This guy plays Bach’s great orchestral works on a Moog and it actually sounds great

1 June 2015, 11:48 | Updated: 5 June 2015, 12:50

Craig Leon has recorded an album of some of the most famous orchestral works by J.S. Bach on a Moog synthesizer. And the result is mesmerizing…

Craig Leon is as comfortable in the pop world as the classical sphere – he's worked not only with violinist Joshua Bell but also Blondie and The Ramones.

So his new album ‘Bach to Moog’, for which he has arranged some of the Baroque master's greatest works, makes perfect sense.

 

No, really! Listen to the famous Toccata and Fugue

Craig and his Moog modular 55 synthesizer is joined by the brilliant violinist Jennifer Pike and Sinfonietta Cracovia to create something (*whispers*) that might even be more awesome than the original…

 

Bach’s Violin Partita No. 3… on Moog

The first track of the album is the Preludio from the Third Partita for solo violin. The solo violin piece becomes a duet for violin and the massive Moog 55:

 

Bach Sonata for Solo Violin No. 4

The album has been issued to mark the 50th anniversary of the first modular synthesizer, and the tenth anniversary of the death of Robert Moog, inventor – as the name might suggest – of the Moog synthesizer.

“Bach's music is most suitable for use in new instrumental combinations and with modern synthesizers,” says Craig. “His clear polyphonic writing and organ-based composition technique lend themselves well to treatment in new instrumental combinations.”


Bach to Moog is available from iTunes and Amazon now