I heard him yesterday at a Boston Symphony Orchestra concert playing the Barber Tocatta Festiva and a Terry Riley piece. His virtuosity is unquestioned and he is clearly a showman. As far as this performance of the Bach, one could say any number of things. But who can doubt his personal involvement in the music. And as far as his musical choices, isn't it a great thing that he can make us think about this music again, and just why we love it? He is provocative, no doubt, and that is a good thing. More power to him.
@Arole Flynn ... and after removing the mud say: NOW you appreciate the art more., now you've seen how to make it ugly. That way you could reason that when you're feeling that your house is too small, you take a goat and a donkey and a pig in your house for a week or two, then mevo them out of your house and you say: God what is this place BIG man!
Just listened again today: Cameron has been maturing. His more recent performances are relying more on musicianship and less on gimmickry. I also noticed the couple exiting mid-performance. Decades ago, I heard Tom Hazelton play this piece. It was even more "theatrical".
He would be brilliant as a theater organist, that genre would be apropos to his talent. Leave the classic organ works to the HIP performers on pipe organs.
@@Engineer9736 Struck a nerve, Richard? UA-cam's a public forum, and my opinion is no less important than yours, and every reason as good as yours to be here. (A bit of a snowflake, are you?) As to going somewhere else, make me!!! For every 3 people who saw this video, about 1/3 thumbed down his performance. So I am not alone, at this time: 770 have good taste, and 1.6k only have taste in their mouths. Have a Nice Day...
I respectfully disagree. There are more Than a handful of missed notes throughout the playing. You can play with sounds and articulations as much as you want, but learn and present the actual notes of the piece properly first. Also his imposition of his own countermelody near the end, unnecessary at best.
@@afdcomposer The countermelody, although unnecessary, isn't outside of 18th century performance practices, but who has the audacity to add to Bach's counterpoint?
Haters are going to hate. Virgil Fox was big on the heavy organ and Cameron Carpenter is big on the digital organ. Both are showmen in their own right. Virgil was the first to have a touring organ so that he can provide organ music to venues that couldn't provide an organ. Cameron is following in his footsteps.
To ALL great super master musicians here, only one question: can you compare Caravaggio with Jackson Pollock? Carpenter is a musician of 21st Century and even if his interpetation in discutible, he his a Contemporary Musician. He uses the instruments and the ideas of the 21st Century. Be open with your mind! Listen to him without comparing him with someone else that lived 400 or 500 years ago. He is an expression of our time and his interpretation of course is completely different.
I heartily concur. I have at least a dozen versions of this piece--many quite unique. George Gershwin got in trouble with his teachers for his unorthodox interpretations of classical pieces. However, it's that level of creativity and reinterpretation that is the hallmark of great performers and composers. Orthodoxy has its formal place, but there's no room for it in the truly creative domains. There's no reason to compare this performance to, say, that of Ton Koopman or E. Power Biggs, which stand in their own right. This is an interpretation, and you're free to like or dislike it. I certainly have my own tastes, too. :-)
Ofcourse you can, they're both painters so why not? Although this is more like a Pollock-wannabe splashing paint over a Caravaggio masterpiece and calling it an improvement.
I agree with everyone that Mr. Carpenter is knowledgable and very skilled. And I agree that there are few like him at the present time. However, as I just discovered him last night and have listened to several videos of his playing. my overall impression is that classsical organ music is not an excuse to take violent, quick, sharp jabs at our ears. Knowledge and skill are tempered by an understanding of timing, duration, and restraint. The faster you play any instrument as complicated as an organ, or, for that matter, any music, is not the better. Your finesse and knowledge of how are not well demonstrated by a very violent approach to the what, the music. Your expertise is best demonstrated by the fierce tenderness and smoothness of a good lover who knows how to lovingly caress, linger when sensitivity bids it, or up the tempo at the proper time. Listening to Mr. Carpenter playing is like watching a hurried butcher chopping meat as fast as he can. Its really too bad. Virility is shown in a happy Rennaisance combination of many well- developed qualities, not just one. All I can say is, I was so glad when he stopped! I felt like a punching bag! Just cool it, and try to concentrate on what the music wants, not the physicality of playiing the instrument. Like a river, pools and rapids intersperse. Its not all rapids! Let the music show how it wants to move. Playing too fast does not give bliss and satisfaction. There is no melody in a barage of fierce noise that destroys the composer's intent. Nevertheless, he is an amazing artist. Just a few tweaks are in order. He knows what I mean. IMHO.
If you're going to listen to Cameron perform and complain about his interpretation of the work, you're missing the point of this superbly talented man.
no not really............ a lot of organist do it ....... Me either... I calls a picardy third or end ... it was really normal and common in the baroque practice. Like improvisation was normal... only Rusty petty bourgeois limited brains do not understand that .............. this guy is ahead of his time . limited frustrated anxious minds don't understand that.
@@AL-ns1jm Yeah, we know it was common Baroque, and earlier, practice, especially on the harpsichord. However, this so-called interpretation is still shit, no matter which you look at it. The organ he used here has no presence, no balls, and no subtlety; nor does his playing.
@@waihoong11 Same here. I do like Bach and this particular composition on the instrument it was intended for: A big many-ranked pipe organ. This sound is creepy. The original version/rendition sounds like what Bach intended: Sacred. Not religious. Far beyond that. This is totally creepy.
