Do you love or hate J.S. Bach?

I certainly do not hate his music.
I am not driven to it, though I liked the albums (yes, albums) I used to have and played them often for a while.
I love music but not all: my own favorite bits - some I learned about in a music class, by far the most from my radio listening and lately from some online exploring.

Bach also doesn't bore me, but I don't listen to it like you with music brains and ears do.

If it was going on all day, I'd probably have to get in the car and drive it through the wall, but that's not routine at my place.
I had a one step up boss who was a Bach freak. It fit his persona.
Annoying guy.

Definitely a Bach lover. Mostly I love the keyboard music, since I'm a keyboardist. I love the fugues. I know the conventional wisdom is that the fugues appeal to listeners' intellectual rather than emotional side, and I'm fine with that.

I also like Bach's vocal writings. There are some truly lovely arias among the cantatas.

I'm mostly indifferent to his choral and orchestral writing, I guess.

His double concerto for keyboard just floors me, especially the way the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields performed it in their Philips recording.

His music is intellectual in its technical mastery of counterpoint, harmony, etc. Nevertheless, his music isn't only cerebral. Works of his such as the cello suite, the cantatas, etc. appeal to the emotions as well. He took Romance forms and augmented them with a Germanic robustness. Some of the Brandenburg concertos are reminiscent of Vivaldi's soaring brilliance but with a certain forcefulness that Bach imparts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi_9qH79yas

.....is all I have to say !

What an odd question. Does anyone hate Bach? I can see indifference more likely but not hate. I do love what I hear but out of all the classical composers, I haven't the expertise to name any particular works of his by individual music piece.

My brains not wired like that. Sorry for the cop-out answer.

I'm not aware of any negative stereotypes regarding his music. I do know that I personally prefer late 19th century and early 20th century classically music. The romantic period and later.

As for Baroque? I can listen to a limited amount of harpsichord before mentally wanting to switch to something else. Then again, I am gaining a tolerance or at least a slight yearning to listen to more Baroque music these days since I haven't been listening to much classical music these days.

I don't love or hate Bach. I'm also not indifferent. I like Bach. Like the complexity and the musicality.

I went to a Bach harpsichord concert many years ago. I enjoyed it immensely. I've also attended organ concerts. Liked them too.

Richard Taruskin once wrote an article on Bach (disguised as a review of Teldec's complete recording of the Bach cantatas) which--characteristically for Taruskin--made a lot of Bach fans angry. On the surface, the main thrust of the article is that the "true" Bach is to be found not in the keyboard works or the concertos but in the cantatas. But lurking not far behind the main point is the claim that the cantatas reveal Bach's fundamental contempt for mankind. In contrast to most readers, this somehow made me like Bach even more.

Facing Up, Finally, to Bach's Dark Vision (New York Times, 27 Jan 1991)

Yes, exactly.
I have enjoyed what I've listened to but I am no sort of expert on Bach.
Love or hate?
Why not appreciate or not appreciate?
Enjoy or not enjoy?
What is there to hate?

Thank you everyone. I shall look at that, Shapeless.

I love listening to J. S. Bach. But when I took piano as a teenager, I used to hate playing his works. Intricate fingering at high speeds, very little emotion. I preferred Beethoven. Still do.

Me too.

I Love JSBach's Music. To me, his music is just what he said it was, to the glorification of God and refreshment of the soul. I have a great apreciation for Baroque and Medieval music. There is something about it that gets deep with in me. Is it the counterpoint or the order format? Is it the darker melodies or lively tunes? I find his music intriguing in all it ways. His music has the ability to make me feel and allow me to understand. His music touches the soul in a way that spoken word can not. I can't get over it, I just can't.
I don't know much about music but Bach has awaken the interest for it.

Show me someone who actually hates J.S. Bach (or even dislikes his music) and I will show you someone who does not actually like to have to listen to good music. You can't just turn on something by Bach as "background music" and then go about your business. (You can do this safely with most of the "romantic" composers.) Bach requires concentrated listening. But the effort is immensly rewarding.

Disagreeing with Andy. If I'm listening to music, then that's what I'm doing. I don't play music (any music) as background.

One exception: Disco is great to clean to. It keeps ya moving.

How dare you disagree with the maven???

I didn't say I actually played classical (or Romantic or Baroque) music as b'ground. What I mean is that it's possible to have, say, Debussy playing without having to actually pay attention. Not so with Bach.

Being a person with little attention span, I can have Bach or many other classical period music on as background. I suppose this is a structural flaw of mine rather then a moment of bragging. I can't sit around just listening to music in my room.

Love him. Don't love every interpretation of his work.

What? Why is that acceptable?

Because it's easy listening requiring very little concentration.