Bach - Ricercar a 6 from The Musical Offering BWV 1079 | Netherlands Bach Society

[@bach]

Watch the complete Musikalisches Opfer BWV 1079 via this playlist: bit.ly/2Zq09pk

[@silviosaditesche1556]

O homem envelhece, o artista jamais.

[@VRSVLVS]

I love how the sound of this instrument is somewhere between a modern piano and a harpsichord, with some slight undertones of a clavichord.

[@frankcalabrese8273]

This isn't a clavichord?!

[@abrahamlincoln9758]

@@frankcalabrese8273 No sir! This is a reproduction of early piano that Bach would have had access to when he met Frederick II.

[@frankcalabrese8273]

@@abrahamlincoln9758 thank you for clarifying, great info

[@duartemonteiro9459]

@@abrahamlincoln9758 A fortepiano, right?

[@abrahamlincoln9758]

@@duartemonteiro9459 Yeah, that's his full name.

[@PointyTailofSatan]

In terms of Bach's genius, one needs to remember that the entire Musical Offering was composed by Bach over the span of just a few weeks. And this while no doubt continuing his normal routine of arranging of services, conducting choir practices, etc. Plus, unlike much Bach music where he "borrows" thematic material from his prior works, or the works of others, here he didn't have that option. Everything had to be based on that incredibly awkward, and needless to say, unique theme. Then, given all this, Bach writes one of, if not the greatest piece of contrapuntal music even written. Saying this was amazing barely does it justice.

[@daucuscarota6602]

One would like to hear the original improvisation about the theme that Bach gave in Potsdam.

[@herrickinman9303]

Blah, blah, blah, blah. There's nothing "incredibly awkward" about the theme. Bach himself described it as "so exceedingly beautiful" and the "noblest" part of the Musical Offering. The theme is derived from two conventional soggetto motifs found frequently in imitative 17th-century keyboard music works: (1) C--G-Ab-B-C and (2) the lament motif (the chromatically descending tetrachord). You will find examples of both motifs in works by Bach, Handel, and others that predate Bach's meeting with the Prussian king.

[@lerippletoe6893]

@@herrickinman9303 That was probably just a bit of bs gassing up the royalty as one had to do for manners of the time, but you're right that it's not totally unsuitable to fugues at all. It's meant to be tricky but not stupid.

[@herrickinman9303]

@@lerippletoe6893 Why do you assume Bach was merely flattering the king when he said the king's theme was "so exceedingly beautiful"? Bach wasn't a subject of the king, nor was he in the king's presence when he said this to the newspapers. He could have simply returned to Leipzig and resumed his duties there. Instead, he chose to create the Musical Offering, had it printed at his own expense, and dedicated it to the king. The king didn't ask him to do this. The king's musical tastes were formed primarily by the Italian opera of his time, not by canons and fugues. You need only look at the king's own compositions to see this. A Berlin newspaper reporting on Bach's visit as the Potsdam court contained the news that "Herr Bach found the theme submitted to him 'so exceedingly beautiful' that he wishes to write a formal fugue based upon it, to be subsequently engrave in copper." Bach's dedicatory preface refers to the "so excellent theme" as the "noblest part" of the work. No other theme in Bach's works was ever singled out by the him in such a manner. The king joined two time-honored soggetto motifs to make a fugue theme suited to Bach's conservative tastes. The theme requires strict contrapuntal elaboration. The chromatic motif requires a total command of compositional technique. The sheer length of the theme demands absolute concentration of the improviser.

[@lerippletoe6893]

@@herrickinman9303 I'm not saying it was a bad theme, but that you don't take that flattering language with nobility at face value as if it were said to a peer, you see it in context with the time. He wouldn't be a jerk to a nobleman employing his own son, and it was a perfectly good theme to showcase his abilities. There would have been no reason to remark beyond general satisfaction with a peer without these two factors at play: 1) nobility including employing his son, and 2) the promotional nature of that endeavor having a paper hype of what you'll be printing.

