I saw Segovia's last concert at Orchestra Hall in Chicago. They'd oversold it, and I was seated ON THE STAGE with my wife. The tiny 90 year old Catalonian channeled the Bach Cello Suite, and transcended the limitations of his or any instrument. I was studying classical guitar at Chicago Musical College, but I was unprepared. This was not a guitar concert. It was pure , perfect music. I am not worthy. No one was, is or will be.
I believe it was Segovia himself who was once quoted as saying, "Once u have learned the Bach Chaconne u have learned it all". What a masterpiece by a former living legend who would have had great chemiatryv& music connection with Bach himself. What a dynamic duo that would have been. Bravo.
That is my feeling as well. I hear tons of Segovia and very little Bach, because of the emotions he puts in it, which I also respect. In Yepes case I hear 100 percent Bach and almost zero Yepes, what to me is the ultimate art of true mastership. Being myself a very emotional musician I must say that Yepes cannot express emotions in a depth that segovia does, but he doesn't attempt to put much emotions in his play instead lets the guitar and the music speak for itself.
ugh, every time I read comments on a page full of musicians. are you all so pompous in your own ideas of music? "hes right! this is right! thats right! no you're wrong!' beautiful music is beautiful music, you don't have to be a maestro to hear a beautiful tune anymore than anybody else, and you don't have to play a piece a certain way only for it to be beautiful.
@johnp234 My father took me to see Segovia at the old Philharmonic Hall in LA, years before I ever picked up the guitar. Can't for the life of me remember why. Have had several wonderful teachers though it's a shame they had such limited material with which to work. Am blessed to play music in church every Sunday. Perhaps we, as a world didn't deserve Segovia or Bach. There's a great deal we don't deserve yet we receive.
This version is brillian audiences who aren't profesional musicians or purists love it Those are the people we play for not each other It's human full of emotion
Yeah aimson, I entirely agree, that was the perfect time to cut the piece in two, when the major part comes in. Nice job! I'm actually learning this piece right now and will be performing it at my master's recital exam. Thanks for posting this, I was actually searching to hear the Segovia version and never thought I would have found it on RU-vid! Thanks again and Segovia was a kick-ass guitarist like him or not ;)
Segovia shaped the music the way he felt it, and that's exactly the kind of attitude Bach had himself. People often regard classical pieces as rare museum artifacts that can't be tinkered with. But what is music, if not a springboard for the human spirit and expression? The minute individual expression is denied, the music dies ... and dies quickly.
As a violinist, I find it interesting how he takes so much liberty with the tempo, as no violinist I have ever heard does so with this piece. I can't say I'm used to it, but I certainly find it a refreshing change.
I think the idea to go major there was a good one, personally. It starts off, and ends minor, and a minor key usually builds drama, emotion, and tension. The major middle part is like a sigh of relief, like an epiphany after catharsis. It's like the ray on sunshine that falls on the bloody battlefield, that reminds us of the possibility of victory and peace.
@pissedinperu Counting never breaks my heart- great music always does. We're left to wonder- where does this stuff come from and why does it possess the power to move us so?
Does Bach's Chaconne grow on you, or what!?!? The greatest comps, like fine wine and forests, and oceans, get better with experience of them. Segovia is a maestro vintner, woodsman, and oceanographer rolled into a neat packaged deal.
Segovia was able to channel Bach somehow. He had a beautiful understanding of his music and was not afraid to make it his own at the same time. The ultimate lesson for the American Idol wannabes who just parrot cover songs mindlessly.
Segovia fue un gran maestro y un gran intérprete, pero no debemos olvidar a AGustín Barrios MANGORE. El también es de los grandes del siglo XX. Un maestro, compositor e interprete similar a Segovia
you know, its amazing how many negitive comments i have heard in my life about segovia........he is an amazing artist. personally, when i listen to music, i listen with my heart. as one of the comments above puts it, "segovia was a kick ass guitarist...........". i agree
Like I said before Bach himself played his music differently depending on his age, mood, instrument, circumstance, etc. Meaning there is no right way to play it, there is just good or a bad way to play, and believe you me Segovia did it the best way yet.
johnp234 how moving your account of segovia's last concert. wish i had been there. and i love his interpretation of this even more than williams'. just love it. he sings the whole thing out. glorious.
