadth and depth of following it does. You are a blessing
Thank you 🙏🏻 for the very kind words.
@@RickBeato For real. Your content has taught me so much, not even just about production and theory. It's helped guide me along the path of my musical adventure. Thank you a million times for helping me to see what it looks like to be a musician. Hope to meet you one day!
Right! If kids find passion in something, we have to support them. It could be something for life and make them happy. ...and sometimes such a kid (grown up meanwhile 😏) remembers to his story and tells it to parents and kids to support them.
Besides: Before I start the day, I listen this music, because it makes me happy. It's like Pop Music 😊
What a great comment about Rick and his channel. So true.
This is what makes Rick "The Man" when it comes to music. This guy can go from Bach 3rd Brandenburg to Korn with equal passion and enthusiasm. From Steely Dan to Billy Joel. From Taylor Swift to Aerosmith. He has no prejudices when it comes to music. The guy is a phenom.
Hear hear, valuedhuman!
Agreed!
I have way less knowledge and skill making music but I’m the exact same way.
Same here - the genre is not the thing - it is whether the music is Good and that it reaches the Soul.
My cathartic moment came in 1968 when I was in the 7th grade. I was in Mr. Morris' music class at Island Trees High School in Levittown, New York. He played us Bach's Fugue in G minor and I was mesmerized. Another piece he played that moved me greatly was "Die Moldau" by Bedrich Smetana. I'm listening to it as I'm typing this comment.
All Bach lovers owe thanks to the Netherlands Bach Society for their dedication to recording on video as many of his works as possible. It’s my go to site when I want to listen to Bach
Wat een mooie reactie :) Are you from the Netherlands? I am, and my father was a member of "Bachkoor Holland" De uitvoering van de Matthäus Passion in Delft heb ik 1x mogen meemaken omdat hij in het koor zat..
@@OneOfTheRobs no I’m not from the Netherlands but I appreciate all the effort the society has put into preserving these works and making them available on CZcams for the entire world to hear and watch
Let’s not forget our Swiss friends at the Bach Stiftung. I also listen to them endlessly. They also do a great job!
Johann Sebastian Bach: changing lives since 1685! Love this concerto, I conducted it some times a few years ago. Thank you for sharing these beautiful memories.
Tears in my eyes watching this - the music of Bach touches my soul.
Rick Beato is a true musician! He gets goosebumps from Bach's Brandenburg Concertos just as he gets a happy smile on his face from a good old 90s 4-chords-punk-song.
There’s so many musical geniuses. But Bach is from another planet.
No he was German.
@@blakesorenson8766ah yes - Bach, Beethoven, and Bruno Mars.
People look up to musical geniuses. Musical geniuses look up to Bach.
Another planet, that’s funny!
@@eyvithorgeirsson6028well said
Bach was pure musical genius. Many of us got hooked through Bach
Rick, you are inspirational! I started playing bass guitar at 60 years old. I am now 66. At 13 years old I had a neighborhood friend that took drum lessons and he got me behind his kit for a try. He was playing old Beatles tunes and I wished I could do that. I was so close. Fast forward several decades all the while loving music and so appreciating the talent it takes to create it. I took the plunge and bought a bass and started learning online. Progress for me is slow but steady in my retirement. I often wondered where I might be if I took the music route instead of becoming an engineering technician. My thoughts are summed up in a quote by Harry Chapin....'Half thinking what might have been, but half thinking Just as well......' I have a comfortable retirement now but I still will keep learning bass! Keep up your great work!
I admire you my friend! Keep it up. Lol, I was gonna learn to fly, but never made the time.
The amazing thing about Bach’s music is that it sound amazing on any instrument. Even a ringtone.
Brandenburg #3, 1st movement is my ringtone.
As a proud phone soloist in the Ringtone Symphony Orchestra, I forbid you all to look condescendly at us ringtone players.
I wish I had discovered classical music as a young person. But better late than never. I sincerely feel it has improved me in ways I don't fully understand.
Music is magic. Where would we be without it? 🎶
I'm glad you chose the Netherlands Bach Society version of this. They are doing wonderful things with Bach. It doesn't get any better than that. And yes, many people who first really hear Bach for the first time experience revelations that change lives.
