16 ms·

All of Bach

607 points by acheron 13y ago

LukeHoersten 13y ago
I love how this kind of craft can still earn a decent profit and even more, make it to the #1 spot on HN. Keeps me coming back. Thanks OP.
- acheron 13y ago
  You're welcome. I discovered this last week, and today when the new performance came out I thought "huh, wonder if HN would like it?" Apparently so. A little surprised it got this much traction here, but it's appropriate... there's not a book entitled Gödel, Escher, Mozart after all.
ChrisLTD 13y ago
You can only scroll down with a scroll wheel or trackpad. You can't use your arrow keys or the native scroll bar. That's a huge accessibility problem.
- gkya 13y ago
  It also does not work at all without a NoScript exception.
DanielStraight 13y ago
So you don't have to do the math yourself... it will take 20.71 years to complete the project. Pretty neat.
jacquesm 13y ago
The duration of the project implies that not all those that are recording today will be alive when the project is completed. Incredible how productive Bach was.
PetitPrince 13y ago
Another remarkable projet regarding Bach is the Open Goldberg Variation ( http://www.opengoldbergvariations.org/ http://www.opengoldbergvariations.org/ ), a project that freely offer a high-quality version (they hired a world-class musician, rent a world-class piano and studio) of the Goldberg Variations. (I have no stakes in that project; I do enjoy listening to the album as work music though)
- ZanyProgrammer 13y ago
  Should be the harpsichord, not piano :)
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
- Nzen 13y ago
  Another CC0 site https://musopen.org/music/composer/johann-sebastian-bach/ https://musopen.org/music/composer/johann-sebastian-bach/ also hosts public domain recordings of other composer's works.
marquis 13y ago
As a complete Bach nerd may I recommend this as the ultimate recording of one of his greatest works: http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Matthaus-Passion-Bostridge-Collegium-Herreweghe/dp/B00002R0ZL http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Matthaus-Passion-Bostridge-Colleg... A search for Herreweghe+Matthaus on Youtube brings up a 'preview' for those interested to listen immediately.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_Ai171EQeU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_Ai171EQeU
- ambler0 13y ago
  Fun fact: Paul Simon lifted the basic harmony and melody for his song "American Tune" from that piece, which itself lifted them from an earlier piece. Remixing is not a new phenomenon! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Tune http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Tune
  - marquis 13y ago
    Until the age of recorded commercial music it was considered completely normal to lift tunes, harmonies, anything recognisable, from other composers. In classical music it's generally considered a complement, more rarely a parody. Copyright has been around for much longer with printed music: as early as the 1500's we see Henry 8th issuing protections. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_music_publishing#Copyright http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_music_publishing#Cop...
    - akuchling 13y ago
      To illustrate that: here's a video from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that looks at musical quotation, using the Star Trek:TOS theme. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTaSjS1pwhQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTaSjS1pwhQ
    - keithpeter 13y ago
      And composers recycled their own work. Bach had to knock out three hours of music each Sunday for four years or so when he was Kapellmeister. You'd reuse!
    - 13y ago
JasonFruit 13y ago
This is probably like the experience of the people who attended the Thomaskirche and heard a new work by Bach every week. I could take 21 years of this!
- couchand 13y ago
  I like to think about those people. I'm imagining a bored little boy kicking the pew in front of him, not realizing he's hearing some of the greatest music that will ever be written.
cafard 13y ago
Many thanks.
dr_faustus 13y ago
If you really like Bach and are interested in his complete works, you should definitely check out the Hännsler Bach Edition. (http://www.haenssler-classic.de/en/series-and-editions/johann-sebastian-bach-edition/the-complete-works/the-complete-cd-edition.html http://www.haenssler-classic.de/en/series-and-editions/johan...) Its 199 Euros which is really not a lot if you consider its 172 CDs. And its not just a cheaply thrown together compilation but it was curated (and in large parts conducted) by Helmuth Rilling who is one of the premier Bach experts of our day. The quality of performance and recording is very good throughout. You certainly find superior recordings for some of Bachs works but I have yet to find a real disappointment in the set (I'm only about half way through).
- NotOscarWilde 13y ago
  Too bad there is not an online version of this. Hardly any device in my home is able to play CDs.
  - acheron 13y ago
    Understood. I just bought a Chopin collection that was only available on CD.. not remotely as large as a complete Bach collection obviously, but a few CDs anyway. It's been sitting around for a couple weeks because about the only thing I can do with it is go to my desktop PC and rip it, and getting around to that takes awhile. I've been looking forward to listening to it, but.. fragile plastic discs, man, what's up with those?
  - wlesieutre 13y ago
    Even if I had a bunch of CD players around, the idea of swapping between 172 discs doesn't sound great.
    - Spearchucker 13y ago
      There are CD ripping services around. In the UK they charge around ~60p/CD (gets cheaper at ~500 CDs). Some will rip lossless, which is what I was after for the 800 or so CDs I stupidly ripped at 192Kbps over the years.
PythonicAlpha 13y ago
To sad, that there is no mp3 or ogg download version available.
- dwpdwpdwpdwpdwp 13y ago
  check out http://www.classiccat.net/bach_js/ http://www.classiccat.net/bach_js/
  - PythonicAlpha 13y ago
    Thank you very much. Did not know that website!
- colomon 13y ago
  youtube-dl -x --audio-format=mp3 ;)
  - jorda 13y ago
    Thanks for the tip. I wrote a simple Python script to help download currently available "All of Bach" works using `youtube-dl': https://gist.github.com/anonymous/fb7de0d81dfdb8ee2191 https://gist.github.com/anonymous/fb7de0d81dfdb8ee2191
  - PythonicAlpha 13y ago
    Wow, did not know that either. I know some tools working under Windows, but they are rather complicated. This one is neat.
NIL8 13y ago
I'm finding this impossible to navigate. The pages are basically frozen in Firefox and Chrome. Anybody else have this problem?
- gone35 13y ago
  I'm using Safari on an iPad, and for a moment I can see the page, but then it quickly disappears behind an impenetrable solid-black screen with nothing on it but the prompt: "Tilt your screen." It's a shame, and it doesn't befit the wondrousness of the content. Whoever came up with this brilliant UI idea should seriously re-evaluate what usability means to them.
  - 8ig8 13y ago
    Same here. If anyone is curious, here's a screenshot[1] from an iPad mini. Tapping, tilting, reloading do nothing. [1] http://i.imgur.com/lW3gZOw.jpg http://i.imgur.com/lW3gZOw.jpg Edit: Figured it out after actually looking at the graphic. You need to turn (not tilt) the device to landscape.
    - lylejohnson 13y ago
      Even looking at the graphic, I didn't understand --- I thought they wanted me to tilt my iPad along the horizontal axis (pitch). When that didn't work I tried tilting on vertical (roll). It wasn't until the tablet slipped in my hands enough to rotate sideways that I got a clue.
- colmvp 13y ago
  Nope it works for me using latest version of Chrome.
  - glitcher 13y ago
