Enrty 13: Wendy Carlos – Switched-On Bach

Very intersting idea, but these pieces seem to be more like novelties than anything else. While it is cool to hear a Bach invention at inhuman tempos and in unusual ranges, the music lacks substance and after one or two listenings there is nothing to really gain from the music. I did like the textural distortions in the Brandenburg Concerto in that it added a new layer to the piece, but when comes down to it Bach performed through MIDI can only be so interesting, although I must comend the creativity in the manipulation and transformation of the Brandenburg as it is very much a new expression of the piece. In my opinion, Carlos should have taken more liberty in straying from the original music as there are many more possibilities that could have been explored. In fact, I think it would have been interesting if Carlos created these pieces from acoustic recordings of the works, but perhaps the technology at the time would have made the desired result quite difficult to achieve if a live recording was used. Anyhow, synthesizing two hundred year old music comes off in a very cartoony way, and I find it very hard to take the pieces seriously, but then again I don’t beleive they were meant to be. I’m interested in hearing more of these works before making a final opinion as the manipulation in the Brandenburg Concerto shows some potential for other interesting movements.

~ by mathiasc on October 21, 2007.