In the ‘60’s in Atlanta, members of the Atlanta Symphony were band directors (and orchestra conductors) in the public elementary schools. I got recruited by the bass clarinetist who was the band director at my school. Fast forward to high school, I took flute lessons from the principal flutist, and got a partial scholarship to college. My flute teacher encouraged me to pick up the cello as an add on, so I also took lessons from a cellist in the symphony. My high school band director in Cobb County had us playing Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich, Japanese music, Sousa marches, and American band classic repertoire. It was astonishing to think about all the music we were experiencing. I got a music ed degree and will never regret any of the life changing experiences music afforded me. Although I don’t play at the moment, I’ve never stopped being a musician. If you know, you know.
Spotting you for the bass positions was an example of what exceptional teachers can do.
Thanks Rick, great story. I cut my teeth on an Andre Segovia record my maternal grandmother gave me. I started guitar at 8 and she thought it would inspire me, which it did. His mastery of the instrument floored me. It made me knuckle down and take charge and now, 70 years later, I still think of her when I play my instrument. So sad that schools today don't see the importance of music in a child's life.
It’s not schools that don’t see the importance of music. Teachers know that students involved in music classes develop better focus, concentration, memory, and interest in the pursuit of excellence. It’s the parents and the general population who see supporting music programs with their taxes as a waste of money. They keep voting against money for schools that would fund music programs. Short sighted.
Rick, you’re a tremendous inspiration! I’m a retired music educator and a big fan of yours. Bach’s music has transformed lives for centuries, and with good reason. It amazes me to this day that the Brandenburg Concertos were never played during Bach’s life because he had sent them as a gift to the Margrave of Brandenburg - who never opened the gift! Thank God the music was not lost forever because it is so very wonderful!
Rick, I know you don't look at these comments. But you and your channel ARE national treasures. I just hope that the world that's about to explode can keep it's part of that, which keeps humanity, worth a damn. Creative endeavors and especially for me, music. Thank you for your profound efforts to keep us holding on to those precious realities.
Rick, your LOVE of music...is shared by many, especially me. My wife and I have a 100% disabled child...but he LOVES music...and because of you, my passion for guitar playing (picking up where I left off 30 years ago) through learning from your videos has been...well...nothing short of a miracle. I thank God for men like you who sharpen us all...and give us a glimpse into the heart of the Infinite Artist. You are a joy, friend. Thank you for making our world a little more beautiful through your eyes. 🙂
Rick, we are about the same age and I teach music in Decatur. I know exactly what you mean by the importance of the public library record collection, for me in Stoughton, MA. That is where I found Wes, Joe Pass, Julian Bream, Segovia. It really was life changing.
We didnt have a music program, but things have changed, you are the music program for those who cant afford lessons. Please continue to inspire.. your life's work will carry on for generations.
Bach is the best. What a great concerto to begin with - remember it from Die Hard. It’s amazing how seeds planted early in life grow into a life’s passion.
49 years, and the fingerings never went away. It's so cool watching the sparkle in your eyes when you are going along with the music.
Apart from showcasing one of our best, if not THE best across all conceivable criteria, this also reminds us of how important good, free music education in public schools is. It's not about learning the circle of fifth, important as that undoubtedly is. It's about inspiring kids and waking their passion for something.
Greetings from Germany!
Rick, you never fail to amaze me. I’m 1 year older and have said to myself and my bride of 39 years, “I don’t know who I want to be when I grow up.” +24 years in the USCG rising from E1 to a Commissioned Officer, I took everything in stride not “knowing” who I wanted to be. Mad respect to you recognizing your dreams and fulfilling them. Hats off to my wife for supporting me in my indecisions. Today, 3 girls and 4 grandsons later, I have no regrets. I will continue to follow you. Please keep it going!
Respectfully,
D
i luv this guy. he needs to get on tv and preach about music. 800 stations and not one dedicated to music or music news.
It’s fine and fantastic as is that Rick is available free to anyone with a phone that gets internet!
Classical music is the font from which almost all modern music springs. Last week, I took my daughter and her friends, all high school musicians, to see The Piano Guys. It's delightful to see them combine popular music with classical pieces. Supporting the arts, especially school music programs, is so important.
