Bach and the High Baroque

Join Professor Robert Greenberg to explore the emotional power, religious devotion, technical virtuosity, diverse national styles, and sheer genius of Johann Sebastian Bach.

Overview

Course No. 720

Though unappreciated in his own time, Johann Sebastian Bach has ascended to Olympian heights, his music now revered for its transcendent mastery of the High Baroque. In these 32 lectures, a working composer and musicologist reveals how Bach fused emotional extravagance with precise control—balancing beat, melody, and harmony like no other.

Key Insights:

• Discover the musical traditions (Lutheran, Italian, French) that shaped Bach’s genius.
• Analyze iconic works like the Brandenburg Concertos, Goldberg Variations, and St. Matthew Passion.
• Learn Bach’s compositional language through excerpts and comparisons to peers like Vivaldi.
• Explore his Lutheran spirituality, family legacy (42 musician relatives!), and Baroque aesthetic.

Video Lectures

01: Introduction

Duration: 47 min
Course goals: Bach’s life, influences, and musical sampling.

02: Christmas, 1722

Duration: 40 min
Bach’s early career, personal losses, and decision to move to Leipzig.

03: Introduction to the Baroque Aesthetic

Duration: 46 min
The era’s dichotomy: opera’s emotional extravagance vs. fugue’s technical control.

04: Fugue

Duration: 49 min
Bach’s transcendent polyphonic mastery, blending technique with spiritual depth.

05: Historical Overview from Constantine through the Great Thinkers of the Baroque

Duration: 47 min
Political, religious, and philosophical roots of the Renaissance/Baroque.

06–08: Style Features of High Baroque Music (Parts I–III)

Durations: 47 min / 46 min / 44 min
Rhythm, instruments, melody, tuning systems, and functional harmony.

09: Bach’s Inheritance, Part I

Duration: 44 min
Lutheran spirituality and its impact on Bach’s work ethic and worldview.

10: Lutheranism, the Chorale and the Chorale Prelude

Duration: 49 min
How congregational hymns shaped Bach’s church music.

11–12: Bach’s Inheritance, Part II & Italian Style

Durations: 45 min / 49 min
Corelli’s influence, organ design, and the fusion of opera with Lutheran devotion.

13–16: Vivaldi, Bach and the Concerto

Durations: 48 min / 47 min / 47 min / 48 min
Vivaldi’s ritornello model vs. Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos.

17–20: Bach and the French Style

Durations: 45 min / 48 min / 46 min / 48 min
Dance suites, ballets de cour, and keyboard adaptations.

21–24: Bach and Opera

Durations: 46 min / 49 min / 47 min / 48 min
Sacred (Wachet auf) vs. secular (Coffee Cantata) works.

25–28: Bach Transcendent—The Saint Matthew Passion

Durations: 47 min / 47 min / 48 min / 48 min
A 4-hour masterpiece blending numerology, symbolism, and operatic drama.

29–32: Bach Transcendent—The Goldberg Variations

Durations: 48 min / 47 min / 46 min / 48 min
Symmetry, canons, and the “keyboard Everest” for an insomniac count.