[@TheGloryofMusic]

It was Charles Rosen who suggested that the Ricercar a 6 was written for fortepiano. Rosen called the piece "one of the greatest achievements of Western civilization".

[@PointyTailofSatan]

A work that perfectly combines the science and art of music. Bach truly was the Da Vinci of music.

[@ho-mw6qp]

Whenever my world is in turmoil, my brain quakes with despair, and my heart's rythym spirals out of synchrony. Whenever my breath escapes, and I struggle to recruit the next, my eyes are blinded by indifference, and my ears are deafened by my shivering, wailing guts. Whenever my nose is petrified by the stench of human nature, my blood-whithdrawn-skin can only sense the cold ground beneath the feet, and my tongue is stuck to my aching throat. Whenever I hold back from the urge to scream, to save the vocal cords from snapping, the urge to clench and crumple back into a point, to save the vicera from rupture, the bones from shatter. Whenever I hold back from the urge: to not be any longer, by way of the poison that is hope. The one that is proported to contrast the evils which had left pandora's box precedent to it's procession; or, simply, the best of which, essential for propergating the rest, left for last. I turn to Bach. As much as I, in other times, proclaim others, such as Beethoven, to be my "favourite;" when I am reduced to ashes, it is only the transcendent magic of Bach that has any chance of resurrecting me, to march, along this particular, dead-end, path. There are no gaps in his music; everything is where it is supposed to be, nothing further can or need to be added, an epitome of completeness. No crevices for any "negative" emotion to take root, sounds as architecturally complete as the laws which manifest the expansive cosmos. Purifying the turbulent slosh of noiseful trivia, whithin me, to a calm, soothing standstill... such that I can produce such hideous verbal diarrhea as this, without any qualm or embarrassment.

[@Haladras]

Same. Just . . . same.

[@ho-mw6qp]

Lol I am so cringe 😂 what the hell happened to me again that time cant remember 😅

[@Haladras]

@@ho-mw6qp It’s a lot of purple prose, sure, but Bach makes me sentimental.

[@JoshBreakdowns]

I've tried to give this piece a listen a handful of times, if nothing else to appreciate the genius of a 6 voice fugue. This is hands down the best interpretation I've heard yet. In the hands of the right musician with the right instruments, Bach is the GOAT, bar none.

[@maniak1768]

If you don't know it yet, check out Van Doeselaar's interpretation of BWV 686, a massive six-voice organ fugue on the chorale 'Aus tiefer Not' with double pedal. Insanely impressive. You won't regret it, one of Bach's finest works.

[@JoshBreakdowns]

@maniak1768 I will, thank you!!

[@i.c.a.productionsbyr.p.]

Che tristezza scorgere pochissimi Italiani tra i commenti... Bach è un fondamento. E il 'Der Musicalisches Opfer' è un gioiello assoluto!!! La bellezza infinita che sgorga spontaneamente da questa meraviglia non ha pari. È assolutamente necessario, per chi ancora non l'avesse fatto, conoscere integralmente quest'opera. Assolutamente! Questo è solo un brano. Nella propria collezione musicale un CD del genere brillerà eternamente al buio al pari di una stella. Già da ragazzino faceva parte della mia collezione: trovato per intuito, ed intuitivamente certo che sarebbe stato una cosa preziosissima. Non mi sbagliavo. Devi nascere con la sensibilità e l'amore vero per la musica. Altrimenti, preferirai inseguire i gamberi...

[@MegaFount]

To think he performs this brilliant piece to an empty theater. A tree falls in a forest - but we’re all here to catch and witness this cascade of scintillating sounds in all its glory. Thanks to AoB project for this soul infusion.

[@harryjoseph1802]

Music that cuts through all the Ages! Bach, Germany's Gift to the World. N.B.S, Bach's Gift to us! What a piece of work, what a fine performance.

