András Schiff explains Bach

[@CuriousMarc]

Fascinating. He chooses his words as carefully and precisely as he plays, and also with similar depth and simplicity. I had great pleasure hanging on his every measured words as on his every, and magnificent, musical note. An absolutely outstanding interpret of Bach he is, and you can tell it's no accident: he's thought deeply about it.

[@thierryperrenoud1460]

So true!

[@Jarnagua]

He could continue for ten more hours and I would listen to every second.

[@stigekalder]

András Schiff zuzuhören ist wirklich ein Seelenbad !

[@markusgross-boelting8582]

"Ein Seelenbad" ... welch schöne, poetische Wortwahl ☺

[@geigenatelierbrusch469]

da stimme ich zu

[@markussukram9290]

We need a movie about Bach with Andras Schiff as the actor.

[@clementreid907]

Great idea, and Maestro Schiff could play the music himself!

[@pascalpoussin1209]

Excellent comment.

[@bercaferca4554]

This man is Bach not ‘Andras Schiff’ alias pseudonym

[@bercaferca4554]

He probably actually knows exactly how many works he wrote and that stat about printing and stacking his works is all made up because he’s Bach himself

[@vinyl.croatia]

Definetely!

[@charleslyall5857]

Yes, indeed. The esteemed Mr Schiff reminds us that we could do no better than start our day playing Bach. Great interview from one of our finest musicians.

[@lasker500]

Er weiß die Wörter der deutschen Sprache so behutsam und ausdrucksstark aneinander zu reihen, wie die Noten von Bach. Beeindruckend!

[@ARIZJOE]

This man is a genius and a treasure. That's so insightful when he says Bach could not work today with the bustle and noise. Perhaps we all lose something with all the sensory input and information.

[@donaldallen1771]

Your first sentence is so right. Especially in these times, when ignorance and stupidity have come to the fore and are hard to escape, listening to Schiff is a reminder that people like him, much too rare, do exist.

[@paqman67]

Today's Mankind is the "Me" generation..they're so full of their own noise and cacophony that they can't hear God whispering to them like J S Bach did....well said by both of you gentlemen!

[@alexshih3747]

Donald Allen It's not so much that ignorance and stupidity have come to the fore; it's just that stupid people are louder and more vocal now. It's just a side-effect of the anonymity and immense information that the internet provides.

[@NoiseOverMusic]

How is that any different than saying "ignorance and stupidity have come to the fore"?

[@MARTIN201199]

Francisco Carvallo they?

[@mms7704]

I love this video... not only for the content, but it is also my favorite german language learning tool now.

[@NicholasKuhne]

@Deborah I had the same thought, his German is so clear and precise it is easy to comprehend :)

[@sh3nster]

SAME HERE

[@boldstandard]

Haha yes! If everyone in Germany spoke at this tempo and clarity I could probably move there today and be alright!

[@georgesmelki1]

Mine too!

[@jazura2]

So many people saying same thing This is a real German lesson.for those that know some

[@geigenatelierbrusch469]

Wenn ein so feinsinniger Künstler wie Herr Schiff, der sein ganzes Leben mit Bach verbracht hat, sich in seinem kultiviertem Deutsch zu Bach äußert, dann ist das für uns alle, die wir Bach lieben, sehr hörenswert und inspirierend. Ich jedenfalls habe seinen Ausführungen mit größtem Interesse zugehört. Ein Trost, dass es in der heutigen Welt auch noch diese Kultiviertheit gibt.

[@daviddemers9093]

This is such a fascinating and enlightening lecture by probably the greatest exponent of the Masters music in our time. I am speechless and in tears. Schiff is so illuminating. His comment that it would take several DECADES for someone to copy all of Bach's output just blew me away.

[@RolandHuettmann]

He speaks such a distinguished German, high level. He is a fantastic musician.

[@alejandros2191]

What makes the video even greater is subtitles in English! Thank for the upload!

[@paulwilson4738]

I certainly am also very glad and grateful to be able to, literally, understand in a fine translation Sir Andras' insights into a very astounding individual, J.S. Bach, and his superlative works.

