Bach - Goldberg Variations BWV 988 / Harpsichord + Presentation (Century's recording: Helmut Walcha)

[@classicalmusicreference]

Album available // Bach: Goldberg Variations by Helmut Walcha ***Listen to our latest mastering update*** : bit.ly/3WlOsbk 🎧 Qobuz (Hi-Res) cutt.ly/BekFG52Z Tidal (Hi-Res) cutt.ly/gekFHmc0 🎧 Apple Music (Lossless) cutt.ly/GekFH23u Deezer (Hi-Fi) cutt.ly/TekFJcwC 🎧 Amazon Music (Hi-Res) cutt.ly/mekFJKsB Spotify (mp3) cutt.ly/WekFJ6Qg 🎧 KZbin Music (mp4) cutt.ly/vekFKxsS 🎧 Pandora, Anghami, Soundcloud, QQ音乐, LineMusic 日本… Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) - Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 by Helmut Walcha *Click to activate the English subtitles for the presentation* (00:00-03:50) Aria (00:00) Variation I (03:11) Variation II (05:26) Variation III (07:10) Variation IV (09:50) Variation V (11:10) Variation VI (13:07) Variation VII (14:36) Variation VIII (16:21) Variation IX (18:53) Variation X (20:42) Variation XI (22:23) Variation XII (24:31) Variation XIII (27:21) Variation XIV (31:11) Variation XV (33:33) Variation XVI (36:53) Variation XVII (40:18) Variation XVIII (42:38) Variation XIX (44:18) Variation XX (45:21) Variation XXI (48:23) Variation XXII (50:39) Variation XXIII (52:11) Variation XXIV (54:28) Variation XXV (57:16) Variation XXVI (1:02:30) Variation XXVII (1:05:00) Variation XXVIII (1:07:13) Variation XXIX (1:09:51) Variation XXX (1:12:04) Aria Da Capo (1:13:52) --- Harpsichord / Clavecin/ Cembalo : Helmut Walcha Recorded in 1961 ***Listen to our latest mastering update***: bit.ly/3feWnHl 🔊 FOLLOW US on SPOTIFY (Profil: CMRR) : spoti.fi/3016eVr 🔊 Download CMRR's recordings in High fidelity audio (QOBUZ) : bit.ly/370zcMg ❤ If you like CM//RR content, please consider membership at our Patreon page. Thank you :) www.patreon.com/cmrr --- GOLDBERG, Johann Gottlieb (1727-1756 est claveciniste allemand. Il fut à Dresde l'élève de W. Fr. et de J.-S. Bach qui écrivit pour lui les Variations-Goldberg, rendant ainsi hommage au talent exceptionnel de son élève. VARIATIONS GOLDBERG. Titre sous lequel sont connues les 30 variations pour clavier BWV 988 de Jean Sébastien Bach sont composées vers 1741. Le titre original est ‘’Aria mit verschiedenen Veründerungen vors Clavicimbal mit 2 Manualen’’ (« Aria avec diverses variations pour clavecin à deux claviers manuels »). Leur genèse a souvent été rapportée. Le comte von Keyserlingk, ambassadeur de Russie à la cour de Dresde et protecteur de Bach, souffrait d'insomnie. Le compositeur et claveciniste Johann Gottlieb Goldberg lui jouait de la musique pour le distraire. On demanda à Bach des pièces à la fois douces et divertissantes pour cet office, et il composa ces variations sur un thème de sarabande. Le comte en fut tellement satisfait qu'il fit envoyer à Bach un gobelet rempli de 100 louis d'or. Cette histoire contient sans doute un fond de vérité, mais on ne saura probablement jamais le dernier mot sur l'origine des Variations Goldberg. L'œuvre fut éditée en 1742 comme quatrième partie de la Clavier-Übung (le terme en allemand qui désigne la « pratique du clavier »). - Les Variations Goldberg sont un des sommets de la musique de Bach, et une de ses musiques pour clavier les plus séduisantes. La sarabande énoncée au début comme thème des variations réapparaît telle quelle à la fin, comme si l'œuvre était « en boucle », et suggère l’infinie. La tonalité est sol majeur (sol mineur pour les variations XV, XXI et XXV), et la structure d'ensemble