[@williamgiddings9636]

Germany as a country didn't exist at the time of Bach. He did belong to the "German" speaking world.

[@jaikee9477]

@@williamgiddings9636 Bach totally considered himself German. His language was German, and his lyrics are German. Mozart called himself "another gifted son bringing glory to his German homeland". For over 1000 years Germany was called "holy Roman empire of the German nation" before it became a united country, known as Germany today. You see, the Germans didn't fall from the sky.

[@rogerevans8081]

@@williamgiddings9636 You're talking about politics. The subject of German culture was not bound by the politics of any particular moment. Luther, Bach, Goethe, Wagner, etc. would be astonished to be told that they weren't German.

[@Remi-B-Goode]

@@williamgiddings9636 I agree, so called "nations" were not existing at all like we think of them today

[@daucuscarota6602]

@@williamgiddings9636 Germany existed in the form of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. On contemporary English or French etc. maps you will find the designations "Germany" or Allemagne" for the territories of central Europe. People very well felt as "Germans" but they were also conscious of living in a greater pluricentric Empire, which had not only German parts. Each of the regions of the Empire had its own traditions and institutions. The era of narrow-minded nationalism had not yet begun.

[@alessioparone5722]

Wowwwww a fortepiano it's really beautiful it's sound and it's so pleasant and so enveloping. Overall with this music and this interpreter that makes you feel confident with this music. Congrats to the instrument and to Van Doeselaar.

[@LordTelperion]

That’s a harpsichord. Fortepiano (loud/soft) is the proper name of what we short-handedly today call “piano”, to my knowledge. As plucked strings always make the same volume, versus a struck string which can be hit hard or soft.

[@alessioparone5722]

@@LordTelperion but I see that the description says that this is a fortepiano.

[@alessioparone5722]

@@LordTelperion but anyway thanks for this explanation on mechanisms of harpsichord and fortepiano

[@alessioparone5722]

And their differences

[@jeanpaulabassi5]

@@LordTelperion no thqts not a harpsichord its a fortepiano , and the fortepiano and the modern piano are so different

[@hardmuscl4life]

What a great way to start the day...NBS and the Musical Offering. Many thanks, George

[@andreamundt]

The very elegant Harpsichord exterior of this instrument combined with the Fortepiano sound, the marvellous recording location and - of course - Leo van Doeselaar´s singing playing is a lot of beauty! Thx, NBS ! = )

[@thethikboy]

There's counterpoint and then there's Bach - eloquence multiplied by a factor - as if ecstasy could have layers

[@jamallabarge2665]

This sounds like an old fortepiano.... the kind that Frederick was so proud of showing off. The interpretation is a neat blend of harpsichord and piano embellishes.... it's hard to put my finger on it. I would never have given Frederick the Great a second thought if it were not for this collection of works. Kingdoms come and go, truth and beauty endure.

[@herrickinman9303]

According to the video notes, this fortepiano is a reproduction of a Silbermann fortepiano from 1746. The instrument Bach played at the king's Potsdam residence in 1747 was also a Silbermann fortepiano.

[@jamallabarge2665]

Hearing this again a year later, I'm impressed with the maturity of this interprettation. The elements are well balanced and "adult". Just so.

[@Lsking401]

​@jamallabarge2665 That's exactly how I feel.

[@cryogenic_sleep4795]

Stunningly beautiful performance. Much love from America to the Netherlands 🇺🇸❤️🇳🇱

[@danielwaitzman2118]

The music, the performance, and the instrument are all magnificent.

[@davidarcus5131]

A miraculous feature of this movement from the Musical Offering is that all six voice-parts can easily be accommodated by 10 fingers. Thank you and congratulations on a transparent, eloquent performance!

[@franciscolopez1917]

Bravo, Leo, Bravo...! Excellent, NBS....!! Thanks, Bach....!!!

[@colinbooth2421]

The maker of this fine copy of one of the Silbermann orginal fortepianos at Potsdam deserves a mention! All later pianos have their origins in this instrument, which J.S. Bach approved, once the action had been sorted out. Note: no pedals.