Hell, yeah, Rick!
Shout out to the Public Libraries for all they offer.
I have been getting into classical music and jazz lately and my local library is indispensable for exploring what I like and don't like (since I am no expert in either genre).
It's a valuable resource.
Use it!
Mr. George Kramer.... Sacred Heart... grade 7.... every Friday afternoon.... one LP of classical music....
Truly a teacher who influenced and changed my life... for the better.... thank you for gracing me with new musical experiences....RIP.... you are... and always will be... remembered...
Rick, I appreciate this story so much. The thing that set my interest in music was learning and playing a recital of Mozart's Sonata in C Major when I was a kid. The back story is that when I was around 10 years old, my parents somehow managed to gather enough money to actually buy an upright piano for me and my sister (around 1984). My parents didn't learn any instruments growing up, but they believed in a classical education of liberal arts and sciences and that included music and a lot of time on hikes exploring nature. I had a wonderful piano teacher, Mrs. Liz Dusenbery who taught me to read music very well. Shortly after the piano purchase, my dad got laid off work and we ended up living on food stamps of food programs for about a year and half. They insisted on keeping the piano and my Mrs. Dusenbery offered me free piano lessons for the entirety of the time my dad was on strike (she refused to let him pay her, even though he offered he money after each lesson). Among a handful of other songs that I was learning from Mrs. Dusenbery's classes was Mozart's Sonata in C Major. I spend the entire year and half that she was offering me those free lessons memorizing the entire Sonata and in two played that piece at the recital after working on it with her for 2 years. I never pursued a music career, in fact I'm an entomology professor. However, music is so important to me and I often share with others how important music (and having played in bands, symphony, jazz combos, and rock bands) has been in my understanding of communication, teamwork, creativity, empathy, and innovation. It's no exaggeration to say that music has made me a better scientist. I doubt that Mrs. Dusenbery had those outcomes in mind when she was teaching me how to sight read Mozart, but maybe she did.
We really couldn't afford an instrument, but we came to America from Italy in 1951, and my dad brought along his accordian. Fast forward to me taking lessons, learning some classical, until my new teacher gives me a 13 page xerox copy of "It's A Raggy Waltz" by Brubeck. Boy did my mind open up to almost every genre of music. Keep up the good work, Rick...you , in my opinion, are doing everyone a worthy service.
Not just a fantastic musician, but what an incredible educator Rick is… Hats off!!
So fortunate to have had Mr Ken Brown there to recognize your budding talent and passion, and to lift you up into that situation. To have the Bach Brandenburg Concertos as your 'gateway drug' into the Classical music world was luck beyond measure; I'm sure there was no turning back after that summer...
The Brandenburg Concertos were always something my family listened to on long car rides when I was a kid.
Rick is the musician father figure I've never had growing up.. an absolute gem to the music community 💎 .. thank you for being one of the best music content creator.. your videos are always a treat
What an absolutely wonderful story! I love how when Rick played those first few bites of the concerto, you could just see his whole spirit light up just like it did a half-century ago; the passion still burns brightly.
I got into Bach just like you Rick! I also took out Brandenburg Concertos from the library as a middle schooler. It was a 2 record set in a worn out box. More than 40 years later, I still have it on vinyl and CD. A must-own for anyone even if you don't like classical music!
Had a similar experience, as a teenager, the first time I heard Bach's 4th movement of the Italian Concerto. That opening melody line and left-hand bass counterpoint grabbed me. I had to learn it. It still delivers much joy at 69 years old.
I am a piano player. Bach is known for counterpoint. I like playing his music because it is challenging, and improves my skills by practicing counterpoint 😊. Bueatiful music.
Part of the reason I didn't become a career violinist was because I'd have to play all the 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 composers. Hearing this story of the first time ever you heard Bach, I was right there with you, stunned, transported ~ Was there also incredible joy? There was for me! Thank you for putting this out there ❣ However different we may be from each other in other ways, in this we are kindred spirits!