    For me latest Chrome is having repositioning issues on the top background image when scrolling up and down, causing it to look jittery until I stop scrolling. Navigation is working fine.
tama 13y ago
Wow, this is really beautiful. I was expecting audio only. Glad I was wrong :).
teoruiz 13y ago
I find the Toccata and Fugue just amazing to watch and listen, an the performer is even adorable. http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-565/detail/ http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-565/detail/
- scrozier 13y ago
  One wo/man's adorable is another wo/man's tiresome. :-) But he's good, the organ is beautiful, and the production quality is fantastic.
catwork 13y ago
Bach is great on many counts - I did a visualization (https://github.com/hadley/ggplot2/wiki/Bach-2-Part-Invention-in-F-Major-BWV779 https://github.com/hadley/ggplot2/wiki/Bach-2-Part-Invention...) in R awhile back of a Two-part invention that reflects how well structured his counterpoint is.
- Intermernet 13y ago
  Have you by any chance read both Douglas Adams' "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency"[1] and Douglas Hofstadter's "Gödel Escher Bach"[2]? If not, meet some kindred spirits! I love the fact that so much of Bach's music explores numerical relations and patterns. And I've still not heard of anyone creating a piece as complex as his Musical Offering[3] that sounds at all listenable, let alone sublime. Any person who can compose a 6 part fugue is superhuman IMO. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirk_Gently's_Holistic_Detective_Agency http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirk_Gently's_Holistic_Detectiv... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del,_Escher,_Bach http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del,_Escher,_Bach [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Musical_Offering http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Musical_Offering
_nato_ 13y ago
Not a terrible place to start to get a nickle-tour of J.S. Bach, and from Bach's biggest fanatic, Glenn Gould: http://fixyt.com/watch?v=crQ8YEUkUjg http://fixyt.com/watch?v=crQ8YEUkUjg
peeters 13y ago
Man, am I going to love this. Can't wait for some of the cello solos. If anybody from the website is reading this, I have a tiny criticism: clicking anywhere on the page while the video is running closes the video. I don't know if I'm representative, but I often click in empty space to make sure my keyboard focus isn't in the video. I was disappointed when the organist was so abruptly cut off!
- detritus 13y ago
  You're not alone, that is an absolutely default behaviour for me too.
- mholt 13y ago
  Click the "window detail" icon above the video and then you can keep browsing around.
- panzi 13y ago
  > Can't wait for some of the cello solos. Me too! Although I have bought a Magnatune lifetime membership and listen to the Bach Cello Suites there: http://my.magnatune.com/search?w=bach%20cello http://my.magnatune.com/search?w=bach%20cello Well, I made me my own player to stream the music: http://greattuneplayer.jit.su/ http://greattuneplayer.jit.su/
  - fiatjaf 13y ago
    I don't understand from where it came, but the sound is reaching me speakers and it is being awesome. Thanks.
  - quinndupont 13y ago
    I had forgotten about Magnatune! I used to buy all sorts of stuff from them. I always loved their approach, and its great to see that they still exist. Thanks for reminding me that they still exist.
- keithpeter 13y ago
  http://www.gardnermuseum.org/music/listen/music_library?filter=artist#go_2376 http://www.gardnermuseum.org/music/listen/music_library?filt... Might keep you going for a bit. Colin Carr playing four of the six suites. CC licenced, lowish bit-rate mp3s I can't play the All of Bach at all, suspect flash related (gnash/iceweasel on Debian Sid) EDIT: yup, flashplayer-nonfree works. This being HN, do we think a flashplayer based solution is sensible for a long term project such as this? Is mass transcoding at some point in the future likely to be a trivial task?
rspeer 13y ago
This is excellent, thank you. I recently found myself wishing there was a website with curated, high-quality performances of Bach, after realizing how big the difference in quality can be. I ended up working on a Spotify playlist for myself, which I've been editing on and off for months, just trying all the recordings of each particular piece until I found a good one. (The only thing making it possible, with Spotify's terrible organization of classical music, is being able to search for literally "BWV 140" or whatever.) So I'll definitely be visiting this site.
- teoruiz 13y ago
  I would absolutely love subscribing to that list, would you be open to share the Spotify link? Thanks!
  - rspeer 13y ago
    Here's what I've got, grouped by broad swaths of BWV numbers: * 1-224 (cantatas): http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/0RkVeCJ3iMVc1MyOdK6E4T http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/0RkVeCJ3iMVc1My... * 225-524 (various works, mostly vocal, sorta dull in the 300s): http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/2sCCwEMpTXPsOBa0si9Ei2 http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/2sCCwEMpTXPsOBa... * 525-771 (organ works): http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/1aGTiGWlnSiGNcJ0HPwqxt http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/1aGTiGWlnSiGNcJ... * 772-994 (mostly keyboard works): http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/4ka3cJd5UCg5EoJqGtwknt http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/4ka3cJd5UCg5EoJ... * 995-1080 (solo suites and complicated stuff): http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/4v8NejHWIKDDSmcTH8ABgV http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/4v8NejHWIKDDSmc... * 1081-1128 (discovered since the 1950s): http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/5dmTRLVqUi8dB0Mhil5wlB http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/5dmTRLVqUi8dB0M... Of course this isn't close to finished. I'm guessing it would take a year or so, given the rate that I listen to Bach while working.
    - teoruiz 13y ago
      Thanks a lot. Subscribed to all!
bane 13y ago
And to think, his music was almost forgotten. It wasn't until Mendelssohn almost single handedly revived his music nearly a hundred years after Bach's death. A surprising number of great composers that came after didn't even know of him, yet when they were exposed to his music suddenly started picking up select elements of his style. He was one of the few composers Mozart admired. A stunning triumphant genius who's music has remained relevant and flexible from ancient instruments and playstyles through the digital age and all of this was nearly lost to the tides of fashion. Whenever you hear a Bach piece thank Felix.
- Gravityloss 13y ago
  Bach's friend Telemann is also relatively unknown today. He was extremely productive and there are lots of great pieces, I especially love some of his trumpet works. They are played on the radio occasionally.
  - bane 13y ago
    Thanks for bringing up Telemann. I wouldn't say he's unknown today, but definitely not in the "pop" composer category the way Bach is. His music is definitely in the repertoire of most serious violinists while studying late Baroque. Here's one I studied for a while when I was studying the instrument many years ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OQ0jPy8FrQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OQ0jPy8FrQ and another I never had the chance to study but enjoy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2rt5sPHc98 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2rt5sPHc98 I was always torn between playing Baroque music in the modern style or in the contemporary style. I find incredible enjoyment in hearing the music on period instruments played in the style. The music's texture changes so much. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhTqpmHu5yg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhTqpmHu5yg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vosK-NKq9FQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vosK-NKq9FQ
