Cameron Carpenter - Bach's Fugue in B Minor (Live at SFJAZZ)
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
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Lauded by the New Yorker as “a young superstar,” Cameron Carpenter has done so much more than merely ruffle the feathers of the organ’s stodgy establishment - the 33-year-old virtuoso has taken a sledgehammer to organ conventions while forcing the cloistered organ world to acknowledge his iconoclastic vision. With the introduction of his groundbreaking International Touring Organ, he is solely responsible for the first significant advance in his instrument’s development in over a century. Watch Cameron Carpenter perform Bach's Fugue in B minor at the SFJAZZ Center.
"In a nutshell, it's a lifelong dream of mine to have an organ that I could have the same relationship with as a violinist or a saxophonist. Infrastructurally, the pipe organ has always made that impossible, but technology, of course, has a way of catching up with these things."
- Cameron Carpenter on his International Touring Organ
He really is the greatest organist in the World. Perhaps the greatest ever. Thank you Cameron for allowing the rest of us, green with envy, to witness such great talent...
Thank you for watching our new series 'In My Mind'! We recently revamped our in-house digital platform 'SFJAZZ At Home 2.0'! Tons of new content like this lives there. Check us out at SFJAZZ.org/AtHome
Thanks, Sir Elton, for directing me to this sublime artist. Love you Elton!
This guy is spell-binding in his work. Highly recommend if you like organ music and the demonstration of extreme talent one could only dream about having.
yes - but in a NIGHTMARE
So many people seem to love to grip about Cameron and I have not loved all of his arrangements but this was really nice. Fun to watch because you can really see what he’s doing. Not everybody can operate a beast like that, he’s pretty good. He is playing three keyboards at least three keyboards at the same time.
playing 3 manuals and the pedals all whilst operating various presets and stops on the fly.
@@jhonwask thats pretty normal for an organist
Cameron is a badass. IDGAF what u say
My favorite organist!!!I have never heard Bach so emotional like this before!Thank you CC.We hope you visit Nigeria someday soon
please find some performances by virgil fox and compare...
Say what you want - he is an artist
As a musician who plays pianos keys and guitar I must give Cameron my blessing one of the best organist on earth and this is coming from a Jamaican music producer
I can't believe how tame the applause is at the end.
It might be shock
I was at that concert! Just wonderful!
This is outstanding. I mean the piece itself is obv unimpeachable, that interpretation is truly imaginative and exciting and that performance has to be the result of countless hours of meticulous practice combined with amazing talent. 10/10
DERANGED
Love how we can really hear all the dfferent voices, because of the timbres he uses. It may not be so grandious as we used to when listening listening to from a pipe organ but i like it. Strangely good
absolutely mindblowing talent!
and so why does he fail, continually, to represent the organ to the general public as joshua bell does the violin?
ganz grosse Klasse. Herr Carpenter ist sicher einer oder der bedeutendste Organist der Jetzt-Zeit!!
the ultimate interpretation. Die letztendlichen Auslegung! 😊
CC obviously has complete awareness about the choices he makes. I am always impressed that he is able to deliver clarity of the score through the way he orchestrates the passages. Obviously his mastery of the pieces he plays is undeniable. However I think sometimes this overzealous penchant to constantly play the presets as well as the music gets in the way of the music, and he probably is aware of this anyway. I‘m not as familiar with this piece as some other Bach organ pieces, so I can‘t really criticize on that level, but he adds notes in other pieces which is amazing enough on its own, that to me clutter things up a bit, and it sometimes tends towards a sideshow of sorts rather than drives forward with the relentless nature of Bach‘s music, which is more like a metal band than a carnival to me. But, as I said, CC makes his choices with full awareness, he knows what he is doing, and is quite capable of performing everything he plays in all manner of ways, that is why I absolutely love what he does. He is an explorer of possibilities as much as he is a master of music and he is not afraid to explore them with the public.
You are being way to kind. This miscreant is completely deranged and is PLAYING US.
Went to concert of his in Burlington Canada April 2018: Loved it. I'm as conservative as it gets but his freedom to improvise on Bach of all people is amazing. How anyone could write negatively here is beyond my understanding. Bravo to you & your GENIUS!
with all respect, his "freedom" comes, not from him, but from the "rules" of the baroque era itself. interpretation was LEFT TO THE PERFORMER. that said, no one hesitates to deride virgil fox for doing the SAME THING.
@@josephgraif2588 your profile picture looks fake.
Agreed!
you are not conservative, my friend
I have always loved Bach's organ works. I could only imagine would he could do with a modern pipe organ.
virgil fox proposed the same over 50 years ago and nobody supported him. why support this fraud now?
We're certainly all entitled to our opinion, but no one can argue with this man's talent, intellect, or with the fact he derives the most out of the instrument. People may disagree on musical style, or choice of registration, etc. But these issues are a matter of subjective opinion. No one ever made a monument to a critic. The main purpose of music will always be to move and inspire the soul. This man's music accomplishes this for many people, inspiring many who would usually never give the organ the time of day. As a professional musician, my personal style and preference in music tends to be much more conservative, but it is easy for me to recognize and appreciate this man's contributions. Well done, Cameron.
well said. i can see how it's really easy to hate on the dude (see h3h3's react vid) but you can't deny the guy has a lot of talent.
'No one ever made a monument to a critic.' - Guess you've never heard of Immanuel Kant, or any other famous critic then. Far more famous than this idiot will ever be. Also you're projecting his stilted speech into being intellectual. He is not an intellectual, he is a sociopath / psychopath, the stilted speech is symptomatic of it. Listen to his mother speak (he's obviously a child of a single mother, look at him, so father is out of the question) and then listen to him. Note a difference? Wonder why? Stilted speech.
He's a twat, but a talented twat. He ain't gonna change jack shit.
I'm arguing with his talent and intellect. He's a pretentious twat without an ounce of musicality.
musically tho it sucks , it sounds like it has been played by car horns harmonizing in traffic
I came here not expecting to hear such talent! Good job mate
He is the most impressive player i've heard, I could watch and listen all day. His talent blows my mind and if he is to ever come to Arizona i'll be there!
still sounds incredible despite what people may say honestly.
Did any of you critics actually attend one of Cameron's performances? If not, I would suggest that you do so, because you are missing not only a great musical performance, but also one of the best ambassadors for classical music that I've seen in a long, long time. One may argue with Cameron's "impure" style of play and his heretical organ. But having attended baroque music performances for about 40 years, I would say his performance and the ITO was absolutely fantastic. And his extemporaneous talk was remarkable. Equally important was the diversity of the crowd. If one attends a Bach Festival anywhere, you will likely see me... and the same bunch of old white people with walkers (my peers). I saw Cameron at both Stanford and SF Jazz and the audience was full of all kinds and ages of people, fully engaged and enthralled-- hence the standing ovations. Every young person he introduces to Bach or Scriabin (yes... on the organ), is a new convert to both classical music and the joys of the organ. I will see him and the ITO every chance I get. I encourage you to do the same.
Why would I want to pay good money to hear him mangle Bach like this?!
yes... i watched him become "lost" in the d major fugue and repeat a 16-bar sequence three times, wearing his shredded t-shirt and cowboy boots.
No one here is saying he isn't talented, or isn't an ambassador. Just that he's pretentious af.
joseph graif a fugue as guiltily self-indulgent as that perhaps warrants some artistic wandering, or perhaps, I suppose, he could just be... no there’s no way he could a HUMAN BEING with physical limitations, sentience and irrational yet sincere emotions.
Love what u do, esp bcoz its radically different. Not conservative. Bravo
isn't bach as conservative as it gets? lol
Beautiful! 🌹
Bach was from a different universe. A gift from the heavens. Much like Einstein.
agreed! timeless music, that continues to be re-imagined.
He is a consummate musician and performer.. these videos don’t really capture the true Sonics of this instrument. I offered to record his performance in immersive 12.1 Surround last year in LA. I still regret that it did not work out. A VR of him would be extraordinary.🎶🎹
I have a lot of respect for J. S. - Bach🙏 That guy was, I don't know how to subscribe. Bach had completely different view. Really complex and so many dimensions. It is also so organic and flows in a peaceful way.
