Bach
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,193
    Something I ran across!! BWV 543:

    https://youtu.be/lIMmZ4ZVkc4
    Thanked by 3M. Jackson Osborn Casavant Organist francis
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,193
    And yet another. BWV 552:

    https://youtu.be/0ZewAl7s3RM
    Thanked by 1M. Jackson Osborn
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,416
    Which of these two examples, Chuck, would you latch onto as the most Bachian? I would choose unhesitatingly the first. It is played on a baroque revival organ that even CharlesW might approve (since its mixtures are not 'screamers'). The second one subjects Bach to a gigantic five manual behemoth the likes of which Bach never conceived, and, what with absurd jumpings back and forth onto a surfeit of manuals and timbres, the organist plays insouciant havoc with the form of her pieces. Both are nicely played, but I will vote for exhibit no. 1.
    Thanked by 4Casavant Organist CHGiffen CharlesW francis
  • Casavant Organist
    Posts: 805
    BWV 552: to double dot or not?
    I'd have to agree with MJO that I like the first performance better.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,193
    I like the first performance better, too, and agree that it is played in a sensitive way with great clarity on a well-suited organ. The second example came up second after I had listened to the first example.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,982
    I think that many American builders of neo-baroque organs didn't get the mixtures right. Probably one of the major reasons I don't like those instruments. The first one isn't bad and has clarity without being harsh and the mixtures seem to do what mixtures are supposed to do. The Rieger-Kloss organ is a large instrument and largeness can create opportunities for "interpretation" that may or may not be authentic. Often more pipes can create a thicker tone - no real suprise there.


    Bach: I still don't like him for some of the same reasons I don't care for polyphony. Both take a perfectly good melody and confuse. batter, and bang it around until chaos reigns. It seems to me both never know when to end. There is a difference between developing a theme and beating it into the ground. I much prefer the music of Bach's very talented son, C.P.E.
  • francis
    Posts: 10,828
    Vonderful music!

    Definitely like the first piece, although I was hoping for just a little change in registration.
    Thanked by 1Continuousbass
  • Richard MixRichard Mix
    Posts: 2,802
    Thanks Chuck! As Oliver Sachs says of such specific cravings, the brain knows what it wants. Koopman's BWV 543 (with 3' prelude) is a bit more articulated and on a instrument that is less treble ascendant, and there's video a tour of another interesting instrument, a 1830 Bätz, that also brings out more of the inner voices.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • Protasius
    Posts: 468
    The prelude of BWV 543 was one of the pieces for my examination as a Church musician. It is a wonderful piece, but so long that I could only use it for postludes in churches that expect a lengthy postlude; otherwise I will be playing on my own.
    Thanked by 1CharlesW
  • francis
    Posts: 10,828
    I use it for postlude without the fugue
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