Bach - Prelude and fugue in G major BWV 550 - Havinga | Netherlands Bach Society

In early sources the opening of the Prelude and fugue in G major, performed by Matthias Havinga for All of Bach, is described as a “praeludio in G-dur con pedal". There is nothing unusual about the use of pedals (the ‘keys’ of the organ operated by the feet) in an organ piece in Bach’s day. But twelve bars into the piece you hear a long, lively pedal solo, which not only requires more than a second-rate village organist, but also more than a second-rate village organ. The range of the solo covers more than two octaves, which was definitely not the norm at the time!
Recorded for the project All of Bach on September 21st 2016 at the St Bavo's Church, Haarlem. If you want to help us complete All of Bach, please subscribe to our channel bit.ly/2vhCeFB and consider donating bit.ly/2uZuMj5.
This recording was made with support of the Miller Family Charitable Foundation.
For the interview with organist Matthias Havinga on the Prelude and fugue in G major go to • Havinga on Bach Prelud...
For more information on BWV 550 and this production go to allofbach.com/e...
All of Bach is a project of the Netherlands Bach Society / Nederlandse Bachvereniging, offering high-quality film recordings of the works by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed by the Netherlands Bach Society and its guest musicians. Visit our free online treasury for more videos and background material allofbach.com/en/. For concert dates and further information go to www.bachvereni....
Matthias Havinga, organist
Organ: Christian Müller, 1738

[@marekjedrzejczak7913]

1. 00:07 Prelude 2. 02:48 Fugue

[@francagavioli8815]

True 😊❤❤

[@ttwiligh7]

Bach is the happiest person in the entire universe when he wants to be.

[@augustopinochet3137]

Beautifully put, and so true, it just perfectly expresses what I often feel listening to his music (the opening of the first partita for instance, for some reason I can never contain myself when I hear it, it’s just so vibrant and full of life).

[@pietvandijk5084]

But he had a difficult life: his first wife Maria Barbara Died and 10 of nis children died at a young age.

[@ketanfernandes4094]

I find this one of the most underrated fugues that Bach has written.

[@pamelafrancis4476]

wow

[@jnmusic9969]

It’s so lively and fun to play as well

[@bert-hassokemnitz8580]

The word "underrated" in context to all J.S.Bach genial organ fugues works is almost not admissible.

[@BurkPrael]

"underplayed" maybe?

[@stuartmclaren2402]

I agree that this is a great fugue and played here with real gusto. I prefer it certainly to the better known BWV 541 fugue in G. I don’t like all Bach,s works especially the Dm Dorian fugue. While the Toccata preceding it is a truely inspired work the fugue is not to my taste.

[@GoldinDr]

I'm Havinga good time listening to this performance.

[@andrewsappel]

What is there in the world more joyful and filled with health than Bach in G major!!! Gosh Havinga really knows how to make sun shine in this music. I am a fan!

[@prometheusrex1]

No. Lurching, style-inappropriate, pervasive rubato ruins most of it, like riding a car constantly applying and releasing the breaks. Bro needs a metronome--what does he think this is, Liszt?

[@davidfoust9767]

@@prometheusrex1 haha! That is what I like about it.

[@prometheusrex1]

@@davidfoust9767 I'm guessing you've never been with a woman? Same is probably true for the organist. Save the rubato (accelerate, decelerate) for fucking women instead of fucking up Bach.

[@andrewsappel]

If your musical taste mirrors your taste in language and comment then it is to be thrown in the dung heap. There is no room when speaking about a performer with so much integrity and character for your sort of fowl mouthed garbage. And there should be no room for anybody to put up with this hostile and ugly behavior on KZbin. You might think of erasing your comments..they are terribly ugly and speak too much truth about, I guess, you. @@prometheusrex1

[@prometheusrex1]

@@andrewsappel Lighten up, take a joke my man. I could have just said, "Save the rubato for sex instead of Bach." How's that, better? :) Please see my comments below (replies to @Tom Cloyd) for historical and musicological arguments derived from primary sources (CPE Bach et al.), which weigh heavily against Havinga's vulgar playing.

[@TomCloyd]

Everything about this performance makes me want to stand up and shout. The organ is just perfect, and utterly glorious on its own. The organist is expressive, articulate, and energetic. He made the sun to rise! We can ask no more. Thank you.

[@prometheusrex1]

Whoa there, easy. To the contrary: decent musicians want to lay down and curse instead of stand up and shout as his pervasive start-stop rubato nonsense destroys the prelude.

[@LindaPgh]

Brilliantly well said. But you won't be standing and shouting alone. I'm there with you.