    - lobster_johnson 12y ago
      Telemann produced such an enormous number of works. I'm still discovering new pieces. Thanks for the links! I think my absolute favourite Telemann work is the 12 fantasies for solo violin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=UOnA2w0XEZA https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=UO... (Spotify link: http://open.spotify.com/album/0XlgfMIccHwIVouK0G0lOF http://open.spotify.com/album/0XlgfMIccHwIVouK0G0lOF). Two other favourites: The trumpet concerto in D (TWV 51:D7; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKUyeMe-_j4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKUyeMe-_j4) and the oboe concerto in E minor (TWV 51:e1; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i39yf0OHXG8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i39yf0OHXG8).
caio1982 13y ago
The performance in video of Toccata and Fugue is just wow! Incredible, to say the least. It's a total must. I've always loved it because it reminds the old gamer in me of Sabrewulf's theme in Killer Instinct for arcades in the 90's. Also, I can't wait for The Well-Tempered Clavier's Prelude I (C Major). It's almost corny these days but it's still such a marvellous piece, it instantly talks to your body and you know that's beauty being played back to you. EDIT: nearly all his work on The Well-Tempered Clavier is awesome, it's worth a whole afternoon listening to it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Well-Tempered_Clavier http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Well-Tempered_Clavier
- GyrosOfWar 13y ago
  Really a fantastic performance. The recording quality of both video and audio are excellent too.
- ajtaylor 13y ago
  I really can't decide if the music, the organ or the performance was more impressive! As the final notes faded away, I realised I had been crying for most of the piece. It was truly beautiful in every aspect.
mjgoins 13y ago
For fellow non-flash-users, this seems to work ok with the get-flash-videos package.
- acdha 13y ago
  Vimeo's HTML5 detect is the inverse of right: they use Flash unless you send an iOS user agent, at which point you get better quality and battery-friendly CPU usage.
fdej 13y ago
Especially to Bach newcomers, I would recommend the Brandenburg concertos and orchestral suites. I love the performance by Trevor Pinnock / The English Concert: http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Brandenburg-Concertos-Orchestral-Suites/dp/B0000057D8 http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Brandenburg-Concertos-Orchestral-... My favorite Bach recording has to be Glenn Gould's The Art of Fugue (but it is perhaps not as accessible). The Mass in B minor is also incredible (don't have a specific recording to point to there).
- simondedalus 13y ago
  As with Vivaldi, I'm partial to Il Giardino Armonico. e.g. Bach: Concerto for violin in A minor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rmlsxr_ceSc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rmlsxr_ceSc Vivaldi: Concerto for 2 violoncellos, strings & b.c. in G minor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gQCUACBxTo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gQCUACBxTo
2000 13y ago
I recently subscribed to http://CalmRadio.com http://CalmRadio.com for their uninterrupted 24/7 streaming of different composers and classical music in general. Actually, I signed up to listen to Bach (I wanted to become familiar with his music), but I discovered Felix Mendelssohn and I like his works even better.
kriro 13y ago
This is cool. The title reminds me of some crazy art project I attended when I was in France (in a nifty very steampunk club) called "Mozart in 30 minutes" where they used some wicked math to overlay all of his tracks into one huge 30 minute one. Sounded mostly like an aircraft turbine to my unenlightened ear but it was a fun idea. Can't find it via Google or the likes, I have searched for it a year back and came up empty then as well.
dave84 13y ago
If anyone is looking for a way to understand music "from the beginning" so to speak, I can't recommend "How to Listen to and Understand Great Music"[1] enough. It's around 35 hours worth of lectures, I'm only half way through but it's fantastic so far. It's also available on Audible. [1] http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=700 http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.asp...
- acheron 12y ago
  If you happen to see this reply a week later: thanks for that recommendation. Found the audio version on sale on the Great Courses site and bought it. Looking forward to listening.
ExpiredLink 13y ago
BTW, here's a translation of "Ich habe genung" ("I have enough"): http://www.emmanuelmusic.org/notes_translations/translations_cantata/t_bwv082.htm http://www.emmanuelmusic.org/notes_translations/translations...
wazoox 13y ago
If you want to discover Bach, there's always the nice, free, complete organ works by James Kibbie: http://www.blockmrecords.org/bach/ http://www.blockmrecords.org/bach/
oandrei 13y ago
It says ``This video can’t be played with your current setup'' I guess must be some super-advanced new audio-codec. Please, recommend me how to get around this restriction!
raamdev 13y ago
I can't seem to find an RSS feed for these... that would be really helpful. This seems like a great way to consume large volumes of things that one might not otherwise ever get to... 10 minutes a week for 20 years seems a lot more doable than committing several months to consuming all 1080 works. Now I'm thinking about how I can apply this to other large-volume things that I've wanted to consume, like reading the entirety of Tolstoy's War and Peace.
- alxndr 13y ago
  re an RSS feed, I'm hoping this will work: http://page2rss.com/rss/2e0975882fe2ca00334efc6c462fd272 http://page2rss.com/rss/2e0975882fe2ca00334efc6c462fd272
Heliosmaster 13y ago
props to the Netherland Bach Society!
thejerz 13y ago
This is very cool. A similar project, called J. S. Bach-Stiftung, has been recording all of Bach's choral works. Check them out on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bachstiftung https://www.youtube.com/user/Bachstiftung
robot 13y ago
I love bach and the music. It takes quite a bit of a clicking effort to get to the actual performances. Then when it plays clicking anywhere closes the performance.
graycat 13y ago
Worthless. Useless. A disaster. Flatly, on Windows XP SP3 with one of the latest versions of Firefox and Flash, the site essentially doesn't work. So, I clicked, and clicked, and clicked, and waited, and waited, and waited, and clicked, looked at the system monitor and saw no activity on either network data or CPU, waited, clicked, waited, clicked, had much of the screen content go off the screen, kept lowering the screen magnification, clicked, clicked, clicked, and finally did hear the Toccata but couldn't hear or get any other content, not voice or text, etc. Worst Web page programming on the planet. Sorry 'bout that. For Bach, which I nearly worship, devoted a significant fraction of my life working to play Bach on violin, back to my CD collection, YouTube, etc. Looks like some really good music totally train wrecked by some absurd Web site programming. I'd have no idea how to make such a mess out of some Web pages -- maybe have to use JavaScript to do that. So, ditch the JavaScript.
- hadem 13y ago
  I had problems playing the videos but, really? I'm trying to determine if your rant is serious or dry humor...
  - graycat 13y ago