The torch has been passed. Rick Beato will be the one that inspires young people to pursue music
I follow Hawkeye Pierce's advice to Radar O' Reilly when someone brings up Bach in a conversation, just say "Ah Bach!. I love the Brandenburg Concertos! At Penn State my Music 101 teacher made me realize that I've been listening to and enjoying Bach my whole life without knowing it. Thank you for doing what you do! You have exposed or "re-exposed" me to music I didn't know about or haven't thought about in a long time!
Rick, I get it. I was in 3rd grade. A music teacher played Mozarts K622, Clarinet concerto in A major. I was hooked. Told my mom I wanted to play clarinet. By 6th grade was playing clarinet and sax, by 9th had added flute and double reeds. To this day 50 Years later when I'm stressed I break out my library of the masters and listen to remember how they altered my life
Oh, wow! K622, especially the Adagio section, is my favorite piece of classical music, too. To this day it brings tears to my eyes and this is coming from a guy who is a Hendrix disciple.
Clarinet was Mozart's favorite instrument
Do you listen or do you play while listening. I feel one of the greatest loses most people have in life is the silence of our instruments when we finish school. Your never too old to play again or learn a new instrument. Do it.
Rick, thank you for this fantastic story. I’m a high school orchestra director myself in my 30th year of teaching. It’s stories and testimonials, from students and former students, like yours that mean the world to a music educator such myself.
This is why I’m here. This is one of the most informative, authentic and inspirational outlets in all of media. Rick, what you do here transcends music. Thank you.
Rick, I’m a classical bassist and I started when I was 12 too. I played Brandenburg 3 in 9th grade and fell in love it. Like you, I always sing along with the bass line. I have always loved your videos but to know about your background as a classical bassist just makes me appreciate you more! Thank you for sharing.
I grew up learning Classical music with violin via Suzuki method. My father was a college professor, scientist, and he played his Steinway every morning before work. I remember him saying “Shut that racket off!” whenever we played The Beatles records. Thank you for sharing your love of music and great skill at teaching. Music is a miracle, isn’t it? ❤
Fantastic story, short but very layered. And your statement at the end-yes, let's bow to the teachers who saw what they did and not only showed us their vision but their support-and encouragement to families, that's priceless. Thank you again for sharing.
Rick Beato is music teacher to the world
Brandenburg conciertos are amazing. No. 5 with the harpsichord solo is amaaaaazing.
Rick - I am really glad you shared this. I had an epiphany similar to this as a lad when my 7th grade band teacher took me to a San Kenton concert (1957-ish). Basically I probably thought "I don't know what that is, but that's for me!" and that's when - to do a riff off of Ellington...music became my mistress.......
So inspirational Rick. I’m a high school physics teacher and I love being able to make these types of connections with my students. I hope my kids look back and think of me as a help to their endeavors.
Mr. Beato especially in these weird times of conflicts everywhere your channel shows what is beautiful in human nature. It always gives me goosebumps when you talk about Bach because I feel the same way too. Keep on doing what you're doing it is nothing less than the most profound legacy of the art of music and humanity.
I'm 53 and, I was that weird kid who asked for classical piano lessons at the age of 6, which didn't make me very popular in 1976. Bach was, and still is, one of my favorites. In my senior year of high school, I was playing upright bass for an opera company in Newark, NJ. Bach should be a requirement to study for every musician. You're not the only one who got those chills. Cheers!!
Congrats on the Guardian interview, was great to see you in it
Chills indeed. Yup, it'll do that to you. Some may think I'm a sort of heathen for mentioning Walter (Wendy) Carlos' "Switched On Bach" but that really was a triumph and a "mind-blown" moment for me in my musical journey when I "borrowed" the LP from my Dad. Of course, Wendy just happened to choose the most amazing piece of music to start with. I was fortunate enough to have a musical upbringing, parents who encouraged it and a local music service to provide instruments. Thankyou Rick for reminding me how fortunate I've been.
