The Most Important Recording Projects Ever (No. 5: Wendy Carlos' Switched-On Bach series)

[@Bigandrewm]

Let's not forget that Wendy Carlos is a brilliant musician by any measure, and this was her break-out album.

[@CarrotFarmer]

and she was Trans!

[@brontaylor3481]

@@CarrotFarmer And everyone talking about only that drove her away from public life.

[@CarrotFarmer]

@@brontaylor3481 Im gonna be honest, i don't remember writing this comment.

[@edwardcasper5231]

I was in college when "Switched On Bach" was released. I also had the opportunity to be part of one the early electronic music studios at my school. We had Moog synthesizers, as the professor who oversaw the studio was a fan, and knew Bob Moog. Why did I mention this? It's because, as great as the Moog synthesizer was, its keyboard was monophonic. It could only play one note at a time. So each line had to be recorded separately. And self-sync tape recorders were relatively new at that time. The time and effort to make those recordings only makes Wendy Carlos' feat that much more remarkable. Nowadays polyphonic synthesizers and self-sync recording devices are the norm.

[@Vandalarius]

Extremely inspired choice, Dave! In my opinion, this is one of the most important recording projects not just for classical music, but for the entire music industry in the second half of the 20th century. Synthesizers are near ubiquitous these days.

[@bbailey7818]

And a they're a lot smaller and compact than they were in room filling Moog days.

[@Runicen]

Great to see Carlos get recognition. Unfortunately, this has been "buried" largely because her catalog has been out of print for nearly 20 years and is rabidly pulled from KZbin and the like when fans do presume to upload anything. Carlos, or whoever represents her, works overtime to make sure the music is not available in any legitimate form and more's the pity. I don't think it's a reach to call her one of the great musical minds of the 20th century, but at this point, who'd know and how would they find out? I'm no big fan of streaming, but even making the catalog available there would put it out "in the wild" to be discovered again if the logistics for a physical re-release aren't worth the attempt.

[@leegerstmann]

The one frustrating thing about Wendy Carlos’ work is that almost none of it (aside from a few soundtrack selections) is on streaming services. I guess I’ll have to buy some CDs. 🙂

[@disasterblaster3693]

I don't think it is available on CD either.

[@thejoshbivens]

@@disasterblaster3693 he’s holding the CD boxed set

[@disasterblaster3693]

@@thejoshbivens Yes, but he probably bought the set years ago. When I looked up about the CDs they were only available second hand at exorbitant prices.

[@thejoshbivens]

@@disasterblaster3693 oh. I see.

[@stephenmarmer543]

Yes!!! True “authenticity” happens when sound waves hit the ear drum, go by acoustic nerves to the brain, thence to the heart and soul, especially when combined with memory. Thanks.

[@DonCYHaute]

If I were a more active commenter here (and I weren't swamped with life stuff right now) I'd have been very quick to suggest this. It came to mind immediately when I saw your first video in this series. Carlos is such a hero of mine and she deserves so much more appreciation, especially as a pioneering representative in the industry of a still much maligned social strata. I think if she'd released Switched On Bach under her own name at the time it would be mentioned a little more now - people are inclined to shy away from the trans discussion unfortunately, but understandably, and I think then the statements she's made about regretting not coming out professionally sooner than she did are made all the more poignant. As a trans woman myself (if you'll indulge me in a moment of abhorrent identity politics) I gotta say it's really nice to see such praise for her, and the painfully rare sight of such admiring, respectful language from a broader community of art appreciators, beyond queer-centric ones, for one of our own. It's too rare not to express appreciation, so I apologise if it comes across as attention seeking.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

It doesn't come across that way at all. Thanks for commenting.

[@timdexter7600]

I didn't expect you to talk about these recordings. I assumed they were forgotten about as some sort of quirky experiment. But I've been remembering Switched-On Bach lately, because I was given one of these (LP) as an older child. This was my gateway to classical music, I was totally enchanted.

