JS Bach was an alien

Note the comments at that youtube post - one person states that Bach is a demonstration of existence of God. Now this is silly. Why complicate matters by bringing in both the immense question of God's nature and existence, and some murky notion of Bach as some sort of angel or messenger? Let's apply Occam's Razor here -- the simpliest solution is the best. Agreed: The music is so sublime, it is unworldly. Mathematical probablities favor the existence of life elsewhere in the universe. Ergo, Bach must have come from outer space.

people.tribe.net...

and music is a trap for your brain. Ever tried to mind your way through a complicated piece written by Bach? Did you notice the utter astonishment and amazement when you started realizing what it is you're reading/playing? Humans were not meant to understand music on this level. It is a trap designed to capture the intelligent humans that are capable of scarcely recognizing the meaning of his pieces.

Well, if Bach was an alien, and this is the kind of music they create, I have only one thing to say: Hurry up and land, guys!

Well yes, actually i have learnt some bach, it seems just as beutiful and intricate as a hundred other compositions by a hundred other composers i could name. There is nothing that special about it.

Just because we cant relate to that level of creative genius doesnt mean that its not human. Obviously.

reply to post by Mozzy


rip-off of the old Douglas Adams joke about Bach being an alien in 'Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency'. Awesome book btw.

Originally posted by Mozzy
Let's apply Occam's Razor here -- the simpliest solution is the best. Agreed: The music is so sublime, it is unworldly. Mathematical probablities favor the existence of life elsewhere in the universe. Ergo, Bach must have come from outer space.

What utter ridiculous tripe. Yes...the simpliest solution is that Bach was an alien, and not that he was a genius.

countless other pieces before or AFTER bach?

take a brief look at a piece like prelude number one for the well tempered clavier. it's an instruction manual plain and simple. it's begging you to bend your mind around it.

Ever read a book about the guy, or listened to his music? Just plain human, his music was very good yes, but nothing extrodinary. Artist these days make far more conspiculous hits then Bach did in his day.

name three.

or name one, for that matter.

The Banana Splits.

There's four of 'em

reply to post by Mozzy


Well just take a look at music from the baroque period (well before bach), the whole era was full of the most intricate ornamental tinkerings, ott music masterbation, so much more technical than bach ever was.

What makes bach so special? Why not Mozart? Beethoven? Chaz and Dave?

[edit on 30-11-2008 by Man_Versus_AntiMan]

One of my music teachers once told the class that Mozart was an alien. He never made the same accusation to Bach though. I think if you look at the fact that Mozart was writing at 3 years old, then yeah....maybe he was....

This is a funny thread.

Does this mean that any worldly recognised genius from history or the present must be an alien? Why is it that we feel the need to attribute greatness with something other than an astounding one of a kind mind? Although the word 'genius' is far overused as far as I'm concerned. Bach's ,music is almost mathemtical in its composition in many ways...very intricate, but that doesn't make it the result of him being not of the earth, just very talented and before his time.

I always think that there were just 2 true geniuses in the known history of man. Mozart & DaVinci...end of list. Everyone else is just very very gifted.

Wayne...

[edit on 30/11/2008 by the secret web]

That, is the most ridiculous, and outlandish remark about music that I have ever seen in my entire life. To claim that Johan Sebastian Bach was an alien, is similar to me saying that Jono Grant is Jesus Christ reborn. (Sorry, Jono...I know you read through google entries )

The only reason people like Mozart, and Bach are noted upon is because in a certain concept, they were the founders of music today in a shape or form. Music evolves like the human mind, it's not something that any one person may understand --

actually, music isn't design to have one person understand the same thing as another. Many pieces of music are designed to paint an image, or let the listener paint that image. Now if you talk to someone who has actually read music for a living, or composed, you would know that they do refer to Bach and Mozart, but they never will actually say "man, you know...that Bach guy wrote some of the most intricate and difficult pieces of all time."

Again, not to discredit them from billiant masterpieces, but you're giving them TOO much credit as well.

