Bach in a Visual Flow

I think that classical music has for years had an image of a very limited sphere of interest meant for and available to just a few (compared to the mass pop music culture, for example).

Excerpt from the music video Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier

However, with a certain approach and a bit of imagination, I’m sure it could become as popular as the Pop itself! Why are people so attracted to the mass culture? It has all the necessary attention-holding elements in it: bright imagery, colours and various contrasts. So why not present the same in a classical music ‘video’, for example?

Of course, the best of classics should be experienced and lived preferably live in a concert hall. But we are talking about the other side, about spreading its influence into the masses. Here is a perfect video example of turning classical music into an exciting visual adventure as well. One of Bach’s popular pieces Well-Tempered Clavier was sort of split into sections, each appearing on the screen in form of real-time notes-playing. The attraction, the brightness, the contrast and colours are all there. I watched the video a few times and caught myself thinking that even if I were much younger and not a classical musicians – I would still go for it!

Down by the Sally Gardens Set to Music

The Irish people like no one else are familiar with and proud of the creative work and achievements of their renowned countryman William Butler Yeats, the holder of the Nobel Prize in Literature. His poetry is not only beautiful lyrically but also presents a great basis for music art.

a willow tree

Thus, Yeats’ poem titled “Down by the Sally Gardens” set to music has turned into an amazing Celtic tune. Perhaps the text fit so nicely into the melody because of the origins of the poem itself. It is believed that William wrote it in an attempt to recover and restyle an old folk ballad “The Rambling Boys of Pleasure” that he heard from an old woman in the County Sligo. The first verse sounds just like the old song:

"Down by yon flowery garden my love and I we first did meet.
I took her in my arms and to her I gave kisses sweet
She bade me take life easy just as the leaves fall from the tree.
But I being young and foolish, with my darling did not agree."
(old ballad)

compare:

Down by the salley gardens my love and I did meet;
She passed the salley gardens with little snow-white feet.
She bid me take love easy, as the leaves grow on the tree;
But I, being young and foolish, with her would not agree.
(Yeats’ poem)
 
The Salley Gardens (or ‘Sally’) is a real location where that peasant woman lived, near a village in Sligo. Salley here may have referred to the tree ‘sallow’, which is, in fact, a willow.

The poem has a number of music settings and each of them is special in its own way. Among composers who presented their vision were Herbert Hughes, Rebecca Clarke, John Ireland, Ivor Gurney, Benjamin Britten, John Corigliano. The folk piece has been arranged for various instrumental combinations but I think it works best on anything strings-related. A string quartet arrangement of the Salley might be the perfect set to express the poem’s haunting beauty. Or, a true Celtic violin could make it sound even more authentic: