Bach in a good Unequal Temperament 

I’m kinda wishing I never came across these beautiful unequal temp videos on you tube, because now hearing classical / romantic music on equal sound horrible to me. 😢

MUSIC THEORY Unequal temperament is a temperament that keeps pure or nearly pure intonation in some keys and accumulates the dissonances in the little-used keys In musical tuning, a Temperament is a tuning system that slightly compromises the pure intervals of just intonation to meet other requirements. Most modern Western musical instruments are tuned in the Equal Temperament system. Tempering is the process of altering the size of an interval by making it narrower or wider than pure. "Any plan that describes the adjustments to the sizes of some or all of the twelve fifth intervals in the circle of fifths so that they accommodate pure octaves and produce certain sizes of major thirds is called a temperament." Temperament is especially important for keyboard instruments, which typically allow a player to play only the pitches assigned to the various keys, and lack any way to alter pitch of a note in performance. Historically, the use of Just Intonation, Pythagorean Tuning and Meantone Temperament meant that such instruments could sound "in tune" in one key, or some keys, but would then have more dissonance in other keys. The development of Well Temperament allowed fixed-pitch instruments to play reasonably well in all of the keys. The famous Well-Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach takes full advantage of this breakthrough, with pieces written in all 24 major and minor keys. However, while unpleasant intervals (such as the wolf interval) were avoided, the sizes of intervals were still not consistent between keys, and so each key still had its own character. This variation led in the 18th century to an increase in the use of Equal Temperament, in which the Frequency Ratio between each pair of adjacent notes on the keyboard was made equal, allowing music to be transposed between keys without changing the relationship between notes.

This is one of those performances where I'm left awed by what a genius Bach was instead of focusing on the skill of the performer (which here is considerable). This the best kind of performance.

Absolutely beautiful playing from Helen Yorke. Full of music - her amazing technique is hardly noticeable because she lets us hear what the music is meant to be. Sheer musicality and beauty in music. What more can one hope for. Thank you Helen for your great skills and hard work to make our lives better.

okay but why is youtube recommending me this now 9 years after it got posted? I COULD’VE SEEN THIS 9 YEARS AGO AND BECAME A MUCH MORE ENLIGHTENED HUMAN BEING

This RU-vid recommendation is the best Christmas present

I love the way she rolls into each movement without a pause

I normally don't like hearing Bach's keyboard work on pianos, but this performance is wonderful.

Absolutely beautiful! I don't think bach played like a robot. This is perfect.

I love the expressivity in this performance!

It's wonderful to hear Bach interpreted so gracefully!

Wow. Kudos to everything about this performance, from the tuning to the technique. Two measures into the piece I finally found within myself an artistic understanding of unequal temperament rather than simply an academic one. Such calm, clarity, and relaxed confidence.

This intonation sounds gorgeous, with a crystalline clarity that perfectly shows Bach's outstanding music. The playing is exquisite too

2020 random recommendation crew are all up in these comments. I enjoyed this video a lot!

This is Bach's first Partita (collection of dances with a prelude at the beginning) for the keyboard, in B-flat major.

Bach: Keyboard Partita No.1 in B-flat Major, BWV 825

I don't know what it is but this interpretation gave me the chills almost immediately.

What a treat! I wonder if Bach wrote the right hand first or the left, or both at once? My guess is that he wrote the right hand first quickly followed by the left. It's astonishing to think that one person could write so much good music. It's also a great achievement to learn to play it so well. Bravo!

She plays with such tenderness and character. What a treat! Happy Holidays :)

What an amazing performance. Tuning is appropriate to the piece. Sounds very natural. Quite possibly Bach preferred this particular tuning.

Only a guess but this may be a Broadwood fortepiano. It certainly sounds wonderful in the keys that were used in this piece - very clean - true fifths with no obvious beating that you get in equal temperament. OK this is sublimely played - excellent!

The pure intervals are so satisfying. And a delightfully heartfelt performance. It made my evening.

great sound. She also seems to have great natural control over the pace and dynamics. Very much enjoyed

More from this performer please. I'm absolutely in love.

this sounds so clear and at ease

This is Helen Yorke, by the way.

That sound makes me almost cry its so perfect.

This performance is golden - simply golden!

She is playing very well and the piano sounds superb. Her phrasing is so musical. Great explanations of tuning tenique.

I was completely blown away at the virtuosity. As I listened I felt it was a modern take on Bach because the speed she played at, but then realized my video was playing at 1.5 times speed. After putting it back to normal speed I became very much enamored.

WONDERFUL interpretation of one of Bach's lesser-known masterworks for the keyboard.

Listening like this, I hear the design of the piece happening in such a way as to reveal the full color of the tonality. Bach is immeasurable. Very good!!

First time hearing and the amount of divine guidance is incredible.

Those intervals simply pierce

I learne this piece recently, and while it is an incredibly beautiful piece in and of itself, the unequal tuning somehow makes it sound so warm and soothing.

