Felix Mendelssohn
KUSC’s Alan Chapman has a lot to say about music, but can he say it in 60 seconds? That’s the Chapman Challenge. We ask a question and Alan has a minute to answer it.
Today’s question is from Anthony in Los Angeles who writes, “I heard that Mendelssohn started a Bach revival. Why did Bach have to be revived?
Hit play below to listen to this week’s Chapman Challenge on Arts Alive.
For starters, all sorts of things, no matter how popular they may be, go out of style. For example, the polyester leisure suits of the 1970s. As for Bach, he lived until 1750, but by the 1730s his High Baroque style was on the way out. At that time, a critic named Johann Scheibe called his music “turgid and confused.” Scheibe would likely have known Bach through his organ music.
The new music of the time sounded like this:
That’s a symphony by Giovanni Battista Sammartini, part of the birth of the Classical style that will flower throughout the 18th century.
Giovanni Battista Sammartini
Bach was mostly out of sight until 1829, when the twenty-year-old Felix Mendelssohn conducted a performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion.
People took notice. Bach was rediscovered, which led to the publication of a complete edition of his works and renewed attention to the Baroque period.
Johann Sebastian Bach
That’s today’s Chapman Challenge. Is there a question you’d like to have answered in 60 seconds? Send it to us at [email protected]
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Alan Chapman
Alan Chapman, in addition to his weekday morning program, is also the host and producer of two weekend programs: Modern Times and A Musical Offering.
After receiving his undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he earned a Ph.D. in music theory from Yale University. He is currently a member of the music theory faculty of the Colburn Conservatory. He was a longtime member of the music faculty at Occidental College and has also been a visiting professor at UCLA and UC Santa Barbara. His analytical work has appeared in the Journal of Music Theory and in The New Orpheus: Essays on Kurt Weill, winner of the Deems Taylor Award for excellence in writing on music.
Well known as a pre-concert lecturer, Alan has been a regular speaker on the L.A. Philharmonic's "Upbeat Live" series since its inception in 1984. He also works closely with the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Pacific Symphony. His lectures have been presented by virtually every major performing organization in southern California. He has been heard globally as programmer and host of the inflight classical channel on Delta Airlines.
Alan is also active as a composer/lyricist. His songs have been performed and recorded by many artists around the world and have been honored by ASCAP, the Johnny Mercer Foundation, and the Manhattan Association of Cabarets. His children's opera Les Moose: The Operatic Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle was commissioned by LA Opera for its 1997-98 season. Alan frequently appears in cabaret evenings with his wife, soprano Karen Benjamin. They made their Carnegie Hall debut in 2000 and performed at Lincoln Center in 2006. Their recent CD, Que Será, Será: The Songs of Livingston and Evans, features the late Ray Evans telling the stories behind such beloved songs as "Mona Lisa" and "Silver Bells."