fort claire. Un premier groupe de trois pièces est formé du thème et des deux premières variations. Suivent neuf groupes de trois pièces chacun, tous formés d'un canon, d'une variation libre ou de caractère, et d'une variation de virtuosité (les canons étant à l'unisson, à la seconde, à la tierce, etc.., jusqu'à la neuvième), et enfin un quodlibet (variation XXX) et la reprise du thème. - La première variation est d'essence motoristique ; la deuxieme est un duo contrapuntique d'allure pastorale ; la troisième un canon à l'unisson sur un rythme de sicilienne ; la quatrième un passepied en imitations ; la cinquième est rapide, pour les deux claviers avec croisements de mains ; la sixième est un canon à la seconde ; la septième une forlane rapide ; la huitième est de nouveau virtuose ; la neuvième un canon à la tierce ; la' dixième une fughetta à trois voix ; la onzième est à deux voix ; la douzième un canon à la quarte (par mouvement contraire) ; la treizième une longue melodie proche du mouvement lent du Concerto italien ; la quatorzième se joue sur les deux claviers ; la quinzième, en sol mineur, est un canon à la quinte (par mouvement contraire) ; la seizième adopte le style de l'ouverture à la française ; la dix-septième est très rapide ; la dix-huitième, canon à la Sixte, adopte un rythme de marche, et la dix-neuvième est un 3/8 avenant ; la vingtième est de nouveau une sorte de poursuite, et la vingt et unième, en sol mineur, un canon à la septième ; la vingt-deuxième est très contrapuntique, et la vingt-troisième très brillante, en style de toccata ; la vingt-quatrième est un canon à l'octave, et la vingt-cinquième, en sol mineur, un adagio chromatique à la Chopin ; la vingt-sixième est rapide, la vingt-septième un canon à la neuvième ; la vingt-huitième est caractérisée par une frise continue de trilles qui se relaient aux deux mains - admirable effet instrumental ; la vingt-neuvième doit se jouer en battements alternés sur les deux claviers, avec des triolets rapides ; la trentième et dernière variation est un quodlibet, c'est-à-dire un divertissement mélangeant le thème de sarabande à deux chansons populaires, ‘Ich bin so lange bei dir nicht gewest’ et ‘Kraut und Rüben haben mich vertrieben’. Enfin, la répétition de l'aria, dans sa nudité initiale, produit un effet de gravité extraordinaire. - Visiblement, Bach prit un immense plaisir à être tour à tour, ou en même temps, brillant et savant, et à laisser sa vitalité s'exprimer avec moins de détours que dans d'autres pièces. Les Variations Goldberg furent rapidement célèbres et adaptées au piano (par Liszt notamment), et il est fort probable que Beethoven y songea en écrivant ses Variations Diabelli. - "UN des grands interprètes de J. S. Bach", telle était la description de l'organiste et claveciniste allemand Helmut Walcha (1907-1991) dans le New York Times. Sa compréhension intuitive de l'esprit et des intentions du compositeur" a été notée par The Guardian, tandis que Gramophone a jugé que "sa cohérence et sa logique interne en tant qu'interprète de Bach restent inégalées". --- Bach - Partitas Nos.1,2,3,4,5,6 BWV 825-830 Harpsichord + Presentation (Century’s recording : Helmut Walcha) : kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z3WQl6WQl6t7jLc --- Bach - The Art of Fugue in D minor BWV 1080, New mastering (Century's record.: Helmut Walcha, Organ): kzbin.info/www/bejne/l4vCoqKJZsSohqM - Johann Sebastian Bach PLAYLIST (reference recordings) : kzbin.info/www/bejne/qaGrc4evlsyZkJY

[@jorgeurzuaurzua4011]

Helmut Walcha was one of the most respected organ and harpsichord players of the XXth century. He died in 1991. He recorded the complete organ works by Bach two times. He was a scholar and studious of Bach, and a world renowned teacher. His rendering of the Goldberg is solid, mathematical, respectful, coherent, admirable. Walcha plays a non romantic music, an architectural, structural, intelligent work of art. Personally I like it, this straightforward, no nonsense Bach. Thanks Classical Music for posting.

[@luisdiazlopez3712]

La versión de H. Walcha es una "non romantic version". No sé cómo calificar la de Zhu Xiao-Mei, tocada en piano en la Iglesia de Santo Tomás de Leipzig, junto a la tumba de J.S. Bach, que me resulta más atrayente entre todas las versiones para piano. Un afectuoso saludo desde Ñuñoa para don Jorge Urzúa.

[@malachizarathustra7301]

Humbling to think that Bach is speaking to us across oceans of time.

[@survivalinurbania]

Bach, played so crisply and well, soothes my mind, orders my thinking, and calms yet envigorates my soul. It brings me alive.

[@clivespendlove5993]

exactly my experience!

[@WorldView22]

Humanity’s great respect is paid on this man for his extraordinarily masterful musical talent. RIP Helmut Walcha.

[@zevbabbitt4386]

I had the good fortune to have received a scholarship from the University in Frankfurt (Goethe) and to have studied with and spent lots of time with Walcha and his amazing partner in music ----His wife !! I heard two of his Bachstunden concerts that took place every Sunday at the medieval and intimate NickolaiKirche . Many assume he was born blind but that was not the case-..At age 19 he was given a bad dose of smallpox vaccine and slowly lost his sight . Think about that in these times..............

[@tallisrocktube]

Helmut plays the Harpsichord with a clarity in phrasing that makes every note coherence and intelligibility.. Bach perfection!

[@canman5060]

Helmut Walcha is a man of remarkable memory.He cannot see what he played but he memorised extremely well what he is going to play.

[@미켈란젤리]

came here again still one of the greatest goldberg variation I've ever heard

[@hugokaufmann4892]

I would not have been able to fall asleep with Helmut Walcha's dynamic and enlivening presentation. Thank you.

[@BrunoMachet]

Extremely beautiful version. No compromise. And, strangely enough, I never heard a harpsichord sound so much as an organ. Thanks so much for this download ....

[@crampedcasket3887]

Well, he is primarily an organist, so that part does make sense in some ways. And very agreed as for the rest of what you had said.

[@MrLoknar]

True, some notes seem to last unnaturally long for a harpsichord, the magic of Walcha haha

[@class87srule]

Without wishing to sound patronising, this performance is the more intriguing and marvellous owing to Helmut Walcha's blindness; it's hard enough 'feeling' and 'holding' the notes on a harpsichord when you're sighted. To learn everything by ear and then have to transcribe it through your fingers is little short of miraculous. His organ playing is also testament to this.

[@musael22]

I guess he did the same thing as others musicians do : put the music into their fingers and let them play.

[@rsns311257]

@@musael22 It is never inly that, although I do not think blindness affected Walcha's approach in terms of "toucher". The organ did. However, his emphasis on structure and on the independent conduction of every voice may have been influenced by the way he had to memorize music: he had each voice played to him (in sections, of course) and he would commit them to memory.

[@svetsarkirurgen2]

@@musael22 other musicians read music

[@abbeywilliams925]

Bach to perfection! No need to applaud.....

[@55archduke]

Luminous sound. Genius performance.

[@JoePalau]

55archduke Walcha's performance on the harpsichord demands phrasing that depends on the sounding period of a plucked cord. That constraint, in turn, promotes a musical appreciation of its own with insights into the unfolding harmonic architecture of each variation. I am one appreciates Schiff AT the piano as much as Walcha at the harpsichord. It's just that I miss the harmonic & contrapuntal aesthetic of Bach Harpsichord. Now for Kilpatrick's Bach Clavichord :)

[@matthewdelisle9846]

this is my favorite music

[@claudiorao100]

Gracias Classical music por darme la oportunidad de escuchar estas variaciones Golberg , musica paradisiaca y al genio de Helmut......

[@tepmich]

Helmuts Spiel und Ausfuhrung dieser Variationen ist GROSSARTIG !!! Tepper Michael.

[@mariogriffey1297]

Erano anni che non mi capitava di risentire questa meravigliosa esecuzione. Helmut Walcha è stato un grande maestro che ci ha spezzato il pane angelico delle partiture bachiane insegnandoci, nei nostri verdi anni, a comprenderlo e amarlo. Mi sembra una lettura perfetta, che rinnova il miracolo dell'espressione attraverso la sola architettura delle melodie e delle armonie, senza l'ausilio del colore strumentale. E il miracolo si compie con la sola tersa e precisa lettura del lascito imperituro. Caro Walcha, grazie, come si ringrazia un nonno buono, che ci ha fatto scoprire un tesoro che ci ha accompagnato per tutta la vita.

[@GaryGP40]

Love the harpsichord!! One of my faves. Gives the variations a different tone and timbre. I will listen again when I get the full keyboard score in 2 days, I enjoy hearing and following the score in addition to doing a harmonic analysis for my own pieces! :)

[@canman5060]

He memorises what he plays.

[@robertgift]

Wonderful! Thank you, CMRR, for sharing this. We never would have heard it otherwise.

[@positivegradient]

What a heavenly performance.

[@gerardbegni2806]

Helmut Walcha was one of the best connaisseurs and interpret of JSB, both on harpsichord and above all on organ. A very classical vision, in the positive meaning of this word, without any excentric interpretations as we too often hear, but by no ways arid or scholar. JSB as he deserved to be played.

[@cuculus50]

With a nod to all who comment, in my imagination I think of a conversation between JS Bach and a modern day pianist, say Glen Gould, Bach saying: "Do you think I would compose something like this had I to compose for an instrument like that?"The composer is always right in every circumstance.The gaping needy maw of a concert grand piano is the curse of our time.

[@dudleywinterbottom7195]

cuculus canorum j

[@HowardEllisonUKVoice]

Arrived at this bright and lovely harpsichord performance in escaping from tonight's BBC Prom - where it's being played on a piano!

[@user-il1vr9lu9e]

作曲された当時の音に近いと思う。 素晴らしいですね！！！ オルガンの名演奏家は、音色にも変化をつけようとしている。次から次へと、変奏がより興味深くなります。

[@maestrolae4097]

MARAVILLOS, WALCHA. Lo descubrí hace un par de años, después de oir durante 40 a otros intérpretes de teclado de las obras de BACH. A partir de ahí solo escucho a JSB si él interpreta el órgano o clavicémbalo. Fué un gran hombre, que merece que su vida la den a conocer mediante una biografía y película.

[@marcozanetti9070]

Io ascolto Helmut Walcha da 50 anni e scopro sempre qualcosa di meraviglioso in questo interprete che comunica a tutti musicalità e gioia: sarebbe oltremodo stupendo se qualcuno ne fissasse la vita in un film!

[@BRD_Helferlein]

Bachs most beautiful piece on a beautiful instrument

[@STUMPYELF1]

Superb! Very precise! It takes a German to play like Bach....

[@espressogirl68able]

oh god... the asinine arrogance...

[@garyjohnson9037]

Such a beautiful recording of Bach, masterpiece, I wonder how many people realize that his Goldberg Variations was made for and first played on the harpsichord before the piano was invented!! thank you for sharing.

[@ramongcastaneda5308]

I would think that anyone who knows a thing or two about the development of keyboard instruments realizes that. Also, anyone who has suffered the butchering of the Goldbergs when played on a piano, where the repeats are most often omitted because of the limitations of a one-manual instrument realizes that.

[@garyjohnson9037]

+Ramón G Castañeda Ramon, most people I have talk with have never ever heard of the Goldberg variations and some wouldn't know Bach from Beethoven, you give too much credit to the average person. where I live I am a rarity, welcome to Florida. but I fully appreciate this beautiful recording and would love to add it to my collection. thank you for responding, your thoughts are always welcome, Peace

[@januszallina4960]

Harpsichord gives it a special charm, doesn't it? Glenn Gould's recordings, which I love very much, are so mathematical and, so to say, classical, but this one kind of opens new space for the music of Bach (forget chronology of those inventions), so different, so... fresh.

[@garyjohnson9037]

Janusz Allina yes it does, I I have listen and love Glenn's recording, both are special ,as you pointed out, there's just something about a well played harpsichord that give it that uniqueness....I love listening to Bach when traveling, it just help you focus and makes the trip enjoyable...Peace

[@januszallina4960]

Oh, thank you for your note, Gary. It's interesting: I often listen to Bach but never have I listened to his music in a travel. I then listen to folk or blues rather than classics. I should try Bach next time as I can imagine it is magic. Thanks again and ATB!

[@zacharybond23]

The fact that this version is so obscure saddens me, as this is wonderful is to listen to.

[@classicalmusicreference]

Obscure ?

[@zacharybond23]

As in "obscure" I mean that I had to really look in order to find this recording, but if I knew the name of the artist beforehand, it would have been easier to find. That's what I mean by "obscure".

[@classicalmusicreference]

:-) enjoy ^^

[@zacharybond23]

Oh I will, and thank you so much for this recording.

[@MonaetSham]

I find that there's a particular resonance in higher notes that you don't really hear on the piano. No doubt Walcha's control of dynamics on such an instrument is a demonstration of his true mastery.

[@fcopaja]

Well, such an instrument cannot control its dynamics... Any particular resonance is due to the instrument. Maybe you're referring to the use of double stops, that add a little bit of volume and in this case an octave doubling.

[@larbado9575]

Esta interpretación me evoca a Walcha sentado ante el clavicémbalo y al maestro Bach en pie junto a él escuchando, siguiendo la música y dándole indicaciones.

[@williamsu5552]

it is Walcha ,the all blind organist ,the high priest of BACH🥰

[@franklinruiz1]

Best sound out of a harpsi... for the G.V.'s ever.

[@carloshumbertocacaofiguero7556]

Es primera vez que escucho esta interpretación y me ha cautivado tanto la ejecución como el peculiar sonido del instrumento. La técnica interpretativa es precisa, exquisitamente minuciosa en las frases contrapuntísticas. El sonido del clave me recuerda a una jaula llena de delicados pájaros de los más diversos colores, todos trinando al unísolo, deseosos de salir a raudales por la diminuta puerta de la jaula.

[@classicalmusicreference]

gracias por tu bonito comentario

[@flyingstratosurfer6285]

So glad I stumbled into this. Having been a fan of Helmut Walchas organ recordings for Deutsche Grammophon/Archiv, I never had the chance to listen to his Goldberg Variations (I didn´t even know about these). He reveals the real beauty of this music by stripping it from all romanticisms. Great to find traces of this - by any means - remarkable and humble artist. Thanks for uploading! And f*** Google for destroying YT by ruining the most intimate performances with dumb commercials...

[@nightshadegatito]

Agreed, I always thought anyone responsible for putting ads in the way of perfect appreciation of Bach ought to be put in gas chambers. Gas them all.

[@beatrizvaldebenito7639]

Gracias

[@marcsuanez7877]

Un chef-d'oeuvre intemporel !

[@carlosmendez6729]

You own the most beautiful performances on the internet. Thank you very much.

[@rsns311257]

Walcha's playing is dry, modernistic, very Bauhaus, but I always found that it suited the Goldbergs particularly well. I like the fact that there are no pronounced tempo oscillations between the variations. It makes the music flow better and brings out the unity of this set of variations. Walcha's other great successes at the harpsichord are the Chromatic fantasy and fugue and the 6th partita. The 4th partita and the English suites also deserve attentive listening, in my opinion. But then I grew up with these records.

[@hottubremoval731]

shut up

[@tonykim4954]

This performance shows that the instrument is not important. The problem is not the instrument but the ability of the performer. The performance of this modern instrument is better than that of most of the period instruments.

[@TheBoreal65]

amo esta musica, gracias!

[@sethpattison3216]

Variation XX 45:50

[@joaomartins219]

I can feel the Baroque...

[@미켈란젤리]

how could a blind man memorize every note and play without a single mistake this gigantic piece?

[@classicalmusicreference]

the sixth sense :-)

[@zacharybond23]

Very carefully.

[@hugoclarke3284]

Ears

[@ramongcastaneda5308]

Thank you for sharing this!

[@elektrotubbie]

Variation 25... Mozart Symphony No. 40.

[@StephaneMartineau]

Grand Merci !!!!!

[@mark-j-adderley]

Very difficult to get this music "wrong". Divinity seems to rub off on those who come close.

[@Demian18]

hannibal lover here

[@Astor962]

This channel should be called 'Classical Music/Reference Recording until the 1970s' ...

[@consti1873]

Why until the 70s'?

[@Astor962]

@@consti1873 I realized hat in this channel there are few recent recordings, and ultimately, posting Helmut Walcha as a reference interpreter for J. S. Bach seems to me as a very outdated option.

[@fernandofernandezgar]

Desde luego, la mejor época para la música clásica. Los mejores instrumentistas, voces, orquestas, directores y tomas de sonido son de esa época.

[@Astor962]

@@fernandofernandezgar ¿De verdad crees que después de los setenta no ha habido artistas e interpretaciones destacables? La suya me parece una afirmación no sólo incorrecta, sino también incongruente. La música y su interpretación son un arte en progreso y no pueden cristalizar en una sola visión.

[@fernandofernandezgar]

@@Astor962 Oh cuanta sabiduría hallo en sus palabras, sono commosso. Over and out.

[@texwiller4029]

¡Venga!

[@michelroussanne906]

Merci pour cette vidéo !

[@galactusomnipotentis651]

Much better than Piano variations!! This is one more proof that Cembalo is superior to Piano. It is to sad and to bad that Musicians "replaced" Cembalo with Piano at the beggining of XIX century. Cheers

[@Nickauboutte]

You prefer the harpsichord to the piano. That's all. It is certainly not "superior" (and neither is the piano). They are just different instruments. That said, the piano is an infinitely more versatile instrument for technical reasons than the harpsichord could ever be, and that's why most keyboard musicians switched to it as soon as it was possible for them to do so. And this began in the first half of the 18th century, not the beginning of the 19th. Cristofori, the inventor of the piano, died in 1731. Mozart played the piano (pianoforte as it was called at the time), not the harpsichord, and he died in 1796. Bach himself was quite familiar with pianos, having had the opportunity to play some of the first ones made in Germany by Silbermann in the 1730s. A decade later, Bach was even selling Sibermann's pianos. Incidentally you may be interested to know that Bach's preferred keyboard instrument, besides the organ, was the clavichord, not the harpsichord. And he preferred it because it had a dynamic keyboard, just like the piano. Check out Andras Schiff's comment on this very issue here on YT.

[@felipemp93]

Thank you very much for that.

[@oliwiereb]

tHaNk YoU vErY mUcH fOr ThAt.

[@PedroCucuchucho]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!Bueníiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisimo!

[@ThomasPeteratzinger]

Sehr schön

[@SaccidanandaSadasiva]

Great!!

[@TetsuPipe_OjiiChan]

いい……

[@michelroussanne906]

Merci !

[@Thelionpaladin]

Ready when you are, sergeant Pebry

[@ewaldsteyn469]

As great as this performance by Helmut Walcha is, after comparing it variation by variation I prefer Karl Richter's 1970 recording. I find it more profound and Richter insight into the music even greater than Walcha's. I know many will now protest - call it then a personal preference, but Richer is my first choice for the Goldberg Variations on harpsichord

[@MrPaevo]

I used to have Walcha's French Suites on vinyl, I don't believe they ever made it to CD....

[@erikthenorviking8251]

I am certain that Warner Classics have very recently put out a 13-CD box of all the Bach harpsichord recordings by HW, and it's quite inexpensive. About 25 GBP, I think. I hope you find a copy !

[@rsns311257]

I think you can get them either separately (Emi Japan) or in a modern 12 Cd version with all his harpsichord recordings (WTC, Inventions and Symphonies, French, English suites and partitas, the Italian Concerto and Ouverture).

[@vnizS2]

1:15:36

[@anna-sofiailiescu2249]

Noooo!! Why would you do that😭😭

[@vnizS2]

@@anna-sofiailiescu2249 Why? I just removed the ad.😉

[@ValzainLumivix]

Nice

[@JohnColapinto]

Starting to really appreciate the speed of this Aria. The super slow thing is starting to border on melodrama, even schmalz. Looking even at the incomparable Gould on this one!

[@martinlong9684]

I read once that Gould said there were two musicians whose Bach interpretations he admired: Helmut Walcha and Rosalyn Tureck. When you consider how fast Gould played it on his first recording and then his more thoughtful interpretation later it suggests that speed or lack of it really doesn't matter. Ms. Tureck's incredibly slow and yes, romantic performance is yet another view into the mind of Bach. Given that the composer gave very little instruction as to interpretation perhaps we should simply find new and interesting experiences within any competent performance. Walcha's organ recordings are incredible, precise and clearly stated and as such a great gift to the listener because one gets to know the tiny spaces between each note or phrase. It's possible that Walcha's sense of sound was different, more acute, differently perceived resulting in a performance that hints at another way of hearing and thinking about the music.