    No, it was correct.
- sequoia 13y ago
  Not even Microsoft supports Windows XP[1]... why do you expect this web developer to support an OS that the OS vendor, who repeatedly extended the sunset date, finally stopped supporting? Time for an upgrade, friend. Either that or stop expecting new websites to accommodate your abacus. :) 1: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/end-support-help http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/end-support-help
  - graycat 13y ago
    > Not even Microsoft supports Windows XP[1]... why do you expect this web developer to support an OS that the OS vendor, who repeatedly extended the sunset date, finally stopped supporting? Nonsense. XP and SP3 have NOTHING to do with it. You can go through the HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and TCP/IP standards and never once find that XP doesn't work or that Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 is needed. The main compatibility issue would be Firefox, not the OS. The operating systems and Web browsers meet the Web sites over the standards; if the standards are being met, then XP, Windows 7, Firefox, Chrome, IE, etc. just irrelevant. I have a copy, new, quantity one, retail, sealed in the package, DVD of Windows 7 Professional on my bookshelf, but installing it would take DAYS and maybe WEEKS of work, considering all the re-installation of other software, when some of that other software ruined my installation and I had to start over, etc. So far, there is no good reason for me to change operating systems. Besides, there is considerable question if Windows 7 is an UPgrade instead or just the same or even a DOWNgrade. Windows Vista and 8.0 were really DOWNgrades. As far as I am concerned, since I don't want to use a touch screen or the 'Metro' interface, Windows 8.1 is a DOWNgrade into the sewer. I will change to Windows 7 Professional and later Windows Server but hopefully never anything like Windows 8.x. For now, for me, XP is fine. Again, once again, over again, to be more clear, asd should be plenty clear at HN anyway, if recent versions of Firefox and Flash run on my OS, that should be sufficient. For more, I am a heavy Internet and Web user, and as I stated, that music Web site is the worst I've seen. What I described is just what happened. When the Toccata played, the video was in a tiny window in the UR corner of the screen -- absurd. Worst site I've seen. Sorry 'bout that.
Aoyagi 13y ago
"Keep up to date" I can't, you don't seem to have an RSS feed.
ultim8k 13y ago
I just red "all of bash"...
djahng 13y ago
http://youtu.be/olW6-jhSgMg http://youtu.be/olW6-jhSgMg BWV 1003 Fugue on classical guitar. This is one of the most amazing things I've heard and seen.
frik 13y ago
Background information: http://allofbach.com/en/about-all-of-bach/ http://allofbach.com/en/about-all-of-bach/
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
bluesjr 13y ago
That's a gorgeous website design. Can anyone point me in the direction to create something similar? (I'm a non-technical person on HN).
dphnx 13y ago
I guess you could say… All of Bach belong to us?
joshdance 13y ago
If they had an email box to get the tracks emailed to me, I would have signed up right then and there. As it is, I probably will forget about this.
RogerL 13y ago
Thank you so much for this link. Centuries after all of us are dust people will still be discovering and falling in love with Bach. Life is good today.
numeromancer 13y ago
Why did Beethoven get rid of his chickens? All they talked about is Bach, Bach, Bach, Bach! He just couldn't Handel it.
- aaronem 13y ago
  A pun that bad deserves a Haydn.
adrianh 13y ago
Wow, thanks for posting. Bringing the topic back to startups/tech, I'd love to integrate these performances with my interactive sheet music player, Soundslice (http://www.soundslice.com/ http://www.soundslice.com/). It would be amazing.
atmosx 13y ago
I'm not into classical music, except from the very famous composers and everything Tchaikovsky has ever written (my sister took ballet classes since I can remember myself). That said, what's exactly the reason Bach's work made everyone here so excited? Can't we find these compositions on YouTube? ps. I'm listening as I write. Bach sounds really cheerful :-) Awesome music.
- dmoney 13y ago
  I think it's his use of coutnerpoint and its ability to pleasantly overload the brain. Case in point, Toccatta and Fugue in D Minor. Close your eyes and try to play air organ to this: http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-565/detail/ http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-565/detail/
- Intermernet 13y ago
  I'm biased (I was raised on Bach) but I've always thought that most of modern western music owes an enormous debt to J.S. Bach. He pushed even temperament, was ridiculously prolific, represented music across Europe to the point where he was known as "Grandfather Bach" in some royal courts, and his music was often inspired by patterns, numbers and complex riddles. There are a huge number of famous musical passages, hooks, licks, etc. attributed to artists from Mendelsohn to the modern day that can be found in just the Well Tempered Clavier. Listen to the second half of BWV857(http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-857/ http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-857/) which is fugue number 12 from the Well Tempered Clavier vol 1. Tell me if you don't hear something familiar there :-)
- thisrod 13y ago
  Paul Graham's essays discuss how the most exciting work in many media was done by the generation that invented them. For example, the most interesting paintings were done centuries ago, when oil paint was new. Bach is like that. When he was writing, the piano was a new invention, and a system of musical scales had been found that allowed you to change key mid piece, without retuning your instrument. Those things are old now, but Bach lets you feel the thrill they gave when they were new.
  - 12y ago
vitd 13y ago
I think this is a beautiful example of the power of the public domain.
ajtaylor 13y ago
As a family we've been taking a week and learning a little bit about composers. This week was Bach, so the timing on this post was perfect. I've watched two videos so far and was completely blown away! Beautiful music, fantastic camera work and stunning performances by the musicians. This site is going to occupy a Chrome tab for a very long time. Thank you for posting.
coin 13y ago
-1, not viewable on an iPad in portrait orientation. There's a giant popup that covers the entire screen displaying "tilt your tablet" when in portrait mode. Who designs this stuff?
- UntitledNo4 13y ago
  Same on Nexus 10. Didn't bother me, but I thought it was weird.
mastazi 13y ago
I like the x-webkit-airplay="allow" parameter in the <video> tag.
mkartic 13y ago
no RSS? :(
MikeTaylor 13y ago
This is marvellous; but I can't find any indication on the site of the terms that they provide the music under. Is it public domain, CC By licenced, what?
chrismorgan 13y ago
Layout: absolutely broken on small screens. Applying something like overflow: none; to your body or main container is seriously not cool for a fixed-width layout.
jvandonsel 13y ago
I'd love to watch this on my large living room television via Roku+Vimeo, but apparently the AofB people have decided to make their Vimeo-hosted videos private and only viewable via their own site. Pity.
oe 13y ago
None of the videos work on Chrome version 34.0.1847.131 / OS X 10.9.2. Just a black screen and the play head stays at 0:00.
rpwverheij 13y ago
took me while to find how to play a performance. Once you get there it's easy to keep playing pieces, and it's really not THAT hard to find. But putting a big play button when you see the big title would be much quicker and intuitive than first clicking a small tab in the bottom of the screen.

