J.S. Bach may be the most important figure in Western music, with an influence that can be felt in popular and classical music to this day. Largely unnoticed in his time, Bach was in many ways the climax of Baroque polyphonic music, tying together the major styles of his day in a uniquely personal fashion. From his chamber works to his instrumental pieces, Bach ingeniously wove together melodic, aria-based Italian music, refined French dance music, complex contrapuntal German music, and mathematical intricacies into pieces that
were greater than the summation of their parts. Inside of the elaborate inter-connected voices of the Well-Tempered Clavier’s Fugues and the richpolyphonic textures of the Brandenburg Concertos are proof that the reason that we hear and enjoy music the way we do is based on the sounds, theories and procedures that were solidified in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.
(Jessy Terry)

Johann Sebastian Bach’s works

Revered for their intellectual depth and technical and artistic beauty, Johann Sebastian Bach’s works include the Brandenburg concertos; the Goldberg Variations; the English Suites, French Suites, Partitas, and Well-Tempered Clavier; the Mass in B Minor; the Saint Matthew Passion; the Saint John Passion; The Musical Offering; The Art of Fugue; the Sonatas and Partitas for violin solo; the Cello Suites; more than 200 surviving cantatas; and a similar number of organ works, including the celebrated Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Prelude

J.S. Bach was a prolific German composer and organist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and

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Even if you think of a cinematic pooch when the word Beethoven is mentioned you have probably heard Handel’s Messiah — “Hallelujah!! Hallelujah!!” — blasting away at the local mall at Christmas time. This stunning piece illustrates Handel’s mastery of the big choral numbers that were gaining in popularity with the rising eighteenth century bourgeois class. Handel was a master at composing operas, but these oratorios were easier to stage and perform and cheaper to attend for the new British middle class, who embraced Handel’s music with great enthusiasm.
- Nick Dedina

None of Schubert’s symphonies were performed during his lifetime (1797-1828), and in many ways he lived behind the immense presence of Beethoven for most of his life — the two greats are even buried next to each other. But Schubert’s music remains one of the most important links between the Classical and Romantic periods. His symphonies explored more progressive harmonies and orchestration than earlier composers had dared try, using brass instruments in a fashion that was later taken up by such figures as Brahms. He was also a master at writing lieders (songs) which perfectly matched emotions to music, placing novel chords at specific moments to exactly convey the mood of the text.
- Jessy Terry

The name Georges Bizet is synonymous with his brilliant opera Carmen. This work embraced both beauty and vivid ultra-reality and managed to shock even Paris’ sophisticated audiences in the 1870s. While Carmen cast of crooks and killers seems tamer by today’s standards it remains a compelling and richly romantic work. Sadly, Bizet died not long after its debut and we can only guess in what ways he would further enrich the musical world had he lived a longer life. A renown pianist, his other orchestral works, solo pieces, and operas all show the richness and vibrancy of Carmen, but none can match its artistic triumph.
- Nick Dedina