[@JohnColapinto]

@@martinlong9684 Nicely said-and I don't mean to imply that I don't love and listen to Gould's two versions (including his second one with the very slow Aria). I knew that Gould praised Tureck (whose reading I also love), but did not know he had singled out Walcha, too. Fantastic. And I agree that we should be grateful for any and all competent performances since they all provide different insights into a masterwork that Bach provided no performance instructions for. It's a glorious free-for-all! Bring on all versions!

[@malagigio1]

Nice!

[@ayandraruiz8856]

Me encanta ☺️ lástima que tiene publicidad

[@ewaldsteyn469]

Excellent. Thanks for uploading this. Great to hear this masterpiece on the harpsichord. But all the comments about how much better Bach's music sounds on harpsichord than on piano - sorry, but I am not going to join that bandwagon. I will always prefer Bach on piano over harpsichord.

[@mrawlins1756]

I usually dislike the harpsichord, but this is very nice. Less tinny than I would have thought.

[@grahammccready2647]

i love JSB but there is something about the harpsichord that grates a bit. is it just me?

[@user-xc3uk9cj1y]

此音只應天上有，人間難得幾回聞。

[@ClaudioBenassi]

Quando morirò mi trasformerò nella variazione XXVII

[@jbizzle4922]

so based

[@vxkhwz]

Can someone please explain why Variation XIX has such a different timbre than the other ones before??

[@classicalmusicreference]

The sound of the harpsichord is delicate, or bright if one decides to operate several strings per key.

[@vxkhwz]

Can you elaborate? I'm unclear how you can generate different timbres, and what you mean by "operate several strings per key". Thanks!

[@classicalmusicreference]

Sorry for my English: At first, it had only one string per note, a second string was added, in unison or octave, which allowed the appearance of new games that can be deactivated. As for the organ, the arrangement of the games is called disposition. A large harpsichord can have up to four games. Some harpsichords have two superimposed keyboards, each with a different sound color: the lower is the strongest, while the top ("little game") is more delicate ... Watch this short video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kIGwdYCepbKDgcU

[@gavinblack1957]

That variation is played on what is called the "buff stop" which involves pressing little felt pads up against the strings to create the sound that you hear here.

[@andreschwunck5994]

also some had a so called lute stop on eother one or both manuals in addition to the diffrent games that op mentioned. In this case however im pretty sure the lute stop was deployed. And its basically a piece of felt thats put on the strings, like the "moerators" on the old piano-fortes, before the una corda pedal was a thing.

[@J_Braz_]

ready when you are...

[@miguelleiton3645]

Walcha es Walcha...Gould es Gould...uno clave,,el otro piano,..los dos son geniales... solo Bach tiene que dar la opinión.....

[@ramongcastaneda5308]

Miguel, desde el momento en que Gould se ve obligado a eviscerar esta obra al omitir todas las repeticiones debido a la pobreza de colores dictada por el único registro del piano, ya tenemos una poderosísima clave respecto a lo que Bach opinaría. El Cantor de Santo Tomás no compuso esta obra mnoumental para que se ejecutara en instrumentos en los que las repeticiones resultan tan monótonas que el pianista se ve obligado a mutilar la obra para no aburrir al público.

[@miguelleiton3645]

Ramón.. Bach..escribió ésta obra por un encargo especial,supuestamente para ayudar a descansar,no para aburrir. Hay otras obras in extenso,que el verdadero amante de la música goza completa.El concierto n1 de Chopin para piano y Orq. tiene una larga introducción orquestal que a mi oido no molesta,y muchos directores la mutilan..Yo acostumbro a escuchar la obra total..Ha sido un placer ésta charla..gracias por todo..

[@ramongcastaneda5308]

Gracias por tu respuesta, Miguel; pero no nos estamos comunicando. Yo presento mi opinión y tú contestas con observaciones tangenciales. Ahora abres temas tan alejados tanto de tus aseveraciones como de las mías que ya es otra conversación para otra ocasión. Al final lo que subrayo es que el uso del piano para ejecutar esta obra obliga al solista a omitir las repeticiones. Ningún pianista ha tenido éxito en sus intentos de grabar toda la obra, con sus repeticiones intactas. Saludos.

[@fernandosouto659]

Murray Perahia grabó las variaciones con todas sus repeticiones, y es un excelente registro. En mi opinión Gould las omite porque el nivel de técnica y velocidad que aplica es extremo y así el margen de error a la hora de ejecutar la obra es menor. El piano es un instrumento amigo de mayores refinamientos y deleites del intelecto. El clave es un instrumento unidimensional y anacrónico. Cada quien con sus gustos...