I believe that Bach would have approved of Walter/Wendy's work. In fact I believe that if Bach had access to that equipment in his day he would have used it himself. Unfortunately the owners of that performance have done a very thorough job of keeping it off CZcams and any other free sources. There are many recreations/tributes to the work of Carlos but none of them sound as rich, deep and incredible as the original 1968 album. Don't be fooled as they are getting clicks from her name but playing their own midi versions. Good news to lovers of this work. On her official web page the original multi-track masters have been remixed into a surround sound re-release. He/She was experimenting with 4 track surround sound in 1968 so these are taken from those masters. If anyone reading this has never heard "Switched On Bach" look for it. You will not be disappointed. The original album will be by Walter Carlos. The CD of the same album will be titled by Wendy Carlos. She transitioned between releases but it is the same performance.
Teachers play a pivotal role in spotting talent and potential in kids.
In my case, I was fortunate to grow up in a house where music, mostly jazz and folk, was pouring from the speakers in the family room constantly. My moment came when I was 14 and at a fair. The sound of an Appalachian dulcimer hit my ears, mesmerizing me. I followed the sound to a booth selling dulcimers. I bought my first dulcimer there. That was 50 years ago. There is just something about the steel strings and the drone that reaches straight into my heart. Thanks for the memory, Rick. 💜🦋
I was born in Fairport NY too, a couple years later, but we moved to Syracuse for my pop's job. For me it was classical piano, then rock (and punk) guitar. And the piece that turned me into a musician for life was Comfortably Numb.
Rick, this is such an amazing story. It's truly incredible that you were to get to play one of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos when you were 12 years old. Bach's Brandenburg Concertos are among the best pieces that anyone has ever written. They're pieces that everyone ought to have the chance to hear at least once in their lifetimes; and that as many people as possible who play one of the instruments featured in these works should get a chance to play.
P.S. I find that it's videos such as this or others that are either putting more of yourself into them, or are highlighting incredibly amazing music and performances, that continue to make it worthwhile to be subscribed to your channel and pay attention to what videos you're putting out.
Fantastic! By the say, Listening to Bach's Brandenburg Concerto no. 3 was my musical awakening too, but by Wendy Carlos on Switched-on-Bach
Yes I had that recording too - c. 1969 - my first exposure to the Brandenburgs was "synthesized!"! I just about wore that track out, playing it over and over. Hearing the actual orchestra version a few months later, I was absolutely blown away.
I was the only trumpet player in junior band. I know exactly where you’re coming from. I loved it because I knew my parts.
The greatest teachers don't just teach the syllabus, the set a fire in your heart.
As a student playing Double Bass in school, stories like this really inspire me. Music is my passion and I REALLY want to do it as a career (if possible). Thank you for being a sort of grandfather of the internet music scene Rick!
Rick I loved this video. A BIG factor in this is whether or not your parents are supportive. If they don't support you trying something then it's really hard. My parents didn't and I had no outlet to pursue my interest in music. I wonder what my life would have been had they been willing to help me.
I've been a professional guitar player for 40 years. I learned violin as a kid in the 4th grade. My teacher was Bert Skakoon. He looked like and embodied a violin teacher. He taught me to be a disciplined musician. My ear training along with my vibrato allowed me to have an incredible career as a guitar player. Early childhood development is most crucial in developing a well rounded musician.
That's so cool! Bach was the first composer that drew me into classical music!
First I need to say "YES" . I envy the support you received for YOUR passion.
I want to share something you may have experienced.
In the home of a classmate in grammar school, I saw a guitar his uncle left in the house . Never having held a guitar I asked to pick it up. Granted. One strum across the strings and I thought I had been hit by lightning . I was both stunned and felt unworthy of daring to bring into the world that gorgeous sound. Affected for life.
Jo-Jo
"Find what makes your heart sing, then follow your heart". This was how it was summed up to me. I don't remember who said it but it impacted me. Brandenburg Concerto is an enduring chilhood memory for me, I first heard it in 1968 on a synth album called "Switched on Bach" where the brand new Moog synth was used to do chamber orchestral stuff. Cheers Rick!
Got introduced to the Brandenburg Concerto III via Carlos' Switched On Bach around 8th grade 1971 or so.
I was hooked!
J.S. Bach is incredible. Truly a master of composition. He put his heart into his pieces
I feel privileged to have had so much support from my parents and teachers in regards to my pursuit of music early on. I graduated from an arts high school as a guitar major and studied music theory and production as a minor in college. I am currently a middle school English teacher at a school that supports the arts and I am thrilled to see students who are passionate about music and performance even at a young age. Music and organized musical programs mean so much to our children, even beyond the enriching experience of playing and performing music. I believe the arts and their study are just as fundamental as any other subject in school. Thanks for the video Rick and all that you do for us!