[@andrewharrison8975]

Lovely looking instrument. What is used for the hammer coverings, doe skin? Interesting looking dampers.

[@basindtla]

True, no pedals. But I believe the “sustenuto” mechanism was there, nonetheless, and operated by pressing the knees upward against the bottom of the keyboard.

[@Lucius_Chiaraviglio]

​@@basindtla I don't know about that particular piano, but the PianoHow web site claims that knee levers were introduced around 1765 (that fortepianos before that used hand-operated stops) and pedals were introduced around 1772 - 1775, while Wikipedia claims that something equivalent to the pedals goes all the way back to the very first fortepianos, but doesn't give dates for the conversion from hand-operated stops to knee levers or to pedals. (I would post links, but lately KZbin seems to want to silently eat any post having a non-KZbin link.)

[@jjmoyharpsichord]

Colin et al., the makers of this amazing Silbermann copy are none other than your friends Tom and Barbara Wolf (small world, right?). :) Their names are credited on the All of Bach webpage for this piece.

[@colinbooth2421]

@@jjmoyharpsichord Thanks, Jason. I didn't know they had made pianos. A fine achievement.

[@andrearodigari4840]

Bach should be understood like the air we inhale, like the water we drink. Without those things we die. In fact, that's the reason why we die. Lacking of Bach in the world.

A Bach a day keeps the doc away.

@Isaac Cassidy I’ll live as long as I keep listening to Bach.

[@mariacelinachavarriagonzal157]

Totally agree...

[@scheepalicious]

And here I was expecting a video of six Van Doeselaars playing each voice on six fortepianos, each walking sideways across the stage like crabs.

[@thenewearth5313]

Blows my mind people can learn to play these songs so eloquently...

[@xecyc7951]

not a big deal really, 10 years of practice every day and you'll be there, just gotta start at some point. It's the composition that blows my mind.

[@lorenzodebritorodrigues8004]

OMG I WAITED MY WHOLE LIFE FOR THIS

[@herrickinman9303]

Now you can die happy.

[@gervaisfrykman266]

Oh what a heavenly instrument. Clear, resonant, rich, well able to support this excellent performance.

[@WendelRosaBorges]

One of the most astonishing and beautiful creations of humankind. Great performance!

[@grantyoungblood7895]

Beautifully expressive playing on an extraordinary fortepiano! Thank you Mr. van Doeselaar!

[@rebanelson607]

The intricacies of this music are beyond my ability to fully understand but not beyond my ability to appreciate! So beautiful!

[@JetFission]

Finally, a recording of this legendary piece on fortepiano! Beautiful

[@prager5046]

There are quite few others on CD's ...that what happens when people listening to music only on Utube..

[@gradpigodemosviedaff]

@@prager5046 Can you name me some? I didn't find any up to now, despite listening mostly not on KZbin.

[@mthsvlnt]

@@prager5046 dissing on people who still listen to music on youtube in 2021 is so unfair. We're suffering enough as it is. Please resort to belittling Spotify users.

[@abrahamlincoln9758]

@@mthsvlnt 😂

[@herrickinman9303]

There are others. Robert Hill's recording of the 3-part Ricercare on fortepiano was posted on KZbin a few years ago. I assume he also recorded the 6-part Ricercar on fortepiano.

[@carolinareguerofullier6595]

Un placer infinito escuchar esta hermosísima pieza en la que cada paso se siente en el alma y llena de gozo y armonía nuestro ser. Mil gracias por compartirla. ¡FELICITACIONES POR DOQUIER!🎁

[@peterwatchorn411]

Amazing playing of a work that is uniquely hard to unravel!

[@TheChrisMassa]

This is a staggeringly gorgeous interpretation of divinely beautiful music. God bless the Netherlands Bach Society.

