It’s an iconic piece of classical music, and even if you’re not a fan of the genre you’ve probably come across it before now—Bach’s prelude from his Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major. It’s only a couple of minutes long, depending on who’s playing it (and on what instrument), but it’s perfectly constructed. To understand why, let’s take a closer look with Alisa Weilerstein. (via Kottke)
Bach’s G major prelude, deconstructed – Vox
If you hear the first few measures you’ll likely recognize it. A simple G major arpeggiated chord played expressively on the cello opens a short, but harmonically and melodically rich, 42 measures of music. Bach makes a single instrument sound like a full ensemble. How does he do it?
It’s simple, really (to some, perhaps!), just the tonic key G and the dominant key D playing off each other.
I could listen to this over and over. Wonderful music. I just need someone to go through the rest of it.
(I wish I had stuck with it now.)
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