Thank You Cameron🙏😊
I love BACH so much that even the changes to me wonderful and I think the great man would have enjoyed the performance
Saw C.C. twice in Houston TX. The church organ IN CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL and his mobile instrument!. Carpenter has
become a touchstone to the classical for me.
For me, this guy is about 40 years too late, as fellow countryman (Carlo Curley) was touring the UK in the late 70's with his Allen Digital Touring Organ which cost around £50,000 back then. He would regularly fill the Alexandra Palace Great Hall with an audience of 4000 people on a Sunday afternoon, whilst also introducing other amazing artists to play at the same time such as Jane Parker Smith, Nicholas Kynaston and Pierre Cochereau to name but three! And if you want to go back even further then Virgil Fox who was Carlo's teacher was doing the very same thing a generation before that
Cameron Carpenter...O Melhor do Mundo....
Fantastic
Thank you for your performance with the Minnesota orchestra on April 20, 2018. It was awesome!
Vous êtes formidable, merci, quel plaisir
Some of the stops he's playing reminds me of the sound of the grand organ of the Basilica of sts. Peter and Paul.
Pretty amazing!
I think Bach would of been enchanted with what Camron has done with this piece.... to those detractors.... (if you can do better then Camron then I suggest you put forth a challenge to him.... Im sure he would be glad accept the challenge) Thank You Camron for sharing your talents... You are a God sent in a day and age of pessimism...
Always such inspiration performances by Cameron Carpenter. :)
Sir Elton John brought me here, who speaks very highly of Carpenter. Sir John compares Carpenter to the likes of JS Bach and Virgil Fox.
Genius. Nuff said. Genius
If we drop the some expression and leave a terrific phrasings , we are got a very interesting Bachs reading . For Me as a proponent of classical perception, his articulation is very close to me. Thanks Carpenter!
Carpenter's music is one of the very few I absolutely can't listen to on UA-cam. The first time I heard him was live in Berlin, and compared to that the sound quality on UA-cam is just awful. Despite this particular video having a very high quality on the YT scale, there is still too much missing.
Thirianna I agree....it sounds stilted and affected. There is simply no need to jump around changing sounds.....Bach is continuum...trance like in its ascendant quality. This interpretation is more about showing off than expressing Bach’s heart and soul.
You completely misinterpreted what OP was saying, Melissa.
GradeAoverA Thank you. I’m not alone with my critical ear then?!
GradeAoverA I have just listened to the opening bars of Toccata & Fugue by Maestro Biggs and I cannot quite understand why his playing has breaths and staccato notes when Bach didn’t not indicate that. I play this piece myself on the organ and to me it needs to be completely legato, seamless in it’s linking to bring out and carry the emotion on a wave that is the beautiful musical journey Bach created!
GradeAoverA well, the whole point of composing for organ is to invoke a deep vast emotional palette (as opposed to harpsichord which invokes something other.) Bach might be open to interpretation but once you p,at him you get the feeling that it should be a seamless flow of legato....as much as is humanly possible without ‘smudging’ notes. It recoil from staccato and superfluous tempo changes ....I.e. trying to overly emote when the music does it for you if played evenly with the required dynamics. So, you’ve made me think Mr. Grade A!! Isn’t it hard to comprehend his productive output, his massive body of work.....in the days pre-printer, pre-auto transport, pre-internet....all the challenges of writing and notating in damp barely-lit churches!?!! Happy Easter!
This is amazing! I don't know anything about music but it sounds like there's an entire orchestra playing
It s like hearing angels singing. So beautiful. Amazing.
I have heard keyboard purists say the pipe organ is too mechanical to express real emotion, that piano only allows for true expression because while also mechanical, it allows nuances the pipe organ
cannot. Well this instrument and Cameron's genius lay that argument to rest, buried too deep to be used again by honest purists.
This piece demonstrates this perfectly and gloriously. One hasn't lived until the sound of a fully opened pipe organ rattles your sternum and the sound waves emanating from the pipes feel like your very cells are being rearranged. This organ does that
magnificently!
Makes me wonder what Bach would be able to do with a modern organ.
