J.S. Bach - Three Fantasias & Fugues, BWV 575-944 (1708-25)
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- Опубліковано 30 лип 2024
- Johann Sebastian Bach (31 March [O.S. 21 March] 1685 - 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He is known for instrumental compositions such as the Brandenburg Concertos and the Goldberg Variations as well as for vocal music such as the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Bach Revival he has been generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.
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Uploaded with special permission by performer Peter Watchorn
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1. Fantasia & Fugue in A minor, BWV 904 (0:00 / 3:29) (1725?}
2. Fantasia & Fugue in A minor, BWV 944 (9:41 / 10:53) (1714?)
3. Fantasia in G minor (“duobus subjectis”) BWV 917 (17:51) (1710?)
4. Fugue in C minor BWV 575 (19:29) (1708-17)
PETER WATCHORN, pedal harpsichord
(Hubbard & Broekman after Ruckers/Blanchet/Taskin,
1990/after J.A. Hass, 1734)
The Fantasia BWV 904 is a richly impressive work composed in strict four-part counterpoint, which manages also to incorporate the ritornello idea that Bach adopted from the concertos of Italian composers as a chief
organizing principle: in this case the piece opens and closes with a full statement of this theme. The recurring nature of the 12-bar descending ritornello bass echoes the character of a chaconne or passacaglia. This piece works well with the bass-line of the ritornello played by the feet, which underlines the gravitas of the main subject, as distinct from the contrasting episodes. The elaborate four-voice Fugue, which may well have existed separately from the Fantasia during Bach’s lifetime falls into three distinct sections and employs two subjects.
The Fantasia BWV 944 consists of just ten measures, entirely composed of white-notated chords, marked arpeggio, indicating that the performer is expected to expand the framework into an actual piece. The presence of this technique, with which an entire work is to be created provides a clue to the performance of similar sections in the Chromatic Fantasia - and vice versa. The Fantasia is followed by one of Bach’s most exciting, freely-composed and virtuosic three-voice fugues, which is entirely instrumental in character, and represents a pinnacle of contrapuntal achievement among Bach’s earlier fugues. The most significant manuscript source, in the hand of Bach’s brother, Johann Christoph, includes the Fantasia, which is absent in other surviving copies. This indicates an early composition date, perhaps contemporary with the Chromatic Fantasia.
The G minor Fantasia “on two themes” is a compact, ingenious and earnest exploration of invertible counterpoint involving three, rather than two thematic ideas, all of which are presented in various permutations during the course of the work’s two minutes. The “duobus subjectis” refers
to the double counterpoint announced after the brief opening flourish: two complementary tunes above and below a descending chromatic figure. In general mood, the work calls to mind the A minor Fantasia, BWV 904, where a similar thematic interplay is presented. Perhaps this work is an earlier essay in a similar style.
This dramatic stand-alone Fugue BWV 575, grouped by the editors of the Bach Gesellschaft edition with three others (G major, BWV 576 - 577 and G minor, BWV 578) with its striking, three-unit rhetorical subject, unusually ambiguous harmony that results from the subject’s intervallic properties, and compelling dramatic flow recalls the final fugue of the E minor Toccata, BWV 914, an affinity that has often been noted by writers about Bach’s music.
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This first fantasie is absolutely beautiful
The wonderfulness and comfort of this clear sound are irreplaceable , and soothe my soul
La musique classique m'apaise et me détend, j'aime ces vibrations 🎼💙
It's interesting to notice that the subject of the BWV 944 has the same harmonic pattern of the the subject from BWV 543. They literally look like one is the first version of the other.
Even the first species sections are quite similar, relying mostly on parallel 3rds and 6ths. BWV 543's counter subject in the sequence section is much more developed as reflected in its various iterations.
Yeah, it's the classic falling fifths progression.
15:49 Love the modulation, and crazy pedals at 17:01 :)
Fantasia & Fugue in A minor, BWV 904
Fantasia Theme: 0:00
Fugue: 3:29
Fantasia & Fugue in A minor, BWV 944
Fantasia Theme: 9:41
Fugue: 10:53
The first Fantasia is absolutely merveillous
17:02 ABSOLUTELY MAGNIFICENT
Magnificent.
