A Rare Plug For a Specific Release ...

george,

if you mean this box set, I've bought one last year for friend's birthday. He's a complete Bach nut and  going through every one of the disc since and still have not finished going through all the discs!

Dear Kuma,

I have been diving!

Only the Brandenburgs and the Secular Cantatas strike me as duds!

It will take me eighteen months to discover the whole lot, but most is simply marlvelous, and phenomenal value ...

ATB from Geogre

He listens to the same tune over and over if he's not familiar with the piece. So he said it'll take him couple of years to understand them all. 

He did say, however, that his wife is less than happy with continuous playing of Bach every day. From what I understand this is on a period instrument and that the cembalo is used rather than piano? 

Absolutely.

It is the correct instruments.

Bach did not like the piano and nothing on this set is played on one!

ATB from George

George,

He might change his mind if he has heard today's great pianos.

Dear Kuma,

That is a great "what if" and one thing is for sure is that if he had liked the modern piano he would have written music specifically for it. When Haydn started to compose for the piano as opposed to the harpsichord his keyboard style changed to accommodate the instrument, and take advantage of the longer sustain.

One of the reasons why there are often so many notes in Bach harpsichord music is to counter the relatively short sustain of the instrument, and grade the total dynamic of sounds.

For example Bach wrote differently for the organ than the harpsichord, and I think that had he found a piano he liked he would have written differently again for it. He would have not used so many notes for loud parts, but let the player control the dynamic with the strength of his attack. 

If anyone approaches Bach harpsichord music on the piano and loves it, then obviously I am pleased, but even for real piano afficianodos, sometimes it can be fascinating to then discover the sound-world of Bach harpsichord music in the way the composer had in mind. The dynamic layed out in the music according to how many notes are played. The articulation most natural, and the balance of voices as Bach intended.

ATB from George

Pianos had only just been invented by Silbermann when Bach was composing, & as this quote from Wikipedia says, he was not entirely negative.

Silbermann showed Johann Sebastian Bach one of his early instruments in the 1730s, but Bach did not like it at that time, claiming that the higher notes were too soft to allow a full dynamic range. Although this earned him some animosity from Silbermann, the criticism was apparently heeded. Bach did approve of a later instrument he saw in 1747, and even served as an agent in selling Silbermann's pianos.

If he had lived a few years more we may well have had some piano music by Bach.

I agree, though Bach is often regarded as a stylistically quite conservative composer, and a consolidator of musical forms, he did continue always to probe new ideas, including the Musical Offering where he includes a Flute Sonata in the very new Galante style, as well as being the pioneer of the keyboard concerto in a form that would pave the way for Mozart's glorious Piano Concertos.

So no doubt Bach would have eventually written music for the piano and catered for the characteristics of it. Of course blindness and old age caught up with him before that happened, but it would be something fascinating if he had done it.

ATB from George

Dear George

Since 2000 this box has been released in four different versions. Which one are you talking about?

Christmas oratorium by Christophers or Fasolis?

Brandenburgs by Clark or Belder?

Orchestral suites by Clark or Manze?

WTC by Belder or Berben?

Organ Works by Fagius or Molardi?

Well, I suspect you are thinking of Belder´s Brandenburgs, and I think you underestimate this beautiful, relaxed no-nonsense performance.

ATB from

Poul

Dear Poul,

It is the Belden set of Brandenburgs that struck me as more worthy than interesting. I'll give them another try, though, as you recommend them.

Christmas Oratorio, Christophers, [very good]

WTC, Berben [not yet sampled]

Fagius plays the organ works. [makes a fascinating comparison with H Walcha and MC Alain in the few parts I listened to so far]

Anrdew Manze performs the Orchestral Suites. These I very much like with Manze's monumental view of the Overtures with the full set of repeats. 

What especially pleases me are the Sacred Cantatas, and this is the main attraction for me of this set. Worth the price even if nothing else was in there! 

ATB from George

Reading the thread title, I thought you were on about this, George.....

I have got another "plug" thread going in the Padded Cell as it happens!

ATB from George