[@composingpenguin]

Oh, hardly forgotten. They were talked about in my music history courses, and at least one music aesthetics class (this being about 12-13 years ago).

[@vinylarchaeologist]

As a synthesiser nerd, I am giddy with delight that you are talking about this. Wendy Carlos is not forgotten, at least not in the synth community, where she is high up on a pedestal, and rightfully so. There is an excellent old BBC video of her on KZbin briefly explaining synthesisers, complete with fake sideburns she had decided to put on due to the close-mindedness of audiences in the 1960s (I guess not all that much has changed? - unfortunately) Highly recommend watching that.

[@siegfriedderheld7806]

Breaking out the tie-dyed, headband, and bong for this one. 😮Seriously though, the SoB introduced the master to folks who would never have bought a Bach album.

[@michaelk6057]

Well said and you hit the nail on the head. I have vivid memories as a ten year old seeing this album prominently displayed in the music section of my local department store (someone dressed as 'Bach', powdered wig and all, standing in front of one of the original Moog modular synthesizers which was basically the size of a refrigerator with colored wires poking out the front connecting it al together) and deciding that I needed to hear this... It was one of my first album purchases, and I still remember being so transfixed by the music that I'd play snippets on my little GE portable record player to any relative who we happened to have over. I actually bought that box set just a few years ago, wanting to hear it again because of the impact it had had, and still find it as enthralling.

[@georgesdelatour]

A wonderfully perceptive take. As a child I was a Bach obsessive, after hearing the famous organ Toccata and Fugue in D minor. My dad had the 1960s recordings of Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Phil performing the Brandenburg Concertos. I actually liked the first two concertos, but the third, performed with the entire BPO string section, sounded like a muddy fog. When I heard the Wendy Carlos version, it was like having my ears cleaned. I could suddenly hear all the musical lines clearly. One group of performers who were massively influenced by Wendy Carlos were organists. If you listen to the generation of organists young enough to have heard Carlos and been influenced, such as Lionel Rogg or Peter Hurford, they start to choose more bright, synthesizer-like stop combinations, especially when compared with, say Helmut Walcha.

[@bloodgrss]

And, I totally agree with the choice here; helped me to get into classical music of any kind as a 'kid', and an appreciation of Bach in particular. In a similar vein, so did Tomita's 'Snowflakes are Dancing', 'The Planets', and Bob James 'Rameau' album, tho' not sure they had the same importance as projects that Carlos did. But certainly led ME to a further study/appreciation of those composers as well. And buying additional recordings of their works...

[@ModusVivendiMedia]

Don Dorsey's "Bachbusters" (1985) was pretty fun too.

[@JoeDeRosa]

Dave, I was extremely pleased with your selection of Wendy Carlos' Switched On Bach, since I consider it to be a personal watershed moment in my appreciation of classical music. Prior to S.O.B., I had barely dipped a toe into the repertoire; in fact my entire exposure to classical music were several LP's for which my aunt, an artist with Decca Records, had created the cover art. They were mostly collections of works by various composers, and one album's recording of the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor was the extent of my exposure to the works of Bach. All that changed in 1968 when an acquaintance handed me a set of headphones and played the third movement of the Brandenburg Concerto #3. It was instant mind blown!! The mathematical precision of that movement and its crystalline execution by Carlos struck a nerve in this engineering student's mind. I ended up collecting all of Wendy Carlos' albums individually, and my curiosity extended to an exploration of the classical, romantic and contemporary genres. This translated to a fair amount of time in the library, since recordings by Dave Hurwitz were conspicuously unavailable, though I did become an avid listener of "Adventures in Good Music" with Karl Haas on NPR!

[@FREDGARRISON]

I too was hooked on these releases. Had all of these albums on LP. Now I only have Switched-On-Bach (S.O.B. LOVE IT !!) One and Two on cd. Still amazing after all these years. THANKS DAVE.....

