Bach, Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582

[@jonnsmusich]

This was the work that made me fall in love with Bach over 6 decades ago. when I was a ten year old. I'll never grow tired of hearing it. Thank you Smalin and Reitze. You didn't mention the organ.

[@owoewrefi]

This is the original : kzbin.info/www/bejne/sKuliY2VlLGBla8

[@jonnsmusich]

@@owoewrefi Lovely organ, good choice of stops. Thanks

[@evaenzell4026]

Ppl

[@konradswart4069]

What a good idea, enclosing the main theme in a cylinder constantly throughout the performance so that it is everywhere _completely clear_ when the main theme is playing, and when not. It strengthens the experience of the music because it gives visual amplification to the element that gives structure to the entire organ performance. My organ teacher told me, that this is the only surviving piece of music from which it is known that Bach did not write for a particular aim or occasion. He wrote it down just for himself. Some contemporaries commented, that this piece is much like when Bach was just improvising for himself. Many declared that his pieces for himself were much deeper than what he wrote for others, and what he wrote for his students. Apparently, this piece, therefore, represents the best approximation of what it sounded like when Bach was just playing for himself. I have also made an animation of this piece. It accompanies a synthesizer version of this Bach piece I also made myself several years ago. But when I made my own animation, _I was cheating!_ (In the animation. Not in the music.) I made the synthesizer version after I had just bought a new sound module. I wanted to test that sound module. Anyways, _this animation is a Master Piece!_

[@jonnsmusich]

Just revisited the 2012 version. Which I loved the first time I watched/listened. This one is much richer. A decade of genuine insight and technical mastery. What a pleasure.

[@smalin]

For better or worse, I feel like I'm still just getting started, just scratching the surface.

[@jonnsmusich]

@@smalin Please keep scratching

[@scrouitch]

I'm ashamed I didn't know this piece before. I've been breathless for 12 minutes. Congrats!

[@waffleman-]

My favourite piece you ever uploaded, remastered! Funny story - a week ago I experimented with psilocybin for the first time in my life. I went into my room and turned off the lights, then played your old Passacaglia visualization. I was crying and laughing out (very) loud, both out of joy. Closest thing to a religious experience I ever had. Thank you for your work.

[@JcFiscus42]

That’s amazing, I was just thinking back to a very similar experience I had with the 9th symphony under the influence of LSD. I’ve never been so moved by music, to the point where it appeared I was witnessing the shadow of God, like I was getting just a glimpse through the window that Beethoven constructed. I can imagine this piece from Bach might offer a similar glimpse under such circumstances.

[@smalin]

waffleman You (and JcFiscus) are very lucky to have had that experience.

[@GabrielLeni]

Such beauty.... Thank you so much Mr. Bach... Hope I will one day have the honour to greet you in the afterlife.

[@jra0424]

This was always one of my favorites! I'm glad you decided to revisit it; the new animations really bring it to life.

[@shirleyrombough8173]

If one wants to immerse oneself in Bach this is the way to do it. And the way the lights follow the structure of the music is compelling to watch. I didn't think I would like it but turns out it adds to the appreciation of the sound.

[@smalin]

Funny how that works, huh?

[@alan11194]

to Reitze: Bravo! Bravo! What a fantastic interpretation! I enjoyed each and every extra trill, each extension and shortening of notes deviating from the original sheet music! to Stephen: Great choice of animation for each section! I was especially fond of the spinning triangles for the triolas at 6:02 and the breaking spheres for the sforzando chords at 5:41 A great addition to your previous interpretation of this piece that you released in Jan 9, 2012 This is my favorite piece of music and I'm so happy to have a new way to enjoy it 💙💚💛💚💙

[@schneck777]

My most favorite classical masterpiece. Bach's interpretation of Revelation The unmatchable Fear of judgement THE exaltation of redemptive mercy And the arduous road we all must endure to be Victorious

[@lindacowles756]

G'day, schneck777! Powerful piece! Sometimes when I meditate with this piece as background music, I think of the very beginning, as in Genesis 1, progressing through the history of mankind with all of the evil therein, the promise of the Redeemer, the price He paid on the cross for our redemption, and ultimate return and victorious reign of the King of kings and Lord of lords. Hallelujah!

