Finally someone that analyzes the harmonic material of classical pieces like a Jazz musician would. I am a Jazz musician and this is time saving stuff for my line of work, so, thank you for making it so easy.
I don't know why my classical teachers didn't cover theory, because when I came back from jazz studies, I then could analyze classical beautifully. Bach has all kinds of awesome chord changes. It is also MUCH easier to memorize his pieces when you look at the theory because the note have context now, instead of just notes.
But the harmonic analysis of classic pieces and jazz pieces is done exactly in the same way and is shown using roman numerals, often complemented with the chord names, exactly like in this video. Or are you referring to the lack of decent harmonic analysis on youtube and elsewhere?
I'm currently recovering from a hand surgery and need good exercises to regain dexterity in my left hand. Beethoven doesn't really work very well for that so enter Sonata Secrets with the perfect piece. In Bach We Trust! Thanks Henrik!
Really helpful. I’ve been thinking about how I would want to play this prelude, and you’ve highlighted the various possibilities as well as given it a spine on which I can experiment with some ideas. I would not have dared to play block chords in place of Bach’s melodic motifs. But watching you do that and bringing forward the beautiful harmonic progression with suspended 2nds resolving to 3rds (something I hadn’t taken note of when reading the score), I’m like, why the hell not. It’s another dimension of understanding this piece that Bach wrote and kept alive his whole life.
This is my first experience of your channel and I have to say, I was enthralled. An exellent tutorial and commentay on each part of the piece. Makes me want to play, practice and enjoy the piano more. The Gould impression was priceless. 😂
Io , non conoscendo l'inglese, non ho comprreso ciò che ha detto . Leggendo i commenti sottostanti non ho trovato menzionato S. RICHTER che, a mio gusto personale, ha dato la più straordinaria interpretazione di questo pezzo. Io paragono il risultato che ha ottenuto al celebre quadro di Van Gog " corvi su campo di grano." Una cascata di suoni che racchiudono bellissimi disegni armonici . Il risultato è drammatico e veramente sconvolgente. Se non sapessi che Bach è credente, questo pezzo straordinario mi fa pensare a un universo cupo e senza Dio. Straordinario effetto evocativo della musica.
Thank you so much for finally going Bach in time again! I, probably we, have waited so long for you to do it again and now the time has come. I am especially grateful, as baroque music, according to your own information, is not your field of expertise, or your usual environment! Thank you very much for allowing us to enjoy this! However, and hopefully you are interested, there are already romantic approaches with late baroque and early classical composers, such as Wilhelm Friedemann Bach with his 12 Polonaises for Fortepiano.
@@SonataSecrets The problem with guessing is that there are so many famous pieces for keyboard instruments by Bach. All the more reason for me to be curious about which one it will be!
About the Glenn Gould impersonation. You got the low chair, the body position and the famous finger tapping technique right, but you still need to put in some additional work on perfecting the humming.
Great analysis covering both harmony and performance. I never realised before that the opening chord sequence is identical to the “arabesque” at the end.
I really like the overhead view. This prelude can be tricky for fingering. Looks like you use the thumbs on the black keys, except in one place you cross over the index finger (measure 14).
One thing Gould and Gulda both do, which I like a lot for this piece, is to hold out the pinky notes in the 1st section of the prelude. The harmony hangs over the chromatic inner notes. Gould is eccentric with it, but it creates a kind of magical trance-like feeling for me. It's definitely a good finger exercise. My favorite performances of this are by Wanda Landowska and Evelyne Crochet.
I've been fascinated with this one since I heard bassist Jeff Berlin play it ("Bach") on his second album Pump It! back in 1986. He also plays a great solo on it as well. Took some liberties, of course.
Loved your analysis. Thank you. I have subscribed and look forward to further videos - very excited. Your take on Gould did kill me. For me, he is the ultimate Bach interpreter. Tsk tsk
Merci beaucoup for this. I'm glad you mentioned that this was an intermediate piece so I will go to an easier one after the C Major. Loved your Gould playing.
i'm trying this stunning piece with this help, i'm trying to get the chords into my fingers in combination with a couple of bars of the piece itself, this makes it even more special
Bravo for the precise, crystal-clear harmonic analysis and for de facto insisting on having the feel and comprehension of it as a pianist. Nahre Sol does not do it much Music Matters does it, in a more rule-based, scholarly way. Both omit to mention it when talking practicing and learning a piece or playing patterns (arpeggios...).
