I got in a very heated argument with some people at a myspace classical music forum about Baroque music. As someone who is influence by the Baroque in my composition, (baroque intellectualism I’ve heard it called) I tend to spend hours listening to Bach and Scarlatti keyboard works. Most people there said that they have “no emotion,” and that they prefer romantic composition.

My counterpoint was that Bach and Scarlatti are indeed dry, but they have a very high intensity level that never flags throughout a work, and while not flashy in dynamics and velocity, to me the works carry a lot of emotional weight. Enter “baroque intellecualism.”

Other than bad journalism… (Bach’s works are seminal and he’s not in Heaven disappointed about Classical FM’s ratings of his work) I’d say people just don’t have an ear for Bach. I’ve heard St. Matthew Passion described as “boring” and the keyboard works earn remarks like “obscure,” “emotionless,” and so on. To me it’s some of the best music ever written.