607 points by acheron 13y ago

I love how this kind of craft can still earn a decent profit and even more, make it to the #1 spot on HN. Keeps me coming back. Thanks OP.

acheron 13y ago
You're welcome. I discovered this last week, and today when the new performance came out I thought "huh, wonder if HN would like it?" Apparently so. A little surprised it got this much traction here, but it's appropriate... there's not a book entitled Gödel, Escher, Mozart after all.

ChrisLTD 13y ago

You can only scroll down with a scroll wheel or trackpad. You can't use your arrow keys or the native scroll bar. That's a huge accessibility problem.

gkya 13y ago
It also does not work at all without a NoScript exception.

DanielStraight 13y ago

So you don't have to do the math yourself... it will take 20.71 years to complete the project. Pretty neat.

jacquesm 13y ago

The duration of the project implies that not all those that are recording today will be alive when the project is completed. Incredible how productive Bach was.

PetitPrince 13y ago

Another remarkable projet regarding Bach is the Open Goldberg Variation ( http://www.opengoldbergvariations.org/ http://www.opengoldbergvariations.org/ ), a project that freely offer a high-quality version (they hired a world-class musician, rent a world-class piano and studio) of the Goldberg Variations. (I have no stakes in that project; I do enjoy listening to the album as work music though)

ZanyProgrammer 13y ago
Should be the harpsichord, not piano :)
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
Nzen 13y ago
Another CC0 site https://musopen.org/music/composer/johann-sebastian-bach/ https://musopen.org/music/composer/johann-sebastian-bach/ also hosts public domain recordings of other composer's works.

marquis 13y ago

As a complete Bach nerd may I recommend this as the ultimate recording of one of his greatest works: http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Matthaus-Passion-Bostridge-Collegium-Herreweghe/dp/B00002R0ZL http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Matthaus-Passion-Bostridge-Colleg... A search for Herreweghe+Matthaus on Youtube brings up a 'preview' for those interested to listen immediately.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_Ai171EQeU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_Ai171EQeU

ambler0 13y ago
Fun fact: Paul Simon lifted the basic harmony and melody for his song "American Tune" from that piece, which itself lifted them from an earlier piece. Remixing is not a new phenomenon! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Tune http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Tune
- marquis 13y ago
  Until the age of recorded commercial music it was considered completely normal to lift tunes, harmonies, anything recognisable, from other composers. In classical music it's generally considered a complement, more rarely a parody. Copyright has been around for much longer with printed music: as early as the 1500's we see Henry 8th issuing protections. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_music_publishing#Copyright http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_music_publishing#Cop...
  - akuchling 13y ago
    To illustrate that: here's a video from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that looks at musical quotation, using the Star Trek:TOS theme. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTaSjS1pwhQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTaSjS1pwhQ
  - keithpeter 13y ago
    And composers recycled their own work. Bach had to knock out three hours of music each Sunday for four years or so when he was Kapellmeister. You'd reuse!
  - 13y ago

JasonFruit 13y ago

This is probably like the experience of the people who attended the Thomaskirche and heard a new work by Bach every week. I could take 21 years of this!

couchand 13y ago
I like to think about those people. I'm imagining a bored little boy kicking the pew in front of him, not realizing he's hearing some of the greatest music that will ever be written.

cafard 13y ago

Many thanks.

dr_faustus 13y ago

If you really like Bach and are interested in his complete works, you should definitely check out the Hännsler Bach Edition. (http://www.haenssler-classic.de/en/series-and-editions/johann-sebastian-bach-edition/the-complete-works/the-complete-cd-edition.html http://www.haenssler-classic.de/en/series-and-editions/johan...) Its 199 Euros which is really not a lot if you consider its 172 CDs. And its not just a cheaply thrown together compilation but it was curated (and in large parts conducted) by Helmuth Rilling who is one of the premier Bach experts of our day. The quality of performance and recording is very good throughout. You certainly find superior recordings for some of Bachs works but I have yet to find a real disappointment in the set (I'm only about half way through).

NotOscarWilde 13y ago
Too bad there is not an online version of this. Hardly any device in my home is able to play CDs.
- acheron 13y ago
  Understood. I just bought a Chopin collection that was only available on CD.. not remotely as large as a complete Bach collection obviously, but a few CDs anyway. It's been sitting around for a couple weeks because about the only thing I can do with it is go to my desktop PC and rip it, and getting around to that takes awhile. I've been looking forward to listening to it, but.. fragile plastic discs, man, what's up with those?
- wlesieutre 13y ago
  Even if I had a bunch of CD players around, the idea of swapping between 172 discs doesn't sound great.
  - Spearchucker 13y ago
    There are CD ripping services around. In the UK they charge around ~60p/CD (gets cheaper at ~500 CDs). Some will rip lossless, which is what I was after for the 800 or so CDs I stupidly ripped at 192Kbps over the years.

PythonicAlpha 13y ago

To sad, that there is no mp3 or ogg download version available.

dwpdwpdwpdwpdwp 13y ago
check out http://www.classiccat.net/bach_js/ http://www.classiccat.net/bach_js/
- PythonicAlpha 13y ago
  Thank you very much. Did not know that website!
colomon 13y ago
youtube-dl -x --audio-format=mp3 ;)
- jorda 13y ago
  Thanks for the tip. I wrote a simple Python script to help download currently available "All of Bach" works using `youtube-dl': https://gist.github.com/anonymous/fb7de0d81dfdb8ee2191 https://gist.github.com/anonymous/fb7de0d81dfdb8ee2191
- PythonicAlpha 13y ago
  Wow, did not know that either. I know some tools working under Windows, but they are rather complicated. This one is neat.