Or with an Electric guitar. Or a synthesizer. Maybe even just modern grand pianos
I still like real baroque instruments. You can sample till the cows come home but never duplicate real instruments. I'm not complaining because this guy is good on his instrument and will listen to all his recordings on youtube. It's guys like this that can bring classical music back into the mainstream. You go Cameron Carpenter! We will be watching.
Much more than this. :D
Lurker1979 Exactly!!
@@ronb6182 and what modern instrumentalists are playing "real baroque" instruments? not joshua bell or evgeny kissin. why is the organ held to a different standard? please explain...
Eine Reklame ist ein Barbarismus! Unmőglich!
I think live recordings on an electronic digital organ like this have too many hybrid sounds that are more annoying than most of us are ready for. Furthermore, I think they detract from the genius that you are. A Rogers with midi capabilities might show off your true intentions even better. Regardless, I think you are shaking the world and breathing new life into the whole world of music. Bless you on your way into the creation of 'that' perfect instrument your soul already hears and knows... that shall be. Sincerely. CVD
Charles Davis, the organ sounds like it does because he designed it to sound and perform as it does! The experimental pipe sounds, some which had not been thought of until Cameron thought of them first had never been executed until now. After stuck playing organs by Rodgers, Allen, Johannus and several other digital builders, he was wasn't satisfied until he had his own instrument reflecting his tonal ideals.
Loved every second🌹
Hated every single note 🤮
@@sureevennot3418 someone has no knowledge about musical harmony
@@IceKrabik Someone has no idea what Bach's music is. He made a lampoon of baroque music.
@@sureevennot3418 i dont see how it is a bad thing, he took early baroque and medieval and made them three times more advanced so it wasnt understood until hundreds of years later, you probably dont know what you are talking about, mainstream baroque music was boring and extremely repetitive outside of a few composers like Bach
He is the musician and can have his own interpretation of bach or other composers. I don't necessarily know where I stand because this is all new to me.
good taste brought me here - super
Mix Claire Coci's fashionable transparent organ bench and snobery plus Anthony Newman's "unequal notes" and Virgil Fox's verve or nerve and you get Cameron Carpenter!
but it is a prelude and fugue, not only fugue
bwv 544 for those who wonder
This is insane and I love it, but he missed switching on the big pipes for the pedal entry at 11:02, you can see the quick way he recovers it, but even .5 seconds is too late for this kind of music and these entries. This is the point in the composition where the descending sequence of notes that Bach has picked out of the main fugue begins to infuse the rest of the work and drives it to the stunning climax.
Hello Cameron,I really love your style of play, especially with the pedals! Anyways, could I make a special request?
there's no doubt this guy is extremely talented, but this definitely sounds like it's straight out of the stardew valley soundtrack
It looks like he has a memory lapse and improvises a major part of the end of the fugue...
YES! This isn't Bach's text. WTF
Yeah. He’s done that before. He takes some liberty with the actual text.
@@embott1 it's not " liberty with the actual text", it's really a memory lapse but he tried to fix it with a small improvised part. And he did the best what he could do in this situation.
Very funny.
Bogdan Reincke His problem happened because of a registration glitch,
I was at your private concert today for zansville schools
Que maravilla de hombre
It's Prélude and Fugue in B minor actually
hi guy,,,,,, wonderful once again,,, i love your playing so much. In the past i've not been nice to you with comments,,, sorry. Only reason why, is because i'm jealous, Hope all is well.
the h3h3 video bought me here
Jason Leonard lol me too and the guy is pretentious as fuck but I’m actually digging this....
Jason Leonard Papa bless...
Same here. I thought why not. After I've heard it, it's simply: why... It's painfully bad. (And now I understand why I've never heard his name before here, in Europe.)
@@vecseisz1365 he's compositions are pretty good... But then again. Not everyone appreciate organs because of their sound. I don't blame you
Tbh I'm glad h3h3 lead me here. His compositions are pretty good. I mean the vid h3h3 showed may have had him look like a bowie wanna be douche but his playing and writing is pretty darn well arranged
Sir Elton John brought me here from his interview on Classic FM
OMG me too!
Same lol
He may seem a little insane but he’s obv very good.
He's absolutely brilliant 😊
The guy just missed his first order as a youth and buyed 888 keys piano, so he just learnt to play this way
I hope I will play organ ones.
