Ace of Spades HQ

March 31, 2013

An Honorary Moron (via See-Dub)
— Dave in Texas

Back in 2010 I sent in an email naming James Madison an honorary Moron, which you kindly posted here and attributed to a semi-anonymous retired blogger:

Today I would like to nominate another Great Moron of History: J.S. Bach.

Oh, sure, everyone thinks he was a frumpy old Lutheran who wrote motets, but I would direct the Moron Horde's attention to possibly one of the greatest pieces of Moron music until Paul Anka gave the cutoffs on My Way: Bach's Peasant Cantata, BWV 212.

So picture this-- Bach's patron Picander gets a new boss and commissions Bach to set an off-color peasant song about him. First, writing an off-color song about your new boss is grounds for honorary Moronitude right there. Submitting it to J.S. Freakin' Bach to set it to music? That's evil genius. "Is this song making fun of me?" "Sir, J.S. bach would never do that." "Oh, all right then."

So Bach did, and basically it is a wonderful piece of music about sex, rump-shaking, beer-drinking, and (most importantly for Moronity) complaining about high taxes.

Yes, this is Johann Sebastian Bach. I'm serious. Here's how he starts it out:

2. Aria

We've got a brand-new governor
In this our Chamberlain.
He gives us beer to warm the heart,
That is the kernel plain.
The Rev' may ever angry be,
Ye players, ready for the fling!
Already Molly's skirt shakes, see,
The wanton little thing.

(Bach knew a little bit about wanton little things, having fathered TWENTY children by two wives. I don't know how Mack Daddy Bach got any work done. He must have had a harpsichord right there in the boudoir.)

Anyway, after some further Naughty-Peasant back and forth, including a discussion of "buzzing in the britches", they turn to the subject of taxes:

5. Recit. (B)

The Squire is good: but yet that taxman,
He is of sulphur made,
Who like a bolt a dollar's fine hath laid
Before we scarcely even get our fingers wet.

6. Aria (B)

Ah, Sir taxman, be not all too grim,
Nor us wretched peasant people trim!
Easy on our skin;
If our cabbage then
Like the worms you've eaten to the stem,
Have done with them!

It goes on like that; you get the idea...this is Tea Party tax protest music you can sing in church, or at a Civic Event, and unless someone speaks Old Peasant Saxon they won't have any idea you just excoriated high taxes.

Bach's birthday is March 31st. So on the occasion of this, his- oh, three hundred and twenty eighth birthday, I would like to nominate J.S. Bach and his boss Picander to official Moron status and recommend the Peasant Cantata be named the official Cantata of the Ace of Spades Lifestyle.

Don't make a maniac out of me.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 10:09 AM | Comments (124)
Post contains 477 words, total size 3 kb.

1 Happy Birthday, J.S.! Google ought to honor him or something.

Posted by: rickl at March 31, 2013 10:12 AM (sdi6R)

2 Bach's birthday is March 31st. Sorry, we only celebrate farm workers today. They bring more to society then any tea-bagger musician.

Posted by: Google, Inc [/i] at March 31, 2013 10:14 AM (feFL6)

3 Now that we have an official cantata, we're all classy 'n' shit.

Posted by: fluffy at March 31, 2013 10:15 AM (z9HTb)

4 Well, I'll allow JS Bach if you allow his under-appreciated relation, PDQ Bach.

Posted by: ProfSchlicter at March 31, 2013 10:16 AM (bWQXp)

If any morons are interested, pick up The Cello Suites, by Eric Siblin. He discusses the life of Bach as well as the impact of his music into the 20th century. It's a very good book.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at March 31, 2013 10:17 AM (lr3d7)

6 And for you prog rockers out there, Procol Harum's Whiter Shade of Pale borrows heavily from Bach, including Air on a G String.

