The most mathematically complicated piece of organ music ever composed, for the most complicated musical instrument of them all. The grand pipe organ. J.S. Bach never ceases to amaze my timid mind.
I have loved this piece since the first time I heard it so many years ago, and I rate this as a first-class performance. As grand as the music is, though, I would call your attention to the inlay on the ends of the manual keys; such precision of work on a decorative detail emphasizes the grandeur of the entire instrument. Keep in mind, also, that mechanical tracker instruments require strength and stamina to play. Bach must have had forearms like Schwarzenegger!
Bach was relative small.At Fachhochule Offenburg(Germany) my hometown, where i studied Elektrotechnik, they found out that he has unusual long fingers relative to the body size. Provided the skeleton they examined was Bach.
When I stated mathematically, I intended for it be a figure of speech. However I would say that this composition is intended to be "rigorously exact", or at least to some degree "precise". If you study over the sheet music that J.S. Bach composed, in a way, it's almost like math, however with musical notes. Do you understand where I'm going at with this? Just simply listen to the pedal chords, combined with the manuals, and you open yourself up to one of the most unique musical experiences.
Definitely, and there's a huge amount of (unfortunately obscure) math involved in how counterpoint works. The Divine Offering is more mathematically complicated, but it's like comparing infinities. The set of all rational numbers is bigger than the set of all integers, but they're both big enough we just say "infinity" and go home. I feel the same about any four-part fugue: it's complex enough for me to stop trying to understand it, and just enjoy it. Enjoy the parts, the whole, the instrument, the interpretation and everything that goes into it... If only Bach had access to the technology we have today!
This fugue was actually improvised as part of a job interview, his later fugues (Kunst der Fuge) are more thoughtfully intentional and precisely worked out.
Here! Here! Improvised embellishments (within limits) are part of the culture of baroque music, and I would judge that this trill is not out of place. I don't think Bach would raise an eyebrow. He, in fact, might have played it that way himself.
I agree on the brilliant performance, but I think it's because of the organist's personal interpretation that he wanted to add an additional trill on that note. :)
@chiomob Yes I agree, he was surley inspired by higher powers when he wrote his music. On every score of his cantatas he wrote "Soli Deo Gloria" (For only the glorification of God")
Tobias Hellström Wärja Bach wrote for God. Just because you choose not to believe doesn't give you the right to rewrite his beliefs. Enjoy the music, play it, but understand it is for God, regardless of your beliefs.
+Ketan Fernandes The shots were probably not all gathered all at once. There were probably several different takes of the same piece. For some reason, they let him change the registration and stop configuration of the organ. Furthermore, if all of the camera angles were taken at once, it would be very distracting to the organist, leading to more mistakes and more takes. The editors have done an amazing job of lining up the fingerings to the music. It baffles me.
Amazing im drunk as can be cantcha tell dude? U must be messed up as well now we da greatest of da century harness da power of da organ take up da entire establishment now we talkin now we pro spittaz in dis nation
An intense knowledge of music theory. And most times you write any music like this there is a lot of improv. But this one doesn’t seem like there is any improvisation. It flows completely from beginning to end. Bach is just a genius with music composition.
Plus you might already know this but a fuge is taking one melody and offsetting it on different measures and having different parts of the same melody played on top of each other. If you listen closely you can hear each different melody. At a different part played at the same time. There is no way that this is improvised
When the marks on the page are going into your brain this relentlessly, you can't afford much optical downtime. I'm guessing a guy with such a big repertoire probably only remembers, in exact detail, a few particularly demanding passages from each work. As for being overcome by emotion, seems to me that's our job. Maybe he's focused on putting it into the music, rather than into his face?
@@SkyCloudSilence, the performance is immaculate. There is nothing to say on that, because it is perfect. Also, your face SHOULD have emotion on it when you play, as music calls for emotion.
@@SkyCloudSilence, I'm a composer. I know that pieces require emotion to play. I was not implying that to be merely visual. I would say that the expression on the performer may be best when it shows emotion, because the performer has even convinced himself of the passion of his performance.
@@KakeiTheWoIfIt could just be a personal and/or cultural thing. There's the anecdote about Swedes for example.... a famous comedian gives a stand-up show for a Swedish audience. Stone cold response, blank faces. Afterwards, the comedian in dismay talks to some of the audience and they are gushing at him, "That was great! We loved it. You were so funny, we almost laughed out loud!" I don't know. Maybe it's the Swede in me.... I get your point. It's just everybody's wired differently.
Some people in Bach's time did complain about Bach's "noisy" music. But I think it's hard to be a Bach fan if brilliant music full of life and fire thundering through a church is scary to you.
RU-vid audio is compressed and will never sound great, especially with organ. If you were to hear this piece on this organ in person, you would probably faint in ecstacy.