'A great invention'? Really? To add another line of counterpoint to Bach takes an awful lot of courage; this is just plain ugly, and shocking in its banality.
Douglas Amrine Everyone can have their opinion on it of course. Though a bit of variation after hearing the original piece 500 times is welcome for me.
@@DouglasAmrine I agree. Of course there are different views on how a composition should be interpreted. But you should always keep the composer's intention in mind. What Carpenter is doing no longer has anything to do with Bach's opus.
Cameron Carpenter ist ein genialer und ebenso virtuoser, wie gleichsam exentrischer Superkünstler. Man muss das mögen, aber er ist unbestreitbar ein ganz Großer!
JSB would want people to add creativity into the organ world, as he did. It's good that someone is being innovative with this piece, and in fact, this is my personal favorite version of toccata and fugue for that reason. Anyone can have an opinion, but there's no fact to anything with music.
Agreed. This is merely an attempt to re-interpret a piece of music in his own style...as happens ad infinitum in the world of "popular" music. It's a Cameron Carpenter "cover" of a Bach classic. And since T&F in D is one of the most popular classical pieces, I don't see what the big deal is. If one wants to hear it played with appropriate baroque performance practices, there are literally hundreds of recordings to choose from. I don't "love" it or "hate" it, I just find it different, which is the point. Not sure what Bach would think of this version, but he'd probably be amused that a bunch of old queens were triggered by it...and are claiming to protect the 'sanctity' of his musical legacy!
I can not not love that man playing the organ :-). I also adore how so many people get their knickers in a twist over his interpretations. He makes the music a living thing, offers an interpretation we haven't heard before. I love it!
@@dougretter1529 Maybe the fine arts are just not your thing. It’s ok, Doug, it’s not going to please everybody. That was never the point. We still love and admire you.
@@howardtreesong4860 Well, I majored on Organ and Trumpet and worked with some of the finest organ builders in the world. Does that make my opinion relevant?
@@dougretter1529 As I said, Doug, maybe the fine arts are just not your thing. Many people study topics they then find themselves incapable of enjoying, or it bores them, or they can’t find their proper expression. And that’s fine, I’m not wagging fingers. Have you considered a career in engineering? Sword smithing, glass blowing? Maybe you would excel in the French Foreign Legion and find yourself a new way of life, something you had heretofore not considered as a path your life could take.
He can certainly play the organ,his interpretation of the music is unique as is his sense of timing,dramatic and unexpected,not entirely to my taste but still interesting.
Eine eigenwillige Intepretation! Es ist mir persönlich zu entfremdet. Im Orginal wirrkt es einfach stimmiger! Stellenweise hört es sich an wie Zirkusmusik.
Last time I heard this played was at a Virgil Fox concert which is my favorite piece of music. I watching some of your video's last night and was wishing you would play this piece. In my humble opinion you play like another Virgil Fox, this what I just watched and heard is just beyond the word masterpiece !!!!
Cette interprétation est une toccata "revisitée" par un surdoué de la musique.... un vrai virtuose. Même si j'aime beaucoup les interprétations "classiques" de BACH sur les orgues d'église, j'apprécie ici une version modernisée avec une touche sûre de génie. Il dérange et aussi, il enthousiasme et force l'admiration. Je pense vraiment que BACH aurait aimé ce clin d’œil s'il vivait aujourd'hui car si l'on est attentif, Bach, dans ses œuvres, a de beaux clins d’œil et il a osé à son époque des compositions et des phrasés qui dérangeaient par leur modernité que l'on peut reconnaître parfois dans le jazz. Je suis pourtant, depuis des dizaines d'années, passionné et admirateur de BACH et de musique baroque et pourtant ici, je dis "BRAVO" à l'interprète.
There are many organists who play the Toccata and Fugue in D minor. But only Cameron Carpenter brings the masterpiece to life. Bach would enjoy it. 🙂🙏❤
I can't believe some of the negative comments. Sounds thin? Well how was this recorded - outdoors and probably on a cell phone. Lost tempo? That's called playing with you soul. I could go on.
I wonder whether there is some Cameron Carpenter hate community somewhere online, chasing every single video of Carpenter, flooding the comments section. The amount of hate is not normal.
It seems that most people agree that Cameron has talent and technical ability. But opinion is divided on his interpretation of established organ pieces (like BWV 565) with a majority of online folk hating his radical reconstructions. If I was his manager, I'd suggest Cameron splits his concert into a traditional performance of organ standards equally mixed with original flashy material of his own.
Sooooo conflicted by him. He's the most proficiently brilliant organist I've ever seen yet I can't stand most of his interpretations of Bach's works.....
Open your mind! Appreciating the way CC plays Bach is not a crime against the Grand Master. It is a proof that you are mature enough, to accept other points of view, different than the ones who rule the way to play Bach since 300 years. That does not mean CC has, by now, to be considered the new absolute way to play Bach. You are not conflicted by him. You are conflicted by yourself, because you're afraid to fully consider a baroque piece played in a non-baroque style. But this is possible! It is always interesting, and sometimes it is great, even if yes, sometimes it is not. You doesn't need to feel conflicted. IT IS NOT A CRIME AGAINST BACH :) :) :)
Here's the thing, technical proficiency is objective; either you can play the notes in the order composed and change registrations or you can't. However, the choices one makes in interpreting how to play those notes is subjective, both to the musician and the listener. I'm not at all afraid to consider a different interpretation of a given work but it doesn't follow that having considered it, I have to like it. That's the very nature of something being subjective.
