Wow this is one of the best versions I can find after going through fifty other ones. I listened to this ten times, and it is one of my exam pieces tomorrow. I think following your steps will help me, but honestly, playing the fugue more expressively helps with the presentations of the themes, but still this is very nice to hear, peaceful and tender
This is a great reading of this very complex piece... excellent tempo choice, great dynamic variation and use of rubato, and theme projection in the fugue. A splendid performance. Muchas gracias.
It means to make the theme--which is the opening melody played in one voice only--stand out in the polyphonic texture of the rest of the movement, without banging out that melody. It is particularly difficult in this fugue, because Bach frequently makes use of stretto, which is to introduce the theme in one voice when it has not been played out in its entirety in another, thereby 'stacking' the theme on itself. He also splits the two halves of the theme in the stretto sections, making it even more difficult for the keyboardist--and I use that word advisedly, because the 48 Preludes and Fugues may be played on any instrument that has a keyboard--to project the theme, or to give it prominence without diminishing the impact of the counterpoint in the other voices. The fugue is not a musical form, but a compositional technique, and fugues are mostly mono-thematic, that is, the whole work is built on that opening melody that mutates and appears in various guises. The Fugue in c# minor in Book I, however, has two themes: the famous B-A-C-H motif (in Germany the note known in the rest of the world as the B-flat is called 'B' and the B is called 'H') rules until halfway through, then Bach introduces a second theme. The B-A-C-H motif is transposed in this case to fit in the key of c# minor, of course, but it sounds the same to those of us who do not have perfect pitch. And do listen to the Fugue in e-flat minor, also Book I. Here Bach not only introduces the theme in the various voices 'as-is' (and as in this recording, it has a tonal answer, which means that the second entry of the theme is not a note-by-note transposition of the original), he also splits it, he inverts it, he introduces it by augmentation (which means the note values are doubled) and he introduces the original theme in stretto and on top of the augmented variation. This is why this Prelude and Fugue (No. 8, Book I) is prescribed for performance diplomas at every institution on the planet that offers these qualifications. It is a marathon listening experience, but listening to all 48 Preludes and Fugues is very, very well worth the effort, particularly Rosalyn Tureck's reading, or Tatiana Nikolayeva's. Avoid Ashkenazy's recording; he plays many, many works well, and he is an astonishing accompanist, in Matthias Goerne's recording of Schumann's Dichterliebe, for example, but he makes the mighty 48 sound like Czerny studies, and not Francesco Libetta's fabulous recording of the Czerny Op. 740 studies either! Remarkably, his recording fits on three CDs; all other recordings I have, and I have some eight or nine different readings by different keyboardists, fit on four discs.
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So tender...beautifully expressive....bringing out the different voices of the fugue.... I come back to this performance time and time again.....thank you Carlos :)
Dear Alison, this means a lot to me. Thank you for listening to this recordings and I hope you also enjoy the other ones I have on my channel! All the best, Carlos
This is a thoughtful performance of the Prelude and Fugue. I like the tempi choices and the melodic approach taken in the fugue. The fugue has a sense of forward movement.
I actually dont like the way how you played the prelude and the fugue. Although its sensitive and nice, I think the sound should be more and its not a romantic piece. Especially in the Fugue, I wanted to hear more sound that shows the theme.. But still amazing performance
Sunshine love hi! Thats alright! There are many ways to interpret Bach’s music. But I really appreciate you listening to this recording 🙏🏽 . greetings from Boston!
