Johann Sebastian Bach: A pop music legend

Editor’s note: Classical music of any kind often feels boring and inaccessible—but not with Narendra Kusnur. He offers an accessible and fun guide to Western classical music—which has shaped movie soundtracks and top 40 hits alike. 

In this month’s guide, Kusnur reintroduces us to the legendary composer Johann Sebastian Bach whose music is deeply infused in our cultural bloodstream—encountered in movies, pop music, Reels and TikTok videos. As you’ll discover today, there’s a little bit of Bach in even Lady Gaga.

Written by: Narendra Kusnur has been a music journalist for over 40 years—including a decade-long stint covering the beat at the Mid-Day newspaper. He currently writes for The Hindu, Free Press Journal, Hindustan Times, and Rolling Stone India—besides the in-house magazines of prestigious institutions—such as NCPA and Shanmukhananda Hall.

In his 1973 solo album ‘There Goes Rhymin’ Simon’, the great singer-songwriter Paul Simon penned the piece ‘American Tune’. Even when performing it live as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, it was a major attraction. Interestingly, this piece had a connection with German composer Johann Sebastian Bach.

There’s some interesting history behind this. In 1727, Bach wrote ‘St Matthew Passion’, a sacred composition using solo voices, choir and orchestra. This piece included ‘O Sacred Head, Now Wounded’, an old Christian hymn which was first given melody by German musician Hans Leo Hassler in 1601, and then harmonised by Bach. Having grown up on Bach’s version, Simon used it as inspiration for ‘American Tune’. Let’s watch two videos here. The first plays the audio version of Simon's original recording:

And the second compares the classical tune (German title: ‘O Haupt Voll Blut Und Wunden’) with a cover version of ‘American Tune’.

'American Tune’ wasn’t the only instance where Simon was inspired by Bach. In this interview with American television personality Dick Cavett, Simon talks of how a specific part of his iconic ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ was inspired by the same Bach adaptation of the hymn. Watch his explanation at the five-minute-30-second mark in the first video, before listening to the entire song.

This is ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’:

Before you begin suspecting anything, let’s clarify that this column isn’t about how Paul Simon was influenced by Western classical music. On the contrary, it’s about Bach’s huge impact on popular culture that inspired the creation of many new tunes, and found a place in cinema and TV scores. But before we get into that, a bit about Bach’s role in Western classical music.

Looking back at Bach

Born on March 31,1685, in Eisenach, Germany, Bach was one of the three giants of the Baroque period, lasting between 1600 and 1750. The other two were Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi and German-born and London-settled, George Frideric Handel. The prolific Austrian composer Joseph Haydn was a bridge between this period and the Classical era, which succeeded it.

Bach was known for creating music in a variety of forms, right from the orchestral ‘Brandenberg Concertos’, cello suites and violin sonatas, to the organ composition ‘Toccata And Fugue in D Minor’, the keyboard work ‘Goldberg Variations’ and the choral epics ‘St Matthew Passion and Mass In B Minor’. Bach passed away on July 28, 1750, in Leipzig. For a taste of his original creations, let’s hear Hilary Hahn of the US play the adagio (slow portion) of his ‘Violin Sonata No 1’. 

Below is an aria from the ‘Goldberg Variations’ played by Italian pianist Beatrice Rana.

The same aria from the ‘Goldberg Variations’ can be heard in the 1991 film ‘The Silence Of The Lambs’—where Anthony Hopkins plays the psychotic serial killer and former psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter.

Almost 275 years after he passed away, Bach’s music continues to inspire many younger musicians, especially soloists. As mentioned before, he has had a major impact on pop culture. Some examples of tunes inspired by him have been featured in earlier columns, where they acted as perfect examples. Since this one is dedicated to Bach, it is appropriate to repeat two of the most well-known ones.

One of them is ‘Toccata And Fugue In D Minor’, originally written for organ. When Singapore-born British artiste Vanessa-Mae did her own take of it and shot a marvellous video, it became popular among the 1990s MTV viewers. It was also used in the ‘Old Fox’ TV series, and was an inspiration for British band Muse’s ‘Plug In Baby’ and Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord’s solo piece ‘Bach Onto This’. Even American rapper Eminem used a sample in his 2013 song ‘Brainless’, and guitarist Eddie Van Halen used it in his piece ‘Eruption’. Here’s the classical organ piece played by Hungarian-Canadian virtuoso Xaver Varnus.