[@TomCloyd]

@@prometheusrex1 I must ask to see your data on that assertion. That aside, "decent musicians" make music, and that means starting, but not assuredly not ending, with the score. If the phrases are not articulated, and part of a larger whole, it's not music. Mr. Havinga shows us what this means, and I am grateful. I suggest you reconsider your notions of what music is really about. Mechanical, expessionless Bach is not music.

[@prometheusrex1]

@@TomCloyd Sure. Bach's own son, CPE Bach, stated that rubato exists where "one hand appears to play against the meter while the other STRIKES ALL THE BEATS PRECISELY[.]" (Versuch liber die wahre art das Clavier zu spielen, 3d ed. (Leipzig: Schwickert, 1787), Part 1, 99-100 (emphasis added).) Similarly, a contemporary of CPE Bach, violinist Franz Benda (and his contemporary commentator Heinrich Christoph Koch), played rubato where "the player ... executed the melodic line as if without any fixed division of time, while the accompaniment played on ABSOLUTELY STRICTLY IN TEMPO." (Koch, "Uber den technischen Ausdruck: Tempo rubato," Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung 10/33 (11 May 1808), col. 518. (emphasis added).) Liberties with the tempo itself (and improvisation) are appropriate in the toccata form, which by design and form is intended to showcase virtuosity and flexibility. But otherwise--and certainly in the prelude and fugue forms--tempo should generally be strict (as is borne out in the above primary sources and others). Of course, performers like Havinga can do whatever the hell they want--just as one can sing a modern love ballad at a prestissimo tempo if one wants--but in so doing the original artistic intention and meaning are destroyed.

[@TomCloyd]

@@prometheusrex1 First, I strongly approve your scholarly method. I haven't (and won't) check your sources, but you present them in a way that appears to make such a check possible. I do this in my own work and deem it essential. I very much respect how you have presented your ideas. But I find your basic argument flawed. I will assert simply that music is not an exercise in dogma, or adherence to any external standard at all. The assertion that there is a correct way to make music always begins with, and is utterly dependent upon, the assumption of premises that are anything but universally accepted. For me, music is most fundamentally an exercise in feeling and encounter with the mystery of beauty. What is beautiful to you well may not appeal to me at all. I see no problem in this. Variance in all aspects of humanity is a good thing, as it acts to insure but not guarantee) long run adaptability. This is a basic principle in biology which applies to all dynamic systems, including the arts, in my experience. It is interesting to speculate what Bach (or anyone else) had in mind when composing a piece. I will always be interested in this. But when it comes to making music, it is of secondary interest to me, at best. I want my music to move me, and to bring me to perceptions of things not easily verbalized. In some cases, strict meter may do this, and in others it simply does not. When I play Bach, it is my music I make, and no one elses. The notes are not the music. The playing of them is. Such is my perception and experience. Regarding Havinga's performance, I find, upon additional listening, that his phrase articulation remains extremely appealing to my ear. It works to clarify the structure of the piece, wherein I find much to attend to. I WANT this phrase articulation - rubato, if you will, and work for it in my own performances (on classic guitar). To my ear, music must breathe. It must sound like it was played by a living being. Whether or not Bach or you or anyone else agrees is of interest to me, but only up to a point. Beyond that point, I am uninterested. My music is for me, else it isn't music at all. Our aesthetics differ. That is not a problem for me. I hope that upon further consideration it will not be for you either.

[@g.k.failla9389]

What does a fine organist do when faced with such magnificent music and a great instrument? He wallows in it with total absorption. From Chicago, U.S.A.

[@TheNautiluss]

It's a shame to see the church almost empty when such great music is played, by the hands of a young and passionate musician. I can't really understand how most of the new generations are attracted, if we can say so, to modern music when it's nothing but noise. Truly there are contemporary composers blessed by natural talent, but they are such because their music borns like "the stream out of the mountain", with no particular meaning or message; it's kind of an unstoppable need, like pure energy that only wants to come out and spread. Nevertheless, even if the club of devoted lovers of the old melodies is now reducing, this music will always be eternal indeed. Thank you so much and thank you my dear fat bastard from Eisenach, always in my heart !

[@donnaterkildsen830]

so few people sitting there in that lovely church....I would have loved to experience this live....thank you for this joyful performance....love it!

[@JimFalboguitar]

Outstanding performance of one of Bach's most uplifting pieces

[@Petergoforth]

This was the postlude at St. Paul's Parish in Cambridge, MA. Today. It made a lot of worshippers stop and listen. I'd never heard this one before. It is indeed beautiful.

[@tajoumaru503]

This piece is pure joy. ❤

[@fireplace2330]

Impeccable playing!! Every voice is so well balanced and clear in the fugue. It seems that every note is carefully articulated.

