More Bach

The Brandenberg Concertos always seem to be with us, and rightly so, but performance practices have changed an awful lot since the advent of the gramophone.

I know of two sets that use large forces, played on symphony orchestras: One under Karajan (and the BPO), and the othere under Boult (with the LPO), and in fairness this is an approach which misses so much, while actually tending to serve Bach up in Brahms sized loaves! We should be happy, as listeners that such a mannner of performance is now part of history!

Along the way to the historically informed perforamances of today there are some pioneering efforts, which still comand at least respect (eg Harnoncourt) and in some cases considerable affection on my part. In this group I count Adolph Busch's set from 1935 HMV 78s, and The pioneering LP set from 1950 and 1953 of August Wenzinger with the Scola Cantorum Basiliensis.

Even more than Busch, this group achieves the intimacy of the works, and uncovers the wealth of detail which are so much of what makes the music so fascinating. I have just re-aquainted myself with them...

The tempi chosen are always sane, and often fast, which befits a true chamber approach, where the parts are taken one player to a part. The instruments are modern in that the Clarino Trumpet in the Second has valves, and, it seems to me, so must the horns in the First Concerto though they are called Corni di Caccia, which implies the valveless instrument. The Recorders are modern copies and the basoon is a very mellow sounding modern instrument in my view. The strings have the unique sound of gut strings, and all is revealed within a recording that is more intimate than would be popular today. There is no sense of a large hall, and the balances achieved would only be possible in a very compact group close to the microphone, giving the effect of a room capable of seating twenty or thirty in the audience. There seems to be no editing, so the result has the same fluency that comes in live recording, and also contains a few fluffs, which are of no significcance. The only technical weakness may be thought to be the quality of the playing of the Trumpet, which is certainly not quite so fine as that for Busch in his set. Naturally perfection is the norm now, where editing allows any number of takes to be spliced to remove all trace of difficulty, but this IS difficult, and I see no reason to diminish that aspect!

The performances themselves are full of superb solutions to questions of tempi, dynamic and balance, and certainly they are the missing link between the approach of Busch and that of the modern historical informed performances of today. I love the humanity of both these sets - their obvious warmth and affection for the music and its joy. Neither makes any particular music statement with the music beyond a genuine attempt to reveal the spirit of it in very musical and unmannered readings, and neither is technically without some blemishes, but both are fresh, wonderful, selfless expositions.

It would please me very musch to see DG release this venerable set - the father of the whole HIP movement in this repertoire IMO.

Fredrik.

PS: It strikes me that there are very real musical parallels with the HM Linde set (not apparently available at the moment, sadly) in Wenzinger's musical approach. Obviously the Linde is better recorded and technically less fragile, but the older set has much to reveal even to those familiar with more modern efforts. There is one striking parallel in the fourth movement of the First Concerto in the transition to the Polonaise from the Minuet. Both solve the problem (of two distant tempi and dance types) in the same very satisfactory way. This is a place where there can be an embarrassing hiatus!

Naturally the repeats ARE taken in the Third Concerto , even though this was by no means the norm in the old days.

quote:

Originally posted by Fredrik H:
the Clarino Trumpet in the Second has valves

Actually the used instrument in the Wenzinger recording is the so called Hohe Bach-Trompete in F, a sort of small piccolotrumpet with three valves constructed in modern times (I think between the two world wars) especially designed to play the difficult trumpet part in the second Brandenburg Concerto at the right pitch. According to pictures of Adolf Scherbaum he seems to have preferred this instrument in his many recordings of the second Brandenburg.

The concept Clarino-Trompete denotes the curved natural trumpet without valves, just with three fingerholes to adjust the tuning, which Helmut Finke constructed in the late 1950es on the basis of old descriptions and pictures (e.g. the famous picture of the trumpeter Gottfried Reiche with his instrument). This instrument has been used in a lot of HIP recordings, by (among others) Walter Holy (Harnoncourt recording for Telefunken 1963), Edward H. Tarr (Collegium Aureum recording for DHM 1965) and Friedemann Immer (all his recordings of the second Brandenburg, which are many). This instrument was not yet in existence when Wenzinger made his recording.

Thanks dear pe-zulu for that. The trumpet used in the Busch set was especially made for George Eskdale and is just as you describe the one used in the Wenzinger set. The Times critic was so taken by the public performance he descibed it as the most exciting trumpet playing ever heard in London! Not bad considering how stuffy music critics were in the '30s in London at least.

I still can't get over the musicianship shown on all sides in the Wenzinger recording. I wish I had known all this set since my first childhood absorbtion with the Sixth. The whole set is marvelous. The best really in many ways.

Fredrik

The same fine friend has let me have the Golbergs from Walcha and other wonderful Bachian things.

Give me a couple of weeks to get it straight, and I'll start of a Thread on this marvelous set of Variations, with the proviso that we mention no performances on the pianoforte. You can have another Thread on that if you like, which I shall simple read and not post too! That, spoken with feeling after the last Thread on the set, which considered the pianistic approach, which is certainly not close to what Bach had in mind, and takes a very rare pianist and musician to make convincing!

Fredrik

quote:

Originally posted by Fredrik H:
Give me a couple of weeks to get it straight, and I'll start of a Thread on this marvelous set of Variations, with the proviso that we mention no performances on the pianoforte.

I'm looking Looking forward to it.

Dear Jeremy and pe-zulu and others who may be interested.

In preparation for the new Goldberg Thread sometime not to far away, I have prepared a sound (though by no means dogmatic) arguement for not employing the piano forte in Bach, at least as the best option to naturally expose the music and its message.

I hope you will all want to develope this Thread before we embark on what is bound to be an epic journey, if we do it properly, through the Goldbergs. The plan I hope to bring off is a discussion starting with the performances of Walcha, Leonhardt and Hantii, with hopefully considerations of other grand efforts from the the likes of Kirkpatrick, whose performance I do not know yet, and it will have to wait a while I can tell you!

So please help this Piano Thread on if you want!

Fredrik