Bach - WTC II (Angela Hewitt) - Prelude & Fugue No. 15 in G Major BWV 884

Angela Hewitt

[@mariagavrilin9771]

Бесподобная пианистка, и с годами всё прекрасней. Какое звукоизвлечение. Можно слушать бесконечно.❤

[@iksralquyuud]

0:30 Prelude 3:10 Fugue

[@foxydragon5149]

Iksr Alquyuud THANKYOU I DONT WHAT TO LISTEN TOTHE ANNOYING TALKER

[@maxwellhorwitz4170]

Beautiful playing Angela! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful interpretation of this masterpiece with us. You phrase parts very well and play with exceedingly good and beautiful expression. I can feel the love, joy, and peace when you play this joyous Bach piece. And I can feel the joy in your heart. Sensing a player's innermost feelings isn't possible with too many performers, but I feel it is possible with you Angela because you play with such amazing expression and precise technique, not compromising of the joy and love and warmth of this piece at the same time. I agree with what you said about how the sustain pedal on a piano can bring out phrasing in certain ways, however, I must disagree with you that this brings out better phrasing than without a pedal. Surely Bach knew what he was doing, and you can phrase music infinitely perfectly and well without a pedal. Bach did this, and I am making this point because I can tell from your amazing playing technique that you do this too miraculously well with Bach music. Baroque music has a certain type of musical phrasing that actually can sound better without the pedal. Remember, phrasing is about the performer, not what you are using and even which piano you are playing on. Just like how well someone plays is not dependent on the piano, but the player. The best player of this piece will sound much better on a cheap electric keyboard with no sustain pedal than a beginner trying to play this piece on a concert grand piano with all the pedal in the world. I want to go over briefly why Baroque music sounds so good without the pedal. And you said the answer in your words- the phrasing. The phrasing is already so good in Baroque music and so connected, almost like each phrase instantly connecting to the next corresponding phrase. So without the pedal, you can here these nuanced changes better and they sound less muffled together. You can hear these changes more clearly and they thus sound more like a language, which music is. You express this musical language very well with Bach's music for two reasons Angela- you express this language well through good technique and you express this music well through expressing these techniques through your innermost self. This is not something that can be said of many musicians, but it can be said of you. Thank you again Angela for sharing your beautiful playing of this music with us. I hope to see you sharing more of your lovely performances with us!

[@Erdos777]

Every phase delightfully immerses me in Bach's world.. I closed my eyes, listened , and soared with every wondrous tone.

[@eulaliavoo1830]

The piece alone is beautiful and yet she manages to make it even more beautiful than it already is. Bravo!

[@AdamDavidFroman]

I love Angela Hewitt's interpretations of Bach. Her voicing is amazing, and her ornamentation is always to perfect.

[@Sophiestelle]

Beautiful, in an exquisite way!

[@OperaGhostObsession]

My dad would play this a lot when I was younger. Saw this on the arts channel and just had to listen. It's good to hear these songs.

[@JamesVaughan]

I love the way she makes the fugue dance--Bach in one of his merriest moods!

[@LisaRupingCheng]

So beautiful!

[@alexmantua]

What a nice prelude and fugue in G , what a treat! Thanks Angela for playing!

[@PetervonBelvedere]

Exquisite phrasing is mesmerizing. I love this recording.

[@everyhwang1049]

Angela started gracefully! Angels Hewitt, The Bach Expert!

[@mikegallegos7]

Thanks very much. Delightful sounds. Appreciate your talent and commitment.

[@everyhwang1049]

Bravo! Love the fugue. aws one finger work! Angela really brings out Bach's voices in the fugue brilliantly! My all time favourite! The trill part is soooo wonderful, the head movement really make me think of the PROUD Bach. Super runs, Angela! Very well done! I love it! you really apriciate bach!

[@randeringer]

Wow, I've never heard anyone else play Bach with such charm and color. Now I'll have to take back everything bad I said about Bach, hahaha

[@marieisabelle5107]

Beautiful

[@joeblue6325]

Stellar

[@crob647gtx]

Just fantastic. I thought the first section could've been slightly faster and the opposite true for the second section. However, this is one of my favorites from the WTC and it was overall excellently rendered!!!