[@late8641]

This really made me smile, what a triumphant piece and a most wonderful interpretation! I can just imagine what it sounded like in the church...

[@xavi2803]

Havinga is so skilled, what a talent

[@charlottewhyte9804]

agree totally

[@peteacher52]

A difficult task looks easy in the hands of a master - a master organist playing the famous and majestic organ of Haarlem's Grote Kerk ... what more could we want unless Klaas Bolt and Piet Kee could be resurrected?!

[@bertoldprengel631]

Erstklassige Aaufnahme an dieser riesigen Orgel in St. Bavo, Harlem. Erstklassiger Organist! Danke Prof. Havinga! Bertold Prengel, Orgelbaumeister

[@daviddanielbowes4076]

I believe that his wife is the page-turner, a wonderful musician in her own right! Who would not be honored to turn those pages or move the stops on the instrument. They are so fortunate.

[@Leo-fh9rv]

As often mentioned in the comments, this is a very underrated piece. Its a earlier work from Bach compared to the second, later composed Prelude and Fugue in g major, but still a very great work. I really love it. Thanks NBS!

[@slukas1375]

Bravo. A jubilant, spirited performance. Those lucky few people in the congregation experienced a real treat.

[@henkvogel]

Just tourists on a weekday I think

[@slukas1375]

@@henkvogel Lucky tourists, with a good sense of timing. I've had this experience, more than once, exploring a new church somewhere, and the organist (and sometimes the choir) have been practicing. Rgds from Canada.

[@carolynclark1724]

🎼 Beautiful- one of my favorite Bach Preludes 🎼

[@melvillehayes6305]

You are most deserving of your own album of your own playing Bach exclusitively !

[@marshallkrug3494]

I would soooooo love to meet this man and tell him, in person, how much I admire him. He is such a great interpretor of J. S. Bach on the organ, it is truly astonishing! Love, love, love this guy!

[@KoxxMobilhome]

En ook dank aan de jonge dame die altijd op het juiste moment het blad omdraait en aan de knoppen trekt,zonder dat was het niet in orde gekomen!!!

[@brownmullins]

Bravo. To God be the Glory, Great things He has done. God bless you Meistro for your selflessness. You play like silk. Thank God for your example.

[@melvillehayes6305]

The most glorious rendition of Bach by an organist ! Congratulations !!!!

[@annreid8531]

I’m always so grateful that the gifts given to me by God were a wild, ceaseless passion for music and an ear to hear it. If I’d been given the brain of a scholar I’d no doubt waste too much listening time looking for things to nitpick about. To my ear, this is a wondrous amazing performance. Filled with joy to appreciate it as such.

[@GamingRevenant]

For some reason there are still pieces within Bach's organ works I have never heard before. Yet again I have already played the G major prelude and fugue (BWV 541), as well as the G major concerto from Bach's transcriptions. Incredible find, amazing interpretation, and definitly going to try it in the near future 😮 Thanks for another fabulous video!

[@stevewallschlaeger1379]

Quite so...especially since his oldest son is responsible to have used his fathers music as butcher paper and that much of it or anyway significant parts are completely lost, destroyed. We are lucky we have what we have from Good Old Bach, as he is sometimes known. Such as his poem, the edifying thoughts of a tobacco smoker, written by JS Bach himself. You may look it up in Bach Reader, by Hans T David and Arthur Mendel. The most exhaustive book on Johann Sebastian Bach. Writings from his own hand. Words and penmanship. Real, straight from Bach"s pen to your eye. Not opinion or puffed up fallderall. He was complex he was demanding and his expectation was that since God was perfect he was deserving of the most perfect gift which he could give. He gave nothing less than that perfection. His vision of that was impeded by the insufferable less than perfect people he was forced to deal with. He was lofty alright, we love it, but you have to be up for his muster and there dont exist many who could measure up to Bachs bar of perfection

[@herrickinman9303]

@@stevewallschlaeger1379 Oh, stop this buillshit!!!

[@marcelobrunorodrigues7630]

The fugue of BWV 541 has its subject like the one from the opening chorus of BWV 21; however, in the cantata it is in C minor.

[@peter3867]

I'm still tapping my feet to this week's later. Matthias Havinga enjoys playing this too I feel! Matthias, your performance is simply celestial. ✨🤩

[@jimmydandy9364]

Flawless - Great rendition - One must literally have super powers to play that !

[@josephadams2378]

This is a deceptively difficult piece, played much better here than is typical. Well done.