[@garylovan630]

never ceases to amaze me how the light dances with music, bringing out even more the beauty of the music. Very intense beauty

[@Landstander-to9vh]

My "Go to" Bach! This piece takes me to a whole different space in time!

[@glennrice7795]

- A very good version of one of my favorite Bach works. I'm so happy that you produced this piece. (It looks pretty too!)

[@mercoid]

This piece is one of my first Bach experiences over 35 years ago. So powerful and wondrous for me to this day and not via a nostalgia, but just because it IS THAT wonderful.

[@JD..........]

F’ing phenomenal work. 11:50 - Neapolitan 6 chord!

[@nicolasmaillouxorgue]

Beautiful music. Beautiful performance. Thank you, Bach. Thank you, Stephen.Thank you, Reitze.

[@stjacquesremi]

I I absolutely love about this piece is the build up of the variations of the passacaglia which just ends up with such a satisfying fugue

[@jacopol.braccesi384]

No words how beautiful , this piece is pure terror

[@MidwestSirenProductions]

I’m so glad to hear this again; such an invigorating piece with many moving parts!

[@mushdogful]

I always get sad at the end of this piece because it's over. I want it to go on forever.

[@rineric3214]

Ever new (and fresh!). Ever beautiful. Thank you. I'm sure Bach is SO happy.

[@jonnsmusich]

50 years ago my music teacher called this "sowing machine music". God's sowing machine? - Loved your earlier version and have visited it often.

[@mercoid]

Sounds like your music teacher was one of those who thinks humans and their self celebratory creations are the ultimate wonder of the universe.

[@jonnsmusich]

@@mercoid Something like that: A version of Jungian mystical centrism.

[@shirleyrombough8173]

@@jonnsmusich "Jungisn mystical centrism." Wo dear what Freud would sound like. I know! Beethoven. And Weber like Mozart. And phenomenology like Wagner.

[@jonnsmusich]

@@shirleyrombough8173 Depends who's playing. Could be the other way round.

[@genewilder9996]

Thanks for updating this i loved the first one

[@andyjackson3414]

Bach, expressing the divine. This is the best interpretation I have heard. Moved me to tears. Bravo.

[@suhndog]

Such majesty!! Well played and I like the animation.. it helps you to follow Bach's masterful counterpoint !

[@vonfrancois]

Thank you for revisiting this amazing piece of music! I love both performances, they feel and breath differently! Amazing work on the animation!

[@rodolphehimbert5375]

Superbe. l’œuvre de Bach instrumentale la plus caractéristique du maitre . elle résume toute son œuvre. je la compare un peu à la vie, le thème est l'être ultime, la génétique, notre potentiel , et toutes les variations sont les étapes de la vie. incomparable, il n'y a aucune équivalence

[@TempodiPiano]

Tu peux aller plus loin avec les partitas, je pense. Il y a les fantaisies aussi, pour rester dans le clavier.

[@Phantommo1]

Toute l’œuvre de Bach est uniquement dédiée à la source de son potentiel, le Dieu Créateur. Sublime! Chié!

[@sajedahmed9955]

Thank you for reuploading this masterpiece

[@rocioaguilera3613]

The synchronized music with the images is delighted

[@mrsybic]

This is my favorite song. I play some fragments sometimes (I'm an amateur). When I play or listen to it, the images in my head are more or less similar. There's something going on.

[@dan-us6nk]

This piece is INCREDIBLE, difficult to explain but this piece has enough emotion, development and more contents, so it is like a person telling their life story in one sitting for 10 hours condensed to 13 minutes.

[@aimilios439]

It is my favourite piece of music ever. The build up and resolution is comparable to the universe romanticized in a human mind. In the original NBS video I made a comment describing everything I got worth saying into words, but words do not suffice.

