Bach, "The Wedge" (animated score for Prelude and Fugue in E minor, BWV 548)

[@rw_yr1352]

Mr. Malinowski, I have been listening to your channel since I was eight years old, it's pretty colours brought me here and it's masterful music made me cry as a kid. A decade and so later, I have passed in my country's best music university and am ready to purse my soloist career on piano and organ. This channel has changed my life and I am reminded of it with every upload. I thank you for introducing me to beautiful music, sir.

[@smalin]

Wow. It is gratifying to know that my work has made this much of a difference.

[@aimilios439]

Wish you the best!

[@andresmaynez3060]

I also been watching your videos since I was in 7th grade, I’m 26 now, so Its been a long long time

[@skyeralbert461]

fugue starts at 6:28

[@weavehole]

Blimey, that prelude made my brain feel that it was holding its breath for 5 minutes. So glad it eventually resolved. Mesmerising though.

[@Generalissimo_David-B]

What a Masterpiece.

[@orb3796]

I've been obsessed with this fugue for years now, I can't tell you how happy I am you visualized it Smalin!

[@rocketsroar1]

One of Bach's special showpieces for organ.

[@Richard.Atkinson]

I've been subscribed with notifications turned on since KZbin invented those features, but somehow I didn't see this one until 2 months later! This is one of your best videos!

[@smalin]

If you want to see if you've missed anything significant, this page might help: www.musanim.com/KZbinHighlights/

[@jonnsmusich]

Me too. But I've learned to go back and check on the smalin home page every couple months. Where I found this gem.

[@pablograndelopez]

One of the biggest organ architecture ever written (might be the biggest). It is incredible. When one thinks one has achieved the climax… it come another harder… and the two kind of ‘solos’ he introduces so freely, so chromatic… no words. Thank you Smalin, as always ❤ Great job for a greatest work

[@tomt5745]

This is so scary. Absolute perfection. Bach had some cats in his hat :)

[@MarshallArtz007]

Quite possibly the greatest organ work ever written. Thrilling and sublime. Wonderful visualization. 😎🎹

[@thefreckledcormarant6431]

I’ve never heard anything like it. It’s like he witnessed the arrival of some gigantic Byzantine spaceship from beyond the edge of the universe and tried to describe it in music. It’s the work of a god, not a man.

[@jonnsmusich]

Lovely! The fugue always send chills through me. I very much appreciate how you've rendered it.

[@krystalghostz]

One of my favourite fugues! The subject just sounds so cool and especially dramatic in the context of the fugue, and also the prelude is brilliant as well.

[@Apurion]

One of the big pieces of the master. I love it =) Thanks smalin as always, you make humanity better.

[@jonnsmusich]

Your Bach organ animations are always wonderful to me. After decades listening to the repertoire your animations show me musical elements and their relations I didn't know were there.

[@jodikirsh]

I love the pedal tone at 3:00 taking up the whole screen. Also, the name "the wedge" reminds me of Husarik's analysis of the Große Fuge's main theme as wedge-shaped.

[@Offshoreorganbuilder]

What a musical journey! The fugue in particular benefits from the visual effects. Many thanks to the performer and the video creator.

[@Jtking3000]

Probably my favourite fugue

[@mrlucasa223]

Excellent visualization of this wonderful Bach piece.

[@citlaltlamina]

I don´t know a *** about music. Just seeing as this particules in the video asociate with that complex music. It seems that guy had perfectly working independent two halves of his brain. In fact i just notice (hear) the bass track only by looking at the progress of the violet hue track of the particules. Before that i couldn´t listen to it well enough.

[@Varfolomeyev]

Amazing! loved the animation of the "wedge" theme, really clarifies the music!

[@alexander-sb1oi]

The reexposition is something else

[@aimilios439]

This has to be one of your best works yet! So many new and unique animations on a massive work that compliment its music and nickname. I just couldn't take my eyes off it. You and Bach make a great combo! Thank you for your art.

[@steampipe1]

As a child of the “ Heavy Organ” days of Virgil Fox, I can appreciate this form of visual illustration interpreted by a new generation.

[@jtbasener1810]

I really liked how you put the wedge around the fugal theme. Brilliantly done, as always. This one is simply chilling and I cannot get enough of it!