[@benjaminniemczyk]

Superb is an understatement. What has become typical perfection from Maestro van Doeselaar continues to conjure an atypical response and a euphoria that is badly needed in this world. Thank you again and please continue to produce these.

[@lenanielsen5903]

Absolutely wonderfully played Love this piece by Bach so beautifully🍃thank you

[@musicarrangestudio9134]

My favorite grandpa on this channel! His performance is passionate and touching!

[@robertmarcus9653]

What a beautiful sound to this instrument. Thank you. 💐🌱☘️🥀🌾🌻

[@franciscoe.novalessalinas4981]

Magnífica Ejecución Magistral. GRACIAS MAESTRO VAN DOESELAAR

[@wolkowy1]

This fortepiano sounds wonderful and so is Leo van Doeselaar's realization of this unique Ricercar. Thanks for uploading.

[@ing.luisantoniocorzoramos4494]

Thanks your interpretation is very rich and beautiful, because the interpretation and sound in the Silbermann Fortepiano is very near of time of Bach, because Bach played in one Silbermann Fortepiano.

[@pepperco100]

Leo van Doeselaar, thank you for another lovely performance!

[@filipeaffonsov]

I've been waiting for your take on this one for a very long time. It's all I wanted and more! Thank you!

[@petrouchka2011]

I really love the sound of this instrument. I hope I can get a copy of it someday in the future.

[@artje123]

The joy I receive from this special video is so great.

[@notaire2]

Kultivierte und wunderschöne Aufführung dieses perfekt komponierten Meisterwerks im detaillierten Tempo mit schimmerndem Klang des technisch perfekten Fortepianos und mit sorgfältig kontrollierter Dynamik. Intelligent und genial zugleich!

[@user-ix7cr8eq7n]

hermosa composición y interpretación

[@abderamane6521]

Merveillousely ! I think it's the best interpretation of the six-voice fugue

[@samw5767]

I couldn't have played it any better myself. -Bach

[@andrewlord5615]

A magisterial performance of noble music. I wasn't expecting a fortepiano, but it makes perfect sense and works admirably.

[@jeanclaudejulien2314]

Une exécution réellement exemplaire sur un instrument réussi.

[@BurkPrael]

Smooth as butter - another incredible recording. 8 minutes isn't long enough, had to put it on repeat... :)

[@pamelafrancis4476]

this is proof that time cannot be measured (as we do at the moment).

[@panyo2511]

Every emotion on his face shows what he didn't put into the music but enjoyed himself.

[@wzdavi]

What a revelation! I never knew that Bach was familiar with this instrument. True, he experimented with all sorts of keyboard instruments, but the fortepiano? Wow!

[@herrickinman9303]

I can't believe you're not familiar with the famous meeting in 1747 between the Prussian king and Bach, when the king king asked Bach to improvise a 3-part fugue on a subject which the king himself played on one of his Silbermann fortepianos. The Italian harpsichord builder Cristofori was making fortepianos for the Medicis when Bach was a teenager. Bach knew the German harpsichord and organ builder Silbermann, as they often collaborated on organ building projects. In the 1730s, Bach tried out an early Silbermann fortepiano based on Cristofori's design and was said to have admired the sound but complained that the high register was weak and the action too heavy. By the time Bach met the Prussian king in 1747, Silbermann had presumably made some improvements in his fortepiano design. The king was one of Silbermann's biggest customers and at one time owned as many at 15 Silbermann fortepianos. The fortepiano in Bach's time was regarded as a novelty of the rich.

[@wzdavi]

@@herrickinman9303 I'm familiar with the Cristofori and Silbermann instruments. Is it true that Bach was also a dealer (middle man) of this instruments? I'm also know that Bach and the king had a close relationship. I didn't know that they discussed keyboard instruments. Thanks for the info.

