The Bach You Never Knew, but now, You Know the Rest of the Story

There are so many ways to find yourself in Bach. Some are in it for his melodies; others are all about the bass. Some feel the harmonies. But ultimately when he puts it all together, it’s called “counterpoint,”* and Bach wrote the book(s) on that, and it’s best described here.

"There's something about his music which is both incredibly humbling and very empowering in the music at the same time. It makes you feel really small and part of humanity as a whole, and it also makes you feel invincible in a sense. So, it's a wonderful companion and that's probably why people respond so strongly to it…” (Helene Grimaud)

Violist and Juilliard graduate, Isabel Hagen was a long time professional freelance violist in New York. As she stopped taking viola gigs, she made a transition to something that interested her most of her life. …Stand Up Comedian.

Yes, you read me right: Stand Up Comedian

Her work on comedy club stage is hilarious, smart, poignant and insightful as she tells the story of her life as a freelance musician in New York.

Then, one day, she got the idea to incorporate her viola into her act. (The irony being that many musicians consider the viola to be a joke.)

She brings her viola on stage with her, sets it down, and starts her stand up set. Then for the last portion of her time on stage, she opens up her viola case. pulls out her viola and asks us to be a part of the experiment.

She’ll play a little bit of Bach, put the viola down, and then tell a joke. The jokes are funny, but it’s the timing and facial expressions that accompany the transition to the first line of the joke. That is where the real comedy lies.

Here’s a link. You can hear the whole six minutes or skip to 1:50 to hear the viola portion of her act.

https://bit.ly/3WgYY8I

What you will observe is that before there was Ed McMahon, the straight man for Johnny Carson, there was

Bud Abbott
George Burns
Dick Martin
Oliver Hardy
Dean Martin
Don Wilson

But before there were these straight man luminaries, Isabel makes a strong case for Bach being the original (OG) straight man.

So, in addition to the elements of Bach we love – his melodies, the bass line, the harmonies, and the resulting counterpoint, we can add “Straight Man.”

Let’s let Helene have the last word:

“You can transcribe Bach to be played on an infinite number of different instruments. “If anything, it is there to prove the point that it doesn't really matter what vehicle you use when you play this music. You could play Bach's music on trash can lids and it would still be fine if this all was in tune. I mean, of course... this expression is only there to make people think, but there's a lot of truth to that actually. It doesn't really matter what you play him on.”

***

Coda:

Isabel transitioned from vola to standup comedian, and now she is also a film maker, creating a self-funded Indi film that she wrote, produced, directed creating an authentic cinematic portrait of her life as a freelance musician. “On a String” is being shown in select cities throughout the country..

Here’s the trailer: https://bit.ly/4iSnmGo

***

The straight men I mentioned above.

Bud Abbott, of Abbott and Costello, is often called the classic straight man. He set up Lou Costello’s routines and kept a calm, exasperated tone that made the chaos work.

George Burns, with Gracie Allen, played the reasonable partner whose logic she bent in absurd directions. He later became a comic star himself.

Don Wilson, Jack Benny’s announcer, was the cheerful, slightly put-upon foil to Benny’s vanity and stinginess.

Oliver Hardy, of Laurel and Hardy, is often treated as the straight man to Stan Laurel’s childlike bumbling, though the pairing is usually described as two comics sharing the work.

Dean Martin, with Jerry Lewis, handled the suave, unbothered side while Lewis did the physical clowning.

Dick Martin and Dan Rowan, of Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, worked as a classic straight-man pairing before the show made them stars. Rowan was the smooth, suit-and-tie host, and Martin was the wisecracking, slightly unhinged foil.

The Bach You Never Knew, but now, You Know the Rest the Story

The Bach You Never Knew, but now, You Know the Rest of the Story

There are so many ways to find yourself in Bach. Some are in it for his melodies; others are all about the bass. Some feel the harmonies. But ultimately when he puts it all together, it’s called “counterpoint,”* and Bach wrote the book(s) on that, and it’s best described here.

Violist and Juilliard graduate, Isabel Hagen was a long time professional freelance violist in New York. As she stopped taking viola gigs, she made a transition to something that interested her most of her life. …Stand Up Comedian.

Yes, you read me right: Stand Up Comedian

Her work on comedy club stage is hilarious, smart, poignant and insightful as she tells the story of her life as a freelance musician in New York.

Then, one day, she got the idea to incorporate her viola into her act. (The irony being that many musicians consider the viola to be a joke.)

She brings her viola on stage with her, sets it down, and starts her stand up set. Then for the last portion of her time on stage, she opens up her viola case. pulls out her viola and asks us to be a part of the experiment.

She’ll play a little bit of Bach, put the viola down, and then tell a joke. The jokes are funny, but it’s the timing and facial expressions that accompany the transition to the first line of the joke. That is where the real comedy lies.

Here’s a link. You can hear the whole six minutes or skip to 1:50 to hear the viola portion of her act.

https://bit.ly/3WgYY8I

What you will observe is that before there was Ed McMahon, the straight man for Johnny Carson, there was

Bud Abbott

George Burns

Dick Martin

Oliver Hardy

Dean Martin

Don Wilson

But before there were these straight man luminaries, Isabel makes a strong case for Bach being the original (OG) straight man.

So, in addition to the elements of Bach we love – his melodies, the bass line, the harmonies, and the resulting counterpoint, we can add “Straight Man.”

Let’s let Helene have the last word:

***

Coda:

Here’s the trailer: https://bit.ly/4iSnmGo

***

The straight men I mentioned above.

Bud Abbott, of Abbott and Costello, is often called the classic straight man. He set up Lou Costello’s routines and kept a calm, exasperated tone that made the chaos work.

George Burns, with Gracie Allen, played the reasonable partner whose logic she bent in absurd directions. He later became a comic star himself.

Don Wilson, Jack Benny’s announcer, was the cheerful, slightly put-upon foil to Benny’s vanity and stinginess.

Oliver Hardy, of Laurel and Hardy, is often treated as the straight man to Stan Laurel’s childlike bumbling, though the pairing is usually described as two comics sharing the work.

Dean Martin, with Jerry Lewis, handled the suave, unbothered side while Lewis did the physical clowning.

Dick Martin and Dan Rowan, of Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, worked as a classic straight-man pairing before the show made them stars. Rowan was the smooth, suit-and-tie host, and Martin was the wisecracking, slightly unhinged foil.