[@dancinguy99]

Angela is brilliant

[@recorderson]

awesome !

[@emmad9344]

Beautiful playing! I love the little cadenza at the end. Bravi :)

[@MasterKokosik]

GREAT!GREAT!GREAT!

[@michelroussanne906]

Merci !

[@kb27787]

Amazing! her technique is superb!!! The fugue is usually played slower than that and to me it sounds sluggish that way but she brings it to life and it's just amazing! I hope I can play even half as well as she does by the time of my ALCM exams (this is one of my pieces! lol after seeing that I feel so... unskilled)

[@ViRrOorR]

I wish she had more content on spotify

[@siku5it]

I am not the finest music expert, but man, this is soo nice !!

[@everyhwang1049]

Evo Archer yes. ....

[@piledriver6330]

Bravo

[@aceofdatabase]

I enjoy her comment about this piece which is dead on.

[@practicecrazypianist]

WOW!!!! This is SO beautiful and so delicately and sensitively played - thank you for posting! Ms Hewitts' ornaments are effortless and simply glide into the passage work without disrupting the flow! WOW!

[@MrArturoPM]

Yes! For me it's too difficult to keep the flow on the ornaments

[@Justme1635438]

She plays a different note than Rosalyn Tureck about 0:38 sec into the video and does it again when the pattern repeats. But love her Bach more than anyone else.

[@KremIsis]

This is the woman my fiancé is in love with, without making me jealous :) Our is a hard life. My ideal Bach performer is Gulda. We'll hardly find a common ground...

[@MarcusHK1]

+KremIsis Gulda is one of my favorite performers of Bach's WTC, alongside Richter and Angela Hewitt.

[@ronglichen9779]

Who is this Gulda? I only know Angela Hewitt. Is Gulda another famous player alongside Angela or is Gulda a totally different player?

[@MrWaffleCity]

My favourites are Schiff and Gould, especially to the bach concertos. :)

[@andresiniesta9399]

How on Earth can people prefer these very good pianists to all time greats like Glenn Gould?

[@paxwallacejazz]

KremIsis wow I wanna come have dinner at your house!

[@lukevinten4722]

About that C sharp, my edition* says: "An interesting variant has sharps to the notes c'' and c' in b7. However, this only occurs in C2, C4, E2 p.corr., D6 & D7 p.corr. and cannot be traced back to the composer." Personally I like it. *Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music

[@arnastubuttwehak994]

So perhaps you can tell me something. In the music that I have there are a some tenths in the left hand in that little bit between the 32nd-note runs at the end. I can't see what Hewitt does here but it doesn't look look like a big stretch. Do most people shift the upper note of the chord to the right hand?

[@ArtOfFugueBach]

I like the intro, so creative... :)

[@vishalkevin6206]

Wonderful upload Armin Numanović...thanks

[@ArtOfFugueBach]

Vishal Kevin You are welcome. Glad to see a young man enjoying J.S Bach.

[@vishalkevin6206]

Oh yes I love Bach ...though I live on the other side of the world...that's not stopping my craze for his music....Armin Numanović

[@alger3041]

Kappa Kappa What exactly do you mean by "intro?"

[@ArtOfFugueBach]

***** The intro of the video where she talks about Bach.

[@ktriebler]

@WMWWWWWWMWWW It isn't just you, it struck me immediately, too.

[@ophirisr]

The well tempered clavier

[@egvztpwa]

she plays bach like chopin!

[@everyhwang1049]

egvztpwa really

[@ruperttmls7985]

Actually not. Gould played Bach like Chopin. She is an expert in baroque articulation and techniques, obviously on piano (not harpsichord).

[@DanielLeoSimpson]

3:11 from staccato to legato at 3:15 I think, "How is this humanly possible? Is this a Goddess?" 3:30 and 3:36 the sudden change in touch - at 3:49 complete new touch - as if it's a different instrument all of a sudden. 4:10 bringing it to a gentle, serene closure .... this is playing of unparalleled perfection. Daniel Léo Simpson Composer San Francisco

[@everyhwang1049]

Daniel Léo Simpson, Composer Are you really a composer? Wow! Can I know some of your music? :)

[@DanielLeoSimpson]

Of course, just go to my KZbin channel - you'll also find all the sheet music for performance on IMSLP at: www.tinyurl.com/imslp-daniel-leo-simpson Best wishes, Daniel Léo Simpson Composer San Francisco

[@everyhwang1049]

Thanks!