I always like listening to him talk about music. Just so knowledgeable:)
top 10 in the world, gotta be
Ah yes, Carpenter Carpenter, my favorite 21st century organist
@fuckoff hater
He has become my favorite organist on UA-cam, The first time I heard him perform was Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, one of the standard works for accomplished organists. I had never heard it played the way he performed it, and I have heard it at least 50 times, not including the numerous times I myself performed it. I found myself giving him a "dislike", something I rarely ever do. Ten minutes later I changed it to a "Like", and have never looked back. Mr. Carpenter is a tremendous artist and his virtuosity at the organ cannot be questioned, even by those purists who think that a performer should mechanically play the notes on the sheet music. I am never disappointed in his artistry and am somewhat disappointed that there are those like Thirianna who cannot appreciate the talent of this man. Oh well, her loss.
I thought the row of keys lowest are only for decoration till he tapped them.
That was amazing.
Johann Sebastian Bach - Prelude and Fugue in B minor BWV 544 (1731)
I like him a genius, without partituur hi can it and is also another fachionista I'm there fan of it's also a magic organ
virgil fox did this over 50 years ago...
Papa bless
I've never seen an organist play with a hand spanning 2 different manuals. Of course, my Mom played an organ with only 2 manuals. This was very expressive and harmonically pleasant.
Cross-manualing is a pretty standard playing technique.
Yep, there's one video of Wanamakers where you see Peter Richard Conte playing a big Wagner transcription, with his hands at one point on manuals 2 and 5, thumbing down to 1 and 4 AND fingering up to 3 and 6...
Amaaazing. Is he also playing from memory??
Cameron Carpenter is to music what Ann Coulter is to journalism.
That's either the best of compliments or the worst of insults.
Absolutely outstanding. Great stuf Cameron :-D
Wow
Difficult to find a performance of 544 online that's up to speed; everyone seems to be struggling with it, even Ton Koopman (here), the king of the Bach trill. ua-cam.com/video/Db9DR-bmb2A/v-deo.html
Mr Carpenter is right about one thing: this fugue, like many another of Bach's, proceeds toward a wonderful crescendo. I just prefer the composer's straightforward approach (if you will,) not anyone's romantic pastiche of same.
よーし！ 良かったぞ、良かったぞ。多くのエクスプレションもある。
Ouch @11:12
Lots of haters on this channel. Word of advice, drop the pretentiousness. Its not pretty. The thing about art, including musical art, is that it is all in the mind of the creator/artist. Just because you don't agree or don't like it doesn't mean its not "good". Unless you have spent time ruminating around in his brain, don't expect to have any credibility.
I have over one half century with the music. I have "ruminated, " "meditate", and lived and breathed this work (yes I play the organ)," and could fully expound on the counterpoint J S Bach uses in the Fugue. I could go as far as to recite the stops Cameron chose and the schools of organ building they originate from. His stop choices and performance are the antithesis of J S Bach. As to pretentiousness, Cameron Carpenter's various comments have that market cornered by the hectare full.
With that one half century of "experience", wouldn't it be appropriate to admit that you probably don't know 'everything' thing there is to know about this piece, and additionally, your experientially based interpretation of this work is just that, an interpretation. Unless you have personally spoken with Herr Bach, then you are doing what everyone else does, which is to try to make educated guesses based on a limited range of knowledge. Having been a pianist for well over 40 years, I know that we get to a place where we think we "know" but, just when we get to that place, we discover that we didn't know quite as much as we thought that we did. Regarding Mr. Carpenter, I doubt that he is even trying to "do things the way that they have always been done". He is "interpreting". Again, I hold to my previous advice: drop the pretentiousness. If you don't like his interpretation, fine, don't like it. But please don't set yourself up to be the voice of judgement. Its not a pretty sight.
Herr Bach's zweite sohn CPE wrote extensively in his Treatise on the True Art Keyboard Playing on his father's methods, as well with description in the 1752 Nekrolog (Obituary).