[@dexhiker]

I've listened to many Bach Prelude and Fugues but until recently was not familiar with this one. I've found that it really grows on you each time I hear it. The complexity of the piece and pedal work required is amazing.

[@antoinegaillard9440]

Wow, I didn't know this piece. I'm already addicted to the fugue *_*! The epic flavor of 2:58 hooked me

[@DaleHubbard]

This is one of my very favourite fugues. So joyous. Played so beautifully too. Thank you!

[@thethikboy]

Irrepressible joy bubbling from a source from which all life and beauty springs.

[@giacomonicotra3112]

This excellent interpretation deserves a recording on the extraordinary organ of St. Bavo.

[@anthonyjackes2753]

Meus sinceros agradecimentos a todos os responsáveis por essa magnífica apresentação. Simplesmente divina!

[@Airy59]

Excellent. The playing has a "singing" quality while remaining rythmically stable enough. I've heard this P&F dozens of times, but Mr. Havinga managed to surprize me with the somewhat faster tempo chosen for the fugue, compared to the prelude: an effective idea. I enjoyed the whole a lot, also the famous organ, the generous acoustics, and the smiling stop-pulling lady. Thanks to all !

[@kikivolauvent1]

This is the first time I seem to SEE how much hard work it is to play such a gorgeous old and 'work horse' organ - it takes strong fingers to cut those tunes - magnificent presentation. Thank You.

[@mauriciodealencar8496]

Bach is proof of the existence of God!

[@XavFranz]

Excellent organ masterpiece!

[@l.g.8028]

Increíble trabajo del Sr. Havinga, solo puedo imaginar estar en esa preciosa iglesia escuchando los poderosos sonidos de tan espectacular órgano. Muchas gracias y saludos desde Guatemala

[@felipesaldana3756]

Que suerte tienen aquellas personas en escuchar obras de J.S.B ., En este monumental órgano... Bach interpretado en un órgano de estás caracteristica, que más puede uno pedir

[@robscott7660]

este musica es pura vida man

[@l.g.8028]

@@robscott7660 sin duda que si, realmente es la vida!

[@SDGRTX1455]

Bach's organ works, is something else.

[@johnbogle59]

Awesome!! Thanks Matt. Love the fervent playing which you always give. From PerthDown Under

[@notaire2]

Wunderschöne und lebhafte Aufführung dieses kompakten und perfekt komponierten Meisterwerks im inspirierenden Tempo mit durchsichtigen und perfekt vereinigten Tönen der historischen Orgel sowie mit angenehmer Dynamik. Wahrlich genialer Organist!

[@samshearman5251]

Such happiness and great musicality.

[@lucasmiro8329]

A OBRA DE BACH REFLETE A GLÓRIA DE DEUS !! .. CERTAMENTE DA ALEMANHA NOS ANOS DE 1685 A 1750 SUBIU DA TERRA PERFEITOS LOUVORES DE ADORAÇAO AOS CÉUS COMO AROMA SUAVE , E FORAM RECEBIDOS POR DEUS . .... OBRIGADO BACH POR TER EXISTIDO !! ❤

[@kevinpfaff2301]

A great Bach piece. Joyful. And wonderfully performed on a splendid organ!!

[@ru99414]

Im pretty sure this work could awaken me from a coma. Prélude and Fugue for Organ is in my opinion the very best music of Bach along with The Art of Fugue, i find them far more interresting than WTC, and is one of the high achievements of fantastic baroque art

[@paolobottero297]

meraviglioso Bach e splendida esecuzione: setteminuti di godimento!

[@powerliftingcentaur]

Bravo! How exhilarating! Much thanks for this wonderful performance.

[@diegodigiorgio29]

Increible todo. La música de Bach obvio. La interpretacion excelente.

[@MrUseur]

Wunderbar gespielt. Schönes Tempo, super super super. Dankeschön!

[@peter3867]

Still tapping... I just can't get enough of the reeds on this organ when the fugue is launched at 02:48

[@manuman5684]

Excellent sound Bach unique

[@classicfan4683]

Mit Schwung gespielt und dadurch diesem Jugendwerk über so manche Längen hinweggeholfen. Vorzügliche Aufnahme-Technik!

[@Luboman411]

That brought me a smile. Just the modulations alone, how Bach skipped from different chromatic scale to different chromatic scale in the fugue. It really reminds me of "Giant Steps" and some of the best jazz ever conceived in the 20th century. The craft is just outstanding, and this young organist brought it to life. You could also perceive a big smile on the organist's face at the end. The same with me, my friend.

