Live performance on October 29, 2013 at Soka University, Aliso Viejo, CA. Joseph Lin and Ronald Copes, violins; Roger Tapping, viola; Joel Krosnick, cello.
Joseph Lin is a very deep thinking, and gracious person, which is reflected in his playing. I had the honor of of discussing a collaboration with him years ago in Dalian, China.Nothing ever came of that, but the memory of his visit and the time he and his lovely wife spent with me is still very fresh in my memory. I was thrilled to learn that he had gotten first violin with the JSQ. Well deserved.
I hadn't noticed until seeing actual people play these that the first four contrapuncti begin with each of the four voices - first Violin II for contrapunctus I, then Cello, then Viola, and finally Violin I for contrapunctus IV. A very clever way of demonstrating the versatility of the exposition on Bach's part!
@@nellyd9280 No no, what I mean is that the first voice for each fugue, not just in Contrapunctus I. Cont. I is exposed by second violin, cont. II is exposed by cello, etc...
:D - that firecracker at 1:08 !!! brilliant!!! ...very intersting also the 'attack' at 3:06 i enjoy the music looking forward to more action going on behind :)
lots of complaints; critics will be critics of course, but these are professionals who studied for their whole life, they deserve some respect, they are fine musicians and this piece is very well done. Anyone who says otherwise must be thinking this is the time of Bach where you were starting at this level as a teen and were supposed to be progressing at the speed of light and sound perfect to the point of inaudible mistakes. They had higher standards back then, we are more tolerant of discrepancies.
This is one of the central works in Vikram Seth's excellent novel "An Equal Music" - along with Beethoven Opus 104 . . . Wonderful playing Juillard! I wish I could have experienced this first hand.
These guys get better with time. Remember these guys are the Quartet Default standard. That is Very High Standard. Wow! Awesome. They make it look simple stupid. God given talent.
So profound,masterful and powerful music.Nobody's else music can beat it.Telemann is great,so are Handel,Scarlatti and Vivaldi as well but Bach's music is right from the lap of the God.
On a de la peine à imaginer que cette musique date du milieu du 18ème siècle. Comment les contemporains de Bach pouvaient ils l'apprécier? L'art de la fugue préfigure déjà les derniers quatuors de Beethoven, avec plus de 70 ans d'avance...
Just FYI they weren't written as string quartets, but rather as open one voice per staff scores. Most scholars believe they were intended as study pieces or to be played on a keyboard instrument. Still very fine compositions.
@sedeslav - Bach never knew what a string quartet was in his lifetime. The string quartet concept was developed by Haydn many years after Bach’ death. These were written for keyboard to be played by 10 fingers.
It's as if God has descended from heaven and gave Bach the inspiration. Mirror image of God and brings about the best of human being. And this is a secular music!
For Bach, there was no such thing as wholly secular music. He signed many of his works something along the lines of "For the glory of the greatest God."
not being familiar with this music, I was able to enjoy the playing thoroughly and failed to notice how poorly it was played as some have exclaimed. I enjoyed the music and the performance. being a long term fan of garage punk music and I am most tolerant of " the imperfections" and flaws in the diamond.
I'm not quite sure what people are talking about when they say that this interpretation doesn't sound as good as bach intended it to be. I think it sounds just fine, but then again, what I say isn't really "the truth," and neither is what any of these critics say is "the truth" either.
@@jasondonald9830 He knew his options. Getting four strings together costs money and takes time. He probably always knew when he was making the feet dance too quickly on the organ for bass lines. Other than those two constraints, I prefer all contrapuntal music to be transferred or rendered on strings better than organ. Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" was written on keyboard but you can tell Mussorgsky had instruments in mind. It's not obvious when Ravel orchestrates a saxophone into it though LOL But certain types of lines lend themselves to certain instruments, and certain textures go with certain combos like all brass at once or all woodwinds at once or all strings at once. Seldom will Bach's lines lend themselves to a "tutti" texture, because he had to be into restraint in his culture if not just naturally in his personality. The same effect becomes evident if you compare Mozart's Reguiem Mass with Verdi's Requiem Mass. Verdi has no compunction against unrestrained showiness in the face of death. The younger generations into the 1800's became more brash. Beethoven opened it all up ushering in "Romanticism.".
Very good, shame you couldn't give us the list of each sub-section and when they start. I only had time to find the one I was looking for (by ear): Contrapunctus 2 starts 4:28 in.
The performance by the JSQ is excellent. The background noise is part of life as this was a live performance. Compare to the Emersion Quartet version of all 14 - Contrapunctus and a few Canons at: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-g6vF9owrxMo.html
"Wenn die Engel und Gott gemeinsam Musik hören welche denn Bach Wenn die Engel unter sich sind hören sie welche denn Mozart" Wenn die Deutschen ihr Schicksal hörbar vernehmen wollen Beethoven
I have to agree, that the ensemble is lacking here... sadly.. I think in the old days, the Juilliard Quartet was right up there as a formidable group.. Aging does affect string players given the physical demands of the bow and intonation. They are just not together as they should be.
Depends on the person. it's a shame that you put an "aging law" on any musical players. Usually aging players are wiser and better sounding with time up to even their 90's. Music tends to lift above time, though timing itself is so important!! I'd say the strings are too legato to reflect Bach and the nature of fugue, here. Even the staccato notes are not staccato enough, in my own interpretation. The work would probably sound better on keyboard or organ - rather than strings. Please refrain from the "aging" factor - it might be a factor with individuals but it certainly is not a law about "aging affects string players" - which is absurdly wrong.
@@julieanna7607 I think you nailed it. Most other versions I've heard were much more staccato (hope i'm using the write term). It's definitely missing that hop/skip.
Unfortunately, the performance of this piece is mediocre at best. I really like this quartet too! Sort of disappointed at the (from a baroque perspective) completely misinterpreted style :(
I'm sure Bach would have found it much better than any performance by the mediocre forces he himself might have been able to muster and would have thought it unfortunate that violin-playing practice in his day had not developed to the point where the instruments could be made to sing, as I'm sure he would have liked, being very keen on the human voice as a vehicle for his musical ideas. In any case, when we hear the music as it may have been performed by mid-18th Century musicians, we are not hearing it as Bach's contemporaries would have heard it. To them the "baroque violin" (supposing the HIP mob are right about it) would have sounded quite normal and not like fingers nails scratching ineffectually on a pane of glass, as it sounds to many of us today, so they would have been able to appreciate the music undistracted.
I agree with the criticism below, in that the issue is that this was played under a wrong concept, wrong strings, wrong bows and wrong style. Too much vibrato all the time heavy bowing, strange early XXth century phrasing and agogics, &c., &c.