And here’s Vanessa-Mae—in this eye-catching video.

Another favourite is ‘Bouree In E Minor’, made famous through a 1969 flute version by Ian Anderson of rock band Jethro Tull. The same tune inspired British band Bakerloo’s ‘Driving Bachwards’, and loosely, the Beatles' song ‘Blackbird’. Let’s hear the original version by German lute player Andreas Martin.

This is a different take of ‘Bouree’ by Ian Anderson, this time with American violinist Lucia Micarelli and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Among the other examples, there’s Bach’s ‘Prelude And Fugue No 24 in B Minor’ from ‘The Well-Tempered Clavier Book 1’. Any guesses who used it? First listen to the original composition, played by Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt.

Let’s follow it by a well-known pop song whose intro is inspired by it. Check the video, and you’ll find out who it is. All we will say is the name of the song is ‘Bad Romance’.

Did you go gaga over that? Now check out another piece from ‘The Well-Tempered Clavier Book 2’, the ‘Prelude No 12 in F Minor’, played by Polish pianist Piotr Anderszewski. 

Compare it with the 1963 adaptation by Paris-based Swingle Singers, who interestingly released an album called ‘Jazz Sebastian Bach’, whose title is self-explanatory.

Want more? Here’s what Welsh singer Jem did in her 2004 song ‘They’. Her version seems close to the Swingle piece but with a pop twist.

Besides ‘Blackbird’, the Beatles' track ‘Penny Lane’ also had a Bach flavour. It had a piccolo trumpet part similar to the one in Bach’s ‘Brandenburg Concerto No 2’. It’s said that producer George Martin was really into Bach. While there are many examples of Bach-inspired music, let’s end with two popular ones. American band The Beach Boys began their song ‘Lady Lynda’ the same way as Bach’s cantata ‘Jesu, Joy Of Man’s Desiring’. A favourite at weddings, the same cantata has been used in TV series like ‘The Simpsons’, ‘Downton Abbey’ and ‘Boogie Nights’. Check out the classical piece by British organist Jonathan Swift.

And here’s the Beach Boys’ take.

Finally, there’s British band Procol Harum, whose famous piece ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’ gives Bach’s ‘Air On A G String’, a nod. The group’s vocalist, Gary Brooker, said that while he took a bar or two, he wasn’t consciously combining rock with classical. “It’s just that Bach’s music was on me,” he said. Let’s listen to both, with the classical version by Croatian cellist Hauser. Try and spot the connection, even if you think it’s a distant one.

This is ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’ by Procol Harum.

Though one cannot say with certainty which classical composer had the biggest influence on modern music, Bach is very much at the top of the list. The influence is there even today. Finally, as always, we have created a handy playlist of all the tracks on splainer’s YouTube channel. We’ve mixed up Bach originals with the inspired tunes, but there is a logical reason for that, as listeners will get an idea of the source and the adaptation. 

PS: If you need a list of all the amazing music shared by Naren:

• ‘American Tune’ by Paul Simon
• ‘O Sacred Head, Now Wounded’ by Hans Leo Hassler, harmonised by Bach 
• ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ by Simon & Garfunkel
• ‘Violin Sonata No 1’ by Hilary Hahn
• Aria from the Goldberg Variations 
• ‘Toccata And Fugue in D Minor’ (organ version)
• ‘Toccata And Fugue in D Minor’ by Vanessa-Mae 
• ‘Bouree in E Minor’ (lute version)
• ‘Bouree’ by Ian Anderson & Lucia Micarelli 
• ‘Fugue No 24’ (The Well Tempered Clavier Book 1)
• ‘Bad Romance’ by Lady Gaga
• ‘Prelude No 12’ (The Well-Tempered Clavier Book 2)
• ‘Prelude No 12’ by Swingle Singers 
• ‘They’ by Jem 
• ‘Jesu, Joy Of Man’s Desiring’
• ‘Lady Lynda’ by The Beach Boys 
• ‘Air On The G String’ by Hauser 
• ‘Whiter Shade Of Pale’ by Procol Harum