Bach: A Passionate Life

Recently, I gave my college-level music students the assignment to view this video. In spite of being a wonderful overview of J.S. Bach's life and work, I found that JEG has some quirky habits in his narration of the video. One that I felt the need to explain is the use of English terminology: ie, quavers, crotchets, hemi-demi-semi-quavers, etc. Having studied in London, I knew what these were. But an international audience probably wouldn't. Also thrown in are some English slang and folk expressions that had me saying "What?" I also found it a bit funny that Mr. Gardiner asserts (twice) that we have scant knowledge of the "specifics" of Bach's life. Yet he then details many of the relevant facts about Bach's lineage, the influence of Martin Luther, his earliest teachers, and even his "poor attendance" in school in one year while a child in Eisenach. Evidence is "thick on the ground" (again, a Gardiner phrase) in this excellent account. The beauty of this video is in the excellent recording, the quality of the photography, and the glimpse of artists at work making the music of Bach come alive. I admire Eliot Gardiner enormously, however the psychologists brought in to explain Bach's "personality flaws" were a bit silly to me.... although I don't doubt their observations.

Much appreciated are the descriptions, and played examples, of the St. John and St. Matthew Passions. Here is where JEG excels. In all, I love this video documentary and highly recommend it to musicians and students of music.