[@Gallifreyman1]

Sí, pero.... Bach escribió esta obra para el clave. Para el timbre (o mejor dicho, LOS timbres) del clave, la sonoridad del clave, la atenuación particular de las notas del clave... Bach es particularmente parco en indicaciones en sus obras. Por ello, cada nota, cada adorno, cada repetición, cada indicación escrita por Bach está ahí por una razón, que él conocía, y no debe omitirse. Lo que hace Gould pretendiendo "interpretar" la obra de Bach es destrozarla -para mi gusto, claro-. Gould pretende demostrar que "sabe" más que Bach y fracasa miserablemente, porque pretende un imposible. NADIE sabe más que Bach salvo Dios, y El anda algo alejado de la composición musical estos últimos siglos. Bach lo sabía, y por eso, pese al orgullo por un trabajo MUY bien hecho, se puede ver en toda su obra una humildad que realmente trasciende los siglos. Eso lo hace todavía más grande .

[@albertweedsteinthethuggeni7797]

This is um invigorating I guess?

[@atiliocarlosborsani247]

Muy Buena interpretaciòn como es de esperarce de un artista de ese nivel, pero pienso que algunas variaciones tendría que ejecutarlas mas lentamente Como lo hace Wanda landovska.por ej la variaciòn 15 pierde totalmente su belleza tocandola sin là minima disposiciòn de animo Como esta musica se merece.

[@lastory1]

Though I like many of Walcha's organ recordings, his feeling for the harpsichord just doesn't come up to Kirkpartick or some others of that era. The aria seems DETERMINED, rather than floating on air. Precision is not all (especially in our era of quantified and error-corrected performances..... which of course Walcha couldn't anticipate). It's a decent reading, nonetheless.

[@JoePalau]

Much agreed. I think of Walcha more as an organist. Kirkpatrick was the Clavier / Harpsichord man in the day

[@scotthullinger9955]

This performance zaps all the character out of the music. Makes me feel suffocated.

[@hottubremoval731]

idiot

[@scotthullinger9955]

@@hottubremoval731 - Trevor Pinnock plays it better.

[@scotthullinger9955]

@@hottubremoval731 - Trevor Pinnock is far better.

[@hottubremoval731]

@@scotthullinger9955 Oh yeah? kzbin.info/www/bejne/rHrGlaeqjr6XpJI

[@scotthullinger9955]

@@hottubremoval731 - Yeah. I prefer the harpsichord performance of Trevor Pinnock.

[@transcontinental4664]

바흐 생에에는 피아노가 없었다. 침밸로 연주가 더 맛갈난다.

[@home.coffee4559]

jesus the ads

[@atiliocarlosborsani247]

La variaciòn 25 es un adagio!!! No un allegretto!! Que horror......

[@jasonhurd4379]

Dry, perfunctory and cold. There is not a scintilla of emotion of any kind here. This might as well have been played by an automaton. Gustav Leonhardt and Pierre Hantaï remain my touchstones for BWV 988.

[@bugandotudocassio8182]

Its too fast i think

[@courathiam256]

Too fast.

[@richardwhitehouse8762]

There are good things and not so good about this. First of all, though, thank you for sharing this. Clearly the man could play and the instrument is recorded beautifully. I have heard some recordings where there is a slight disconnect between the left and right hands, at least on harpsichord recordings, which I expect has some stylistic justification but which makes it hard to listen to. On the less good side, it is all terribly earnest. I find it really quite foursquare and actually not that interesting interpretatively. (I got as far as variation 6 and then gave up). But it is easy to criticise and I can't believe someone of Walcha's stature hadn't thought through exactly what and how he wanted to say. Leaves this listener cold, sadly.

[@espressogirl68able]

Yeah... he didn't record it for you. I'm surprised you didn't know that.

[@richardwhitehouse8762]

@@espressogirl68able classy reply

[@nightshadegatito]

The Goldberg variations audit the players and sound the depths of their souls.

[@espressogirl68able]

noise, noise, noise.

[@marcozanetti9070]

Hai le orecchie lunghe: alzale!

[@paulhartley5579]

perhaps your hearing aid is turned up too high.