[@davidhynd4435]

Herr Schiff is such a gentleman. He obviously loves the music of Bach and he speaks so clearly, although I speak very little German, I felt like I could understand him without subtitles. The world would be a poorer place without the music of Bach and also without gifted men like Andras Schiff.

[@BrucknerMotet]

I like how Schiff thinks of Bach's polyphony as different musical ideas getting along well together in a mutually respectful community of sound, and that playing Bach in the morning and hearing this harmonious community come to life is an almost necessary way to begin his day.

[@MARTIN201199]

And what about his explanation of a message from Bach to his listeners and how he, Schiff, tries to convey that message. Quite interesting

[@BrucknerMotet]

Sometimes the "message" feels more like a "massage" for the mind/soul. I'm thinking about, zum Beispiel, stately pieces with calmer tempos like #9 in E Major from WTC Book 2.

[@MARTIN201199]

I used to play them all of WTC 1, not by memory, some 20 years ago and am still feeling that soothing balm for my spirit when a good interpretation extracts the "soothing oil" from Bach's music

[@m.w.]

Wie genial.Sonntag Abend und dann dieser Beitrag: perfekt! 🙏

[@Nostrum84]

Wunderbar, wusste gar nicht, dass er so gut deutsch sprechen kann. Sehr interessant, Bach von einem hochbegabten Pianisten so erläutert zu bekommen.

[@ollehedstrom3536]

Interesting and knowledgeable “interview “. It’s more like a monologue, but well worth listening to. The man must be a giant in the field of Bach interpretation in our time. I fully agree with him regarding Bach’s importance. In my view the most influential composer ever to have emerged. A front figure in western civilization, and a cultural phenomenon.

[@custardapplejazz]

Thank you so much for the subtitles. I love "Bach's music gives me all I need".

[@quaver1239]

Thank you, Andras Schiff. Thank you, and thank you again. So happy-making, as Febrer Maria wrote two years ago.

[@AECSRQ]

Schiff bringt mich dazu, Deutsch lernen zu wollen. Er spricht es so musikalisch.

[@Sultanetta]

I always wonder who dislikes such quality videos. This one is clear, interesting, fresh .. not to mention such a specially agréable German. ♥️♥️♥️♥️

[@amberschiffer6914]

Vielen Dank Herr Schiff, für Ihre wunderbare Reise durch die Musik von Bach. Ich liebe und schätze diese Werke auch sehr

[@emilianocorradi4079]

Marvellous, awesome; Mr. Schiff comments and explanations are extraordinary.

[@mikegallegos7]

Excellent. Thank you for uploading this interview; this apparent Master Class. Excellent.

[@mariafebrer]

Such beautiful man, such beautiful German! So enlightening! Am running out of exclamation marks :) So happy-making.

[@antigen4]

doesn't sound german to me - sounds more like german as a second language ... (?)

[@guitarboogie2]

Schiff is hungarian.

[@daucuscarota6602]

Neverthless it's German, a very eloquent and expressive German - with Hungarian timbre.

[@ericwedin4154]

Thank you very much for this. I will share this with my friends and relatives. Schiff explains more or less exactly what I find in Bachs music but so much better than I ever could myself, so thanks.😊👍

[@GovenorJerryBrown]

Mr. Schiff looks more and more like Bach as he ages.

[@agamaz5650]

yesss

[@carlosbashuertas]

Well, he's inhabited his spirit all along...

[@jennybackwell4212]

Siv Jensen I

[@crystalpiscess]

Siv Jensen It's Sir András Schiff !

[@brunoescoto9630]

He looks to me like a giant old baby from renascence paintings :)

[@stuartarlott6522]

Superbly concise and yet intriguingly thought provoking. I wholeheartedly agree with his point of view. It is well that we know relatively little biographically speaking about Bach’s life and how he completed such a consistently voluminous yet qualitatively body of music. Yet I remain curious to know how did Bach achieved this in a non-digital age 😉There are few interpreters who rival Schiff’s mastery of Bach. I challenge anyone to recite both Wohl temperte Klaviere volumes from Memory ! We’re humbled Sir András. Vielen Dank / köszönöm.