Posted by: fluffy at March 31, 2013 10:18 AM (z9HTb)

7 Bach rhymes with bacon. Mostly.

Posted by: eman at March 31, 2013 10:20 AM (3xF8P)

8 I know it's OT but Google is getting slammed for taking today to celebrate...Cesar Chavez. I guess he's the default Hispanic Hero...because I guess lefties can't think of any better. I say, rather than be insulted, let's go with it. For, you see, Cesar Chavez was an outspoken activist on illegal immigration. He was against it: http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/fischer/070322

Posted by: AmishDude at March 31, 2013 10:22 AM (xSegX)

9 The mostly-overlooked subtext of 'Flashdance' was the interplay of Bach and G-strings.

Posted by: ProfSchlicter at March 31, 2013 10:23 AM (bWQXp)

10 I've covered Whiter Shade of Pale, and yeah, it does. Of course, who doesn't like air on a G string?

Posted by: Dave in Texas at March 31, 2013 10:23 AM (pUqSw)

11 let's not forget his descendant Barbara Bach. her rendition of Hair on a G-string was downright soul stirring.

Posted by: mark c at March 31, 2013 10:23 AM (vON+Y)

12 Peasants aside, thank you JS Bach for giving the world one of the most moving and magnificent pieces of music ever, "The Passion According the Saint Matthew" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d35xOAuqhw4

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at March 31, 2013 10:23 AM (4nopz)

13 Most morons are also aware of his influence on rap, as well. Baby Got Bach is a modern classic.

Posted by: ProfSchlicter at March 31, 2013 10:26 AM (bWQXp)

14 Depending on your tolerance for harpsichord, Musikalisches Opfer is well worth a listen. Fugue mania, complete with inverted fugues and all sorts of nerdy goodness.

Posted by: joncelli at March 31, 2013 10:28 AM (CWlPF)

15 Bach kicks ass. I spent 100's of hours learning the classical guitar adaptions of some of his music. Some could be easy, some makes you want to rip the neck off the guitar, but its some of the best stuff.

Posted by: Berserker at March 31, 2013 10:31 AM (FMbng)

16 Hmmmm, did he write it with his pants on?

Posted by: Navycopjoe at March 31, 2013 10:32 AM (hXDld)

17 Welcome from the nursing home. Dad is making the day special by calling staff members "fat asses" and fellow residents assholes. Loudly. Oh we'll, it could be worse because he's only using a tiny bit of his extensive vocabulary of insults. Every visiting is an adventure!

Posted by: Ed Anger on his phone at March 31, 2013 10:32 AM (hRoUw)

And a road trip?

Bach in the USSR

Posted by: Reader C.J. Burch writes more nonsens.. at March 31, 2013 10:32 AM (Md8Uo)

19 Rockers have always respected Bach. True rockers anyway. Hey, nobody ever wrote a song titled Roll Over Bach did they?

Posted by: teej at March 31, 2013 10:33 AM (6Zy+s)

20 This post is incomplete without a link: http://tinyurl.com/crsf23w

Posted by: rickl at March 31, 2013 10:34 AM (sdi6R)

21 Iron Maiden did Bach in the village.

Posted by: Berserker at March 31, 2013 10:34 AM (FMbng)

22 what was Bach's greatest organ work? 20 children (old joke)

Posted by: mallfly at March 31, 2013 10:34 AM (bJm7W)

23 True or False? You don't need money. You don't need fame. You don't need a credit card to ride this train.

Posted by: Soothsayer at March 31, 2013 10:35 AM (0nyYS)

24 #15 Bach is the best. Really the only classical music I can listen to. And his classical guitar pieces (actually written for the lute, I think) are amazing.

Posted by: eleven at March 31, 2013 10:36 AM (fsLdt)

Rockers have always respected Bach.
True rockers anyway.
Hey, nobody ever wrote a song titled Roll Over Bach did they?

Bach is known for the technical aspects of his work. For a long time his works were considered exercises but not performance pieces in their own right. Once that began to change a lot of skilled musicians respected them for the flexibility that complexity offered.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at March 31, 2013 10:36 AM (lr3d7)

26 Happy Birthday, J.S.! Google ought to honor him or something. *** You wouldn't want Google to forget any important dead guys today.