[@utekarg3281]

Thank you, Stephen. I enjoy your work very much, it gives me a better understanding of a piece, something I still cannot see when following the sheets - I started playing music in 2017. The only confusing thing is that I have a slight form of synesthesia and see different colors than yours (of course not your fault ... lol). Thanks again and greetings from Germany

[@smalin]

I don't have synesthesia, but it's a phenomenon I'm interested in. Unfortunately, every color/pitch synesthete has their own set of connections/responses, so even if I wanted to make the colors "right" for synesthetes, more would be dissatisfied than not. But this gives me an idea. Please email me (and mention synesthesia in the subject so that I make the right association): www.stephenmalinowski.com/contact.html

[@smalin]

What is it like for you when you watch a monochrome version: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnXRgmWBd7-aors

[@yourpapa4598]

Love the visualization, thank you!

[@Pants4096]

Marvelous!

[@aimilios439]

That piece has changed my life... Thanks for a different visualization than mine in my head.

[@pianoplayer1262]

I was just thinking about/seeking out this piece last week! This looks great, and I love how you captured the visual feeling of the bass line loping forward (slightly ahead?).

[@daltondammthebabe]

Absolutely love what you do with music. Helps me explain what I see when music plays kinda. Just like sheet music with the lines and the notes fit in where they do. No color on it unless its the color of the background behind the sheet music score. Which in my understanding is the vibe I feel off the music.

[@peripheralarbor]

The bass melody track at 5:39 is shown to hold, even though the higher octave note plays, and is shown in the visual score.

[@smalin]

The hollow ellipse is not a melody track, and does not map one-to-one to the notes Bach wrote. It shows the passacaglia subject that the composition is based on, and is present regardless of whether the corresponding notes are.

[@peripheralarbor]

@@smalin Ahh I see. It was tracking so perfectly that the deviation at the end looked like a mistake.

[@shirleyrombough8173]

Thank you. That is what I was trying to say.

[@shirleyrombough8173]

I can't stop watching.

[@thebasisti2482]

Great visualization and piece!

[@galeritaelenora]

If I ever get a tattoo, it will be one of these phrases of Bach as realized by smalin.

[@TraderX16]

Truly Sublime

[@nawfalsalman3074]

Excellent work

[@NieveAndrea]

Amazing! So very few humans can see sound, and you got all the shapes and textures right, it's so cool to see it on a screen :-) Could you do the same for some tangos, like "El Huracán" by Solo Tango Orquesta?

[@smalin]

If you're interested in supporting that sort of project, please read this: www.musanim.com/Underwriting/

[@kretzfulop7678]

3:18 and 11:57 beautiful Neopolitan sixth...

[@OOlympus]

This one is so good!

[@mrsybic]

the most graphic, convincing realistic is 5:02 and 5:42

[@jonahansen]

Yeah - you have to hand it to smalin for his ingenuity and hard work on this graphical music presentation over more than 15 years!

[@MrGuilherme1100]

Perfect!

[@stjacquesremi]

Yes!

[@mcjsb9851]

i have made a spacy visualisation of this one back in 2017 :D it was in part inspired by your ideas

[@TempodiPiano]

I would be glad to know the effects of these animation videos on people who are not musicians neither music lovers.

[@smalin]

see www.musanim.com/IntroToClassical/ for some comments related to that question

[@TempodiPiano]

This is extraordinary.

[@jonnsmusich]

When it comes time for me to kick off my clogs I hope I'l be able to listen to this one more time to see me out....

[@zdyhl50]

magnificently!

[@okjhum]

Nice fireworks!

[@saldana7395]

It kinda looks like Christmas I like it

[@brianhoag3135]

I had the opportunity to compare this to your version of 9 years ago. Somewhere along the way, your adherence to note, duration, volume and voice seems to have strayed in favor of the style of visual effect. Please continue to experiment with these effects, and some were quite effective as they scrolled across the screen and surprised us, but please weight those basics more heavily in future. When I still played, I concentrated on my performance rather than what others were doing. Your scoring has brought additional delight in seeing how other voices performances were assembled to a greater whole.