[@daucuscarota6602]

Wunderbar, wie András Schiff erklärt! Man hört ganz und gar konzentriert zu, was er zu sagen hat. Dieses Video habe ich mir schon etliche Male angesehen und ich bin jedes mal ganz fasziniert. Ganz toll sind auch seine Gespräche im israelischen Rundfunk: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJK8lXx7ibGhjJI, kzbin.info/www/bejne/g5mnd6SVgteCmac.

[@roberteigen4499]

Ein Genuss zuzuhören!

[@osmarhinkeldey1056]

Andras Schiff have a profound understanding of Bach. This is clear in this video.

[@heinzblod3193]

Hätte Herrn Schiff gerne als Musiklehrer. Er ist eine sehr inspirierende Persönlichkeit.

[@richardwordsworthholt8979]

even the way he speaks is music

[@daucuscarota6602]

András Schiff ist wirklich nicht nur einer der bedeutendsten Pianisten der Gegenwart, sondern auch eine beeindruckende Persönlichkeit. Sehr interessant auch seine Auftritte im israelischen Fernsehen (auf Englisch: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g5mnd6SVgteCmac, kzbin.info/www/bejne/g5mnd6SVgteCmac). Erstaunlich, wie er sich in drei Sprachen (Ungarisch, Deutsch, Englisch) perfekt ausdrücken kann. Ich bin auch immer wieder beeindruckt, wie intensiv sich Berufsmusiker mit der von ihnen gespielten Musik und deren Komponisten auseinandersetzen und welche tiefe Reflexion sie darüber haben.

[@AwareLife]

Andras Schiff has almost merged with Bach. He knows him very well and thus one of the great interpreters.

[@cinimod621]

Wow. Er spricht sogar richtig gutes Deutsch! Das er viele Wörter beherrscht die unmittelbar von Komponisten (wie Beethoven zum Beispiel) verwendet wurden wusste ich ja aber, dass er sich richtig auf Deutsch unterhalten kann ist mir neu. Er ist genial.

[@Kref3]

Das Mann lebte und arbeitete ziemlich lang in Salzburg.

[@zsozso411]

cinimod621 Er hat ja in Wien gelebt das Zentrum der klassischen Musik...

[@riabrezova8682]

Exquisite!!!!! Thank you very much for upload!

[@saldana7395]

32:14 I loved the Mass in B minor's opening on that piano

[@ollehedstrom3536]

Wonderful talk by Schiff on Bach. Schiff is almost as great an orator as he is a musician!

[@jeanpierrecarabas5508]

Wie RECHT er doch hat …. hervorzuheben: Bachs-Handschrift .... Bachs-Arbeitsvolumen … einfach nur Wahnsinn ... ganz abgesehen von der allerhöchsten Qualität!! - - Bachs Musik ist ein absolutes Fundament .... da steht man sicher - - festen Boden unter den Füssen.

[@zsozso411]

Ich habe schon viele Art von Musik in meinen 35 Jahren gehört aber eins ist sicher für mich steht Bachs Musik an erster Stelle!

[@fleurafricaine5740]

Fabulous personal statement from a wonderful Bach performer.

[@manfredwilhelmy7634]

Gracias Maestro Schiff por sus didácticos comentarios sobre un genio inmortal

[@michelemandrioli4720]

I went to a performance of him playing Bach (Goldberg Variations) in June in Leipzig, so this video is especially interesting for me.

[@TechnoRaabe]

Er hat eine ausserordentlich beruhigende Stimme.

[@carmenaballi]

Gracias 😊 no me imagino la vida sin la música de Bach.

[@Quim1441]

🖤

[@NYCBG]

THANK YOU, Andras! This was priceless.

[@orkhis1943]

Thank you so much for sharing!

[@1jesus2music3duke]

This is just too wonderful.

[@SkinSlayer26]

A fascinating insight into musicianship, a maestro's love for music, and interpretation.

[@martinstremlow2997]

Ich bin immer wieder begeistert von Andras Schiff.

[@JaxonBurn]

If it were 10 times as long I would still be left wanting more.

[@danieljunior7821]

Amazing to be able to listen to him about Bach!