Of course, what Segovia implied was that you can never fully learn everything because the Bach Chaconne is impossible to completely master in a lifetime! I have been playing the Chaconne for three years and there is always more and more to learn and discover.
@owenhsmith That's kind of what I was thinking. There's no need to act as if he is some mystical god-like force. He was simply a very earnest and dedicated man with a sensitive ear.
I'm glam u said IMO at the end there. Could have been a lot of people saying you are being somewhat subjective. Every diff teacher/composer/artist/ has diff opinion potentially. Love the Music. Love that Chaconne!
Yes, thank you for the appropriate break, at the end of the first D minor variations. Some other posts do so, some do not. Unfortunately YT now only allows 10 minute videos, and the Chaconne runs 13+.
@Hermeterec That's a good way to put it: "insufferable and highly dogmatic assertions." Many of the comments I get all over the place are full of these kinds of statements (see my Faure Elegie video). It reflects a poor understanding of music and basic immaturity. Another term is reductionistic. The simple-minded will always approach music in a simple way.
@anuteamsterium "How can cosmic religious feeling be communicated from one person to another, if it can give rise to no definite notion of a God and no theology? In my view, it is the most important function of art and science to awaken this feeling and keep it alive in those who are receptive to it." Albert Einstein 1930
I agree it is somewhat technically clumsy.. If we compare it to John Williams. Altough, I do not think that JW could play this better. I love it how he makes pauses without stopping the ressonance (written how?)! ;) And I truly wish we could hear a better recording of Yepes' version.. :(
pls can u direct me to the recording of this which is equally fine, perhaps better, I guess it's subjective, but you seem to have some recording in mind. Narciso Yepes with 10 strings is really the only other guitar version I'm familiar with & would be pleased to hear of some more 2 compare.
A pitty, that Bach himself probably never heard it played THIS well! (Because in his days instruments (and strings) weren't that good as today. I am sure he listens in heaven and nodds with a content smile! There are a lot of comments around here about later guitarists being technically better, but to me, the timbre Segovia creates here is peerless.
from Jose' Sepulveda, the Hermeterec.......thank you SqueezeMyLemonBabe....(maybe later)...anyway thank you for the comment! I get so tired of these insufferable and highly dogmatic assertions from "musicians"....to vibrato or not to vibrato. Is that really the question? Why not just listen and enjoy? Holy shit! Who cares....it remains beautiful and a transcendant performance!
Oh yes! He has an innate ability to be both intimate and masterful at his play. A born talent is greater than hands and and intrument; it needs the whole person, and may I share your carriage a while? Thanks!
@anuteamsterium OK. Amen to that. And that's coming from an atheist. I'd like to believe that things of real beauty transcend all of the human parameters (geography, creed, colour etc). A German philosopher called Liebniz hit the nail on the head, "Music is the pleasure that the brain derives from counting, when it doesn't know that it is."
Good comment I agree completely It's the purists who hate this kind of playing audiences like it. every player nowadays sound just the same. Wich is really boring to listen to
I was in an odd mood. *facepalm* I was really just annoyed with all the morons who were trying to rewrite a masterpiece of Bach's. If Bach went major, it must have been for a good reason.
Case in point YoYo Ma playing Bach Suite 1 when he is young and later in life. Two completely different outcomes. Do you think Bach or any other composer or musician is any different? They are not. So that makes all notions of so called "purism" a total nonsense. Even worse it stifles imagination and artistic progress, you might as well listen to computerized keyboard tunes and watch beer commercials all day long. Get it?