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at March 31, 2013 10:37 AM (piMMO)

27 Arnold is starring in the film bio, "I'll Be Bach."

Posted by: Real Joe at March 31, 2013 10:37 AM (2MfBl)

28 oddly enough, Bach's last direct male descendent died in 1844. On the other hand, Richard Wagner IV (great great grandson, if I counted correctly) is a conductor who's busy trying to get Israelis to listen to the old anti-semite's music.

Posted by: mallfly at March 31, 2013 10:37 AM (bJm7W)

29 Posted by: Soothsayer at March 31, 2013 02:35 PM (0nyYS) With the blessings of the Obama economy and his promises of high speed rail, I'd say true I guess.

Posted by: Walter Sobchak at March 31, 2013 10:38 AM (eO7Yi)

30 Hmmmm, did he write it with his pants on?

Twenty kids? Apparently not.

Posted by: fluffy at March 31, 2013 10:38 AM (z9HTb)

31 Go to youtube and search for "Crab Canon on a Mobius Strip".
Pure genius.

Posted by: navybrat at March 31, 2013 10:38 AM (SWuSg)

32 re 27: an early episode of "The Odd Couple" had a conservatory director trying to recruiter an Eskimo college football star to instead study the cello; at one point, as the director leaves, he says "As Robert Schumann, the clown prince of music said, I'll be Bach!"

Posted by: mallfly at March 31, 2013 10:39 AM (bJm7W)

BTW, his wife was a accomplished singer herself and may have provided input into his compositions (her handwriting and his were indistinguishable and IIRC she wrote a few compositions of her own).

Posted by: Colorado Alex at March 31, 2013 10:41 AM (lr3d7)

34 as youtube was mentioned, look for the video of Diana Bish playing the Jig fugue.

Posted by: mallfly at March 31, 2013 10:41 AM (bJm7W)

35 Country musicians respected him too. I'm Bach in the saddle, against.

Posted by: teej at March 31, 2013 10:41 AM (6Zy+s)

Bach? Bach?

Sounds foreign to me.

He's probably a wetback tomato picker.

Posted by: Don Young, Congressional Ethnographer at March 31, 2013 10:42 AM (NzZOG)

37 One of my favorite Bach videos: http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=4dAC1lLYJpg&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D4dAC1lLYJpg

Posted by: KDH at March 31, 2013 10:43 AM (NisnK)

38 Now why would my fone change again to against? That ain't nuthin but pure and simple communism.

Posted by: teej at March 31, 2013 10:44 AM (6Zy+s)

39 Bach's birthday is March 31st. So on the occasion of this, his- oh, three hundred and twenty eighth birthday, I would like to nominate J.S. Bach and his boss Picander to official Moron status and recommend the Peasant Cantata be named the official Cantata of the Ace of Spades Lifestyle. Fookin' hell! He's almost as old as Vic!

Posted by: Sticky Wicket at March 31, 2013 10:46 AM (eyJh9)

40 #38 The "I was framed by my iPhone's auto-correct" defense.

Posted by: Miss Marple at March 31, 2013 10:47 AM (GoIUi)

41 He said "Bachy you met your match" But Bachy said "doc, it's only a scratch" And I'll be better I'll be better doc As soon as I am able

Posted by: teej at March 31, 2013 10:48 AM (xhr2b)

I thought that Bach had a modern day mountain climber descendant.

Ulbe Bach.

(rimshot!)

Posted by: Reader C.J. Burch writes more nonsens.. at March 31, 2013 10:49 AM (Md8Uo)

43 Twenty kids? For a musician, Bach apparently had a lot of trouble with the rhythm method.

Seems to be a common problem. My dad was a sessions guy and he had seven kids.

Posted by: richard mcenroe at March 31, 2013 10:49 AM (qvify)

44 Not at all Miss M. I'm on an android.

Posted by: teej at March 31, 2013 10:50 AM (xhr2b)

45 Welcome from the nursing home. Dad is making the day special by calling staff members "fat asses" and fellow residents assholes. Loudly. Oh we'll, it could be worse because he's only using a tiny bit of his extensive vocabulary of insults. Every visiting is an adventure! Buy him a couple shots of Valu-Rite. Put it on Ace's tab.