+Aaron Bar, trust your emotions. Their genuine, to thy own-self be true. Technical virtuosity, yes, but the only taste Cameron Carpenter has, as concerns J S Bach's music, is in Cameron's mouth. The performance isn't for the edification of the listener, rather it's to glorify Carpenter's klavier skills. No one needs rescue BWV 565 from obscurity. The opening motif is by consensus the most widely recognized Organ piece in the world. +General Ackbar. Virgil Fox played in a similar manner, it wasn't generally accepted or appreciated by most organ listeners, but Fox had his adherents (even the ones at the light shows stoned and/or frying at the time). Frankly, the Theater Organ registration isn't anyway as interesting as Hans Wurman's Moog Strikes Bach interpretation, and although even Carpenter's version uploaded here is preferably of the Eugene Ormandy's Transcription for Orchestra. This isn't J S Bach's music or intent, its a rather gross caricature or satire of the work. It's not a crime, but sacrilege, the only thing missing is a cuckoo stop, a kazoo stop, and a whoopee cushion on the organ bench. Yngwie Malsteen's version is more respectful. The organist for the 1976 version of Ritchie Blackmore's band Rainbow who played in Japan live the Dorian Toccata and Fugue straight up classical style was received more enthusiastically and much closer to Bach's intention. Just look at the expressions of the musicians' faces in the video; is it disgust, contempt, revulsion, or sheer boredom? Whatever they were feeling it wasn't admiration. Any one for fried calamari?
Carpenter reminds me of Virgil Fox with respect to the glitzy showmanship and going deep left field on interpretive style. And on a personal note, I hated so many of Fox's interpretations of Bach, and I feel the same way about Carpenter. But like Fox with the Rodgers 'Black Beauty', Carpenter is certainly bringing the organ to a broad audience that generally would not be hearing organ works with his M&O 'International Touring Organ'. So I wish him success on his tours, and I would see him in concert if the opportunity arose. As for myself, I'm sticking with E. Power Biggs for my Bach listening pleasure. P.S. With respect to comparing Carpenter to Fox in some respects, I should also point out a huge difference. Unlike Fox who spent a lot of time proclaiming himself the sole master of Bach and was basically a blowhard whom over time I came to dislike for his socially bad form, Carpenter is just putting his music out there for the audience to like or not. Good for him.
His technique is fabolous, and I love his recordings, BUT... I can’t get off the though that the man above the organ to the far left looks very much like Sviatoslav Richter.😂😂❤️
mudgebauer we must remember this was not a studio recording, and seemed to be recorded by a video camera or mobile phone in what was an open air concert therefore the acustics were bound to be out of wack. Yes, I've heard him play this piece much better, with which some would call more respect, but I don't care. He is moving the organ out of the dusty caverns of obscurity and I say bravo to that. Furthermore, it also seemed to be an encore piece and I've seen countless performers take their "liberties" to show off their technical prowess at such times. There is plenty of room for the sleepy to the avant garde, I find redemption in them all.
It's nice to hear differing interpretations of music, so you can decide which one you like the best!....though this sounds like an automation/ barrel organ on a fairground ride......to my ear ;0/...and notice the orchestras faces, watching the audience's faces!
yah -- ya gotta love it at 7:09 where the guy in the back of the orchestra puts his hands over his ears -- presumably reflecting what the guy who just got up and left was doing on the way out ...
I like it! He obviously put a lot of effort into the arrangement, adding double-speed flourishes in places, and played it like he intended. My only complaint is that that the orchestra didn't join in - maybe a bassoon playing one of the solo long notes instead of an organ key, and all of them playing at the end.
Yeah, he has his unique style, totally different and aside of other more classical styles. If you are used to hearing this piece like Bach comppossed it, with the original tempo, you'll be totally dissapointed, but that doesn't mean that he is a bad organist. I can understand that it sounds messy and all over the place, but that's part of his style. I like it, it's different and very transgressor :)
Just after the people walk out, watch the asides amongst the orchestra..!! The leavers obviously felt that they were standing by a town square barrel organ too.
@Nathan Camilleri Destroy? No way. Cameron doesn't mind actual pipe organs if I'm not mistaken. He only plays on his M&O tour organ, doesn't he? Anyway, thank you for your "greatest organs of the world" :)
Unglaublich, mit welcher Virtuosität der Mann vorträgt. Auch die Auswahl der Registratur ist einfach Spitze. Ich verstehe wirklich nicht, wie man für diese so brilliant und meisterhaft gespielte Interpretation so viele Dislikes bekommen kann.
Oh dear all you why criticise Carpenter it saddens me as I believe you are so limited in your musical appreciation and understanding! - This man is a genius he has so much to teach us
This is a great performance, but I would never try to adopt this - even if I could. It's a great concertshow performance, but wouldn't sound great on a Spotify recording, I think
For world-famous musicians who play many concerts a year, there is a certain default rate of 20 percent. This interpretation is part of it. I already heard this Bach from him better.
An interesting twist on a classic masterpiece. We've all heard it played properly so what is the harm in hearing his refreshing rendition of it? I think this guy has a pair to do what he did. Kudos. However, for the purists, he should also learn to play it exactly as written to gain more respect.
Personally, I don't like this version. Yes, a Toccata does allow for a certain amount of rubato and ornamentation. But one should at least be consistent. CC is all over the map playing here. Timing is off; his trills are terrible, and his changes of registration make no sense.