[@oxtcn]

I was in my early teens in the late 90s when my dad showed me Wendy Carlos' Switched-on Bach, and there hasn't been a time since then when it's come off of my list of favorites and regular listens. An absolutely wonderful choice, and very deserving of praise! Wendy Carlos' brilliant idea to bring Bach in to a modern light was truly a gift to all people thereafter, and to see her work out of print brings me great sadness!

[@mondellomusic]

Good to see Wendy Carlos appreciated here. Thanks, Dave!

[@musiconrecord6724]

So glad you picked this. Your comments re. Carlos's work in relation to the HIP folks are spot on. You only have to listen to these recordings to hear that same textural clarity and fleeter tempi which the HIP recordings would likewise embrace. But at the time these records came out this approach was indeed completely new, and the fact that millions heard it really paved the way for what was to follow. Alas, this set is OOP. It's on Carlos's own label, so I wish she would reissue it.

[@flexusmaximus4701]

Inspired choice Dave ! switched on Bach was my first Bach LP back in 1971, and among my first classical records i bought as a kid. I have that set. Love Carlos version of the scarlatti sonata on the well tampered synthesizer! People forget how big those albums were, Big sellers on the charts, and had a lot of buzz, even with non classical fans. Paul G

[@davidsilverman1741]

Great selection David! I remember them when they came out and played them over and over. Such brilliant interpretations on the then new Moog synthesizer. And your excellent explanation of its importance is spot on.

[@windowzombie]

I just picked up a vinyl sealed of Wendy's Switched-On Bach II and really want to hear it. Love that the art is Bach floating in space. Can't find a place to hear it online.

[@Warp75]

I think it’s great & a lot of fun. The stuff she did for Kubrick remain my favourites though.

[@ericakilian3]

Brilliant commentary about a brilliant recording project. Thank you.

[@r79basha2]

Great choice Dave, May I suggest Leslie Howard complete Liszt piano music on Hyperion?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

You may.

[@ronaldswedlund4683]

The baroque organ, with its a synthesis of tone color through artificial reinforcement of overtones, is also a synthesizer.

[@OrzoMondo]

As somebody who's decided to follow (gingerly) Wendy's steps 60 years later, I approve this message :) Thank you for bringing this masterpiece to attention again, it *is* in fact the most earth-shattering recording of Bach IMO.

[@manuelgonzales6483]

Wendy, like Bach, hit an apex in music history. Bravo to them both 😌💕

[@niallmanchester]

An eloquent and passionate tribute that makes me want to hear it!

[@carlcurtis]

And Glenn Gould wrote the liner notes, declaring, as I recall, that Carlos' version of the Brandenburgs was the best available--not contest!

[@julianopificius6910]

He said it of the first movement of #4, to be precise, IIRC.

[@ratitekeeper]

Great review - SOB was my introduction to "classical" music when it came out - Along with the "2001" soundtrack, got me interested in "classical"" music when I was all of 10 years old.

[@waynesmith3767]

I am old enough to remember this being released and it was indeed an amazing event; as someone who had heard Bach for my then young life it rescued the great music from the dust and must of reverence to make it contemporary, upsetting and controversial. I was startled and delighted by it and remember friends saying “How can someone who worships Bach possibly…etc” by I also remember many people who suddenly were saying “This Bach guy is really good!” It was a great event for anyone who listened with their ears instead of their -often borrowed-opinions.

[@chips161]

Thanks for highlighting the Switched-On Bach series! I grew up learning the Well-Tempered Clavier on piano and didn't learn of Wendy Carlos until around a year ago. Immediately loved her Moog synthesizer versions. I had it on in the car one day with my dad, who listens almost entirely to traditional classical music. All he said was, "Is this Bach?" and then chuckled with amusement. Your box set looks so lovely. Sadly it seems they're out of print now aside from bootleg pressings, although the Internet Archive has them available.

[@chazinko]

Glenn Gould' enthusiasm for this music including the 4th Brandenburg was what drew my attention to Switched on Bach. Thanks for the reminder of this inspired collection!