Posted by: Sticky Wicket at March 31, 2013 10:50 AM (eyJh9)

46 Bach is the best.

Really the only classical music I can listen to. And his classical guitar pieces (actually written for the lute, I think) are amazing.

Posted by: eleven at March 31, 2013 02:36 PM

Some are lute, some are adapted from the cello, and if I remember right some were violin. The lute ones seem to be easier to play, probably because its closer to guitar. Fun stuff though.

Posted by: Berserker at March 31, 2013 10:52 AM (FMbng)

47 4. Well, I'll allow JS Bach if you allow his under-appreciated relation, PDQ Bach.

Ah, PDQ Bach! The Pervertimento for Bicycle, Bagpipe and Balloon! The Unbegun Symphony! Iphigenia in Brooklyn! and his timeless oratorio, "The Seasonings" (Schickele No. 1/2 tsp)! His like will never darken our towels again...

Posted by: richard mcenroe at March 31, 2013 10:52 AM (qvify)

48 A. Happy Easter

B. I can think of no better evidence of the existence of God than the Brandenburg Concertos

Posted by: Mike Hammer at March 31, 2013 10:54 AM (aDwsi)

49 Paul Simon's American Tune is an almost direct copy of the chorale from St. Matthew Passion. I don't know how he avoided being charged with plagiarism. Well, except that Bach himself apparently took large parts of it from someone else. I was astonished the first time I heard it in church.

Posted by: pep at March 31, 2013 10:55 AM (6TB1Z)

50 Try Khatchaturian. Especially his Gayneh and Second Symphony.

Posted by: richard mcenroe at March 31, 2013 10:55 AM (qvify)

51 Shake for me girl I want to be your Bach door man.

Posted by: teej at March 31, 2013 10:55 AM (xhr2b)

52 Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;...

Posted by: D. Thomas at March 31, 2013 10:56 AM (aDwsi)

53 33
BTW, his wife was a accomplished singer herself and may have provided input into his compositions (her handwriting and his were indistinguishable and IIRC she wrote a few compositions of her own).

Where did she find the time? I would assume her pieces are pretty heavy on the staccato.

Posted by: richard mcenroe at March 31, 2013 10:56 AM (qvify)

54 This thread would have been more interesting had you included your usual awesome cheerleader pictures.

I'm a Wagner man myself. And, DON"T find a Cheerleader dressed as Brumhilda

Posted by: Dingbat at March 31, 2013 10:57 AM (PdHlY)

55 I'd better stop before I aggravate someone.

Posted by: teej at March 31, 2013 10:57 AM (xhr2b)

Oh, and pop culture coke-head Eric Carmen stole from Rachmaninoff.

Happens all the time.

Posted by: Reader C.J. Burch writes more nonsens.. at March 31, 2013 10:58 AM (Md8Uo)

57 re 46: a lot of Bach's music has been done in multiple formats. look up bwv 1029 on youtube and you'll see what I mean. Classical guitarists frequently perform the solo sonatas for violin.

this one is cute, though: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kRiyW7dPJM

Posted by: mallfly at March 31, 2013 10:58 AM (bJm7W)

58 Don't stop. Cross the line. Do it.

Posted by: sTevo at March 31, 2013 10:59 AM (VMcEw)

59 I know it's OT but Google is getting slammed for taking today to celebrate...Cesar Chavez.

======

Where is this slamming taking place? I'd like to go watch.

Posted by: Tami[/i] at March 31, 2013 10:59 AM (X6akg)

60 Perhaps my favorite rework of Bach is Jethro Tull's Bouree, which was Bach's Suite in E Minor for Lute.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2RNe2jwHE0

Posted by: pep at March 31, 2013 10:59 AM (6TB1Z)

61 Google slam.

Twitchy, for one...