NIL8 13y ago

I'm finding this impossible to navigate. The pages are basically frozen in Firefox and Chrome. Anybody else have this problem?

gone35 13y ago
I'm using Safari on an iPad, and for a moment I can see the page, but then it quickly disappears behind an impenetrable solid-black screen with nothing on it but the prompt: "Tilt your screen." It's a shame, and it doesn't befit the wondrousness of the content. Whoever came up with this brilliant UI idea should seriously re-evaluate what usability means to them.
- 8ig8 13y ago
  Same here. If anyone is curious, here's a screenshot[1] from an iPad mini. Tapping, tilting, reloading do nothing. [1] http://i.imgur.com/lW3gZOw.jpg http://i.imgur.com/lW3gZOw.jpg Edit: Figured it out after actually looking at the graphic. You need to turn (not tilt) the device to landscape.
  - lylejohnson 13y ago
    Even looking at the graphic, I didn't understand --- I thought they wanted me to tilt my iPad along the horizontal axis (pitch). When that didn't work I tried tilting on vertical (roll). It wasn't until the tablet slipped in my hands enough to rotate sideways that I got a clue.
colmvp 13y ago
Nope it works for me using latest version of Chrome.
- glitcher 13y ago
  For me latest Chrome is having repositioning issues on the top background image when scrolling up and down, causing it to look jittery until I stop scrolling. Navigation is working fine.

tama 13y ago

Wow, this is really beautiful. I was expecting audio only. Glad I was wrong :).

teoruiz 13y ago

I find the Toccata and Fugue just amazing to watch and listen, an the performer is even adorable. http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-565/detail/ http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-565/detail/

scrozier 13y ago
One wo/man's adorable is another wo/man's tiresome. :-) But he's good, the organ is beautiful, and the production quality is fantastic.

catwork 13y ago

Bach is great on many counts - I did a visualization (https://github.com/hadley/ggplot2/wiki/Bach-2-Part-Invention-in-F-Major-BWV779 https://github.com/hadley/ggplot2/wiki/Bach-2-Part-Invention...) in R awhile back of a Two-part invention that reflects how well structured his counterpoint is.

Intermernet 13y ago
Have you by any chance read both Douglas Adams' "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency"[1] and Douglas Hofstadter's "Gödel Escher Bach"[2]? If not, meet some kindred spirits! I love the fact that so much of Bach's music explores numerical relations and patterns. And I've still not heard of anyone creating a piece as complex as his Musical Offering[3] that sounds at all listenable, let alone sublime. Any person who can compose a 6 part fugue is superhuman IMO. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirk_Gently's_Holistic_Detective_Agency http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirk_Gently's_Holistic_Detectiv... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del,_Escher,_Bach http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del,_Escher,_Bach [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Musical_Offering http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Musical_Offering

_nato_ 13y ago

Not a terrible place to start to get a nickle-tour of J.S. Bach, and from Bach's biggest fanatic, Glenn Gould: http://fixyt.com/watch?v=crQ8YEUkUjg http://fixyt.com/watch?v=crQ8YEUkUjg

peeters 13y ago

Man, am I going to love this. Can't wait for some of the cello solos. If anybody from the website is reading this, I have a tiny criticism: clicking anywhere on the page while the video is running closes the video. I don't know if I'm representative, but I often click in empty space to make sure my keyboard focus isn't in the video. I was disappointed when the organist was so abruptly cut off!

detritus 13y ago
You're not alone, that is an absolutely default behaviour for me too.
mholt 13y ago
Click the "window detail" icon above the video and then you can keep browsing around.
panzi 13y ago
> Can't wait for some of the cello solos. Me too! Although I have bought a Magnatune lifetime membership and listen to the Bach Cello Suites there: http://my.magnatune.com/search?w=bach%20cello http://my.magnatune.com/search?w=bach%20cello Well, I made me my own player to stream the music: http://greattuneplayer.jit.su/ http://greattuneplayer.jit.su/
- fiatjaf 13y ago
  I don't understand from where it came, but the sound is reaching me speakers and it is being awesome. Thanks.
- quinndupont 13y ago
  I had forgotten about Magnatune! I used to buy all sorts of stuff from them. I always loved their approach, and its great to see that they still exist. Thanks for reminding me that they still exist.
keithpeter 13y ago
http://www.gardnermuseum.org/music/listen/music_library?filter=artist#go_2376 http://www.gardnermuseum.org/music/listen/music_library?filt... Might keep you going for a bit. Colin Carr playing four of the six suites. CC licenced, lowish bit-rate mp3s I can't play the All of Bach at all, suspect flash related (gnash/iceweasel on Debian Sid) EDIT: yup, flashplayer-nonfree works. This being HN, do we think a flashplayer based solution is sensible for a long term project such as this? Is mass transcoding at some point in the future likely to be a trivial task?

rspeer 13y ago

This is excellent, thank you. I recently found myself wishing there was a website with curated, high-quality performances of Bach, after realizing how big the difference in quality can be. I ended up working on a Spotify playlist for myself, which I've been editing on and off for months, just trying all the recordings of each particular piece until I found a good one. (The only thing making it possible, with Spotify's terrible organization of classical music, is being able to search for literally "BWV 140" or whatever.) So I'll definitely be visiting this site.

teoruiz 13y ago
I would absolutely love subscribing to that list, would you be open to share the Spotify link? Thanks!
- rspeer 13y ago
  Here's what I've got, grouped by broad swaths of BWV numbers: * 1-224 (cantatas): http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/0RkVeCJ3iMVc1MyOdK6E4T http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/0RkVeCJ3iMVc1My... * 225-524 (various works, mostly vocal, sorta dull in the 300s): http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/2sCCwEMpTXPsOBa0si9Ei2 http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/2sCCwEMpTXPsOBa... * 525-771 (organ works): http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/1aGTiGWlnSiGNcJ0HPwqxt http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/1aGTiGWlnSiGNcJ... * 772-994 (mostly keyboard works): http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/4ka3cJd5UCg5EoJqGtwknt http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/4ka3cJd5UCg5EoJ... * 995-1080 (solo suites and complicated stuff): http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/4v8NejHWIKDDSmcTH8ABgV http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/4v8NejHWIKDDSmc... * 1081-1128 (discovered since the 1950s): http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/5dmTRLVqUi8dB0Mhil5wlB http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/5dmTRLVqUi8dB0M... Of course this isn't close to finished. I'm guessing it would take a year or so, given the rate that I listen to Bach while working.
  - teoruiz 13y ago
    Thanks a lot. Subscribed to all!

bane 13y ago

And to think, his music was almost forgotten. It wasn't until Mendelssohn almost single handedly revived his music nearly a hundred years after Bach's death. A surprising number of great composers that came after didn't even know of him, yet when they were exposed to his music suddenly started picking up select elements of his style. He was one of the few composers Mozart admired. A stunning triumphant genius who's music has remained relevant and flexible from ancient instruments and playstyles through the digital age and all of this was nearly lost to the tides of fashion. Whenever you hear a Bach piece thank Felix.