I tend to play it pretty slow constructing the building, then I make a small rallentando at the end of the fifth bar before the arpeggios, and make an accelerando in the last four bars before the arpeggios, as if there the piece exploses, the rigid structured building starts falling. Then a final boom in the low g after the arpeggios, a small pause while the fragments go up in the air, and then they fall on the ground again, one after another.
The No. 2 C minor prelude is very similar stylistically to the first prelude in C major. Both preludes start with 16th note figurations that repeat every half bar and harmonic changes every bar, and both preludes end with a pedal point in the deep bass.
Thank you dear Henrik for this instructive and amusing video. I found it funny how you portrayed the different types of players, especially Glenn Gould. I like Bach myself but my heart is even more attached to Debussy. So I'm always very happy when you bring him up. I can't wait to see which Debussy piece comes next.🙏♥️🎹🎶🎵🤗 „Valse Romantique“ maybe?
Are there, available somewhere, harmonically annotated scores? Every time I ask for that or suggest that, it's dumblooksnocharge, even hostility. That could be produced collectively (crowdsourcing).
Excellent synopsis on this piece. I also liked your Glenn Gould imitation. Accurate and funny. Thank you very much. I do have one question. On measure 18, the ninth note in the left hand, base clef. Some sheet music shows it to be a C. While others show it to be a B flat. I’ve seen both equally. The sheet music that you used shows a C. Can you tell me which is really correct? Should it be C or B flat? (If you google images of the sheet music you will see the variations).
Gould will never be surpassed, he's a genius the stature of bach and Beethoven. While others fight the piano trying to prove their dexterity and skills. Gould was playing side-by-side with the piano, giving each and each note attention and love.
So look some of us are jazz pianists who live and breath chord progression stop leaving that info out. God well you're doing a hell of a lot better than most classical cats that way.
I decided to change the phrasing just a bit, at least in my head. Instead of a downbeat followed by three 16th's, I think of it as one 16th note on the beat with the next three 16th's phrasing into the next down beat. So, instead of 'One ie and uh' 'Two ie and uh' 'Three ie and uh'... it would be 'One' 'ie and uh TWO' 'ie and uh THREE' etc. Each set of 4 16ths with the last three leading into the next down beat...
Very engaging and nicely presented. But can the choice of how to play this be separated from the fact that it is the curtain-raiser and mood-setter to what I think is the wittiest and chirpiest of the fugues? I see a lot of echoes in the Shostakovich Prelude & Fugue in Am (vol 1) in harmonic pattern, melody and jokiness. My first reaction to your Gould was "That's amusing - but outrageous!". So I dug out a recording of it - and yes it was that, er, "individual" (but without the famous moaning).
I think it should of course be considered as paired with the fugue as you point out, but also that it can be taken out and stand on its own, as a short character piece. It depends on the context for playing it.
OK, now i see you've uploaded multiple videos of your analysis of this wtc 1 c prelude--not a good idea for those of us following you from lecture to lecture--you cover the obvious in this video about the main points of this prelude: the finger-figure, the harmonic movement through keys, the arrival at a cadenza, the analysis of cadenza (but you should add why bach does this kind of thing: a finger exercise for students followed by a cadenza for performers)--i'll try to go back and find your other video on this prelude and suggest what you should do with it
Unfortunately the "impression " of Gould was nothing close to the way he played it. I suppose if someone could actually play the way he did they'd be doing it , not deriding it.
Lol, the Gould interpretation. I like this piece. many times when I play it, it will sound very different depending on whether I have had coffee, too much coffee, or no coffee.
Does the final Allegro give us the tempo indication for the beginning of the prelude? Whatever the tempo of the beginning, equal notes give us the effect of machinal playing (sounds like a knitting machine). You dont mention other aspects of possible performance practice. Accents, staccato, legato, some 1/16 notes held longer than others... OK for the analysis, not quite OK for "Different ways to play". Have you already analysed other Bach pieces that open with harmonies I II(7) V(7) I ? It's very common.
@@SonataSecrets oh yes indeed - it's on youtube for sure. I don't know what piano he uses (there is no video just his 70's recording of the WC1 and 2) but it is as soft as silk...You know, I suppose, that he recorded both books twice...
The impersonation of Gould killed me😂😂
Same 🤣 I laughed out loud when he hummed 😭😂
lol I laughed so hard at his impression.
It was brilliant!