Posted by: Mike Hammer at March 31, 2013 11:00 AM (aDwsi)

62 Google. But, but..., why would they promote a Leftist Totalitarian? Oh..., wait....

Posted by: Mike Hammer at March 31, 2013 11:02 AM (aDwsi)

63 Rowlf played Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring on an episode of The Muppet Show, but he was interrupted by Beauregard the cleaning guy. When's Florida going to show up to their own game?

Posted by: I lurk, therefore I am, Go Navy, Beat Army! at March 31, 2013 11:02 AM (K+I6z)

64 Whoa. Stauskis is 5 for 5 from three point land. Owning Fla inside too. 41-19 Michigan

Posted by: teej at March 31, 2013 11:02 AM (xhr2b)

65 I just got finished listening to my link in #20. That was pretty cool. There were also text cues on the screen so I could sort of follow along with the words in the "complaining about high taxes" link in the original post.

Posted by: rickl at March 31, 2013 11:04 AM (sdi6R)

66 I know that the Bela Bartok estate sued some rock group for lifting a bunch of music from Bartok's "Allegro Barbarosa", which was still under copyright (this was c 1970)

Posted by: mallfly at March 31, 2013 11:04 AM (bJm7W)

67 oh, and from mises.org:

The latest ersatz hero is Cesar Estrada Chavez, who died last April at the age of 66. For days, TV and the press were filled with the lionization of Chavez and his supposed achievements. President Clinton asserted that "the labor movement and all Americans have lost a great leader," and he called Chavez "an authentic hero to millions of people throughout the world." And we were reminded of Bobby Kennedy's claim, in 1968, that Chavez "is one of the heroic figures of our time."

What had Chavez done to earn all these extravagant kudos? He had, for the first time, supposedly successfully organized low-paid and therefore "exploited" migrant farm workers, in California and other southwestern states, and thereby improved their lot. By living an austere lifestyle, and accepting only a small salary as founder and head of the United Farm Workers, he struck many gullible young left-liberals as a "saint." His admirers didn't realize that love of money is not the only emotion that motivates people; there is also the love of power.

Posted by: mallfly at March 31, 2013 11:08 AM (bJm7W)

68 "Bach's birthday is March 31st."

Sorry, you're wrong: Bach's birthday is March 21. Still, even ten days late, I love the sentiment.

Bach has long been my favorite composer. His most sublime cantata, "O Jesu Christ, Meins Lebens Licht" ("O Jesus Christ, the Light of My Life"), for chorus, soloists, and brass instruments, was written for the funeral of the wife of the town postmaster. Bach was no snob, but a working musician who did his very best for everyone, noble or humble, on every occasion.

Posted by: Brown Line at March 31, 2013 11:11 AM (mToSI)

69 and the punchline: "

Yet, despite the hosannahs of the nation's liberals, and the coercion supplied by the state of California, Cesar Chavez's entire life turned out to be a floperoo. Whereas he dreamed of his UFW organizing all of the nation's migrant farm workers, his union fell like a stone from a membership of 70,000 in the mid- 1970s to only 5,000 today. In the UFW heartland, the Salinas Valley of California, the number of union contracts among vegetable growers has plummeted from 35 to only one at the present time. Only half of the meager union revenues now come from dues, the other half being supplied by nostalgic liberals. The UFW has had it.

http://mises.org/econsense/ch38.asp

Posted by: mallfly at March 31, 2013 11:11 AM (bJm7W)

70 and to answer the other question about Bach: because he was a genius, that's how come.

Posted by: mallfly at March 31, 2013 11:12 AM (bJm7W)

71 So, where's a link to a performance?

Posted by: cthulhu at March 31, 2013 11:12 AM (kaalw)

72 Geeze..., I just skewered Ceasar instead of Hugo. Oh well...

Posted by: Mike Hammer at March 31, 2013 11:12 AM (aDwsi)

73 71 20

Posted by: rickl at March 31, 2013 11:13 AM (sdi6R)

74 I know the sideline interviewer for the tournament is known to be an outlandish dresser, but a purple (not a deep purple, but not lilac either) jacket, peach shirt with white collar, and black tie with multicolored dots (hearts? eggs?)???? Odds are good his pants match the jacket.