[@herrickinman9303]

​@@wzdavi Close relationship? They didn't have any relationship. Bach's son Carl Phillip Emanuel was a musician in the king's capella. The king had asked Carl many times to invite his famous father to an evening of chamber music at the king's residence. Eventually, Bach agreed to come. He met the king only one evening and the next, at the king's Potsdam residence. We don't know what they discussed. The king had other guests, not just Bach. Bach's eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann, was also present.

[@romulo-mello]

The NBS was really nice to record this ricercar, also known as the "Prussian Fugue" on a fortepiano! It is one of the first pieces of piano repertoire.

[@frenchimp]

It was not composed for the piano... btw I had never heard of that name 'Prussian Fugue'... Doesn't sound very appetizing to me...

[@romulo-mello]

@@frenchimp Bach himself called the piece "Prussian fugue". Also Bach wrote this piece during tests of the piano (which had just been invented) at Frederick the Great's palace so he very likely wrote this with the piano in mind

[@herrickinman9303]

@@romulo-mello It was in 1747 when Bach met Frederick at his Potsdam residence, which was not a "palace." Soon after that meeting, Bach composed the Musical Offering. Bach did not compose it during any "tests of the piano," nor had the piano just been invented. The Italian harpsichord builder Cristofori sold fortepianos to his Medici patrons in 1700, when Bach was a teenager. In the 1730s Bach tried out an early Silbermann fortepiano based on sketches of Cristofori's design. Bach admired the sound but complained that the high register was too weak and the action too heavy. At that time, Silbermann had never seen a Cristofori fortepiano. According to the video notes, the fortepiano in the video is a reproduction of a Silbermann fortepiano from 1746, the year before Bach met Frederick. Evidently, Silbermann had made some improvements since the 1730s.

[@herrickinman9303]

Cristofori was making fortepianos for his Medici patrons in 1700, when Bach was a teenager. Someone in the 1730s (I forget the name) composed some pieces for the fortepiano. Except for the sonata for flute, violin and continuo, the Musical Offering doesn't specify instrumentation. Most of the people who requested copies of the "Prussian Fugue," as Bach referred to it in correspondence, would have played it on harpsichord or clavichord. At the time, few people owned fortepianos. A fortepiano was more expensive than a harpsichord and was regarded as a novelty of the rich.

[@romulo-mello]

@@herrickinman9303 well said

[@ma859]

❤️Revives the heart and soul!

[@forisilona2295]

Csodalatos darab ! Koszonom !🎹🎶🎼

[@joeyscott4299]

Excellent!!Thank You!!!

[@chazm3]

I loved the way he plays the very last chord. It’s much better than anything a harpsichord can do at the end.

[@ExAnimoPortugal]

I love the sound of that fortepiano

[@chazm3]

While listening to this I was thinking it could be the best I’ve ever heard. Built by the Wolffs it says in the description

[@willianwallacepereiradiogo4354]

A Piano-forte?!? It's so Genius! Thanks! This final, it's very amazing, my hair raised!!!

[@Hamish_Wright]

The description says it's a fortepiano.

[@Whatismusic123]

​​@@Hamish_Wrightit's called pianoforte in italy iirc Edit: just googled, yeah it is.

[@karlgrafvonmoy855]

Definitiv klanglich überzeugender als jedes Cembalo. Und doch: die Interpretation mit einem Ensemble mit Streichern und Holzblasinstrumenten - wenn auch von Bach nicht vorgegeben - ist eben doch noch spannender!

[@herrickinman9303]

I also sounds great played by a consort of six viols. I had the pleasure of performing it in such a consort.

[@Lucius_Chiaraviglio]

I've heard of Bach having had experience with Silbermann pianos, but this is the first time I have heard Bach's music being played on a piano of his time and region.

[@jimbuck795]

Bravo, well done!

[@meijong6453]

Tant de tendresse dans cette musique géniale et bluffante.

[@Remi-B-Goode]

Wonderful 🤙 thank you !

[@douglasdickerson5184]

Interesting, I’m reading GEB at the moment, so this is more than fitting.

[@bailleux8976]

Magnifique ! Merci.

