August Composer of the Month: Johann Sebastian Bach!

On Monday and Tuesday we discussed our composer of the month, Bach!  We talked a little about his upbringing (his parents died when he was 9 and he went to live with his older brother where he learned to play the harpsicord).  He composed many beautiful and well-known compositions -- and we heard two of them in class!

The first recording we listened to was Bach's Concerto for Violin and Oboe in C minor, Allegro (Finale). Here's a link to a beautiful recording (we listened to the first minute or so of a CD of the University of North Texas Baroque Orchestra in class):

Then, we watched this very gifted organist play one of Bach's most famous compositions Toccata and Fugue in D minor.  Look at the beautiful pipe organ!  Here's the link the video we watched (we watched the first two minutes or so): 

After each song, we discussed all the musical elements and how they each encompassed the Baroque era: texture, tempo, dynamics, instrumentation, and note duration.  Pretty spectacular music!