Posted by: I lurk, therefore I am, Happy Easter, everyone! at March 31, 2013 11:13 AM (K+I6z)

75 13 Most morons are also aware of his influence on rap, as well. Baby Got Bach is a modern classic. Posted by: ProfSchlicter at March 31, 2013 02:26 PM (bWQXp) LOL

Posted by: Jumbo Shrimp at March 31, 2013 11:14 AM (DGIjM)

76 Without taking the time to look, was Bach's birthday in the interminable period when the date depended on whether one was Catholic or Protestant? Ten days represents the difference between Gregorian and Julian calendars.

Posted by: Fox 2! at March 31, 2013 11:16 AM (4TBK2)

77 Think it was referenced above, but the JSB influence on the Beatles was clear in their rendition of "Bach to the USSR".

Posted by: Hrothgar at March 31, 2013 11:16 AM (Cnqmv)

78 71 So, where's a link to a performance?

Posted by: cthulhu at March 31, 2013 03:12 PM (kaalw)

Sorry, hadn't gotten to @20 yet.....why isn't it in the post?

Posted by: cthulhu at March 31, 2013 11:17 AM (kaalw)

79 Posted by: mallfly at March 31, 2013 03:08 PM (bJm7W) *** http://t.co/Gj5ZOjXaiN The Madness of Chavez

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at March 31, 2013 11:17 AM (piMMO)

80 I want my baby Bach baby Bach baby Bach... ribs.

Posted by: shinypie at March 31, 2013 11:18 AM (mCCn0)

81 His desire was not to lift workers into the middle class, but to bind them to one another in the decency of sacrificial poverty.

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at March 31, 2013 11:21 AM (piMMO)

82 Like most Â’60s radicalsÂ—of whatever stripeÂ—he vastly overestimated the appeal of hard times and simple living; he was not the only Californian of the time to promote the idea of a Poor PeopleÂ’s Union, but as everyone from the Symbionese Liberation Army to the Black Panthers would discover, nobody actually wants to be poor.

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at March 31, 2013 11:22 AM (piMMO)

83 What the hell does Bach have to do with guns?

Posted by: The mayor of Candor at March 31, 2013 11:22 AM (c4IBC)

84 cthulhu: See also my #65. In the original post, there's a link to an English translation of the lyrics. The verses are numbered. The video I linked also shows the numbers on the screen, so you can listen in German and follow along in English. I was able to match a few words here and there.

Posted by: rickl at March 31, 2013 11:23 AM (sdi6R)

85 Chavez seemed to have gone around the bend. He decided to start a new religious order. He flew to Manila during martial law in 1977 and was officially hosted by Ferdinand Marcos, whose regime he praised, to the horror and loud indignation of human-rights advocates around the world

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at March 31, 2013 11:23 AM (piMMO)

86 Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at March 31, 2013 03:22 PM (piMMO) But there are plenty of commie politicians that want YOU to be poor!

Posted by: Hrothgar at March 31, 2013 11:24 AM (Cnqmv)

87 78 .....why isn't it in the post? Posted by: cthulhu at March 31, 2013 03:17 PM (kaalw) Remember, on this award-winning blog, the commenters are responsible for much of the content.

Posted by: rickl at March 31, 2013 11:25 AM (sdi6R)

88 Remember, on this award-winning blog, the commenters are responsible for much of the content. Posted by: rickl at March 31, 2013 03:25 PM (sdi6R) Maybe we should be called "contenters" then!

Posted by: Hrothgar at March 31, 2013 11:27 AM (Cnqmv)

89 I'm disappointed that no one has brought up J S Bach's Billboard hit "18 and Life."

Posted by: ErikW on the damned phone at March 31, 2013 11:27 AM (Zb99b)

90 But there are plenty of commie politicians that want YOU to be poor! *** They love the poor so much they can't help but create more of them.