I love it. He is showing us something different; you can revolutionize, entertain and dare to experiment with other possibilities! He is reviving the art of playing when the time of the “music industry” is already dead. You only the most valuable asset: the passion and love to play, and to compose.
He brings to mind the wonderful show pianist Liberace. Cameron in my humble opinion is a truly great organist but has sadly fallen into the commercial trap of pleasing the masses. Lang Lang of the piano world springs to mind. Now with both I feel if they bring more people to the world of organ or piano then this is a jolly good thing indeed. People like me who are purists should shut up and simply hope that those brought to the organ or piano may begin to learn and appreciate the truly great players of these king of instruments. Although my toes curl while listening to Cameron I have to bare in mind that many people who would not normally listen to such music are indeed enjoying his skills. Pray hope they begin to understand why I do not think he is really that good. Learn more about what he is doing and please go to concerts of deeply respected performers. Thank you Cameron for bringing this music to a wider audience.
А мне очень понравилось, завораживает, открывает давно известное со всем с другой стороны. Я думаю Баху тоже бы понравилось. Ведь Бах был и сам большой экспериментатор. Представляете, что бы написал, сыграл, наделал бы шуму сам Бах были бы у него современные инструменты и их возможности.
Regardless of whether you like how CC plays, no one here can deny that he is a technically brilliant player. That said, I could barely get to the 1:30 mark before I had to take it off.
Greetings from the USA, California by the beach!This is the first piece of classical music I heard as a child of 11, I loved it then. I know his version is really disrespectful but it is SO fun!!! How about letting our hair down a little, it won t hurt, rock on 1!!!
Randall Dodds .I must agree: your digital observation is correct There is a fractional pause whilst the air gets to the reed, is that what it is perhaps?
It's very likely that CC knows how to play this piece as Bach had intended. Now for something completely different. How refreshing. When you're a master, you're allowed to break the rules.
I heard him yesterday at a Boston Symphony Orchestra concert playing the Barber Tocatta Festiva and a Terry Riley piece. His virtuosity is unquestioned and he is clearly a showman. As far as this performance of the Bach, one could say any number of things. But who can doubt his personal involvement in the music. And as far as his musical choices, isn't it a great thing that he can make us think about this music again, and just why we love it? He is provocative, no doubt, and that is a good thing. More power to him.
I CONCUR
@Arole Flynn ... and after removing the mud say: NOW you appreciate the art more., now you've seen how to make it ugly. That way you could reason that when you're feeling that your house is too small, you take a goat and a donkey and a pig in your house for a week or two, then mevo them out of your house and you say: God what is this place BIG man!
@Flynn News Blog amen
Flynn News Blog So how do you think Bach SHOULD be played?
@Flynn News Blog nicely put.
I agree.
He definitely Cameronized this Bach piece but that is why we are fascinated and love to hear and see him perform!
I don't know what Bach would have thought!
He would’ve thought “damn those 32’ stops speak fast”
Just listened again today: Cameron has been maturing. His more recent performances are relying more on musicianship and less on gimmickry. I also noticed the couple exiting mid-performance.
Decades ago, I heard Tom Hazelton play this piece. It was even more "theatrical".
outstanding musician, great original interpretation (like Stokowsky's orchestration), figuration, and articulation!
thank you.
Someone this talented is bound to be misunderstood and criticized for being unconventional. He’s brilliant!
He would be brilliant as a theater organist, that genre would be apropos to his talent. Leave the classic organ works to the HIP performers on pipe organs.
@@Renshen1957 Go whine somewhere else
@@Engineer9736 Struck a nerve, Richard? UA-cam's a public forum, and my opinion is no less important than yours, and every reason as good as yours to be here. (A bit of a snowflake, are you?) As to going somewhere else, make me!!! For every 3 people who saw this video, about 1/3 thumbed down his performance. So I am not alone, at this time: 770 have good taste, and 1.6k only have taste in their mouths. Have a Nice Day...
I respectfully disagree. There are more
Than a handful of missed notes throughout the playing. You can play with sounds and articulations as much as you want, but learn and present the actual notes of the piece properly first.
Also his imposition of his own countermelody near the end, unnecessary at best.
@@afdcomposer The countermelody, although unnecessary, isn't outside of 18th century performance practices, but who has the audacity to add to Bach's counterpoint?
Haters are going to hate. Virgil Fox was big on the heavy organ and Cameron Carpenter is big on the digital organ. Both are showmen in their own right. Virgil was the first to have a touring organ so that he can provide organ music to venues that couldn't provide an organ. Cameron is following in his footsteps.
To ALL great super master musicians here, only one question: can you compare Caravaggio with Jackson Pollock? Carpenter is a musician of 21st Century and even if his interpetation in discutible, he his a Contemporary Musician. He uses the instruments and the ideas of the 21st Century. Be open with your mind! Listen to him without comparing him with someone else that lived 400 or 500 years ago. He is an expression of our time and his interpretation of course is completely different.