"so you have any fantasies? 😈 "
"I happen to have 3 here with me"
Wunderschöne und detaillierte Interpretation dieser drei perfekt komponierten Fantasien und Fugen in verschiedenen Tempi mit klarem doch elegantem Klang des technisch fehlerlosen Cembalos und mit sorgfältig kontrollierter Dynamik. Wahrlich intelligenter und vielseitiger Cembalist!
Bellissima interpretazione, ho fatto una trascrizione per organo. Grazie per lo spartito
marvelous
Die letzte fuge erinnert mich irgendwie ganz stark an die fuge aus der toccata in e Moll bwv 914🤔
Yes, they are remarkably similar. This fugue specifies pedal at the end. I similarly used the pedalboard for BWV 914 (including the very end of the final fugue). PW
Привет. А есть расшифровка трелив фуге BWV 904? Пасибо
Bach listed a deciphering of all baroque ornaments himself. You can find it easily online.
💗🌈💗🌈💗
2nd fantasia does not appear to be what is written. All just gorgeous nevertheless! If I dare to say so, these fugues seem superior to many of those in the WTC which sometimes come to feel relatively perfunctory when one is dragged through all 24 X 2 as is often the case.
The chords are arpeggiated
I'm just curious, did Bach write this in his spare time. Or did he play for an audience or for royalty? Myself personally, the music seems elitist.
@@lingnguyen2623, reminds me of this: @Ling nguyen : My dear young man, don't take it too hard. Your work is ingenious. It's quality work. And there are simply too many notes, that's all. Just cut a few and it will be perfect.
Bach : Which few did you have in mind, @Ling nguyen?
I can speak to this, as the one who has spent the last 27 years studying and recording all of Bach's music for harpsichord, of which this video is just a small sample. I think that your question is an excellent one, and that it has a genuine answer. I understand exactly what you are saying: Bach's music seems, at first hearing, often almost superhuman in its complexity and skill, and in its demand on performer and listener. The Baroque era is full of incredibly great composers: Vivaldi, Telemann, Handel, Rameau, Scarlatti, Couperin: but none of them is at this level. Bach's music is elitist, but not in the narrow and exclusive way you may think. It has nothing to do with composing, or playing "for royalty". It has more to do with composing music that forces the listener/audience, to come up to the composer's particular level of thought, something that seems difficult at first, but which is, ultimately, more satisfying as it involves growth and evolution in the listener's own skill and taste. In that regard, it is the opposite of "elitist", in that the listener is invited to grow to Bach's level. It is not exclusionist, in other words.
Most composers in the Baroque era wrote music for their audience's tastes, whether aristocratic or middle class: often their compositions were carefully tailored to what was perceived as the "public" taste. Telemann, in fact, published a series called "The Faithful Music Master" , which provided good quality music for amateurs: not too difficult to play or understand. Bach's music is the opposite of that idea. In 1737, Bach was criticised in print by a former student, Johann Adolph Scheibe, for making his compositions too complex and full of intricacies. Time has proven Bach right and Scheibe wrong in his judgement.
We must think of Bach as the musical equivalent of Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton or Albert Einstein: on a unique level of human thought that poses an initial challenge for any listener or performer, yet invites others along on the path of musical evolution and growth. So, I guess, Bach can be called elitist if you mean that he challenges both listener and performer to the highest level. For me, that challenge is what all great art is about. PW
@@peterwatchorn411 I do enjoy Bach's masses and cantatas, or most if not all of his sacred works. I really enjoy the arias, duets, recitatives, and other features to his Cantatas.
It is amazing to me that he composed cantatas every church weekend.
But it is also unfortunate that lots of his work was lost during the war, and that some of immediate family died penniless, and that some of his writings instead of being appreciated were used to wrap fish.
Then I am elite, to have the musical and spiritual equipment with which to appreciate this superb work (BWV904)
@@peterwatchorn411 Interesting viewpoint and historical anecdote!
I'm not a professional misisician, but this harp sounds a bit raspy
It is a harpsichord, not harp. Completely different instrument.
@@bartjebartmans no crap. I was just trying to be efficient. No wonder I was repelled by continuing taking music courses
@@bartjebartmans perhaps I should have dubbed it a new term "harpsy"
@@baileyclanbookclub Just don't force abbreviations.
@@XenoghostTV did you just assume my abbrev?