[@everyhwang1049]

Daniel Léo Simpson, Composer that is very cool to be a composer!

[@Trompetteenchamade]

@jwchappy1 Duh? You can hear that the key clearly moves to the dominant in the fourth measure as a contrasting response to the first statement in the tonic. C# is the leading tone to the dominant in G. In a couple more measures there is a dominant of the dominant (there's a single G# before Bach turns it back quickly to D) before the sequence begins. In fact, there's more D major than G prior to the repeat, a structural move to the dominant which is expected in the first half of a binary form.

[@MrAmerica51]

Nice explanation.

[@janvkimm]

@REGOLITTLE I think in every classical recordshop Greetings Jan.

[@D8018]

I think, the way she plays Prelude is like, The first round kinda of full tone note. Look at how she press the note, and after the repeat, she only press a little note down, (meaning she a very superb touch)

[@malenkaradi8152]

😇👍

[@012jsd]

@benjbloch Im pretty sure its supposed to be a c natural

[@princessatheart88]

@truxaltom, her error is in measure 7 on the second beat.

[@TonusFabri2024]

Well...a couple of the early MSS have C natural, but the Peter August MS, ca.1760-87, (IMSLP 355885) definitely has C#, so I think she has adequate authority for the reading. If you're looking at the IMSLP MS, be aware that the treble clef is on a different line.

[@MrAmerica51]

It is written C# in bar 8 while in D Major coming from A Major in bar 7. See comment by Trompetteenchamade below.

[@Pretendkid]

aww, the music is adorable.

[@martinhablaespagnol]

@egvztpwa - thats what I think and feel too - either chopin or bach - so what is the sence of this ? Can anybody tell me ?

[@mauro5435]

0:41 wrong note :( but awesome version!

[@AndreanaChen]

@princessatheart88 no C# in measure 7 either,

[@REGOLITTLE]

Does anyone know where I can get the "Bach: The English Suites No 2." played by her?

[@bachaddict]

world trade center. or well-tempered clavier. ;)

[@Janet_of_Music]

Loved this piece from the very first note but, the camera work is making me a bit dizzy so I'll just close my eyes and listen...

[@kb27787]

@jwchappy1 Immediately after the opening Bach likes to go to the dominant chord :) almost always I think... in this case, D major, so that can justify the C-sharp there, and I think it sounds good... it gives a bit of color... with a C-natural (the way I had to play for my exam) it sounds a little flatter....

[@AndreanaChen]

@taleofatub That's her opinion, she can play Bach the way she likes it, Gould can too and also you! I do not think there is really a "correct" way to play pieces besides getting the notes and the others.

[@bontempo01]

@terrygowork how can you write that after listening to the Fugue? I agree that the Prelude is a bit "flat" and unimaginative, but not the Fugue.

[@AndreanaChen]

@princessatheart88 there is so not a C# in measure 8, my book is in front of me now and I do not see any sort of C# there.

[@marcusreeves906]

0:40 is it c or C sharp cuz I always play it c lol

[@Arbinath]

Me too, I always play it c... I have just checked in the score and it appears to be just a c, not a c sharp...

[@rodion-burbin]

I will play this on my piano exam soon and I was shocked when I listened this recording because I thought that I make a mistake and play a wrong note :|

[@fangzhouzhao2489]

Marcus Reeves yes it should be c，i play it c

[@gratefulpianist8640]

No it is G major

[@lekaiyigoh9755]

On my score it says C sharp🤨🤨

[@lamystorius]

what do you mean by "prelude is great" and "fugue is too fast" ? are they 2 separate things? thanks.

[@Jbigula]

It might actually be an old manuscript variation after the repeat, or a trend in Bach's repertoire. Otherwise, she could have easily recorded it again.

[@katerinawsy]

Angela Hewitt is one of the best Bach performers. It won't do you any good to criticize her when you probably can't do any better. learn from her and if you don't like it then don't do it. I think she's great

[@keishadelacerna]

Bach + Hewitt + Steinway = W + O + W

[@everyhwang1049]

Keisha Rae Do you mean she is Hewitt, and she is playing Bach on a Steinway grand?

