Flying Bach to the Future
I stumbled across this YouTube clip on the weekend. It’s select excerpts from the Red Bull Flying Bach European Tour that has been making its way through Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, and Turkey from August through to end of December. Backed by the energy drink superstar (hey, if Red Bull sponsors something this cool and innovative and grand, I’m glad to give their fine product a shout out), it pairs breakdancing with Bach’s preludes and fugues 1-12 from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Part I.
Here’s the synopsis from the website:
High culture meets urban art: In the clash of cultures Red Bull Flying Bach turns the international classical world upside down. Their creative performance visualizes and revives Johann Sebastian Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier crossing the borders of serious music and youth culture. Note by note. Step by step. With piano, harpsichord, and electronic beats.
Trust the Europeans to pull something like this off – to sold-out crowds and standing ovations no less. Sadly, the tour doesn’t seem to be crossing the water any time soon. Would it even fly with N.American audiences?, or have we grown too musically illiterate to appreciate something like this? What do you think?
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Here’s a longer clip from their Eurovision 2011 performance. Fantastic interpretation. Worth the watch.