Lmfaooo no way you hit Gould with the that audible moan in the interpretation ahaha
Yes, I cracked up at that.😂
OMG. That Glenn Gould impersonation had me laughing out loud! Spot on - well done!
yeah I laughed too. Glen kinda hummed. or wailed, whatever
@@Mike1614YT Je pense qu'il ne le faisait pas exprès, peut être lié à une tension nerveuse...
@@frederik606 Je suis d'accord mais ça ne me dérange pas
@@Mike1614YT bien sûr. ..
Not even a little like spot on. You should give it a few listens unstead of blindly feeling you need to comment.
Finally someone that analyzes the harmonic material of classical pieces like a Jazz musician would. I am a Jazz musician and this is time saving stuff for my line of work, so, thank you for making it so easy.
Totally!
I don't know why my classical teachers didn't cover theory, because when I came back from jazz studies, I then could analyze classical beautifully. Bach has all kinds of awesome chord changes. It is also MUCH easier to memorize his pieces when you look at the theory because the note have context now, instead of just notes.
Lots of students don't care about theory @@cldavis33
@@cldavis33 Truth!
But the harmonic analysis of classic pieces and jazz pieces is done exactly in the same way and is shown using roman numerals, often complemented with the chord names, exactly like in this video. Or are you referring to the lack of decent harmonic analysis on youtube and elsewhere?
BRILLIANT! I've been working through this too, harmonically, your work is awesome. If you don't know the theory, you miss Bach so completely here.
Bach's false endings are the best. As clearly shown in this prelude and in countless other works.
I'm currently recovering from a hand surgery and need good exercises to regain dexterity in my left hand. Beethoven doesn't really work very well for that so enter Sonata Secrets with the perfect piece. In Bach We Trust! Thanks Henrik!
Suddenly this piece comes into clear focus for me after struggling to analyze it for weeks. Thank you!
Really helpful. I’ve been thinking about how I would want to play this prelude, and you’ve highlighted the various possibilities as well as given it a spine on which I can experiment with some ideas. I would not have dared to play block chords in place of Bach’s melodic motifs. But watching you do that and bringing forward the beautiful harmonic progression with suspended 2nds resolving to 3rds (something I hadn’t taken note of when reading the score), I’m like, why the hell not. It’s another dimension of understanding this piece that Bach wrote and kept alive his whole life.
I love how you lowered the piano stool for the Glenn Gould interpretation.
I watch many educational musics videos…but Sonata Secrets is my favorite by far!
This is my first experience of your channel and I have to say, I was enthralled. An exellent tutorial and commentay on each part of the piece. Makes me want to play, practice and enjoy the piano more.
The Gould impression was priceless. 😂
Io , non conoscendo l'inglese, non ho comprreso ciò che ha detto . Leggendo i commenti sottostanti non ho trovato menzionato S. RICHTER che, a mio gusto personale, ha dato la più straordinaria interpretazione di questo pezzo.
Io paragono il risultato che ha ottenuto al celebre quadro di Van Gog " corvi su campo di grano."
Una cascata di suoni che racchiudono bellissimi disegni armonici . Il risultato è drammatico e veramente sconvolgente. Se non sapessi che Bach è credente, questo pezzo straordinario mi fa pensare a un universo cupo e senza Dio. Straordinario effetto evocativo della musica.
Thank you so much for finally going Bach in time again! I, probably we, have waited so long for you to do it again and now the time has come.
I am especially grateful, as baroque music, according to your own information, is not your field of expertise, or your usual environment! Thank you very much for allowing us to enjoy this!
However, and hopefully you are interested, there are already romantic approaches with late baroque and early classical composers, such as Wilhelm Friedemann Bach with his 12 Polonaises for Fortepiano.
Thank you! I even have one final Bach in the works for this last stretch actually.....a very famous piece....
@@SonataSecrets The problem with guessing is that there are so many famous pieces for keyboard instruments by Bach. All the more reason for me to be curious about which one it will be!
What a great teacher !! Nice to have the actual chord voicing explained. I`ve subscribed, thanks.
A really great analysis, as well as an explanation and demonstration of this subtle and beautiful Bach keyboard piece. Thank you!
what a great analysis and excellent performance, thanks for the video
Lol that Gould imitation XD
About the Glenn Gould impersonation. You got the low chair, the body position and the famous finger tapping technique right, but you still need to put in some additional work on perfecting the humming.
EXTREMELY interesting - thank you !
Great analysis covering both harmony and performance. I never realised before that the opening chord sequence is identical to the “arabesque” at the end.
Thanks!