[@123cityperson]

5:20 missing note: e flat 4 directly above the flower-like circular c

[@nawfalsalman3074]

7:25 Fugue

[@juwonnnnn]

👍

[@pablograndelopez]

... I find it a pitty that the bass line of the pasacalle is so low in volume. One have almost to figure it out at some parts... ; perfect other wise

[@smalin]

Are you listening through small computer speakers? For me (on big speakers or earphones), the bass sounds loud enough.

[@MysticKenji2]

@@smalin i'm on a laptop and its almost inaudible - have to go up to near max volume

[@smalin]

@R2Walker The fundamental frequency of the pedal notes is below the lowest frequency that laptops can reproduce. Most earphones will go much lower, but the best is to have large loudspeakers. You can test the frequency response of your system with this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqSTmmuof7udd8k

[@bakmanthetitan]

Loving this redesign!! Is this the same recording as your previous animation of this piece?

[@davidpinkney9886]

No.

[@vonfrancois]

It was performed by Smalin himself the first time if I’m not mistaken.

[@davidpinkney9886]

vonfrancois you are right!

[@gabrielcb3818]

❤️

[@davidpinkney9886]

Do you ever get any breaks?

[@smalin]

The reason I do this for most of my waking hours seven days a week is that I can't think of anything better to do.

[@user-yc6vr8vn5j]

@@smalin considering how long you've been doing this, it seems to be some kind of lifelong project?

[@BeBopScraBoo]

my favorite.

[@jonnsmusich]

Odd, but I think I prefer your performance and the original graphics from several years ago. In this one the graphic information is overwhelming and his stops choices are very conventional and yield a "muddy" tone range. While your own performance was limited by the modules you used, it benefited from a simpler, cleaner articulation of Bach's musical ideas as he moves through the gorgeous variations. But this is the Passacaglia and is wonderful.

[@okjhum]

Wonderful chewing gum for my eyes! They were stuck in an intense gaze from the first to the last second. ❤

[@smalin]

I think of it as more like weight training for the eyes.

[@claudiagarciajorquera7999]

😱👏👏👏👏👏👏👏🙏🎆🎶

[@MaxSolar-dd5wq]

I thought you didn't do re-uploads.

[@smalin]

That's mostly true: I prefer to spend my time making animated graphical scores for music that doesn't already have one. But sometimes, when it's clear that I can do a lot more for a piece, and it's a piece I think is special, I make an exception. Also, I sometimes take a piece as a "test case" and do many versions of it. I'm in the process of doing that for Tallis' Spem in alium; I will be publishing several videos of it in the upcoming weeks.

[@jonnsmusich]

@@smalin Oh! Goody! Can't get enough Spem. Here in Princeton (except this year) the Glee Club and Chorus sing this in Richardson Auditorium: Which is round and has balconies. We sit below and they sing above in the round. One of those ultimate experiences we live for. And, maybe your graphic versions...

[@chrislynn9592]

What is this piece being played on?

[@clairerobsin]

"White Nights" - Opening scene kzbin.info/www/bejne/o3eWkIiQfcaJoLs

[@raphaelcadier-giard2326]

Around 6 min 25, the animation of a note of the theme is not good.

[@smalin]

You need to look/listen more carefully.

[@raphaelcadier-giard2326]

@@smalin thank you you was right.

[@davidpinkney9886]

Second.

[@TempodiPiano]

as good as the other wonderful ones and it's easy to criticize such a job but... too many colors and events for this monochromic hymn to death... maybe it would be better to my mind with one color like gold, without these large pipes and with one shape

[@3CKSTR]

yeah not liking this animation style at all. keep it simple like the in Toccata and Fugue; very enjoyable animation.

[@smalin]

You’re at the wrong channel. The channel you want is aniMIDIfy