[@thedevon6580]

wooooo yeahhh!!! yeahhhh!!!!! the wedge!!!!!!!!!!!!!! finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@leonhardeuler6811]

nice visual of the wedge

[@bachbachbach3]

Great creative visualization!

[@percival9610]

I am a big fan of 548. THANK YOU!

[@Metalogx]

Bravo Bramissimo Maestro!

[@orneant2015]

C'est du très très grand Jean Sébastien Bach ! Nous, organistes, ne sommes que des interprètes. Bach était un génie !!

[@elz50]

HOORAY! I've been waiting for this. This is actually the first piece of music that I've wished would would come on the channel that actually has. Thank you Smalin!

[@javipuente7079]

Thank you very much! Great work! ... And this prelude & fugue are out of this world!

[@PezAult]

Danke!

[@smalin]

Thank you again!!!

[@AnthonyArancibia5537]

Solo tenemos una vida, Bach pionero.

[@dulcetdossier3867]

5:16

[@konradswart4069]

This is one of my favorite animations of you. There are some very interesting subtleties in this animation. Like when you show a musical line going opwards, and then suddenly a note is played an octave or a fifth? below, while making an empty circle above, suggesting a note that is not played. Just a little 'update'. I have made an experiment, which I posted on my other KZbin channel, (The Virtual Musician) wherein I show a type of midi animation which, I think, nobody else has made. Maybe _you_ did? You have made so many videos that it is almost impossible to search for this type of animation. BTW. This 'Bourrée _is not_ made by steptime. I actually played it!

[@smalin]

@konradswart4069 >>Maybe you did?

[@konradswart4069]

@@smalin Thanks for your response! So, I conclude, it is something new. Those motions of note groups you are talking about I have seen you do. But they are still the same principle. Letting all notes have the same speed as a group in sync with the music, and having the same length, although they often 'morph' while playing, which is great! This experiment of mine began with a question. How would an animation look like, if the notes all have the same length, but letting them cross 'the zero line' with different speeds? And that in such a way, that when the music note plays, the front of the graphic note crosses the line, and when the music note stops playing, the back of the graphic note crosses the line? But probably you understood that already by looking at my animation. As you can see, I am still in the experimental phase, learning the craft of making midi music animations. Maybe also interesting to hear, that I have been experimenting with AI in programming my animations. That was _really_ a disaster! Apparently, when one tries to do something with AI that almost nobody does, they are not programmed to do that, and are no help whatsoever! In any case, thanks for your response. Your animations are great, and a huge inspiration to me!

[@smalin]

@konradswart4069 >>How would an animation look like, if the notes all have the same length, but letting them cross 'the zero line' with different speeds?

[@konradswart4069]

@@smalin Thanks for the links. However, in none of these links you gave you do what I did in my Gigue animation. What you do is giving different voices or note groups different speeds, but you do not attach the durations of the different musical notes _directly_ to their speeds. Before I continue writing this, I want to begin with one clear statement. This whole idea of making moving elements in sync with the music, where you see the notes 'coming' from then right and moving from the left, _is totally your invention!_ At least, as far as I am aware of this. I know from what you wrote about your history, that this idea came to you many years ago, and that you really 'gone through a lot' to even make your first animations of this type. Having said thas, I want to say this. Even when I began with my first animations, _inspired by your work_ whereby I made my animation software from scratch, like you do, I already experimented with variations in speeds of different voices both horizontally and vertically. kzbin.info/www/bejne/moPapaafa9Vondk I even, with some hesitation, claim that I never have seen _any_ video made by you, _before_ that video above, wherein there were variations in speeds of different voices. I suspect that _you_ got this idea _from me!_ Since I have seen _nobody_ before me having implemented this idea of different animation speeds for different voices. But, of course, I can be mistaken. You might come up with a counterexample to rebut me, if you can show a video from you made before this video that has different speeds for different voices, made _before_ this video! kzbin.info/www/bejne/jni3YWufmN-frNE In any case, I came up with this idea by myself, since I wasn't aware of anybody else having made such an animation. All animations I saw from music in your style, that is, graphical elements moving in sync with the music, had graphical notes with the same speed for all voices played. Almost all my midi animation videos apply different speeds to different voices, like this one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mJfHiaSOgK10mc0 or this one kzbin.info/www/bejne/l4bRZqZojt-HnZo or even my most recent one kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3uTpnWVhstqr7M Maybe you don't understand what I did in the Gigue animation. So, allow me to explain what is so different about it. What I did was giving all notes the exact same length in such a way, that they all have a speed that is connected to the duration of the music note you hear. The distance from the zero line is then _totally and solely_ determined firstly by a preset time before the song begins to play, to which a time is added that corresponds to the timing in the music piece of the note. Since the music is played in realtime, this means that _every_ graphical note starts from its own unique position and has its own unique speed. I think that, in the future, I shall use this effect intermittently. That is, some parts will be animated in the 'usual' way, whereby the lengths of the graphical notes correspond to the duration of the musical notes. And other parts will be animated in this new way. It is just _one more tool_ to give different emphasis to different parts of the music. If there are parts where there are large differences in expression of the music, emphasized by slowing down and speeding up, this type of animation can place greater emphasis on those parts. I have shown this to you, in the hope that you 'got' the idea, and make it part of your own animations. I think this idea might make your animations even more interesting than they already are! My level of production is far smaller than yours. This is because the software I use has its own challenges. Also, there are other projects I am working on, which, I think are far more important than midi music animations. Still, I do my best to make midi music animations, and to learn and experiment as much as I can afford in my daily life. It is in any case a part of my daily thinking. Well, let us keep up the good work!