I really like the overhead view. This prelude can be tricky for fingering. Looks like you use the thumbs on the black keys, except in one place you cross over the index finger (measure 14).
One thing Gould and Gulda both do, which I like a lot for this piece, is to hold out the pinky notes in the 1st section of the prelude. The harmony hangs over the chromatic inner notes. Gould is eccentric with it, but it creates a kind of magical trance-like feeling for me. It's definitely a good finger exercise.
My favorite performances of this are by Wanda Landowska and Evelyne Crochet.
I've been fascinated with this one since I heard bassist Jeff Berlin play it ("Bach") on his second album Pump It! back in 1986. He also plays a great solo on it as well. Took some liberties, of course.
You’re both funny and v insightful. Love the Glen Gould impression.
Appreciate your clear analysis and demonstration 😊
Currently learning this prelude and fugue to enhance my technique too! What coincidence!
Loved your analysis. Thank you. I have subscribed and look forward to further videos - very excited.
Your take on Gould did kill me. For me, he is the ultimate Bach interpreter. Tsk tsk
Merci beaucoup for this. I'm glad you mentioned that this was an intermediate piece so I will go to an easier one after the C Major. Loved your Gould playing.
Another great video! Absolutely love your approach to music!
Nicely explained with visual score as well.
i'm trying this stunning piece with this help, i'm trying to get the chords into my fingers in combination with a couple of bars of the piece itself, this makes it even more special
Thank you for this amazing class! Very instructive!
I loved the Gould singing! LOL
02:19 made my day.
Thanks very much.
Just what I needed! Brilliant analysis and crisp playing...
Watching you analyze pieces is always a welcome part of my day, that Glenn Gould impression was spot on 😂
Thank you for the excellent harmony analysis!
I just subscribed because of your Gould audiations!
Bravo for the precise, crystal-clear harmonic analysis
and for de facto insisting on having the feel and comprehension of it as a pianist.
Nahre Sol does not do it much
Music Matters does it, in a more rule-based, scholarly way.
Both omit to mention it when talking practicing and learning a piece or playing patterns (arpeggios...).
Brilliant. And your Glen Gould impersonation, well😎
Learning to play this piece just now. Nice to get some analysis of it :-)
Thank you so much, very helpful. Also I love Glen Gould but you made me laugh!
I tend to play it pretty slow constructing the building, then I make a small rallentando at the end of the fifth bar before the arpeggios, and make an accelerando in the last four bars before the arpeggios, as if there the piece exploses, the rigid structured building starts falling. Then a final boom in the low g after the arpeggios, a small pause while the fragments go up in the air, and then they fall on the ground again, one after another.
The No. 2 C minor prelude is very similar stylistically to the first prelude in C major. Both preludes start with 16th note figurations that repeat every half bar and harmonic changes every bar, and both preludes end with a pedal point in the deep bass.
Belle analyse. La caricature de Gould est fulgurante.
Thank you dear Henrik for this instructive and amusing video. I found it funny how you portrayed the different types of players, especially Glenn Gould.
I like Bach myself but my heart is even more attached to Debussy. So I'm always very happy when you bring him up. I can't wait to see which Debussy piece comes next.🙏♥️🎹🎶🎵🤗
„Valse Romantique“ maybe?
Please comment on -- 11min 53sec (played 3 times) Lou Ni (arr.) - [Bach G Minor] Extended by Melodic Music Extension (185K views) -- Thank you!
That AHHH of Gould was hilarious!
I'm a guitar player... not sure what I'm doing here but I'm sure the algorithm knows. That was great by the way.
Great explanation! Love your videos!
I just discovered your channel and I like your way to analyze this piece
Hendrik, I like the way you play Bach!! 😀😍
Good explanations...congratuklations!...
Question, why did you choose that speed
ok , at 6:20 you play C in a bass and then Bb... (18th bar) however in your sheet both bass notes are C
2:20 Dedication to art
You are a star........Brilliant tutorial! 👍
Thank you for the shout out 🤗
Wonderful Video and to me is informative and useful m Appreciate it...thank you!
Great video - fun and informative
Can you please make a video on prelude in b minor by bach/siloti?
Are there, available somewhere, harmonically annotated scores?
Every time I ask for that or suggest that, it's dumblooksnocharge, even hostility.
That could be produced collectively (crowdsourcing).
Dope video !!
This is hard. And very well explained.
Excellent synopsis on this piece. I also liked your Glenn Gould imitation. Accurate and funny. Thank you very much.