[@lintflas1183]

11:05 German, French, Italian, Spanish and Scottish styles in Bach. How did he master all that stuff?? He never left his country!

[@dickersonforever]

Internet, lol. Well it was very common in that time the composers ask and send works for his colleagues and spread it out because the radio doesn't want to play them. LoL

[@Claude_van]

Bach lived inside a huge family network of 50 other Bachs, all musicians. One of his brothers lived in Sweden.He was probably the best informed composer of all times. He studied all styles and made copies of everything he liked beginning at a very young age.

[@us-Bahn]

Remarkable how slowly & softly Mr Schiff speaks. That’s rare in Germany.

[@thelonious-dx9vi]

What a mensch. It's beautiful to hear him speak about the old meister. I listen to his Bach more than any other, perhaps more than all others combined, at least at the keyboard.

[@nadyamelnikov8970]

great understanding! thank you!

[@marinellabarigazzi5520]

Un punto di riferimento importante. Una grande lezione da un grande maestro.

[@metteholm4833]

Not only Mendelssohn recognized Bach. Schumann was VERY interested - and knew a lot. Chopin reminded his student NEVER to forget to play Bach. Beethoven and Mozart adored his work.... but - true - it was first and foremost Mendelssohn, who brought Bach to a wider audience. He educated Joseph Joachim to becoming an outstanding Bach interpreter.

[@bach-ingmadeline7410]

mette holm Yes - and wasn't it Brahms who said "Study Bach,there you will find everything" ? That is a quote I have often read.

[@metteholm4833]

@@bach-ingmadeline7410 Yes, and he said, that he would gladly give up this entire production to be the creator of this piece.

[@rh7189]

So Mendelssohn brought Bach to a wider audience? Really? Am not convinced at all.

[@willbigelow472]

@@rh7189 it was his performance Mendelssohn) of St. Matthew's Passion in 1829, almost 80 years after Bach's death that led to a revival of Bach. This is a very good short documentary I found about it : kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5exm3ivoNKKd6M

[@rh7189]

@@willbigelow472 The Jewish community trying to claim credit via a Jewish composer Mendelssohn, for Bach's infamy. Sorry don't buy it.

[@christinemiskelly5064]

Inspiring. Thank you.

[@thierryperrenoud1460]

Magnifique, fabuleux... si beau!

[@stevehinnenkamp5625]

Thank you, maestro for an excellent, informative summary of Bach. It was your welcoming personality that made me want to approach playing the Inventions. Sinfonias, and tackle a fugue from WTC. You have inspired me, Herr Schiff! ❤

[@grubbyfan1845]

Bach really was insanely hard-working, I've collected about 170 hours of his music played in full speed by professionals and many pieces even are lost today

[@vkkoorchester666]

GREAT insights! thanks! schiff is one of the greatest pianists for me.

[@voraciousreader3341]

Interestingly, as much music as Bach had to create, his musicians had to learn....imagine it! How many days did they have to rehearse this new music, if it had to be composed and copied?? It must either have been crazy or something I can’t comprehend, or maybe a bit of both! Bach was such a genius, even to have been yelled at by such a genius would have been fine with me, lol!

[@geronimo2764]