[@grahamcombs4752]

I have it. Bought it at a used record/cd shop in Detroit. Love it. Recall the score from A CLOCKWORK ORANGE which connected me to Ms. Carlos' work. BTW, Glenn Gould praised the work as well.

[@joosroets5533]

I suppose that nobody will contest that the Leonhardt-Harnoncourt Telefunken complete Bach Kantatenwerk is one of the great monuments in the history of recorded music.

[@davesmusictank1]

Definitely a milestone. Thanks for mentioning it.

[@richardwills5780]

Delighted to hear your endorsement of one of my all-time favorite albums!

[@dmntuba]

Had them on LP, CD, and still have & listen to them.

[@Kyle-ur4mr]

Yes! I learned about this in my 20th century music theory class

[@4034miguel]

Bach is so universal that he can be transcribed to whatever instruments there is and it will sound just as fantastic. One of Bach records my daughters love together with E. Power Biggs" Bach's on the Pedal Harpsichord. Please correct me if I am wrong, but I think The art of the Fugue does not mention what kind of keyboard or instrument it was written for. It was written for all of them.

[@carlconnor5173]

I just listened to some of it and it took me back to when I first heard the synthesizer in Rock music. I enjoyed how soothing it sounded, and how it could mimic various instruments. Bach sounds more approachable and palatable synthesized than on the harpsichord, and even on the organ. Besides, it can mimic both. “What they can be” puts it perfectly.

[@sammystank7174]

Great video!

[@martinhaub6828]

I remember the local AM Top-40 stations would play parts of the original record which really helped sell it. The power of mass media can't be overestimated but I wonder how many kids in '68 were so intrigued as to go listen to other classical music. Those days of radio being a shared experience are sure gone. And if ever there was a set that demands to be re-released, this is it. I guard my copy and won't let anyone borrow it.

[@stephenkeen2404]

I've been meaning to do this for a while, but let me scatter in the comments my very indirect path to classical music. Switched on Bach was one of my gateways (the next after my Mom's Colin Davis Massiah and a Readers' Digest compelation of famous pianist). I was 12, playing poker with a friend and listening to albums when he put on Switched on Bach. I made him play it over, and when I joined the Columbia record club it was one of my 14 free selections (along with Best of Bach Vol. 1 and 2). As I've mentioned before, I got Richter's complete Brandburg and Suites for my 15th birthday and focused on more tradition versions after that. Never got Switched on 2, but collected some of her other albums including original compositions. She was also my introduction to the overture to Orfeo. My principal memory now is how my Mother thought that her version of one of the two-part inventions souned like someone farting. While we're talking synthesizers and classical music, Rick Wakeman was my introduction to Grieg (Journey to the Center of the Earth). But I learned to love Brahms notwithstanding Yes-Fragile.

[@theodentherenewed4785]

The film A Clockwork Orange brought me to these works. The film presents excerpts of Beethoven 9th, but Switched on Bach is even better. I really like these, it's exactly as you say, done with great care for detail and the works sound serious. It's akin to piano transcriptions but in a different sound of a Moog synthesizer.

[@robertbubeck9194]

Having been raised a Lutheran in the Philadelphia area, Bach was baked into the woodwork in my world. Consequently, I have an alternate perspective about Switched-on Bach (S-oB) in so much I understand the point Dave is attempting to make. Listening to Bach played on real pipe organs by faculty of the Temple Music Dept. in church and listening to a steady stream of Stokey’s and Ormandy’s arrangements on WFLN, my reaction at the time was “well, that’s cute and clever”. But Bach played on the Wanamaker Organ outclasses renditions on a Moog any day. And, as I recall (I was an undergrad at the time), the movie “2001 A Space Odyssey” had a bigger impact on the general public’s awareness of classical music than the S-oB album. The first PDQ Bach album got more play time on WFLN than S-oB. Yes, it was a cultural phenomenon, but on the question of it being one of 'the most important recording projects ever', I must push aside nostalgia and respectfully demur.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Demur to your heart's content.