[@pbazant]

@martinhablaespagnol There are elements in her playing I appreciate very much, but I like when Bach is played with certain amount of austerity, which she doesn't provide at all.

[@gratefulpianist8640]

Such an early video

[@dmcII]

@princessatheart88 Interesting that you like Aldwell's performances of WTC. I have his recordings of both books and they're excellent. He's not as well known as others but I personally prefer his recordings better than Gould.

[@Pladask]

I like her. She looks just like Elin! RESPECT

[@jackhousman6637]

The overlapping voice recordings is a mistake. What's the point.

[@ruperttmls7985]

Counterpoint? Hahaha

[@princessatheart88]

Sure, no problem. Yes, you should play a C# in m. 16, but not in m. 27. There aren't any C sharps in either hand there. The recording of this that I like best is by Edward Adwell.

[@eric.esoteric]

It kills me how fast she played that fugue, listen to gulda's interpretation please!!!

[@helylin6272]

Nice but I did catch a mistake in the beginning, wrong note but well done , bravo

[@MsSonntag1]

Yes, in bar 7 she played c#. I was really surprised. I wonder what edition she played from. At least she didn't play so very fast.

[@everyhwang1049]

Susanne Holmes Very hard to notice the mistake.

[@p.winfrieds.kuttner2986]

Both version seem to exist - see Baerenreiter edition, preface. I myself play c# as this fits better into the context.

[@cuagmirag]

Yes, I think he didn't care much for the preludes and saw them as a distraction before the interesting parts.

[@Justme1635438]

A few seconds later than 0:38 I mean, about 0:40

[@spiritwinds56]

what does WTC stand for?

[@everyhwang1049]

Rika Rose it means well tempered clavier. it is short form.

[@gratefulpianist8640]

It is easy to play it relatively well but it is very hard to do it perfectly

[@Scaw]

Love the music. Loved the playing. Hated the camera work; spoilt the whole thing.

[@everyhwang1049]

Fredobel51 why

[@yourforte]

I love this - apart from the C sharps that shouldn't be there.

[@alger3041]

The Prelude is beautiful in its presentation, but the Fugue is far too fast for me, and at the tempo it is taken, the many felicities, especially in the latter portion, go completely lost. The accidental referred to is an interesting point. My copy prints C Natural in the text with C Sharp given at the bottom of the page as a variant. I have always played C Sharp here; it sounds better and makes far more sense. There is an issue in the Fugue as well. At the entry of the second voice, my copy gives an A for the first note - i.e., a real answer, as opposed to the G seen in most copies which would denote a tonal answer. This is one of two places in Bach where one encounters a tonal answer where a real one would make more sense. But one has to first understand the idea of a tonal answer and how such historically came about. The basic idea is that whenever the dominant note appears prominently at the beginning of a subject, it is answered by the tonic, even though the rest of the answer is a fifth up. As was explained to me by an instructor, a subject will frequently cadence on the tonic before the next voice enters in the dominant, so that the second voice entry on the tonic makes the process a little less abrupt than otherwise. In the present case, however, the first voice has already modulated to the dominant before the second voice entered, making this provision unnecessary, as with it, the motive and harmonic implications are needlessly distorted. I have always played an A in that situation, and will continue to do so. Anyone is welcome to take up this issue with me.

[@andrewzhang8643]

The prelude has a C natural, not a C sharp.

[@alger3041]

Andrew Zhang Most copies give a C Natural, but there were contemporary copies at the time this came out which gave a C Sharp. Simply because most copies give a C Natural is no reason to stick to it in the name of "authenticity" real or false. And as long as one is actually armed with a copy that legitimizes the C Sharp, one need to be afraid to opt for it. When performing any piece of music, one must be flexible and not be a purist or literalist. One should not be afraid to ask questions about anything seen in a score that doesn't seem right, and many other posters here feel the same way. Moreover, that C Sharp appeared in a very early contemporary copy, as I just stated, and did not appear out of nowhere on the whim of some performer. But either way, one must be fully pragmatic in dealing with such issues, and not be an unquestioning slave to a printed score. Composers are only human and can easily overlook something in the process of setting their music down. As a matter of fact - to give two examples - I could name spots in the performing repertoire where what are clearly wrong notes have been mindlessly perpetuated over the years - Schubert Moments Musicaux No. 4, trio section, and Chopin Prelude No. 13 in F Sharp Major, reprise section. Nobody has questioned these but mindlessly play what is in front of them in the mistaken belief that they are faithful to the composer's intentions. In any event, I will continue playing a C Sharp at the point in question in this Prelude simply because it makes far more sense, and many others agree, and I will similarly play an A on the first note of the subject answer in the Fugue, for similar reasons.