Originally posted by Man_Versus_AntiMan
reply to post by Mozzy

 

Well just take a look at music from the baroque period (well before bach), the whole era was full of the most intricate ornamental tinkerings, ott music masterbation, so much more technical than bach ever was.

What makes bach so special? Why not Mozart? Beethoven? Chaz and Dave?

[edit on 30-11-2008 by Man_Versus_AntiMan]

I wouldn't go as far as to say that Bach was an alien as I agree it diminishes the notion that we humans are fantastically gifted in our own right.

However, what sets Bach apart from Mozart, Beethoven or even the mighty Chas and Dave, is that the maths that are said to underpin (whether intentionally or not) are pretty dissimilar to Mozart or Beethoven.

The actual mechanics and theory that lie within Bach's work are very different. Bach belonged to a wholly different period of classical music which relied on a very different musical vocabulary. You play some Bach yourself, so you must be familiar with the figured bass and the counterpoint employed within his works.

Mozart and Beethoven belong to another era of classical music entirely. The mechanics that exist within their works are intricate, fascinating and brilliant but in completely different ways. The 'maths' that are often connected to Bach aren't really there with those two. Although the simplicity and mathematical purity of Charles Hodges' left hand work is something to behold.

He would be taking a nap and his children would sneak in and play the opening bars of one of his miniatures on the clavier. Bach would begin to toss and turn, after a few minutes he'd jump up "Ach!!" and go to the clavier and finish the piece, only then could he go back to sleep.

He had twenty one children, btw (though only eleven survived to adulthood).

He teache that in music the simple is beautiful.

Once again, we have proof that the UFO believers are their own worst enemy. Can this crap be moved to Skunk Works where it belongs?

Originally posted by Man_Versus_AntiMan
Well yes, actually i have learnt some bach, it seems just as beutiful and intricate as a hundred other compositions by a hundred other composers i could name. There is nothing that special about it.

I'm not trying to downplay how genius Bach was, but I have to agree.

To the OP saying his contrapuntal writing is too complex for humans, that's actually what the popular style was back then. The sad truth is that most people are simply stupider today. I've even played around with writing things contrapuntally, and it isn't that hard: the notes of the different melodies simply have to serve a double function to be able to stack up to form the harmony. On top of that there were only a couple more "rules" against moving consonant intervals of notes in the same direction at the same time, which helps keep the voices distinguished from each other so it doesn't blur together. But what Bach did contrapuntally was extremely well-coordinated and I don't think that era's style will ever be touched again by such a genius.

Palestrina did the same thing in the era before Bach, but his contrapuntal writing was smoother and had a much different feel. He was another big name for that sort of writing even though he had a completely different style, and he wrote very beautiful things.

Originally posted by Mozzy

Note the comments at that youtube post - one person states that Bach is a demonstration of existence of God. Now this is silly. Why complicate matters by bringing in both the immense question of God's nature and existence, and some murky notion of Bach as some sort of angel or messenger? Let's apply Occam's Razor here -- the simpliest solution is the best. Agreed: The music is so sublime, it is unworldly. Mathematical probablities favor the existence of life elsewhere in the universe. Ergo, Bach must have come from outer space.

people.tribe.net...

and music is a trap for your brain. Ever tried to mind your way through a complicated piece written by Bach? Did you notice the utter astonishment and amazement when you started realizing what it is you're reading/playing? Humans were not meant to understand music on this level. It is a trap designed to capture the intelligent humans that are capable of scarcely recognizing the meaning of his pieces.

this post is nonsense.

Oh god fobid someone exhibt musical talent, they must be an alien!

I hope this doesn't start a rash of Bach was a ... threads.

Bach was as much an alien as JFK was a doughnut.

I am amazed at people like Bach, who can create such beautiful things! I guess this is opening up a whole other topic, ha ha, but sometimes I really do wonder about reincarnation. Such as child prodigy's who can play piano at 2 years old, or write prescriptions in Latin, or know things at a very young age that no one has taught them, etc. I think there is something to reincarnation.