Toller Pianist, der wunderschön spielt. Hochinteressant, was Herr Schiff hier erzählt. Bach muss tatsächlich unglaublich diszipliniert gewesen sein. Ich denke, dass er auf all seinen Wegen, Kutschfahrten, selbst in der belebten Stadt in seiner inneren Welt lebte und Fugen und Choralwerke hörte und in seinem Inneren konstruierte. Ich glaube nicht, dass er die Abgeschiedenheit eines stillen Raumes dazu benötigte. Ebenso wenig wie Mozart oder Beethoven. Das macht ja deren Genie aus. Man darf nicht vergessen, dass diese Jahrtausend-Genies nicht stets hart mit sich ringen mussten, um ihre phantastischen Werke zu Papier zu bringen. Sie flossen aus ihnen heraus wie Wasser aus einem nicht versiegenden Brunnen. Ich vermute eher, dass Bach des öfteren mit einem Schreibkrampf zu kämpfen hatte, weil er mit der Geschwindigkeit seiner inneren Tonvorstellung bei der Notation nicht hinterherkam. Ich schließe mich Herrn Schiff an: Bach ist auch für mich der wichtigste Komponist. Die Musik beginnt und endet mit Bach. Es liegt eindeutig an der Schönheit der Konstruktionen. Bei Bach ist nichts überflüssig. Er baut seine Themen und Kontrapunktik wie Brückenpfeiler, und benötigt keine unnötige Ausschmückung. Das stabile Gebilde selbst in seiner Reduziertheit auf das Wesentliche ist die Schönheit. Auch mein Klavierprofessor spielte jeden Tag Bach, weil er die Musik liebte. Eine schöne Angewohnheit, den Tag mit Bach zu beginnen. Heutzutage ist ja beliebt, die Themen einer Fuge immer bei ihrem Einsatz auf einem Flügel herauszuheben, sie schon fast reinzudonnern. Doch das war singulär auf dem Clavichord nicht möglich. Man konnte nur einen Bereich stufenweise lauter machen. Da kann man durchaus die Frage stellen, ob nicht die Mehrzahl der Pianisten das falsch auffasst.

[@ricepatch]

Schiff seemed so hesitant to talk about Bach, but he got me when he called himself a madman. Because he is, and it's great.

[@us-Bahn]

I could listen to this guy talk about Bach for maybe just a little while longer, maybe 20 hours.

[@user-nx6ji9tk8i]

Bach,s writing like waves - like Leonardo da Vinci! Utter brilliance . Vielen danke

[@pedroluzdivina2355]

"Bach is a miracle". Here is the summary of the video. Thank you, Herr Schiff, for your words.

[@arianedefouquieres3803]

I love Bach played by Andras Schiff

[@teresaemiliaorsimoreno5790]

I just loved learning all of these informations!

[@nicholas5160]

Man, this is gold !

[@rosenbergjerusalem6055]

Herr Schiff ist eine Bemerkenswerte Persönlichkeit sehr ruhig jedoch hoch intelligent, wie er Bach darstellt.

[@canman5060]

+Rosenberg Jerusalem Genau.

[@Pathy1]

Er wirkt unheimlich zufrieden und in sich ruhend, völlig im Reinen mit sich selbst und der Welt. Und das hört man in seinem Klavierspiel, besonders in seinem Bachspiel. Empfehlenswert sind auch seine Beethoven Klaviersonaten Lecture-Recitals hier auf youtube.

[@yolandah9267]

Pathy1

[@yolandah9267]

Sorry, I pressed the "send" key to you by mistake while rotating the screen.

[@prof.m.ottozeeejcdecs9998]

Ich verstehe Schiff, weil er Bach versteht... für mich ist Bach der Einstein der Musik, beide werden niemals vergessen in dieser (und der nächsten) Welt. Schiff erinnert mich ein wenig an Gould, obwohl Glen der extrovertiertere der beiden war. Mich begeistert die Leichtigkeit Schiffs...

[@C0nstellati0ns]

Thanks for this, and thanks for the subtitles :)

[@bachkirche]

I appreciate that he points out this was written for Cembalo with two keyboards and he is adapting it to a modern piano with one. It is a major pet peeve of mine when our local classical radio station plays a "piano concerto" by Bach.

[@rh7189]

Why couldn't he have played on a harpsichord instead of the piano? To me it exhibits a lack of authenticity

[@jangreen5618]

Bachs cello suites are superb.

[@user-nx6ji9tk8i]

Note they were never intended to be heard. Only for individual study. And maybe ( muppets thought ) for contemplation. Very private pieces.

[@Quim1441]

Any of his work is superb.

[@Cristobels-Green-Boots]

A Proms Hero! A Hungarian who escaped the Soviet, & vowed never to return… I don’t understand German, but I could listen to him talk for hours…🦉

[@yunhyeokchoi2004]

"He never writes a straight line...".

[@autodidactusplaysjrpgs7614]

Mr. Schiff all but pointed out that, in Bach's time, secularism was not an unholy thing. Secularism was merely life outside of the Church and it was as blessed as life within.