Gravityloss 13y ago
Bach's friend Telemann is also relatively unknown today. He was extremely productive and there are lots of great pieces, I especially love some of his trumpet works. They are played on the radio occasionally.
- bane 13y ago
  Thanks for bringing up Telemann. I wouldn't say he's unknown today, but definitely not in the "pop" composer category the way Bach is. His music is definitely in the repertoire of most serious violinists while studying late Baroque. Here's one I studied for a while when I was studying the instrument many years ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OQ0jPy8FrQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OQ0jPy8FrQ and another I never had the chance to study but enjoy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2rt5sPHc98 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2rt5sPHc98 I was always torn between playing Baroque music in the modern style or in the contemporary style. I find incredible enjoyment in hearing the music on period instruments played in the style. The music's texture changes so much. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhTqpmHu5yg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhTqpmHu5yg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vosK-NKq9FQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vosK-NKq9FQ
  - lobster_johnson 12y ago
    Telemann produced such an enormous number of works. I'm still discovering new pieces. Thanks for the links! I think my absolute favourite Telemann work is the 12 fantasies for solo violin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=UOnA2w0XEZA https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=UO... (Spotify link: http://open.spotify.com/album/0XlgfMIccHwIVouK0G0lOF http://open.spotify.com/album/0XlgfMIccHwIVouK0G0lOF). Two other favourites: The trumpet concerto in D (TWV 51:D7; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKUyeMe-_j4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKUyeMe-_j4) and the oboe concerto in E minor (TWV 51:e1; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i39yf0OHXG8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i39yf0OHXG8).

caio1982 13y ago

The performance in video of Toccata and Fugue is just wow! Incredible, to say the least. It's a total must. I've always loved it because it reminds the old gamer in me of Sabrewulf's theme in Killer Instinct for arcades in the 90's. Also, I can't wait for The Well-Tempered Clavier's Prelude I (C Major). It's almost corny these days but it's still such a marvellous piece, it instantly talks to your body and you know that's beauty being played back to you. EDIT: nearly all his work on The Well-Tempered Clavier is awesome, it's worth a whole afternoon listening to it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Well-Tempered_Clavier http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Well-Tempered_Clavier

GyrosOfWar 13y ago
Really a fantastic performance. The recording quality of both video and audio are excellent too.
ajtaylor 13y ago
I really can't decide if the music, the organ or the performance was more impressive! As the final notes faded away, I realised I had been crying for most of the piece. It was truly beautiful in every aspect.

mjgoins 13y ago

For fellow non-flash-users, this seems to work ok with the get-flash-videos package.

acdha 13y ago
Vimeo's HTML5 detect is the inverse of right: they use Flash unless you send an iOS user agent, at which point you get better quality and battery-friendly CPU usage.

fdej 13y ago

Especially to Bach newcomers, I would recommend the Brandenburg concertos and orchestral suites. I love the performance by Trevor Pinnock / The English Concert: http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Brandenburg-Concertos-Orchestral-Suites/dp/B0000057D8 http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Brandenburg-Concertos-Orchestral-... My favorite Bach recording has to be Glenn Gould's The Art of Fugue (but it is perhaps not as accessible). The Mass in B minor is also incredible (don't have a specific recording to point to there).

simondedalus 13y ago
As with Vivaldi, I'm partial to Il Giardino Armonico. e.g. Bach: Concerto for violin in A minor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rmlsxr_ceSc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rmlsxr_ceSc Vivaldi: Concerto for 2 violoncellos, strings & b.c. in G minor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gQCUACBxTo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gQCUACBxTo

2000 13y ago

I recently subscribed to http://CalmRadio.com http://CalmRadio.com for their uninterrupted 24/7 streaming of different composers and classical music in general. Actually, I signed up to listen to Bach (I wanted to become familiar with his music), but I discovered Felix Mendelssohn and I like his works even better.

kriro 13y ago

This is cool. The title reminds me of some crazy art project I attended when I was in France (in a nifty very steampunk club) called "Mozart in 30 minutes" where they used some wicked math to overlay all of his tracks into one huge 30 minute one. Sounded mostly like an aircraft turbine to my unenlightened ear but it was a fun idea. Can't find it via Google or the likes, I have searched for it a year back and came up empty then as well.

dave84 13y ago

If anyone is looking for a way to understand music "from the beginning" so to speak, I can't recommend "How to Listen to and Understand Great Music"[1] enough. It's around 35 hours worth of lectures, I'm only half way through but it's fantastic so far. It's also available on Audible. [1] http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=700 http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.asp...

acheron 12y ago
If you happen to see this reply a week later: thanks for that recommendation. Found the audio version on sale on the Great Courses site and bought it. Looking forward to listening.

ExpiredLink 13y ago

BTW, here's a translation of "Ich habe genung" ("I have enough"): http://www.emmanuelmusic.org/notes_translations/translations_cantata/t_bwv082.htm http://www.emmanuelmusic.org/notes_translations/translations...

wazoox 13y ago

If you want to discover Bach, there's always the nice, free, complete organ works by James Kibbie: http://www.blockmrecords.org/bach/ http://www.blockmrecords.org/bach/

oandrei 13y ago

It says ``This video can’t be played with your current setup'' I guess must be some super-advanced new audio-codec. Please, recommend me how to get around this restriction!

raamdev 13y ago

I can't seem to find an RSS feed for these... that would be really helpful. This seems like a great way to consume large volumes of things that one might not otherwise ever get to... 10 minutes a week for 20 years seems a lot more doable than committing several months to consuming all 1080 works. Now I'm thinking about how I can apply this to other large-volume things that I've wanted to consume, like reading the entirety of Tolstoy's War and Peace.

alxndr 13y ago
re an RSS feed, I'm hoping this will work: http://page2rss.com/rss/2e0975882fe2ca00334efc6c462fd272 http://page2rss.com/rss/2e0975882fe2ca00334efc6c462fd272

Heliosmaster 13y ago

props to the Netherland Bach Society!

thejerz 13y ago

This is very cool. A similar project, called J. S. Bach-Stiftung, has been recording all of Bach's choral works. Check them out on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bachstiftung https://www.youtube.com/user/Bachstiftung

robot 13y ago

I love bach and the music. It takes quite a bit of a clicking effort to get to the actual performances. Then when it plays clicking anywhere closes the performance.

graycat 13y ago

Worthless. Useless. A disaster. Flatly, on Windows XP SP3 with one of the latest versions of Firefox and Flash, the site essentially doesn't work. So, I clicked, and clicked, and clicked, and waited, and waited, and waited, and clicked, looked at the system monitor and saw no activity on either network data or CPU, waited, clicked, waited, clicked, had much of the screen content go off the screen, kept lowering the screen magnification, clicked, clicked, clicked, and finally did hear the Toccata but couldn't hear or get any other content, not voice or text, etc. Worst Web page programming on the planet. Sorry 'bout that. For Bach, which I nearly worship, devoted a significant fraction of my life working to play Bach on violin, back to my CD collection, YouTube, etc. Looks like some really good music totally train wrecked by some absurd Web site programming. I'd have no idea how to make such a mess out of some Web pages -- maybe have to use JavaScript to do that. So, ditch the JavaScript.

