Eine einzigartige und wertvolle Serie, mit Aufführungshinweisen zu jedem Stück einzeln und zu den Präludien als Ganzes. Es gibt nichts anderes wie es auf YT. Vielen Dank für all die Arbeit und dafür, dass Sie sie zur Verfügung stellen!
I can never decide whether I love these Brahms pieces for their beauty or hate them for their depressiveness, but I do like these performances. Great command and authority, and it all feels music-driven. Lovely varied selection of organs, old and new, all mechanical and all beautiful. Excellent professional recording quality as well.
For all the "8 short" episodes in order, see ru-vid.com/group/PLABcWksVExXvcMfZzhf9XLHeXqlSj0QiJ Thanks for all the questions and feedback - all appreciated!
For all the "8 short" episodes in order, see ru-vid.com/group/PLABcWksVExXvcMfZzhf9XLHeXqlSj0QiJ Thanks for all the questions and feedback - all appreciated!
For all the "8 short" episodes in order, see ru-vid.com/group/PLABcWksVExXvcMfZzhf9XLHeXqlSj0QiJ Thanks for all the questions and feedback - all appreciated!
For all the "8 short" episodes in order, see ru-vid.com/group/PLABcWksVExXvcMfZzhf9XLHeXqlSj0QiJ Thanks for all the questions and feedback - all appreciated!
I have found an extreme example of the pedal doubling the left hand. In a volume of Gems for the organ Bk 1, edited and arranged by W R B Tann, there are several examples. In his version of Handel's 'The King shall rejoice' the doubling is pretty much 70 per cent!!
Mm, but that was in the 1930s, when the whole philosophy of organ playing was rather different and much more orchestral (but you're right, I should have specified that I was thinking of classical organ playing). Well spotted! Tim
Very enjoyable thank you. I see this is one that is said to be in the 'galant style'. I guess that refers to the prelude. Is that due to the chordal nature of the writing? Can you have a fugue in that style? Do you follow the pedalling for the fugue in the Novello ed with the 3rd and 4th quavers played with the left foot , T,H or H,T?
Yes, the 'galant style' is a reference to the harmonic, tonal and figurative simplicity - that it is, as you say, essentially broken chords. Fugues by definition are a bit more old-fashioned in concept and require more complicated figuration because of the counterpoint. So although some fugues are more 'galant' than others, the very idea of a fugue is not quite 'galant' philosophy.Typical of this sort of fugue would be lots of passages of unrelated figuration. I don't have the Novello edition. but I personally find that alternate toes work perfectly all through this fugue (the first five notes of the fugue subject, obviously, but then using left toe for both the fifth and sixth notes in the fugue subject, because we actually want to articulate those two notes - it's quite important not to play them legato - and so using the same toe for them both helps to ensure a good articulation. Tim
Yes, so many people have good early memories of this piece. But I think it's those duplet quavers that often cause the trouble with the rhythm: perhaps find something to say to yourself while playing them, that will help to place them correctly. Trouble is, that it's so hard to correct old habits ... Tim
Such a gorgeous and moving chorale prelude. I didn't know it before and would never have guessed the composer. Beautiful organ and performance, too. Thank you.
I had never heard the piece, and my guess was Pachelbel, on account of the work's smoothness and a rather elusive 'poetic' quality I associate with Pachelbel's writing. I now want to go and learn pieces by the actual composer 🙂. Thank you so much for another great video and a beautiful performance.
So glad you enjoyed the piece. This composer is rather overlooked and underrated these days. Another favourite (rather different: very upbeat feel) is his Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr. Good luck with them! Tim
I'm curious why you find it so outstanding? I wish you could have given us more reasons for your opinion that it is so outstanding. I admit, that I don't recall ever hearing it before, and I only listened to it once. And I didn't hear anything that seemed all that special to me....sounded typical for the era and country it was composed in. Maybe I am just ignorant...educate me!
I like the way that long melodic lines are supported by the constant rhythm of the left hand and pedal, but I especially love the way the melody grows from relatively constrained around the middle octave into these great lyrical flowerings like 3:16 to 4 and then especially from 4:53. But I deliberately didn't talk about the music because my intention with this episode was not to "educate", but rather to give an immediate and off-the-cuff response to the question "which is your favourite chorale prelude?" - a question I really couldn't answer, except that this is a piece that I really love (and which I happened to have with me on the day). Tim
I took the symbolism of suspensions to be something like the heaving of breath, though the music is beautiful in a way that captures both the tension of pain and passion. Speaking of suspensions, I love your commentary on the articulation because I had been contemplating this exact same problem. It makes me feel like we are all on this same journey together.
Are the four pairs 1+2, 3+4, 5+6, 7+8? Are the P+F's used much in the UK for teaching purposes, and were they in the past once Bach's organ music was introduced?
Interesting questions - thank you! The "pairs" that I had in mind are not formal pairs; nor are they entirely clear cut. This piece - the E minor - bears some resemblences to no. 6, the G minor. Similarly, the G major (5) and A minor (7) share rhapsodic North-European Baroque techniques. The C major and Bb (1 and 8) are a bit more Italianate. The remaining two - the D minor and F major ones - are outliers in some ways, and I can't suggest that they have a whole lot in common. In fact, the F major is really unlike anything - I'll try to talk about that one next. These preludes and fugues are fairly commonly used for teaching purposes here in Norway, and in my experience, in many parts of Germany too. I can't really answer for the UK, but my understanding is that they have long been a staple teaching repertoire there as well. Should they be? I don't know. Although they lack the sophistication of Orgelbüchlein - which has to be the ultimate teaching resource - they are good fun and a relatively easy way to give beginner pupils a sense of achievement. As I've said elsewhere, it's so easy to look down on these pieces, partly because they're evidently not as "good" as "real" Bach, but that's missing the point rather. Taken in their own terms, they're really rather good pieces. Tim