I heartily concur. I have at least a dozen versions of this piece--many quite unique. George Gershwin got in trouble with his teachers for his unorthodox interpretations of classical pieces. However, it's that level of creativity and reinterpretation that is the hallmark of great performers and composers. Orthodoxy has its formal place, but there's no room for it in the truly creative domains. There's no reason to compare this performance to, say, that of Ton Koopman or E. Power Biggs, which stand in their own right. This is an interpretation, and you're free to like or dislike it. I certainly have my own tastes, too. :-)
Ofcourse you can, they're both painters so why not? Although this is more like a Pollock-wannabe splashing paint over a Caravaggio masterpiece and calling it an improvement.
beautiful interpretation of this stupendous work of bach
or a stupendous interpretation of a beautiful work of Bach ... ?
I agree with everyone that Mr. Carpenter is knowledgable and very skilled. And I agree that there are few like him at the present time. However, as I just discovered him last night and have listened to several videos of his playing. my overall impression is that classsical organ music is not an excuse to take violent, quick, sharp jabs at our ears. Knowledge and skill are tempered by an understanding of timing, duration, and restraint. The faster you play any instrument as complicated as an organ, or, for that matter, any music, is not the better. Your finesse and knowledge of how are not well demonstrated by a very violent approach to the what, the music. Your expertise is best demonstrated by the fierce tenderness and smoothness of a good lover who knows how to lovingly caress, linger when sensitivity bids it, or up the tempo at the proper time. Listening to Mr. Carpenter playing is like watching a hurried butcher chopping meat as fast as he can. Its really too bad. Virility is shown in a happy Rennaisance combination of many well- developed qualities, not just one. All I can say is, I was so glad when he stopped! I felt like a punching bag! Just cool it, and try to concentrate on what the music wants, not the physicality of playiing the instrument. Like a river, pools and rapids intersperse. Its not all rapids! Let the music show how it wants to move. Playing too fast does not give bliss and satisfaction. There is no melody in a barage of fierce noise that destroys the composer's intent. Nevertheless, he is an amazing artist. Just a few tweaks are in order. He knows what I mean. IMHO.
If you're going to listen to Cameron perform and complain about his interpretation of the work, you're missing the point of this superbly talented man.
Ending 565 on a major chord was a slap in Bach's face.
I heard a professor at a major university do that, and i wanted to punch her out afterwards.
no not really............ a lot of organist do it ....... Me either... I calls a picardy third or end ... it was really normal and common in the baroque practice. Like improvisation was normal... only Rusty petty bourgeois limited brains do not understand that .............. this guy is ahead of his time . limited frustrated anxious minds don't understand that.
@@AL-ns1jm Yeah, we know it was common Baroque, and earlier, practice, especially on the harpsichord. However, this so-called interpretation is still shit, no matter which you look at it. The organ he used here has no presence, no balls, and no subtlety; nor does his playing.
@@AL-ns1jm I rather enjoy what i hear than trying to stick to historic lecture. It’s D-minor and nothing else.
@@Engineer9736 smallminded
Grandissimo , mi piace questa interpretazione . Geniale , bravissimo e provocatorio . Dd
Bach interpreted with the whimsical air of early cinema. I like it.
LanceCampeau m
N
Excellent technique! But it's sounding like Nintendo game console.
Well, he DID call it a "Play Table" in another video...
Chances are the M&O organ is mixing itself and it’s being output to a stereo PA. Not the usual bank of Definitive Speakers he uses himself.
@@davidherbert9601 Yeah. I guess if the sound is spread out a bit with a bit more breathy reverb, it might be more pleasing to the ears.
@@vince71362 I guess he has his artistic rights. It's just that it's not great to my ears, that's all.
@@waihoong11 Same here. I do like Bach and this particular composition on the instrument it was intended for: A big many-ranked pipe organ. This sound is creepy. The original version/rendition sounds like what Bach intended: Sacred. Not religious. Far beyond that. This is totally creepy.
That extra little melody during the ending chords is a great invention of him :D Nice recording!
'A great invention'? Really? To add another line of counterpoint to Bach takes an awful lot of courage; this is just plain ugly, and shocking in its banality.
Douglas Amrine Everyone can have their opinion on it of course. Though a bit of variation after hearing the original piece 500 times is welcome for me.
@@DouglasAmrine I agree. Of course there are different views on how a composition should be interpreted.
But you should always keep the composer's intention in mind. What Carpenter is doing no longer has anything to do with Bach's opus.
This is a $million+ instrument, yet here it sounds like an 80’s video game.
Yeah
You nailed it!
Hear it in person and you will think about differently.
Cameron Carpenter ist ein genialer und ebenso virtuoser, wie gleichsam exentrischer Superkünstler.
Man muss das mögen, aber er ist unbestreitbar ein ganz Großer!
Madness and crazy genius
Fantastic. What a genius is this man!
Refreshing to hear CC's unique interpretation.
JSB would want people to add creativity into the organ world, as he did. It's good that someone is being innovative with this piece, and in fact, this is my personal favorite version of toccata and fugue for that reason. Anyone can have an opinion, but there's no fact to anything with music.
Agreed. This is merely an attempt to re-interpret a piece of music in his own style...as happens ad infinitum in the world of "popular" music. It's a Cameron Carpenter "cover" of a Bach classic. And since T&F in D is one of the most popular classical pieces, I don't see what the big deal is. If one wants to hear it played with appropriate baroque performance practices, there are literally hundreds of recordings to choose from. I don't "love" it or "hate" it, I just find it different, which is the point.
Not sure what Bach would think of this version, but he'd probably be amused that a bunch of old queens were triggered by it...and are claiming to protect the 'sanctity' of his musical legacy!
Awesome!