[@smalin]

​@@konradswart4069 I understood your new idea when you first described it --- I just didn't see what it was good for, so I was giving examples of how the related idea (of having groups of notes move at different speeds based on their musical functions) could be used, as in this (Beethoven's Große Fuge): kzbin.info/www/bejne/pqnHgaiJbK10fsk I don't remember if that was the first time I used it, and I don't remember where I got the idea; it could have been from you, but it wasn't from your 2017dec07 example, since the Große Fuge was posted a few months earlier --- maybe you didn't watch that one?

[@GianfrancoCavallaro]

Thank You

[@Metalogx]

Köszönöm szépen!

[@Metalogx]

Fantastic ❤

[@marcnagels4864]

fantastic !

[@xavieramaya8388]

Sublime

[@fburton8]

Gosh darn.

[@micheal49]

splendiferous

[@HaroldDamonse-er4fp]

Majestic

[@prophetofwellbeing]

What was Bach thinking when he wrote that fugue?

[@orb3796]

I've seen someone describe this fugue as "sassy" and I cannot unhear it and I love it so much

[@prophetofwellbeing]

a friend at school said she thought it was "questioning".@@orb3796

[@jonnsmusich]

Bach's "profundity" rest on the fact that if you are willing to listen to his music without cultural or other biases or prejudice you will discover the profundity in yourself. No one can explain why Bach was profound any more than you can describe your own feelings of awe and wonder when the music hits home. For me it started aged ten in Germany listening to all four lines simultaneously of a Bach fugue on Nord Deutche Rundfunk. Never got over the feeling. Many decades ago.....

[@tonylacy5723]

@@jonnsmusich Yes, today I listened to it with a wine on my patio watching the last few minutes of the setting sun and the situation 'felt' like J.S. in around 1704 was sending a message. A feeling of profundity to whoever would listen. There I was receiving it from him on a cool evening in 2024 via the medium of music. That moment in time felt very special even though I had heard his piece before.

[@Antsaboy94]

It can certainly be never said that Bach was a boring man.

[@duyagetme]

❤

[@salvatoretarsitano4016]

What program did you use for the video?