I do have one question. On measure 18, the ninth note in the left hand, base clef. Some sheet music shows it to be a C. While others show it to be a B flat. I’ve seen both equally. The sheet music that you used shows a C. Can you tell me which is really correct? Should it be C or B flat? (If you google images of the sheet music you will see the variations).
Wasn't it starting in Fugues? I always pass this part
8:20 the LH here I still cant play
Any suggestions 😅
10:36 is Bo dominant diminished or the 7th degree?
Gould will never be surpassed, he's a genius the stature of bach and Beethoven. While others fight the piano trying to prove their dexterity and skills. Gould was playing side-by-side with the piano, giving each and each note attention and love.
you know where we can find a version of the chords only that you played?
pls make fugue c minor ❤️❤️
Presto adagio allegro - these were put there by bach, or the printer?
So look some of us are jazz pianists who live and breath chord progression stop leaving that info out. God well you're doing a hell of a lot better than most classical cats that way.
I decided to change the phrasing just a bit, at least in my head. Instead of a downbeat followed by three 16th's, I think of it as one 16th note on the beat with the next three 16th's phrasing into the next down beat. So, instead of 'One ie and uh' 'Two ie and uh' 'Three ie and uh'... it would be 'One' 'ie and uh TWO' 'ie and uh THREE' etc. Each set of 4 16ths with the last three leading into the next down beat...
Very engaging and nicely presented. But can the choice of how to play this be separated from the fact that it is the curtain-raiser and mood-setter to what I think is the wittiest and chirpiest of the fugues? I see a lot of echoes in the Shostakovich Prelude & Fugue in Am (vol 1) in harmonic pattern, melody and jokiness.
My first reaction to your Gould was "That's amusing - but outrageous!". So I dug out a recording of it - and yes it was that, er, "individual" (but without the famous moaning).
I think it should of course be considered as paired with the fugue as you point out, but also that it can be taken out and stand on its own, as a short character piece. It depends on the context for playing it.
Please do Respighi's Notturno from his 6 pieces for piano.
You're brilliant
I would like this interpretation for the prelude in e minor #10
bravissimo.¨!!!!!!!!
OK, now i see you've uploaded multiple videos of your analysis of this wtc 1 c prelude--not a good idea for those of us following you from lecture to lecture--you cover the obvious in this video about the main points of this prelude: the finger-figure, the harmonic movement through keys, the arrival at a cadenza, the analysis of cadenza (but you should add why bach does this kind of thing: a finger exercise for students followed by a cadenza for performers)--i'll try to go back and find your other video on this prelude and suggest what you should do with it
Thanks, it’s a nice vídeo❤❤❤
Bro you should do the invention 13 !!
2:17
Luv ya dude,...u rock
6:17 score is wrong. LH bass note B-flat on beat 3
2:12 This is a really hilarious Glen Gould impression hahaha 🙂
Unfortunately the "impression " of Gould was nothing close to the way he played it. I suppose if someone could actually play the way he did they'd be doing it , not deriding it.
Lol, the Gould interpretation.
I like this piece. many times when I play it,
it will sound very different depending on whether I have had coffee, too much coffee, or no coffee.
The moaning in your Gould interpretation made me laugh very hard thank you for being you lol
brilliant!
I didn't know that the tempo markings came from Bach, I always thought that Carl Czerny put them in.
Really great episode. But you need to practice that the Gould Grunt a bit more... 😂
great love it
Does the final Allegro give us the tempo indication for the beginning of the prelude?
Whatever the tempo of the beginning, equal notes give us the effect of machinal playing (sounds like a knitting machine).
You dont mention other aspects of possible performance practice. Accents, staccato, legato, some 1/16 notes held longer than others...
OK for the analysis, not quite OK for "Different ways to play".
Have you already analysed other Bach pieces that open with harmonies I II(7) V(7) I ? It's very common.
Haye you ever planned to do some of Brahms Hungarian Dances. They are way too underrepresented on UA-cam.
Would be mice
Lmao that Glenn Gould impression 😭😭😂
Instant sub
great - could you do the fugue please (which is even better). By the way Gulda does the best version of this prelude imo.
I think the word "better" doesn't make much sense here
yeah! i looove the gulda version too, the way the upper voices just sing… AMAZING
I have to check out Gulda then!
@@SonataSecrets oh yes indeed - it's on youtube for sure. I don't know what piano he uses (there is no video just his 70's recording of the WC1 and 2) but it is as soft as silk...You know, I suppose, that he recorded both books twice...