😅
Rick, Thank you for the support of public school music educators. Great to hear about the the Fairport library and your teacher Ken.
I'm so glad I had an expierence like this. Bach was such a profound composer. Listening to his music just unlocks something in musicians that can appreciate this level of complex composition.
There is nothing like the feeling of being part musical ensemble. To work individually, to practice on your part of the piece. To be instructed and then finally work as a team and here the piece as a whole…as you describe. I was first chair, second trumpet with my friend Todd my last two years of high school…at Honeoye Falls - Lima…south of Fairport actually. We were known for our classical concerts as well as our marching band. And as much as it bothered me being in those horrible outfits we had to wear while marching, approaching the judges stand in parades made my heart jump. We ALWAYS unleashed and played our best as a unit for the judges. I always felt satisfied and complete after we marched and played. Same with hearing the applause after a concert.
I wanted to be a sound engineer but ended up in television. Music is still such a large part of my life…and I can’t imagine a life without it. The trumpet is still in the basement…I don’t think I’ll ever let it go. It has an emotional attachment still this day. Music IS emotion…and music I feel is a gift. Cheers.
P.s. I wrote a letter to A & M records, addressed to Herb Alpert as a young trumpet player….I wondered why he had stopped playing after the Tijuana band had stopped making records. That was my start…listening to my mom’s records and pretending I was in the band…and playing along terribly. Not long after I wrote my letter, he came out with his hit Rise. I wonder still to this day, if he received my letter and was inspired by my interest and curiosity. I like to think so.
Congratulations on living your passion, Rick. And from Fairport!
This is a discovery each person needs, though I suspect most don't. Mine was to become a physician, now a psychiatrist, and I am grateful.
I am glad you live your vocation in teaching, too. You've helped this amateur musician. Greetings from Mendon, New York!
Hi from Victor 👋
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring was the thing that completely mesmerized me about classical music early on due to how the melody builds throughout the piece getting thicker as it it goes. I was 10 when I first performed it 1st seat, 1st alto sax.
I have to admit that my first exposure to Bach was the album “Switched on Bach” in college. I ran a needle through it. I went on to Beethoven, Chopin, and Mozart. I made my money playing country and classic rock. I filled my soul with the Masters.
I grew up with that piece, glorious, my mum was a violinist and classical music was everything in my house 😍 Lying in bed as a child waking up to it. Wonderful story, Rick 😊
Love that piece also......doesn't it have a "sea shanty" feel?
I bet the drummers you interview could fit a very cool groove in the Brandenburg! Bach is the great organic arpeggiator. An S&H Greenstamps electric guitar ruined my sports career. In Hiigh school, I pitched with Larry Andersen, who went on to pitch in the majors, and appeared in World Series games. But I'm happiest when making music.
Ah, Bach, my favorite composer. Rick, what about the violin solo in the 1st movement of the 4th Brandenburg for 2 flutes (recorders). It gets no credit but is probably one of the most virtuistic solos in existance! It's like Hendrix on steroids. I had a similar epiphanistic experience with Bach in 1974. I had only been listening to his organ music (it's a long story), but went to a music library in Toronto and began listening to his concertos - I was blown away. 49 years later, I still am. Keep up the great work!
It was precisely Bach’s Brandenburg # 3 that made me a Bach fan for life. I happened to stumble on the Moog version by Walter Carlos, from the 1968 landmark Switched-On Bach, while surfing the radio dial back in 1983. I was hooked on Bach from then on.
Great share, Rick! Music moves me in ways that other art forms do not. I remember an accordionist would come in to my kindergarten class and play slow, sleepy music. In first-fourth grade, the nuns would allow my class and I to sit in the pews while the organist practiced. I learned that music can alter my mood by 4th grade, and soon after I was making my own music; my dad had a guitar, and he let me play it. I have never needed substances to alter my mood. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Scott Joplin, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, the Beatles, ELP, Jethro Tull, Rush, and R.E.M. do a fine job of altering my mood as I desire.