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at March 31, 2013 11:27 AM (piMMO)

91 Think of it as "Open Content".

Posted by: eleven at March 31, 2013 11:28 AM (fsLdt)

92 Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at March 31, 2013 03:27 PM (piMMO) The lives of rich politicians are so stressful that they make sure very few have to endure that kind of strain.

Posted by: Hrothgar at March 31, 2013 11:30 AM (Cnqmv)

93 Bach? Never heard of him.

Posted by: Charles van Beethoven at March 31, 2013 11:34 AM (9Pr2h)

94 So no gun thread today? Easter and all?

Posted by: Tobacco Road at March 31, 2013 11:36 AM (4Mv1T)

95 He's the greatest classical composer. You'd think with all those cantatas there'd be at least one about shooting some cops. Then Obama would have had something nice to say on his birthday.

Posted by: waelse1 at March 31, 2013 11:38 AM (T0t00)

96 So no gun thread today? Easter and all?

Posted by: Tobacco Road at March 31, 2013 03:36 PM (4Mv1T)

Andy has been doing yeoman's work around here.

He deserves a day off.

Nah...fuck that.

GUN THREAD...GUN THREAD!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at March 31, 2013 11:38 AM (0zDXv)

97 Sorry Ot. Happy Easter all!

Posted by: lou's a girl at March 31, 2013 11:38 AM (vgd4f)

98 88 Remember, on this award-winning blog, the commenters are responsible for much of the content.

Posted by: rickl at March 31, 2013 03:25 PM (sdi6R)

Maybe we should be called "contenters" then!

======

in that case I would like to be referred to as a "commententer"
remember, the longer the word, the more important the wordholder.

Posted by: mallfly at March 31, 2013 11:39 AM (bJm7W)

99 It's interesting that we see classical composers as almost angels, because classical music has become detached from the common man.

But these guys wrote for the masses (no pun intended).

They were just like us...except they had talent.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at March 31, 2013 11:40 AM (0zDXv)

100 >>>He deserves a day off.

Actually, I'd be down with that. Just managing my expectations, you guys.

Posted by: Tobacco Road at March 31, 2013 11:40 AM (4Mv1T)

101 re 99: I believe Chopin preferred to stay among the elite of his time.

Posted by: mallfly at March 31, 2013 11:41 AM (bJm7W)

102 Happy Easter Rons and Ettes!

Posted by: Cheri at March 31, 2013 11:42 AM (EAgmr)

103

So no gun thread today? Easter and all?

Jesus would own a .44

Posted by: Colorado Alex at March 31, 2013 11:46 AM (lr3d7)

104 and let's not forget his contribution to rock music in Bachman Turner Overdrive. He really carried that band. Many Easter Blessings to all of you.

Posted by: L, elle at March 31, 2013 11:59 AM (0PiQ4)

105 Jesus would own a .44 +P...in stainless steel. With not one, but two bayonet lugs.

Posted by: Sticky Wicket at March 31, 2013 12:00 PM (eyJh9)

106 So I rented Lincoln. Well that was a waste of four bucks, could have easily been a TV movie. No real drama, marginal acting and a boring storyline.

Posted by: lowandslow at March 31, 2013 12:01 PM (Fz2C7)

107 The lives of rich politicians are so stressful that they make sure very few have to endure that kind of strain. Posted by: Hrothgar at March 31, 2013 03:30 PM (Cnqmv) *** They're just thinking about the children. It's all for the children.

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at March 31, 2013 12:25 PM (piMMO)

108 #106 re Lincoln and the boring story line: maybe because you knew how it ended?

Posted by: Dingbat at March 31, 2013 12:35 PM (PdHlY)

109 I admit it: my favorite modern-day take on Bach is this gem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmJ1AqtTuyo

(I'll be leaving my man card by the door and slinking off now, sorry to have bothered you...)