I love the way you played this partita, it transported me to a different world where everything is perfect!

The ultimate lockdown recital. 👌🏼

It’s almost criminal you haven’t listed the name of this magnificent performer. If anyone finds out please comment! Thank you!

Toujours écoute et regarde cette belle vidéo , l'ami Bach dans ma vie .

Fantastic performance. Technique and tone reminds me of Glenn Gould. Love the tuning.

Equal temperament doesn't yield this beautiful crystal-clear kind of sound. Wow! Equal temperaments 'fudging' of intervals means we're always listening to music that is slightly out-of-tune. Bach advocated equal tuning so he could write music in every key, which is an advantage, but listen to this tuning! A revelation most of us have never heard!

Very mellow and listenable.

Beautiful performance, sensitive playing.

Traumhaft schön gespielt ❤️ 👏👍❤️💚🧡 There is Music behind every single note she plays! Wonderful ❣️

god i love this one so much

Phenomenal job making the melody pop out. I studied Bach in my piano master class (when I was a music major) and can confidently say this was expertly done. I truly can appreciate your ability of restraint to not blast through the piece, but to truly experience the note. Well done!

i enjoyed playing this video at different speeds to hear the voicing. love the brightness of the piano

Such a fascinating sound.. not only in the temperament but the actual instrument.. and so well played.. The Gigue really highlights the tuning.. so strange and intriguing that I can't listen to "regular" performances without wanting more of this..

Ugh it makes me cry every time

What a brilliant pianist, and what a magnificent piano.

Exquisite on so many levels

Wonderful pianism!

A gorgeous performance requiring no words of adulation, just listen, thanks Helen!!!

Je vous écoute tous les jours , surtout en revenant de marcher le matin tôt , cela me fait du bien au cerveau . J'ai un Facebook Bernard Rocaille , si jamais , pour communiquer . Encore merci d'avoir posté cette vidéo réconfortante dans ma solitude !

Absolutely beautiful. Thank you...whomever you are!

Woww!! Really great playing and lovely sounding in this temperment

Beautiful ... seems to express the 'synergy' of Bach's counterpoint

I enjoyed this immensely. Beautifully sonorous and articulate. Thank you.

Un vrai plaisir , merci madame .

Thank you!!

What a beautiful playing!

Salutes to her remarkable teacher! This is one of several remarkable performances on RU-vid by his students.

Wonderful 💕❣️👍👏

Can we ever truly 'know' how Bach is 'supposed' to be played? I don't know. What I do know is that, to my ears, everything about this performance sounds so 'right' on it's own terms that other considerations don't seem to matter.

Gorgeous! Heart melting

so nice. thank you for sharing your music

beautifull, such delight to work with this sintonia in the background, lovely work, pls more

The ornaments are devilishly difficult in the opening movement. I played this on my harpsichord masters recital. Such a joy to play!

Cela me fait encore du bien au cerveau , jamais lassé . Merci madame , et Bach !

Perfection, composer and performer!

Such a rich yet bright tone! Thank you for sharing.

I really don't care about temperament stuff, but this woman is giving a wonderful interpretation!!! Who damn is she? Agogically wonderful! Name, please.

Gorgeous!

Amazing. Found new ideas and interpretations in a partita that I've heard countless times. Thank you O mighty algorithm!

Wow!! Love it

Stellar!

Beautiful sound and musicality....

The minute differences in intonation between different note combinations certainly make for a much more 'HDR' sound, reminds me of when i started playing baroque clarinet, each note slightly different from it's neighbour

Magnificent.

Please excuse my wording: "Wie geil ist das denn, bitteschön!?" Just wonderful musicianship and tuning!

Really marvelous and expressive. Thankyou!

this is sooo beautiful, both the tuning and the playing (of course!). i usually don't like hearing bach on a modern piano, but this is wonderful. most (or at least *many*) harpsichords are tuned to some unequal temperament.

How do ten fingers coordinate in such a way with all those keys to produce the sounds which in turn made me experience such a feeling? We are miracles and don’t even know it. Bravo! ❤️

gorgeous!

I normally prefer the harpsichord, but sometime listenening to this on the piano I think it is wonderful. My first recording that I bought was preludes and fugues by Igor Kipnis on the piano. This recording gives me the same pleasure.

Very nice playing at the highest level and beautiful tuning which I will try at my instrument. I may subscribe based only on this video.

thank you for sharing

That is a beautiful tuning

Always come back to this.

beautiful!!! Thanks!

Simply exquisite upload-thank you.

Beautiful performance. If only we knew the performer.

Wonderful!

Wonderful playing!

Lovely!

beautiful

To quote Sibelius' words to Wilhelm Kempff, "You did not play that as a pianist but rather as a human being."

This sounds really cool.

would not have noticed the tuning other than it sounds really good

Very beautiful -- the temperament really seems to make a difference