Say whatever you want, he is great performer. Yes, it’s unorthodox, but I like it. It’s alive and genuine. I’m sure Bach himself would enjoy it too.
Wow! I love it!
Unglaublich! Phantastisch! Danke!
I can not not love that man playing the organ :-). I also adore how so many people get their knickers in a twist over his interpretations. He makes the music a living thing, offers an interpretation we haven't heard before. I love it!
Might as well play the piece with "fart" samples, We've never heard that before.
@@dougretter1529 Maybe the fine arts are just not your thing. It’s ok, Doug, it’s not going to please everybody. That was never the point. We still love and admire you.
@@howardtreesong4860 Well, I majored on Organ and Trumpet and worked with some of the finest organ builders in the world. Does that make my opinion relevant?
@@dougretter1529 As I said, Doug, maybe the fine arts are just not your thing. Many people study topics they then find themselves incapable of enjoying, or it bores them, or they can’t find their proper expression. And that’s fine, I’m not wagging fingers.
Have you considered a career in engineering? Sword smithing, glass blowing? Maybe you would excel in the French Foreign Legion and find yourself a new way of life, something you had heretofore not considered as a path your life could take.
@@howardtreesong4860: Have you considered increasing your anti-psychotic medications?
What a speaker system ! Amazing.
GENIUS !!!!!
He can certainly play the organ,his interpretation of the music is unique as is his sense of timing,dramatic and unexpected,not entirely to my taste but still interesting.
im going on a binge through all of carmen's videos.
he's a master but damn is he tacky as all hell. snatched my bedazzeler right from under my bed
Hilarious, grotesque, provocative, outrageous! Those are all qualities I treasure. Love it! Keep it up, Cameron!
Wait till he repeats this with a striptease act where it fits.
Eine eigenwillige Intepretation! Es ist mir persönlich zu entfremdet. Im Orginal wirrkt es einfach stimmiger! Stellenweise hört es sich an wie Zirkusmusik.
Last time I heard this played was at a Virgil Fox concert which is my favorite piece of music. I watching some of your video's last night and was wishing you would play this piece. In my humble opinion you play like another Virgil Fox, this what I just watched and heard is just beyond the word masterpiece !!!!
Many compare him to Fox, which is sort of fair. However, Fox would get a bit sloppy at times, this guy is generally more precise.
Cette interprétation est une toccata "revisitée" par un surdoué de la musique.... un vrai virtuose. Même si j'aime beaucoup les interprétations "classiques" de BACH sur les orgues d'église, j'apprécie ici une version modernisée avec une touche sûre de génie. Il dérange et aussi, il enthousiasme et force l'admiration. Je pense vraiment que BACH aurait aimé ce clin d’œil s'il vivait aujourd'hui car si l'on est attentif, Bach, dans ses œuvres, a de beaux clins d’œil et il a osé à son époque des compositions et des phrasés qui dérangeaient par leur modernité que l'on peut reconnaître parfois dans le jazz. Je suis pourtant, depuis des dizaines d'années, passionné et admirateur de BACH et de musique baroque et pourtant ici, je dis "BRAVO" à l'interprète.
There are many organists who play the Toccata and Fugue in D minor.
But only Cameron Carpenter brings the masterpiece to life. Bach would enjoy it. 🙂🙏❤
I can't believe some of the negative comments. Sounds thin? Well how was this recorded - outdoors and probably on a cell phone. Lost tempo? That's called playing with you soul. I could go on.
Suscribete & Comenta!!!
Comparte & Dale a la Campanita de Notificaciones!!
I wonder whether there is some Cameron Carpenter hate community somewhere online, chasing every single video of Carpenter, flooding the comments section. The amount of hate is not normal.
Astonishing!
It seems that most people agree that Cameron has talent and technical ability. But opinion is divided on his interpretation of established organ pieces (like BWV 565) with a majority of online folk hating his radical reconstructions. If I was his manager, I'd suggest Cameron splits his concert into a traditional performance of organ standards equally mixed with original flashy material of his own.
...and get rid of the distracting haircut!
Why do the musicians look so mad I don't think they like this guy
cloma clim because they are musical prisoners of war!
They see and hear an absolute masterpiece being murdered I guess?
Let's face it: when musicians hear someone ruin golden music they simply hate the person.
Well, he starts off by missing a note in the first couple of bars. That's a little sloppy.
Because it's shit
Great! Close your eyes and listen again.
Sooooo conflicted by him. He's the most proficiently brilliant organist I've ever seen yet I can't stand most of his interpretations of Bach's works.....
Open your mind!
Appreciating the way CC plays Bach is not a crime against the Grand Master. It is a proof that you are mature enough, to accept other points of view, different than the ones who rule the way to play Bach since 300 years.
That does not mean CC has, by now, to be considered the new absolute way to play Bach.
You are not conflicted by him. You are conflicted by yourself, because you're afraid to fully consider a baroque piece played in a non-baroque style. But this is possible! It is always interesting, and sometimes it is great, even if yes, sometimes it is not.
You doesn't need to feel conflicted. IT IS NOT A CRIME AGAINST BACH :) :) :)
Aaron Barr
Here's the thing, technical proficiency is objective; either you can play the notes in the order composed and change registrations or you can't. However, the choices one makes in interpreting how to play those notes is subjective, both to the musician and the listener. I'm not at all afraid to consider a different interpretation of a given work but it doesn't follow that having considered it, I have to like it. That's the very nature of something being subjective.