Johann Mattheson a contemporary J S Bach wrote on Tempo in his Das neu-eröffnete Orchestre, Hamburg 1713 and Der vollkommene Capellmeister. Hamburg 1739 on Tempo indications. Johann Kirnberger, a student of J S Bach between 1739 and 1741, likewise wrote on Tempo indications in Die Kunst des reinen Satzes in der Musik (The Art of Strict Composition in Music, 1774, 1779), which although much later, confirmed what Mattheson had written earlier, as both based their work on Praetorius's writings from the 17th century. Mattheson's aspects of tempos was drawn from contemporary practice, Kirnberger as was taught by J S Bach.
Bach's manuscripts rarely contain Italian tempo indications, and from these scores the time signatures determine the speed at which a piece is to be played, as was the common practice in Germany, and as confirmed by both Mattheson and Kirnberger. Quantz (a contemporary C P E Bach) wrote of the practice as well as tempo indications based on a pulse of 80 beats per minute. Some aspect of tempos and ornamentation have been extrapolated from mechanical instruments such as barrel organs, and musical clocks, the former include some aspects as to ornaments (C P E Bach wrote a number for Frederick the Great). J S Bach did use the phrase Tempo Giusto in one of the 48, which would confirm that the use of Tempo Ordinario in his other pieces. The key signature, the major or minor mode, and the note values would modify the tempo, however, we can more achieve than "an educated guess."
There is more than educated guesses, involved, as to organ stops, nearly every organ that J S Bach was played, was organists, or had connection with have well been document. Although J S Bach combined these in new an interesting ways according to his contemporaries, Bach never used American string stops alla Æolian-Skinner Organ which date from the early 20th through mid-century, have practically zero in common with Viola Da Gamba stops available to J S Bach which at twice the cost of flute stops or principal stops weren't commonly built. True, the number of references in manuscript of J S Bach to registration are few and far between, but J S Bach did not have General Pistons (to change stops) at the frequency that Carpenter changes as it would have been physically impossible, even with an assistant at the organ console.
I agree with you that Cameron Carpenter in that he has no interest in history, no interest in being true to the composer's intention, or being anything other than an iconoclast (as witnessed by theater organ stops). You might say I have put words into your mouth, but one can interpret what he has said his intent. Iconoclasts are not visionaries, they care not a wit about anything other than being different. And that is one of the reasons he receives criticism; many who know and love the music intimately have some righteous indignation as the audience can and will be short changed, where Bach is concerned. Bach music has survived Swingle Singers, Drum Kit Tracks, Rock Interpretation, and still shines through as being tested as fire tests and purifies gold. One exception, Switch On Bach of Wendy Carlos, she was as true to the music of Bach as the limitations of the Moog Synthesizer and 8 track tape would allow in the performance.
If some of this terminology is foreign to you, even with your forty years of playing the piano, then I can excuse your lack of interest in the organ or disinterest in the sleuthing by musicologists, forensic tests (down to investigation of water marks), and lives of academicians spent involved in the most minutest detail as to J S Bach, his music, and his life.
For what it's worth J S Bach was the first musician to have a biography written. The author, Forkel, corresponded with J S Bach's sons (and was a student of W F Bach) and students. And frankly, J S Bach had an existing core of aficionados who appreciated and preserved his legacy, in fact St. Thomas Church began to perform his music shortly after his death, by the time Mozart went to Leipzig and would hear the Motets, the parts were treated almost as though they were sacred relics by Mozart's account.
J S Bach forgotten? Beetoven's teacher Neefe taught the WTC to Beethoven. Van Swieten introduced other works of J S Bach to Mozart and Beethoven. Haydn had a copy of the WTC, J C Christian Bach brought Harpsichord Music to England with him, which Dr. Charles Burney popularized. Beethoven's "Father of the Piano" Muzio Clementi studied J S Bach (and Scarlatti) in England for 14 years, Clementi taught the WTC to the young John Field (11 years old), by the time Field visited first Paris with with his teacher at the age 19-20, the Parisians were amazed both by the music and that Field played the 48 from memory with such beautiful tone.
