It would not be difficult to provide other examples of Bach's consumate genius in every single form of music in which he was involved. The 4 orchestral suites of Bach are models of a kind and I deliberately did not use them. The reason is simply that I was providing evidence of music specifically written for public festivities, of which Bach's Cantata No. 29 is one such example. (The Orchestral Suites and, in fact, the Brandenburg Concertos were not written for any specific public celebration). So my choice is a fair one.
I again say that a good recording of this Bach Sinfonia is exhilarating. And I am sure that a musical person will agree that it (like virtually everything Bach wrote)is tremendous. Is there, in all of music, any piece with such a sustained and demanding part for a keyboard soloist ?. I do not know of any on that issue alone. With better sound balance a hearer would appreciate just how awesome that piece is. It remains (to me)at least the equal to Beethoven's 'Consecration of the House'. And Bach is here modelling himself on no-one but himself.
I have heard many Handel overtures (perhaps 20 or so), many of which, frankly, I do not rate as musically significant.
But one final thing I would say - that in threads such as this we need to agree first on what criteria we are judging, so that points cannot be scored or lost on such issues as sound quality etc. In this case we started out asking if works by Bach exist which, as festive pieces, rank with that of Beethoven's 'Consecration of the House'. I thik that Sinfonia does. I also agree that the opening to the 3rd Orchestral Suite in D does so also. (But I deliberately did not choose it since in my view that piece is sublime in a heavenly way, rather that in a public/festive way. The difference between these two things is very real).
Regards
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