[@alexmantua]

The first answer of the fugue suggests a dominant chord on A, that why it starts with the note G. It gives an extra feeling to it. A real answer is possible too. The G note is therefore not wrong.

[@alger3041]

The A is the fifth of the D Major chord, and at the same time works perfectly with the accompanying note of the other part to produce that quasi horn figure effect. Exactly the same occurs when the third voice enters. Therefore, the G sounds at least to my ears as an extraneous note that falls flat. Preferring the G for the sake of maintaining the tradition of a tonal answer for me does not resolve the musical necessity of the passage. Besides, if one looks at all the succeeding entries of the subject, one will not find another where the first note is distorted in this manner. Tonal answers, by their changing the initial shape of an answer, can serve their musical purpose in most cases. This is not one of those situations.

[@everyhwang1049]

Alex Van de Meulebroecke Ypu seem to know alot about Bach! Are you a piano teacher? :)

[@princessatheart88]

Nope, the C# is a mistake. Just checked the score. And she made that mistake twice.

[@jwchappy1]

@Trompetteenchamade sorry that Duh! comment was made by my 8 yr old son - i will be promptly changing my password settings!!

[@ivelosthewilltolive]

Hmm, a C# in the RH in bar 7? Sounds very strange. And it can't be a booboo, cause she also does it in the repeat...

[@taleofatub]

I like Hewitt's playing generally. But I have a hard time forgiving Hewitt for once saying that Glenn Gould didn't play Bach "correctly." (!) Gould helped me first to love Bach and to denounce his interpretation as incorrect is snarky and pedantic.

[@everyhwang1049]

swift really? did she really say that glenn gould did not play correctly?

[@princessatheart88]

Yes I've played it. It sounds way better without the sharp, and that's the way Bach wrote it. I'm actually not a huge fan of her interpretation of this piece- there are better versions out there.

[@changyilai7960]

shouldn't the c be a c natural?? in the begginning the a and the c

[@dErKoNnY11]

in the seventh bar she is not playing a "C" she is playing "C#" !!!!! she is cheating :D .... when you dont believe me compare with other recordings! But I must agree that her correction on Bach's Prelude is really good...

[@tomgottshalk2747]

I adore her playing technique, her pacing, and interpretation of Bach's intentions. But the camera work is dreadful, always moving never still. Please video producers a little less cleverness and more Angela Hewitt.

[@williamwei7084]

0:41 C natural, not C sharp.

[@awesomedude3009]

It's C# in the Schwenke edition.

[@everyhwang1049]

William Wei Whoo! Do you have perfect hearing? I have perfect hearing.

[@SqChff]

a mistake, clearly

[@jwchappy1]

you said its in g major and at the begining you playd a Csharp.duh

[@Franzpiano]

suona malissimo quel DO diesis

[@robertvanhals2652]

Although I'm aware she is miming, the music does sound about as uptight as she looks. Gimme Edwin Fischer any day.

[@marthahazevoet9309]

Good grief.

[@MgcMrMistoffelees]

Maybe she intended to play C# in the repeat in order to cover the mistake that she had made, that is, to make the music consistent in some sense....

[@MusicPredominates]

... o ridiculous ... twinkle in his eye ? for the likes of you ? ... J S Bach was much above such talk ... a professional in everyway !

[@malcolmanderson4066]

Wonderfully expressed, irritating camera work.

[@PlayBetterJazz]

good, but she has too much of the "mmmm yes I am quite snooty and classical" thing going on

[@terrygowork]

Her Bach has pleasing sound but incredibly boring. I didnt know Bach can be good background music. She might still have some fame while she is alive, not after

[@michelroussanne906]

Merci !