If in 40 years of piano playing you didn't find the answers, then you didn't study with sufficient effort or fervor in musicology or in other areas of J S Bach's life, both of which are essential to proper perforance. Ever play and master the harpsichord? Clavichord? How about a Tracker Organ pipe organ (same mechanical connections between keys and the pallets in the windchest, the action as Bach knew) with manuals coupled, and all the stops drawn? (You would need the strength of a blacksmith) I would almost care to bet you play J S Bach on the piano with the sustain pedal.
Care to discuss Prout on J S Bach's counterpoint? Or how about McHose on the harmonic progressions in J S Bach's chorales which are the basis of J S Bach's music? Or about the modern elements found in the Cantatas and Passions (including the 12 tone system centuries before Arnold Schoenberg)?
I am not a supreme judge, Christoph Wolff would be a better candidate as to J S Bach, however, many others expressed their doubts about Carpenter's alleged artistry in their reviews.
You see it in the replies and the subsequent replies. Carpenter's Bach-centric performance at the Meyerson Symphony Center on Jan. 17 2015 drew the censure of critic Scott Cantrell, who lambasted Carpenter’s performance on the center’s C.B. Fisk organ as “grotesque.” So in other words more than one individual thinks Carpenter's playing (musically) "isn't a pretty sight, as grotesque by definition is "comically or repulsively ugly or distorted" synonymous with "malformed, deformed, misshapen, misproportioned, distorted, twisted, gnarled, mangled, mutilated..."
Which calls to mind a post earlier as to C P E Bach quotes, "More often than not, one meets technicians, nimble keyboardists by profession, who indeed astound us with their prowess without ever
touching our sensibilities. Stirring performance depends upon an alert mind which is willing to follow reasonable precepts in order to reveal the content of the compositions. What comprises good performance? The ability through singing or playing to make the ear conscious of the true content and affect of a composition. Any passage can be so radically changed by modifying its performance that it will be scarcely recognizable."
I believe the above quote sums up the dangers of "interpretation."
To differentiate himself, or to draw attention, Carpenter has promulgated an image (in his own mind) “a level of acclaim, exposure, and controversy unprecedented for an organist.” (His own words). “I don’t give a rat’s ass if it’s considered high or low, profane or sacred; the only thing that’s worth a damn to me is that I enjoy it.” “If the organ community as a whole is not in a position - is not tooled to benefit collectively and commercially from the fact that there’s a newsmaking organist, then to hell with them.”
You should follow your own advice as to pretentiousness, and for that matter add in for good measure presumptuousness as to lecture others who disagree with Carpenter's choices.
However, as to the not a pretty sight comment on my subjective opinion, which is no less nor no more valid than your subjective opinion, shall we agree to a dual. I will conclude you will choose as your weapon of choice the piano. Something from the 48 preludes an fugues, the Goldberg Variations, or how about the The Overture in the French style, BWV 831 from the Second part of the Clavieruebung as well as a Fugue improvised on a subject from J.C.F. Fischer's Ariadne musica neo-organoedum? We will have to eliminate 3 Fugue subjects from this work, as J S Bach borrowed these in the 48. Care to name which Fugues, and which Book the WTC these occur from memory? (No internet google searches)
I do enjoy Cameron Carpenter in his arrangements of show tunes, and in his transcriptions, as in theater organ music lies his true genius, and his style of ever changing stops is appropriately at home among the tones of tibias and diaphones of the organs of Robert Hope-Jones (which Carpenter also uses for J S Bach). His technique is without question formidable (if misdirected), probably only occasionally equaled (Dr. Carol Williams performs an amazing Flight of the Bumble on the Pedals), and when he out grows (or grows up) from the iconclast phase, he could become as beloved as Virgil Fox was, an organist of incredible memory as well as dexterity whose personality made him a beloved performer to all who had the honor to make his acquaintance. However, Fox's Bach leaves me equally as cold as Carpenter's, I wouldn't by a CD from either if it was on the recording.
I would pay to go see Cameron Carpenter if he played my locality. After all he is an organist, and we organists/pianists/harpsichordists need to stick together; besides he has to eat, too. Maybe in person he would change my opinion.