[@saidtoshimaru1832]

Masterful.

[@gilbertobrandina9487]

i love it! Specially beacuse he keeps striking that immaginary pedal. :D

[@TheresedeGoede]

Leo, wat prachtig!

[@TwinsunianT]

Super! 👌

[@silviosaditesche1556]

Brilhante!

[@ColinHarvey78]

That’s beautiful. This is how Bach should be played on the piano. I take it this is a replica of the Gottfried Silbermann piano Bach approved of towards the end of his life? Beautiful performance by Leo van Doeselaar

[@baden-baden]

Great as always , love it !

[@johntaliaferrothompson6052]

Netherlands Bach Society is it possible to make an introduction video of one of the Bach instrument 'Lautenwerck'?

[@jaikee9477]

King Frederick: "This is my brandnew Silbermann fortepiano" --- Bach: "I'm in a hurry but ... OK, let's check it out ..." King Frederick: "I have also bought another 17 fortepianos. You're obliged to try all of them and tell me what you think!" Bach: Oh, come on! Fugue you!

[@пейнтболмосквы]

That's right, Bach preferred the harpsichords more

[@УправляющаякомпанияТОРГрупп]

Tusen takk!

[@voraciousreader3341]

I dk why, but I’ve not heard much of the Musical Offering, and I do love me a good ricercar, especially one with 6 voices!

[@silviosaditesche1556]

Estranha melodia que, por nascer das profundezas da alma de Bach, só renasce nas mãos de quem, cuja alma está na mesma frequência cardíaca do compositor.

[@silviosaditesche1556]

Bach-Koopmann, um raro caso de simbiose ultra-tempo!

[@davidriggenbach6672]

So, Bach had one opportunity to play a piano-forte while visiting Frederick the Great, It would have been epic if he had gifted one to Bach and had asked him to compose more. (I know he played the experimental piano-fortes developed by his friend before, Bach gave him input many times over the years)

[@herrickinman9303]

Bach had many opportunities to play fortepiano, but in his time the fortepiano was regarded as a novelty of the rich. A fortepiano cost more than twice as much as a harpsichord. In 1749 Bach acted as a middleman in the sale of a Silbermann "Piano et Forte" to a Polish nobleman.

[@TonyBittner1]

clavichord > fortepiano > pianoforte (piano) Kristian Bezuidenhout explains the #fortepiano here. kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2OtoniBo8imr68

[@simplicitas5113]

Frederic the great bought these pianos and helped make pianos mainstream. Bach improvised this piece for him the first time he visited in Potsdam. The King did not even give him time to chsnge clothes after the travel

[@floridamansgarage8629]

The voice of god

[@jurtjeisok]

I think after listening to this performance, the maestro would not have slapped him in the face (and rightly so I might add), which is a great compliment to have.

[@jeff-onedayatatime.2870]

Thanks to Douglas Hofstadter and his 1979 book Godel Escher Bach for making this one of my favorites.

[@kerkconcertenedam-zaandam3919]

Beautifully played and I totally agree with Colin Booth. Who is the maker? I also think the hall in 'Sans Soucis' where this instrument was on show for King Fritz might have slightly smaller proportions. To me the Kleine Zaal would have been more appropriate but less, stunning, of course.

[@danielmorales3295]

Of those who have stepped firmly into their lives and have shown us the way, I would like to express my total gratitude to Jordi Savall.

[@marinusholland]

Superbe

[@qwaqwa1960]

"Although the number of parts is not so unusual" Wha?!?!? I don't believe JS wrote any other 6-part keyboard fugues, and only a few 5-part ones. Please elaborate!

[@silvanmeschke]

He wrote another fugue on ,,Aus tiefer Not" with 6 voices for the 3rd part of his Clavierübung. I think it's BWV 686.

[@herrickinman9303]

@@silvanmeschke The organ composition BWV 686 in not strictly a keyboard work since it requires the pedals. The top 4 voices are played on a keyboard, but the lower 2 voices require the pedals.