[@gpcrawford8353]

IMHO Keith Emerson (ELP) took up the torch with his rock interpretation of classical music on the moog synthesiser ie Pictures At an Exhibition .

[@mpmternst]

Did you pick up a copy of Wendy Carlos’ Peter and the Wolf / Carnival of the Animals part 2 featuring Weird Al Yankovic? It’s out of print and sells for high prices in secondary markets so it’s ripe for reissue.

[@DonCYHaute]

Oh wow that's something I'm now desperate to hear

[@Tom_Theodore]

Bits of the Carlos Bach were used for CBC TV and radio program theme music. Canadians who never listened to classical music know a bit of Bach owing to this work.

[@atomkraftteddy]

Another suggestion. The REFLEXE project by EMI. My first encounter with De Machaut and Wolkenstein.

[@bplonutube]

I think these recordings along with all of Stokowski’s transcriptions have done more for Bach than just about anything

[@alexiusa.pereira9956]

Gee, Dave, I honestly thought you were going to highlight PDQ Bach.

[@HYP3RK1NECT]

Ese también lo tengo. Y es brillante y empírico que incluso el sintetizador moog, Bach suene muy bien.

[@josephromance3908]

Thinking outside the [normal] Bach. I like it.

[@Craig_Wheeler]

Wish I'd have known about it when it came out. This set is only available at bonkers prices these days. Individual CDs moght be the way to go, minus the booklet and deluxe packaging.

[@Ingrampix]

Does anyone know why this Carlos material remains unavailable? Are there copyright issues? Can't think of a similarly mega-selling project that isn't current, not even the first record.

[@steveschwartz8944]

Agree wholeheartedly. Also, I would also like to point out that Ward Swingle's Jazz Sebastian Bach and its follow-ups also did much to drag Bach "out of the classical-music ghetto." I remember attending a sold-out concert of the Swingle Singers (original lineup) at my college. The men were dressed in Cardin and the women in Dior. Christine Legrand was practically a pop heartthrob.

[@bloodgrss]

Apropos responded to/deleted negative or foolish posters here Dave: in an occasional SNL skit years ago, an actor impersonating Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg would, after a remark she made torched someone else in the skit, shout "Ginsberg-ed"!!! Love it when someone here gets rightfully "Hurwitz-ed"!!!

[@lesgoe8908]

I love this series and will be watching all of them. (FYI: Not to be "that guy", but Moog's last name is pronounced "Mohg".)

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Not by me. Don't waste my time with this nonsense.

[@heinzb8219]

@@DavesClassicalGuide LOL

[@philippecassagne3192]

Another suggestion : Vivaldi sacred music edition, by Vittorio Negri (10 CD set).

[@philippecassagne3192]

@@goonbelly5841 Maybe a too refined dish for ordinary people.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

...and not ordinary people. I great set (I love it) but hardly historically significant.

[@Baritocity]

Would "The Antiphonal Music of Gabrieli" album be similarly significant?

[@michaelnolan6054]

From Bach to Tron. She has range.

[@patriciadaloni2619]

Positively ripe for re-issue.

[@christianfasy]

Bravo!

[@gavingriffiths2633]

...still going to plug Dorati's Haydn operas for your consideration as a daring recording project.....

[@philippecassagne3192]

I fully agree ! And Dorati's Haydn symphonies also of course.

[@amirahmadazhieh2510]

So just a question, when you mention there's "very little difference when it comes to the authentic validity of Bach played on actual instruments vs. a synthesizer", what does that really mean? I don't quite understand your point. If that's the case, why don't musicians just have their own arrangements of different pieces (and not just by Bach, but by everyone else too, for example Beethoven's symphonies) and play those in concerts and/or record them, instead of keep playing/recording with the same type of instruments over and over again? That would surely sound more creative and novel for the general audience as well.