+Aaron Bar, trust your emotions. Their genuine, to thy own-self be true. Technical virtuosity, yes, but the only taste Cameron Carpenter has, as concerns J S Bach's music, is in Cameron's mouth. The performance isn't for the edification of the listener, rather it's to glorify Carpenter's klavier skills. No one needs rescue BWV 565 from obscurity. The opening motif is by consensus the most widely recognized Organ piece in the world.
+General Ackbar. Virgil Fox played in a similar manner, it wasn't generally accepted or appreciated by most organ listeners, but Fox had his adherents (even the ones at the light shows stoned and/or frying at the time). Frankly, the Theater Organ registration isn't anyway as interesting as Hans Wurman's Moog Strikes Bach interpretation, and although even Carpenter's version uploaded here is preferably of the Eugene Ormandy's Transcription for Orchestra. This isn't J S Bach's music or intent, its a rather gross caricature or satire of the work. It's not a crime, but sacrilege, the only thing missing is a cuckoo stop, a kazoo stop, and a whoopee cushion on the organ bench. Yngwie Malsteen's version is more respectful. The organist for the 1976 version of Ritchie Blackmore's band Rainbow who played in Japan live the Dorian Toccata and Fugue straight up classical style was received more enthusiastically and much closer to Bach's intention. Just look at the expressions of the musicians' faces in the video; is it disgust, contempt, revulsion, or sheer boredom? Whatever they were feeling it wasn't admiration.
Any one for fried calamari?
Carpenter reminds me of Virgil Fox with respect to the glitzy showmanship and going deep left field on interpretive style. And on a personal note, I hated so many of Fox's interpretations of Bach, and I feel the same way about Carpenter. But like Fox with the Rodgers 'Black Beauty', Carpenter is certainly bringing the organ to a broad audience that generally would not be hearing organ works with his M&O 'International Touring Organ'. So I wish him success on his tours, and I would see him in concert if the opportunity arose. As for myself, I'm sticking with E. Power Biggs for my Bach listening pleasure.
P.S. With respect to comparing Carpenter to Fox in some respects, I should also point out a huge difference. Unlike Fox who spent a lot of time proclaiming himself the sole master of Bach and was basically a blowhard whom over time I came to dislike for his socially bad form, Carpenter is just putting his music out there for the audience to like or not. Good for him.
melody at 8:44 in upper pedals is awesome...is that in the original music?
BRAVO
His technique is fabolous, and I love his recordings, BUT... I can’t get off the though that the man above the organ to the far left looks very much like Sviatoslav Richter.😂😂❤️
The best !
The volume on this video is too low. It should be loud! Bombastic, thrilling! Exciting!
It is bombastic, thrilling and exciting. Just get an amplifier ;-) A personal shortage of audio equipment..
Richard van Pukkem im too poor to afford one. could you send me one for christmas¿ tanx
mudgebauer we must remember this was not a studio recording, and seemed to be recorded by a video camera or mobile phone in what was an open air concert therefore the acustics were bound to be out of wack. Yes, I've heard him play this piece much better, with which some would call more respect, but I don't care. He is moving the organ out of the dusty caverns of obscurity and I say bravo to that. Furthermore, it also seemed to be an encore piece and I've seen countless performers take their "liberties" to show off their technical prowess at such times. There is plenty of room for the sleepy to the avant garde, I find redemption in them all.
So sehr ich Carpenter mag und bewundere, diese Interpretation ist einfach Grotte!
Habe 2015 in Korbach eine deutlich bessere Interpretation von BWV 565 von ihm gehört. Keine Ahnung, was ihn in Nürnberg geritten hat.
All pomp and no circumstance
This may be the best UA-cam comment I've ever seen.
It's nice to hear differing interpretations of music, so you can decide which one you like the best!....though this sounds like an automation/ barrel organ on a fairground ride......to my ear ;0/...and notice the orchestras faces, watching the audience's faces!
*He can play it even better on the fartorgan but you have to stand right next to the speakers to hear it.*
yah -- ya gotta love it at 7:09 where the guy in the back of the orchestra puts his hands over his ears -- presumably reflecting what the guy who just got up and left was doing on the way out ...
BRAVO ! BRAVO !
bellissima musica!
WOW!
I like it! He obviously put a lot of effort into the arrangement, adding double-speed flourishes in places, and played it like he intended. My only complaint is that that the orchestra didn't join in - maybe a bassoon playing one of the solo long notes instead of an organ key, and all of them playing at the end.
Yeah, he has his unique style, totally different and aside of other more classical styles. If you are used to hearing this piece like Bach comppossed it, with the original tempo, you'll be totally dissapointed, but that doesn't mean that he is a bad organist. I can understand that it sounds messy and all over the place, but that's part of his style. I like it, it's different and very transgressor :)
conflicted and amazed....his interpretation and use of "colors" is refreshing to me.... although I am a Bach purist.....
This nonsense is about as refreshing as a cold glass of sewer water in the summer.
Loooool
Just after the people walk out, watch the asides amongst the orchestra..!!
The leavers obviously felt that they were standing by a town square barrel organ too.
Showman? One should realize that people who perform in public dress for the occasion. Cameron is not boring.
Excelente
According to Carpenter's "interpretation", he patently renamed the work -- Toccata and Fugue in Some key, by Johnny Sebnasty Notbach
He is brillant!