[@herrickinman9303]

Some of Bach's double-chorus motets have 8-part fugato sections. Renaissance masters often composed in more than 6 parts.

[@ryuu674]

완벽하네요

[@kdoesgaming5039]

THEY FINALLY DID IT! YESSSS

[@ЮрийШумилов-м2г]

Bravo danke mein liebe

[@goodman1127]

Old piano sound is really good in terms of Bach's works. Not too harsh like harpsichord and not too smooth like modern piano

[@culturalivrebr]

Il est superbe

[@bobh5087]

Très, très... 👍❤️

[@cranjismcbasketball8024]

What is the temperament used on this fortepiano?

[@burgexpress]

Bach-Kellner

[@cranjismcbasketball8024]

thank you!@@burgexpress

[@litoboy5]

COOL

[@peteranelson]

I heard that Frederick gave Bach the theme, asking him to improvise on it and Bach couldn't do it! Bach went home to Leipzig in some embarrassment and composed the Musical Offering there and sent it to Frederick. Anything to this?

[@bach]

According to historical sources, Bach would have actually passed the improvisation task extremely well. Whereupon Frederick gave him an even more difficult task, a six-part fugue. This resulted in the Trio Sonata from Das Musikalische Opfer.

[@herrickinman9303]

_Evening in the Palace of Reason: Bach Meets Frederick the Great in the Age of Enlightenment_ by Jame. R. Gaines gives a fictional report of that meeting that resembles what you heard. In a nutshell, this is what really happened: The king played a theme on the fortepiano for Bach and asked him to improvise a 3-part fugue on that theme, which Bach did. The next evening, the king asked Bach to improvise a 6-part fugue on the same theme, which Bach declined to do, saying that particular theme would require more preparation. Instead, Bach improvised a 6-part fugue on a theme of his own choosing. The 3-part Ricercar in _Musical Offering_ is likely an elaboration of the 3-part fugue Bach improvised on the king's theme.

[@herrickinman9303]

Berlin newspaper report from May 11, 1747: One hears from Potsdam that last Sunday [May 7] the famous Capellmeister from Leipzig, Mr. Bach, arrived with the intention to have the pleasure of hearing the excellent Royal music at that place. In the evening, about the time when the regular chamber music in the Royal apartments usually begins, His Majesty was informed that Capellmeister Bach had arrived in Potsdam and was waiting in His Majesty's antechamber for His Majesty's most gracious permission to listen to the music. His August Self immediately gave orders that Bach be admitted, and went, at his entrance, to the so-called _Forte_ and _Piano,_ condescending also to play, in his most August Person and without any preparation, a theme---for the Capellmeister Bach, which he should execute in a fugue. This was done so happily by the aforementioned Capellmeister that not only was His Majesty pleased to show his satisfaction thereat, but also all those present were seized with astonishment. Mr. Bach found the theme propounded to him so exceedingly beautiful that he intends to set it down on paper as a regular fugue and have it engraved on copper. On Monday, the famous man let himself be heard on the organ in the Church of the Holy Spirit in Potsdam and earned general acclaim from the listeners attending in great number. In the evening, His Majesty charged him again with the execution of a fugue, in six parts, which he accomplished just as skillfully as on the previous occasion, to the pleasure of His Majesty and to the general admiration.

[@peteranelson]

@@herrickinman9303 Wonderful! Thanks for setting things straight for me!

[@richsw]

I really want that fortepiano :(

[@ArorEclecticMusic]

wowwwwww

[@bsku0765]

6 voice 6 voice 6 voice 6 voice 6 voice 6 voice

[@michaeltheophilus5260]

A piano with a dark mode..

[@herrickinman9303]

You mean _mood_ not "mode."

[@putraswarga608]

​@@herrickinman9303he's talking about the keyboard

[@herrickinman9303]

@@putraswarga608 So am I.