I couldn’t pass up the day without noting that this is the two hundred and twenty fourth anniversary of the birth of the greatest musickal genius ever to grace the planet.  I speak, of course, of Johann Sebastian Bach.

Rather than boring you with all kinds of unoriginal bloviating about the man, his life or his talent, why don’t I instead just cut to the chase and give you a sampling:  The Freiburg Baroque Orchestra playing the 1st movement from his Brandenburg Concerto No. 3:

And oh, what the heck, here’s the rousing Allegro final movement as well:

It’s a pretty good performance, although the camera work doesn’t always keep up with the musickal progression.  Also, I found myself cringing a couple times when the second violin seemed to come perilously close to blinding her neighbor. 

I selected this particular piece because I have always imagined it as a fine example of Bach thoroughly enjoying himself.   Certainly a fitting way to celebrate his birthday.