Beautiful tribute on so many levels and you Sir continue to inspire us all. Bravo
Rick, your appreciation for the whole universe of music is refreshing and very engaging. Charles Ives once said (of people repelled by his music) "Use your ears like a man!" Today we'd say, "like a human," or even, like a mensch. You use your ears like a real mensch! This was a lot of fun to watch.
Same here! We had a field trip during my fourth-grade class to Downtown Chattanooga and listened to our local orchestra. It was performed at our local Tivoli theatre. The richness of the sounds and the luxuriousness of the venue were absolutely overwhelming. It was life-changing for me. I started playing guitar right after that event, and music has been a constant companion in my life ever since. Although I have never been able to perform in front of people due to extreme stage fright, I have accomplished everything I have set out to do with music. By the way Rick...you've helped!
I love the cello and love Bach. Wished I had the exposure to music education that you had growing up.
Great Rick. When my 3 kids were very small, in fact from a really early age, they were woken up on Sundays to Vivaldi's L'Estro Armonico, coinciding with me starting to make the pancakes. On hearing the music, the response from the kids became Pavlovian and before long Vivaldi, the Brandenburgs and others of this genre became known as Pankie Music. Now they haven't reached the musical heights that you have, although the youngest still aspires to be good, but they all have an great appreciation of music in all its forms. So I echo your closing comments addressed to parents.
I am a couple years older than you and grew up in Elmira, NY, just down the highway from you. Though our town was small, it too had a strong music program. I played coronet and piano, sang in the choir, and marched in the band for years. I did not become a professional musician, but I am incredibly thankful for the experience this gave me, and in my 40's I took piano lessons again and played in a recital (yep, me and the 10 year olds) and in a small pop music group for a bit. I wish all children's lives could be enriched this way with music. Love your passion, thanks for what you do🤩
I fell in love with music in the womb. The rythm of the heart... it's universal.😊
I only started learning how to play the guitar 6 weeks ago & I'm documenting my entire learning journey on here so this was super motivational! Rick bringing the best.
I also played this in summer music camp between 6th and 7th grade, although I was the only viola in our little group. We had 2 other violins playing a 3rd violin part to make up the difference. I wound up getting my bachelors in viola, my masters in vocal performance, and sadly, never got good enough to make it professionally so now I do voiceover work for educational videos for my company. But I will always love Bach Brandenburg #3.
Yes!!! What an incredible piece of music it is! I get that! I had that epiphany several times in my life.
Once, in HS, when we were doing Beethoven's Fifth. I was bass clarinet. I was so busy with other work that I didn't even play my part through the first rehearsals. So no one heard that part. Then I listened to a great recording, took the part home and woodshedded it until I had it down. Played it in the rehearsal. I actually had a little solo in there. I played it through... the orchestra teacher waved his baton: cut! "Ah! THAT's what that sounds like!" he said. And started us up again. He was a good guy and I was so damned exhilarated.
It happened again at USC, when I was singing "Don Basilio" in "The Marriage of Figaro". Every night I'd do a 45' to an hour commute to get to the theatre. When the orchestra played the overture the first time, they were inspired. Mozart can do that to you. I wasn't on in the first scene at all, but I walked onto the stage in the dark, behind the curtain, just to hear that overture -- I was exhausted when I got there, but after hearing that final presto at the end, I had all the energy in the world. It was unbelievable. (And, frankly, I sang that role professionally after, but the USC Opera orchestra (Henry Holt conducting) was as good as any orchestra anywhere in the world).
One of the singers said, "Yeah, they require all those scholarship soloists to be in the orchestra."
It doesn’t happen only in music! When was an undergraduate I took a Science course where I learned not everything in science was known, and sometimes text books were wrong. Science was an exploration with an uncertain path. Mind Blown! The rest of my professional career was spent clarifying the unknown and exploring the boundaries. Thanks for your story.
my two fav Bach quotes -“I play the notes as they are written, but it is God who makes the music.” and “Without my morning coffee I’m just like a dried up piece of roast goat.”
...and for the 2nd, you can see the inspiration for the Coffee Cantata....