[@JayRudko]

I thought everyone knew, by now, that Moog rhymes with "rogue".

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Not when I say it.

[@bplonutube]

I’m enjoying this series, but I am absolutely flabbergasted. That number one wasn’t the Dorati Haydn cycle. but I’m sure that’s coming.

[@Danielpi]

Wonderful pick. These recordings don’t get the attention they deserve (these days).

[@phanboyiv]

lol this is gonna make the Bach nerds so mad. Really nice analysis IMO.

[@ericbluestine4057]

Thank you Mr. Hurwitz for reminding me of just how musical Carlos's performances are. I first heard The Well-Tempered Synthesizer when I was ten, and it was life-changing. And I read on the cover blurb that Glenn Gould loved it too. Ah yes, all roads lead back to Glenn Gould, don't they? We have Gould, and Wendy Carlos, and the period instrument folks, and the modern instruments people who try to sound like the period instrument people -- they all have one thing in common: textural clarity (and the beauty that emerges from it). Some performers and ensembles go to such great lengths to un-romanticize Bach and strive for clarity, that their performances sound thin, whiny, fussy, clinical, academic, and pretentious. The best 18th century players avoid that trap. I'm thinking now of Thomas Fey's marvelous Haydn Symphonies. Those performances are passionate and moving, but with no trace of romantic sentimentality. Even if Bach players 1) shrink the number of performers, 2) keep the tempo strict, and 3) speed up and narrow the vibrato until it's practically nonexistent, the music can still sing. Wendy Carlos brought to the music timbral variety and a fantastic ear for textural clarity, and she made the music sing.

[@JohnFiocchi]

To me...the reality is that a large population of people generally are unaware of how important Wendy Carlos is. Of course music is subjective and if you don't prefer her style then obviously I'm not making reference to you. In that sense...she is the underdog...the one who doesn't receive enough credit due to the nature of her position. That position being a composer and not a hitmaker We can say that she is acknowledged by the Classical community which globally is pretty large...but generally in the world she is not recognized as a true genius and actually she very much is. She is a very important person to the development of Electronic Music. Think about it. Think really hard. That's a hell of a role to take on and her ideas came naturally to her. Beauty In The Beast, Tales Of Heaven & Hell , Digital Moonscapes, and Sonic Seasonings are works of art. They were influential albums to many Electronic artists. Sonic Seasonings in particular was groundbreaking because it was the first Electronic album to take field recordings and blend them throughout 4 different compositions clocking in between 18 to 20 plus minutes long. Beaver & Krause utilized field recordings on the In A Wild Sanctuary album. A very interesting concept for its time. Ron Geesin and the early Pink Floyd as well...but the aforementioned being brief with its usage...5 minutes...10 seconds....but Wendy Carlos extended the time of its usage and applied these field recording sounds to the flow of signature lines and ambient soundscapes . The album influenced two decades of a new and unique style of Electronic Music to surface throughout the world. Her overall influence can be felt through many European Electronic artists throughout the 70s, 80s and 90s...and in Krautrock which was a style often fused with Electronic Music. She is an amazing innovator

[@bumblesby]

I agree that this is important however my cousin had one of the LPs. I listened to it and it just didn't interest me. My cousin loved it though and he did not listen to classical much.

[@youtuber5305]

Am I the only one who likes WELL-TEMPERED SYNTHESIZER better than SWITCHED...?

[@MrFlorical]

Absoutely not! SOB is a proof of concept album, whereas WTS is a refined work of art - the Scarlatti and Brandy 4 are inspired and magical.

[@TehButterflyEffect]

What was Carlo's real name? People keep calling him Wendy, but I'm pretty sure that wasn't his real name.

[@rpmlp54]

Walter

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

They are equally "real."

[@jimcarlile7238]

It's Wendy. Long story -- look it up!

[@paulbrower]

The LEAST authentic performances of Bach, except for Isao' Tomita's Bach Fantasy also on a synthesizer, but revelatory.