[@DeOmnibusDubitandum76]

Well, about the necessity of silence to write, for a while Bach worked in an apartment full of family members (an army of children), and still managed to churn out music for the ages on a weekly basis.

[@didierduplenne2325]

Fantastically interesting !

[@brentdobson5264]

Erick P. Dollard an Electrical Engineer and writer has pointed out Bach's musical language is identical to that of Electrical Engineering ( geometrically / mathematically / ratios ) .

[@neilwalsh3977]

Bach loved the French form - slow/stately - then fast then slow - I love that perhaps over the Italian. The majestas of it

[@ShadowZZZ]

''Bach couldn't even exist in today's time with this constant noice and unrest.''

[@Quim1441]

27:27 Schiff never ceases to impress me.

[@orstorzsok6708]

wunderbar

[@saltburner2]

Casals would begin every day by playing one of the 48 Preludes and Fugues from the WTC. It was his 'Benediction on the day'.

[@roddykennedy9476]

So nice to hear a master being puzzled by the same things as us mere mortals 🤓 For example the sheer quantity of music that Bach wrote. This goes for people in other fields too, like John Calvin who wrote a staggering amount as a preacher and theologian over a century earlier. There is a tendency today to think that we have progressed over the centuries - I’m not so sure.

[@ericwilhelm2941]

I love the way he talks about Bach.

[@theskoomacat7849]

28:31 Why does this piece sound so familiar to the C# minor prelude in WTC 2? It sounds incredibly close.

[@edanmendelson3274]

thanks so much for this! i love schiff!

[@neilwalsh3977]

Great composers create a ''community of listeners''

[@PianoWithMichael]

Andras Schiff is one of my favorite interpreters of Bach (on the Piano I should say). However, can one truly understand and delve into the mind and music of J.S. Bach if they don't believe in the Almighty and live a life filled with a passionate belief that their Art is for the purpose of one thing....SDG. There are many "literalists" of classical music that have no appreciation for the Almighty nor have any kind of imagination but play the music of the Masters extremely well from a rote perspective. I do hope a movement will initiate of "high" performers of the Great Masters that live a life of passion and divine pursuit so as to quell the music of the banal.

[@aidamarkiw]

Wonderful video !

[@consti1873]

Ich höre ihm gerne zu und finde seine Ansichten sehr interessant. Es ist allerdings ein bisschen widersprüchlich, wenn er einerseits glücklich ist, dass wir nicht allzu viel über Bach wissen, er andererseits aber das, was wir wissen total spannend findet. Und über manche Dinge lässt sich durchaus diskutieren (für mich ist es z.B. ziemlich offensichtlich, dass Bachs Lieblingsinstrument das Cembalo war und nicht das Clavichord). Aber das ist ja auch irgendwie das spannende bei diesen Themen. Wir wissen es einfach nicht.

[@MrVatov]

"Bei Bach leben die Sakrale un die Sekuläre harmonisch zusammen."

[@gauriblomeyer1835]

Wie wunderbar ist diese Darstellung. Wie wäre es, die Bachschen Oratorien, die partita 2, die Chaconne gespielt von Heifetz, Nilstein oder Perleman und zu dirigieren, vorallem die einmaligen lustigen Aufführungen wie das Quotlibet mit dem Backtrog im Bach oder die Kaffekantate ?

[@abirdthatflew]

A scholar and a gentleman, and decorated by the Queen. His teaching of Bach is welcome. For sure, he is knowledgeable and a superb teacher. But personally, in all these years, I have never been impressed with his Bach recitals. It's all very well to be reverential of Bach, but the composer was really something else, an absolute dynamite musician, bursting with energy and creativity, childlike but with immense intellect, unlike anyone before or since. His Bach recitals are stodgy, in my opinion. Still, it's nice to hear someone talk approvingly of Bach.

[@m.a.3322]

4:00 (george malcolm), 5:00 (scales), 10:00 (tar uccharon ta khubi bhalo), 12 (instrument bajano) 18:00 (pagol), 21:00 (hasshokor), 27:23 (bajano shuru)