Editorial Product Review:Amazon.com:Wendy Carlos's
Switched-On Bach is one of those rare novelty recordings that never gets boring. In the capable hands of Carlos, Bach's keyboard masterpieces sound like they were made for the otherworldly blurps, farts, and chimes of a Moog synthesizer. And, in a sense, they were. Bach's inventive music doesn't lose any of it's contrapuntal punch in these complicated arrangements and, novelties aside, the playing is great on this Grammy Award-winning classic. Whether performing Bach's 'Two-Part Inventions,' 'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring,' or 'Wachet Auf,' Carlos offers one-of-a-kind interpretations, her synthesizers still sounding as otherworldly as they did in 1968. This is one of those weird and wonderful classical releases that anyone--classical scholar or pop enthusiast--can enjoy. A
Switched-On box set exists, capturing most of Carlos's baroque-gone-berserk output, but this is the disc that started it all. In a word, fun.
--Jason Verlinde
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Disc 1:- Sinfonia
Buyer Reviews
Average Buyer Rating:
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40 years later it's STILL great
even though it's been 40 years since it was released, Switched on Bach by Wendy (formerly Walter) Carlos is one of the best musical performances ever recorded. Anyone even remotely into classical music would enjoy this CD. I had this as a kid (on a record - ask your parents what those were) and it disappeared in all the moves. I was SO glad to find it again.
Chris
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Switched-On Bach
This is some Bach songs played on a synthesizer back in the 80's. Synthesizers were still in their infancy, so the recording is less than great by today's standards.
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Scary Music
I can honestly say that I've never heard another album or song in my life that transports the listener to such an alien realm. The music is so byzantine, layered, precise, fast....its a trip. I jokingly told my son that this is the music that robots listen to. Its more like what robots might dream. Amazing and breathtaking in its complexity, heightened by the precision of programming and machinery. Maybe its heresy, but there's NOTHING else out there like this...at least that I know of.
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Just as I remember
I first heard this groundbreaking recording when it was first released and it turn me on to music of the baroque period. As an 8 year old piano student, I took it to my teacher and told her "I want to learn how to do THIS!" While she did not get the import of Wendy (then Walter) Carlos' work, she did help me learn some of the more accessible pieces and I went on to major in music. This recording was one of the factors in my learning to love music.
The CD is every bit as warm as the vinyl I wore out years ago. beautifully rendered, these treatments of Bach's work are heartful and artistic. A magnum opus to be certain.