hadem 13y ago
I had problems playing the videos but, really? I'm trying to determine if your rant is serious or dry humor...
- graycat 13y ago
  No, it was correct.
sequoia 13y ago
Not even Microsoft supports Windows XP[1]... why do you expect this web developer to support an OS that the OS vendor, who repeatedly extended the sunset date, finally stopped supporting? Time for an upgrade, friend. Either that or stop expecting new websites to accommodate your abacus. :) 1: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/end-support-help http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/end-support-help
- graycat 13y ago
  > Not even Microsoft supports Windows XP[1]... why do you expect this web developer to support an OS that the OS vendor, who repeatedly extended the sunset date, finally stopped supporting? Nonsense. XP and SP3 have NOTHING to do with it. You can go through the HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and TCP/IP standards and never once find that XP doesn't work or that Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 is needed. The main compatibility issue would be Firefox, not the OS. The operating systems and Web browsers meet the Web sites over the standards; if the standards are being met, then XP, Windows 7, Firefox, Chrome, IE, etc. just irrelevant. I have a copy, new, quantity one, retail, sealed in the package, DVD of Windows 7 Professional on my bookshelf, but installing it would take DAYS and maybe WEEKS of work, considering all the re-installation of other software, when some of that other software ruined my installation and I had to start over, etc. So far, there is no good reason for me to change operating systems. Besides, there is considerable question if Windows 7 is an UPgrade instead or just the same or even a DOWNgrade. Windows Vista and 8.0 were really DOWNgrades. As far as I am concerned, since I don't want to use a touch screen or the 'Metro' interface, Windows 8.1 is a DOWNgrade into the sewer. I will change to Windows 7 Professional and later Windows Server but hopefully never anything like Windows 8.x. For now, for me, XP is fine. Again, once again, over again, to be more clear, asd should be plenty clear at HN anyway, if recent versions of Firefox and Flash run on my OS, that should be sufficient. For more, I am a heavy Internet and Web user, and as I stated, that music Web site is the worst I've seen. What I described is just what happened. When the Toccata played, the video was in a tiny window in the UR corner of the screen -- absurd. Worst site I've seen. Sorry 'bout that.

Aoyagi 13y ago

"Keep up to date" I can't, you don't seem to have an RSS feed.

ultim8k 13y ago

I just red "all of bash"...

djahng 13y ago

http://youtu.be/olW6-jhSgMg http://youtu.be/olW6-jhSgMg BWV 1003 Fugue on classical guitar. This is one of the most amazing things I've heard and seen.

frik 13y ago

Background information: http://allofbach.com/en/about-all-of-bach/ http://allofbach.com/en/about-all-of-bach/

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

bluesjr 13y ago

That's a gorgeous website design. Can anyone point me in the direction to create something similar? (I'm a non-technical person on HN).

dphnx 13y ago

I guess you could say… All of Bach belong to us?

joshdance 13y ago

If they had an email box to get the tracks emailed to me, I would have signed up right then and there. As it is, I probably will forget about this.

RogerL 13y ago

Thank you so much for this link. Centuries after all of us are dust people will still be discovering and falling in love with Bach. Life is good today.

numeromancer 13y ago

Why did Beethoven get rid of his chickens? All they talked about is Bach, Bach, Bach, Bach! He just couldn't Handel it.

aaronem 13y ago
A pun that bad deserves a Haydn.

adrianh 13y ago

Wow, thanks for posting. Bringing the topic back to startups/tech, I'd love to integrate these performances with my interactive sheet music player, Soundslice (http://www.soundslice.com/ http://www.soundslice.com/). It would be amazing.

atmosx 13y ago

I'm not into classical music, except from the very famous composers and everything Tchaikovsky has ever written (my sister took ballet classes since I can remember myself). That said, what's exactly the reason Bach's work made everyone here so excited? Can't we find these compositions on YouTube? ps. I'm listening as I write. Bach sounds really cheerful :-) Awesome music.

dmoney 13y ago
I think it's his use of coutnerpoint and its ability to pleasantly overload the brain. Case in point, Toccatta and Fugue in D Minor. Close your eyes and try to play air organ to this: http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-565/detail/ http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-565/detail/
Intermernet 13y ago
I'm biased (I was raised on Bach) but I've always thought that most of modern western music owes an enormous debt to J.S. Bach. He pushed even temperament, was ridiculously prolific, represented music across Europe to the point where he was known as "Grandfather Bach" in some royal courts, and his music was often inspired by patterns, numbers and complex riddles. There are a huge number of famous musical passages, hooks, licks, etc. attributed to artists from Mendelsohn to the modern day that can be found in just the Well Tempered Clavier. Listen to the second half of BWV857(http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-857/ http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-857/) which is fugue number 12 from the Well Tempered Clavier vol 1. Tell me if you don't hear something familiar there :-)
thisrod 13y ago
Paul Graham's essays discuss how the most exciting work in many media was done by the generation that invented them. For example, the most interesting paintings were done centuries ago, when oil paint was new. Bach is like that. When he was writing, the piano was a new invention, and a system of musical scales had been found that allowed you to change key mid piece, without retuning your instrument. Those things are old now, but Bach lets you feel the thrill they gave when they were new.
- 12y ago

vitd 13y ago

I think this is a beautiful example of the power of the public domain.

ajtaylor 13y ago

As a family we've been taking a week and learning a little bit about composers. This week was Bach, so the timing on this post was perfect. I've watched two videos so far and was completely blown away! Beautiful music, fantastic camera work and stunning performances by the musicians. This site is going to occupy a Chrome tab for a very long time. Thank you for posting.

coin 13y ago

-1, not viewable on an iPad in portrait orientation. There's a giant popup that covers the entire screen displaying "tilt your tablet" when in portrait mode. Who designs this stuff?

UntitledNo4 13y ago
Same on Nexus 10. Didn't bother me, but I thought it was weird.

mastazi 13y ago

I like the x-webkit-airplay="allow" parameter in the <video> tag.

mkartic 13y ago

no RSS? :(

MikeTaylor 13y ago

This is marvellous; but I can't find any indication on the site of the terms that they provide the music under. Is it public domain, CC By licenced, what?

chrismorgan 13y ago

Layout: absolutely broken on small screens. Applying something like overflow: none; to your body or main container is seriously not cool for a fixed-width layout.

jvandonsel 13y ago

I'd love to watch this on my large living room television via Roku+Vimeo, but apparently the AofB people have decided to make their Vimeo-hosted videos private and only viewable via their own site. Pity.

oe 13y ago

None of the videos work on Chrome version 34.0.1847.131 / OS X 10.9.2. Just a black screen and the play head stays at 0:00.

rpwverheij 13y ago

took me while to find how to play a performance. Once you get there it's easy to keep playing pieces, and it's really not THAT hard to find. But putting a big play button when you see the big title would be much quicker and intuitive than first clicking a small tab in the bottom of the screen.