[@smalin]

www.musanim.com/HowTo/

[@bargledargle7941]

Listening to this Bach fugue I thought it was very inspiring and impressive but lately I've been trying to figure out... Why do we really appreciate Bach fugues so much in an objective way? I understand I must be some kind of a fool to ask this but really, if it's not just complexity (like triple stretto and contrapuntal devices), why his simple fugues for example are appreciated? The fugue here is very beautiful to me don't get me wrong but, I am pretty sure I find it beautiful for superficial reasons and not because I understand how "profound" it is, if at all. I appreciate it much like BWV 850 fugue, except much less for example. But that's because I don't understand what is profound about Bach's simple fugues. If someone could explain to me why a person these days couldn't write a match to Bach's simple fugue? (You may say this fugue is not simple but Bach indeed wrote some simple fugues, don't focus on whether the current fugue is simple or not)

[@smalin]

When we say that a fugue is good, we mean that we get good feelings from it. Feelings are subjective. We can say, objectively, things like "this feature, when present in fugues, tends to give rise to good feelings" and we have theories about why those feelings arise, but we don't have a complete theoretical model that would allow us to generate good fugues algorithmically, for the same sort of reasons that we can write a good novel algorithmically: the human listener/reader is too complicated. People these days who are serious about writing fugues as Bach was are rare, and composers as skilled as Bach are rare. Here's a fugue written recently which I like as much as some by Bach: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bWbCZpKwnbybkKM

[@bargledargle7941]

@@smalin I agree that feelings we get from music are very valuable indeed! Also I just listened to the fugue you sent and I absolutely agree! Again I haven't analyzed it but I enjoyed it to begin with much like or equally as a Bach fugue, I will listen to it a bit more and analyze it. (I really like the work of Delplace he is amazing, and Aaron Andrew Hunt is wonderful too)

[@Generalissimo_David-B]

This Piece Describes 2023.

[@TheSmegPod]

is this a double fugue?

[@smalin]

No, there is just one subject (the “wedge”).

[@TheSmegPod]

@@smalin there's that other "up and down" motif that seems to recur

[@smalin]

@@TheSmegPod Yes, there are several recurring motifs, but there's no second exposition.

[@TheSmegPod]

@@smalin ah, I see Thank you for the reply

[@Winston_Polymath]

I think in a typical double fugue, the 2nd exposition has to always appear along the theme, and it's played the first time the theme is introduced, like the b major fugue in wtc book 2, bwv 582 fugue, or the double-fugue part in e-flat major prelude in wtc book 1. this is more like recurring countersubjects and motifs. correct me if i'm wrong tho

[@billstewartbill]

Uh... WOW! It sounds like a Dutch organ. I'm such a nerd that I like to know about the instruments.

[@billstewartbill]

Oh, I see: St Jacob's Church, Leeuwarden

[@waffleman-]

Noow I get the title......

[@alexander-sb1oi]

Do u make Brahms content too?

[@smalin]

A few ... kzbin.info/aero/PLDFD5482D65E56DD7

[@alexander-sb1oi]

@@smalin thanks, i was looking for the clarinet quintet, i love him and i see that you made 2nd and 3rd movement, but not the first one, Can you tell me why?

[@alexander-sb1oi]

​@@smalini'm curious about how you choose the music? It's more about the rythmical motif or colors, harmony?

[@smalin]

I thought I only made the 3rd movement. If you'd like me to make more, consider this: www.musanim.com/Underwriting/

[@alexander-sb1oi]

@@smalin thanks you

[@TempodiPiano]

what does wedge mean?...

[@smalin]

Are you asking what the word means? Or how the word applies to this piece? Or ... ? Have you read the FAQ? You can read about the piece here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prelude_and_Fugue_in_E_minor,_BWV_548

楔の遁走曲

[@Metalogx]

Full Matematika❤😂

[@konradswart4069]

The animation is, I would say, as usual, _fantastic!_ But the music? Not so much! It brings back memories at a time I made my own (electronic) version of this piece, around 1990. (Can be found on my channel.) Although the playing is technically perfectly, it is especially the registration that leaves much to be desired! My objection to this performance is that the organ player does not use any change of registers to let the different voices come out. He even plays all the voices on just one keyboard! This, by the way, is not only his shortcoming. Many other performers of this piece make the same omission. Somebody who does it better is Iddo van der Giessen: kzbin.info/www/bejne/horJoqFmhqyKgrM Ido uses more than one keyboard, bringing greater nuance to the performance.

[@MarshallArtz007]

I agree. Beautifully played, but the contrasting sections of the prelude and fugue should be played on different manuals (keyboards) to give the ear some relief from the full organ registration. 😎🎹

[@PointyTailofSatan]

Not a big fan of this performance. Too mushy. This piece really calls for a tight North German voiced organ, like the glorious Harvard Flentrop.