[@barbaraboeder5513]

Rev. Hildebrand played this for the prelude at my baptism. +bb+

[@attiliodalcavaliere999]

🇮🇹♥️👏🌟 ~ Non lo avevo mai sentito. Per me è un brano molto bello ed entusiasmante, devo dire del resto come tutte le composizioni di Bach e non solo organistiche! Complimenti all' organista!!

[@MrUseur]

Die Fuge ist atemberaubend. Und Herr Havinga hat sie toll gespielt.

[@jeffm3045]

My own favorite part of the fugue is how Bach ends it. He does an ascension that sounds just like the notes are heading straight to heaven. Here is where it starts... 6:23

[@aleidj.moraal]

Mooier wordt het niet. Wat een top uitvoering is dit! Grote klasse!!

[@melvillehayes6305]

Worlds Finest Organist period !!!

[@dennisferrara6940]

Wonderful performance; stunning historical instrument!

[@carolineandtigger]

Bravo!!!

[@waleryjantrzesniewski5790]

Dziekuje bardzo!CZESC.

[@IamAlessandro1]

Fantastic play! Perfect in any way. THANK YOU SOOOO MUTCH

[@nikolasbolognesi9500]

Fantastic!

[@harrihonkanen749]

In music, there are only the 3 Big B-ees..! Beethoven, Bach and Bmozart ... You hear..

[@s.l5787]

Bozart

[@harrihonkanen749]

@@s.l5787 Ok, Bozart ... but... you got to admit, Bmozart is more difficult to say ... thanx for improving my joke... I think...

[@Julioargent]

Maybe 5 big B ones? Bhandel and Bivaldi including?

[@harrihonkanen749]

Lol, Baganini, Bostakovich, Bibelius.. the best gang is the B gang...

[@moksha8473]

Honestly, Burcell doesn't get enough love in my opinion!

[@jonsarasuapastor3085]

A choir of angels

[@NickiMacB]

Breathtaking!

[@QFbGrEdut]

Bravo! What a magnificent execution!

[@jv04jm]

Soooooo good! Bravo!! 👌

[@Aalii6]

very beautiful

[@bobh5087]

A flawless and nuanced performance. Many thanks, Mr Havinga (and your page-turner/stop assistant). 👍 ❤️ I like to add the 32' Kontraposaune towards the end of the Fugue - and why not!

[@Orgelfan62]

Einfach perfekt, da stimmt Alles!

[@jefferyrowley8873]

Bravo @ Sint Bavo!

[@Desoxirribonucle1000]

Fantástico, excelente apresentação!

[@a.luisf.prieto4880]

Beautiful

[@sergiusvitus7512]

If it could be a function to set LIKE every time when I hear your interpretation, It would be surely about 30 likes from my side :)

[@Violinlesson-Venice]

Great performance!

[@MrUseur]

Die Orgel klingt so wie es nach meinem Geschmack für Bach Stücke sein sollte. Toll.

[@c3piano]

Beautiful playing and I love the stops.

[@giuseppemanfredi5204]

You are a wonderful organist.

[@thomasstier1634]

Wunderbar!! Das in einer so grenzenlos schönen Kirche! Danke!

[@enemanozzle]

Was bedarf es mehr in einer Kirche als eine schlichte Architektur und eine gute Orgel? Dies sieht man nicht nur in den reformierten Kirchen der Niederlande, sondern auch in der Schweiz im Grossmünster Zürich und in der Cathédrale Saint-Pierre in Genève.

[@perfectgift14]

Amazing Interpretation!!!

[@LeoHeath]

Brilliant!

[@prabhudhasivanson7110]

Glorious Music

[@wouterfggerritsen]

Geweldig!

[@mollyyukomcguire]

Sublime!

[@ArcAudios77]

Wonderful, my thanks :)

[@AlessandroClavarino]

Bella esecuzione!

[@peterlowie5067]

Geniaal! Hoe bestaat het dat je zo kan spelen... uit het hoofd, zonder ook maar 1 foutje. Matthias: Bach de grote Bach zal trots op je zijn....

[@jackberruti6416]

Matthias ... sublime

[@kyaume21]

Fabulous!

[@DiCostanzoRaffaele]

Wow. Bravissimo

[@peter3867]

Still tapping to the tempo of that fugue!

[@silviosaditesche1556]

Esse Havinga é ótimo!

[@silviosaditesche1556]

É um autêntico intérprete do Grande Thomaskantor ao manter-se na frequência logarítmica bachiana.

[@ColinWrubleski-eq5sh]

It must be a visual trick, but it seems as if the two recorder players are moving faster than they are playing. Weird.^^ Anyway, excellent to see the BPO in a work outside their usual "fach". This is certainly not sluggish Herbie von K. Baroque playing...!

[@robertmuller5807]

Fantastic