As to amazing technique, Robert Wolfe, would give Cameron Carpenter a run for his money, ua-cam.com/video/LJExKB_0U70/v-deo.html
8==D
Call me ignorant, though this performance is not too bad at all. I don't get what's with the hate going on in the comments. 😕
Hm, that organ...... I here thousand times more preferred the Cavaillé Coll in st ouen than that plastic sound box. It might be a very expensive sampling box, but I'm not confidented about that.
Tbh I think it is mostly the power of the sound that is missing especially in this recording of the organ. As far as digital recordings you can only go so far since the sound of an organ is most pronounced with the 3d separation of the sounds. In his album work, it sounds so much better in headphones than this recording or any other recordings of organs' sound.
in reviewing all the comments, what is lost is the fact that the organ is in DIRE need of an advocate that can bring the instrument to the general public, like joshua bell does with the violin. cameron carpenter is NOT that person...
If there were a demand for the instrument, it wouldnt need an advocate.
@@Mad_Axe_Man125 and why is there no demand? please offer a considered explanation.
@@josephgraif2588 You'd be surprised how many Millennials and Gen Zs have subscribed to my channel so far. It's rather encouraging that there's still those in the younger age bracket that loves the organ.
josephgraif, quote: «virgil fox did this over 50 years ago…» No, he didn’t. In this fugue, sometimes Cameron play the soprano, alto and tenor part on three different manuals! And Cameron’s virtuoso pedal is lightyears abowe Fox’s.
Some really derogatory comments by several people here. They clearly didn't pay attention to what he said in his introduction. I have the privilege of being able to listen to this on a high end audio system capable of reproducing the entire audio spectrum and able to reveal the nuances. I found his performance fascinating and beautiful. A dreamy fantasy. True, it doesn't sound like the Bach work one might expect. But that is the whole point. This is not a regular pipe organ and his performance was not intended to sound like it was!
Yet if I play any recording of this exact prelude and fugue made on say a Schnitger or Silbermann, I can hear all the nuances already and I don't need a high end audio system. You shouldn't have to be an audiophile to appreciate someone's music.
Don't even wanna know how much that thing weighs
Is there anyone who would say this is his/her favourite version of this piece?
Willi Hansen That hair got me
Same here. Fuck that hair man
The Twentieth century had Virgil Fox
The Twenty First century has Cameron Carpenter
Both play fast, and gifted.
except carpenter claims to be the first to do what virgil did in the 1960's. we should not let him get away with it. this is why the organ continues to be ignored...
Virgil played fast, Carpenter plays magically.
what has this improvisation to do in that fugue? If it was a memory black out, very well done, if not, its just insanely obsolete
which fugue is this? In B minor? Not the one from well-tempered klavier, so which one is this? Any help appreciated.
It’s BWV 544
@@Engineer9736 thanks
You can count the living artists on one or two hands who need at least three cameramen.
Libera interpretazione del preludio e fuga in Si m.
Per anum ad glorium 👎
Cameron ..............Sooooooooooooooo excited to see you in San Luis Obispo on the 26th!!! Orchestra A12....
I hope Cameron got the Autographed Virgil Fox 33 1/3 vinyl album i sent to him via his set up man in San Luis Obispo! Contact 411 is inside album...loved the octave pedal work and hope your footwear gets back soon! I missed seeing them for sure..
блестящий
I believe Cameron Carpenter is one of the greatest musical geniuses of our time. Unfortunately, like many of the works of Picasso or Dali, his output will often be misunderstood and be perceived as strange and grotesque by more average minds.
Nice list of postmodern garbage minds.
This sounds like a song from a DOS game
@Karol Mizewa it's playing through a surround sound stereo. Maybe these organs ain't my thing
YES, CAMERON, YOU ARE CERTAINLY BRILLIANT, BUT, THE B MINOR FUGUE IS ONE OF BACHS GREAT WORKS AND YOUR VOICING WITH VARIOUS UGLY STOPS ETC. HAS DONE ALL BUT TO RUIN THIS PIECE WHICH OTHERWISE I LOVE. HERE I DIDN´T I JUST WONDER WHY TO DO SOMETHING SO BIZARRE WHEN YOU WELL KNOW BETTER THAN. THIS YOU ARE PLLAYING BACH AND NOT CAMERON. MAKES ME SAD TO SEE SUCH TALENT SPOILED IN THIS WAY.