Posted by: qdpsteve at March 31, 2013 12:49 PM (7B7jB)

110 This is not a well-known fact, but Johann Sebastian Back wore out three organs fuguing all the time!

Posted by: isophorone at March 31, 2013 01:00 PM (m/Ana)

111 Sorry . . . Bach, not Back.

Posted by: isophorone at March 31, 2013 01:00 PM (m/Ana)

112 the coffee cantata is where it's at

Posted by: meep at March 31, 2013 01:28 PM (Gb7fb)

113 Bach often thumbed his nose at the burghers of Leipzig the dislike was mutual

Posted by: meep at March 31, 2013 01:29 PM (Gb7fb)

114 Q: Where's Joe? A: (Points to Johan Sebastian) Finally, the question of the ages has been answered.

Posted by: Damiano at March 31, 2013 01:47 PM (BzT5x)

115 Vee are haffink alzo de:
http://tinyurl.com/2446m62 (lots of people's intro to jazz)
und:

http://tinyurl.com/cs7kg7t
(lots of people's intro to Brasil)

"You are either an angel, or Meister Bach"
--guy who walked in on him practicing in a remote village, all unbeknownst.

Posted by: comatus at March 31, 2013 02:01 PM (qaVK+)

116 @99 Bach played for dances at county fairs, on a portable, can you dig it, pipe organ. My singing teacher, a lifetime ago, belonged to a baroque cult that held that our system of notation was not up, at that time, to capturing syncopation, and that in performace it swung quite a bit, not the dry-as-a-popcorn-fart dum-dum-dum so favored by the old queens who beat it into unwilling students' heads in this last century. It stands to reason: after all, people went ape-shit for it at the time.

Posted by: comatus at March 31, 2013 02:09 PM (qaVK+)

117 http://tinyurl.com/brp2d72

The Bachianas Brasileiras (fifth one) cited above.

Posted by: comatus at March 31, 2013 02:11 PM (qaVK+)

118 But there were at least an equal number of rightward writers, abet often of a libertarian or technocratic bent, to offer a different perspective. Nowadays, hard to find someone on the right, or even someone non-political, on the booklists. Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at March 31, 2013 01:18 PM (kdS6q) Can you imagine trying to plan mixed religious social gatherings? and street fights breaking out over what day it was. And we think its contentious now!

Posted by: elizabethe at March 31, 2013 03:02 PM (qPCAa)

119 Effing great post DiT. Effing great. You are a great American.

Posted by: RR at March 31, 2013 04:00 PM (pAtEM)

120 Uh, actually Bach's birthday was March 21. I celebrate it every year.

Posted by: danielhill at March 31, 2013 04:01 PM (SwPkx)

121 I don't care whether you use the old or new calendar for Bach's birthday: you celebrate his sainthood, and that (his date of death) was July 28, 1750. So we Lutherans commemorate Bach, Handel (who wasn't all that religious, but composed great oratorios anyway), and the hymnwriter Heinrich Schuetz (who wrote some of the stuff Bach borrowed and improved upon) on July 28.

Posted by: Otto Zilcy at March 31, 2013 05:46 PM (eEa5w)

122 And there was at least one moron in the horde listening to the Philadelphia Orchestra performing the entire St. Matthew Passion last night. Darn good 21st century performance (with lighting and well-thought-out stage movement by the singers) of 18th century music. One thing coming to my mind was how some of the most dramatic pieces in Part I anticipate Beethoven. Johann, your work is in good hands.

Posted by: Otto Zilcy at March 31, 2013 05:50 PM (eEa5w)

123 One more bit: I can't find a video, so we're at the mercy of the company reviving the production, but if you ever get the chance, go see the Pennsylvania Ballet's "Franklin Court": honoring another dude deserving of honorary moron status, f***ing his way around Paris and inventing stuff like bifocals and swim fins. The ballet is set to Bach's g minor fugue, and in the very last movement, where the fugue resolves, the different parts of the set rotate into position, forming a representation of the outline of Franklin's house, what you see if you go to Franklin Court now. F***, we need a morons in the arts thread too.

Posted by: Otto Zilch at March 31, 2013 06:05 PM (eEa5w)

124 @22 - The way I heard that joke was, "Why did Back have so many children?" Answer: "He didn't have any stops on his organ."

Posted by: Chris C. at April 01, 2013 08:48 AM (gcWIf)

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