Not for the purists. But I think Bach would appreciate that his music is still being celebrated more than 250 years after his death.
Wow, pretty cool 😎😁
Bet your Mom is proud of you! I I'm amazed! Kee[ Playing and maybe I can catch a concert here in the USA!
You are lucky.
No concert in France :(
@Nathan Camilleri Destroy? No way. Cameron doesn't mind actual pipe organs if I'm not mistaken. He only plays on his M&O tour organ, doesn't he?
Anyway, thank you for your "greatest organs of the world" :)
Unglaublich, mit welcher Virtuosität der Mann vorträgt.
Auch die Auswahl der Registratur ist einfach Spitze.
Ich verstehe wirklich nicht, wie man für diese so brilliant und meisterhaft gespielte Interpretation so viele Dislikes bekommen kann.
lol its like he likes to get people triggered
It's far from how I once learned to play this or even could not this fast, but I somehow liked this peculior weired funny version! Haha. thanks! 👍
Oh dear all you why criticise Carpenter it saddens me as I believe you are so limited in your musical appreciation and understanding! - This man is a genius he has so much to teach us
Well done and fantastic play in the modern way and if Bach was alive Cameron probably was his most talented pedalpupil
This is a great performance, but I would never try to adopt this - even if I could. It's a great concertshow performance, but wouldn't sound great on a Spotify recording, I think
a carricature of bach
This. Is. So. Unique. Thanks, Cameron!!
For world-famous musicians who play many concerts a year, there is a certain default rate of 20 percent. This interpretation is part of it. I already heard this Bach from him better.
👏👏👏👏👏❤️
An interesting twist on a classic masterpiece. We've all heard it played properly so what is the harm in hearing his refreshing rendition of it? I think this guy has a pair to do what he did. Kudos. However, for the purists, he should also learn to play it exactly as written to gain more respect.
Personally, I don't like this version. Yes, a Toccata does allow for a certain amount of rubato and ornamentation. But one should at least be consistent. CC is all over the map playing here. Timing is off; his trills are terrible, and his changes of registration make no sense.
la tocatta y fuga es aplastante ominosa y celestial todo a un tiempo y aca veo solo unos adornos de cumpleaños
I love it. He is showing us something different; you can revolutionize, entertain and dare to experiment with other possibilities! He is reviving the art of playing when the time of the “music industry” is already dead. You only the most valuable asset: the passion and love to play, and to compose.
He brings to mind the wonderful show pianist Liberace. Cameron in my humble opinion is a truly great organist but has sadly fallen into the commercial trap of pleasing the masses. Lang Lang of the piano world springs to mind.
Now with both I feel if they bring more people to the world of organ or piano then this is a jolly good thing indeed. People like me who are purists should shut up and simply hope that those brought to the organ or piano may begin to learn and appreciate the truly great players of these king of instruments. Although my toes curl while listening to Cameron I have to bare in mind that many people who would not normally listen to such music are indeed enjoying his skills.
Pray hope they begin to understand why I do not think he is really that good. Learn more about what he is doing and please go to concerts of deeply respected performers.
Thank you Cameron for bringing this music to a wider audience.
good cassoulet and verry nice discomobile plus! but we now that you're the best djd31 ever!!
super cassoulet!
Yeah. The Violinists look thrilled, I bet even the violists were pleased.
А мне очень понравилось, завораживает, открывает давно известное со всем с другой стороны. Я думаю Баху тоже бы понравилось. Ведь Бах был и сам большой экспериментатор. Представляете, что бы написал, сыграл, наделал бы шуму сам Бах были бы у него современные инструменты и их возможности.
So foltert man Musiker, die Gesichter der Musiker sagen alles!
..... zeigen was man kann.
Einfach schreckliche Registrierung
Jojoviolone
Die ganze Orgel taugt nicht wirklich was für verwöhnte Ohren. Sie klingt so trocken, wenn Sie verstehen was ich meine.
Bach and the mad scientist :D
I'm very fond of his ability and brilliance, but this powerful full throttle piece was castrated to a dance of mice..
Exactly. It's meant to weaken ones knees.
I can say that I have never imagined Bach's BVW 565 like this...
And I though the Yamaha GX-1 was badass. That thing is right up there with it!
Regardless of whether you like how CC plays, no one here can deny that he is a technically brilliant player. That said, I could barely get to the 1:30 mark before I had to take it off.
Wow! Any performer that can make one disrobe in a public music hall has to be pretty darn good.
I am a HUGE CC fan... this was rotted.
Why does he play everything staccato?
It makes him cooler than all the church-bound musicians he criticizes so much.
@Nathan Camilleri i know I was just being sarcastic. I think Cameron Carpenter is an annoying attention getter.
It's funny. I like it.
So the orchestra was merely for show??
Greetings from the USA, California by the beach!This is the first piece of classical music I heard as a child of 11, I loved it then. I know his version is really disrespectful but it is SO fun!!! How about letting our hair down a little, it won t hurt, rock on 1!!!
One sacrilegious boi
Too choppy and the digital organ could and should never replace a true chapel organ.
Randall Dodds .I must agree: your digital observation is correct There is a fractional pause whilst the air gets to the reed, is that what it is perhaps?
It's very likely that CC knows how to play this piece as Bach had intended. Now for something completely different. How refreshing. When you're a master, you're allowed to break the rules.
So much talent that he put into defacing some of the best trills in this Bach piece
INTERESTING....