Haas on WTC I Prelude and fugue no. 10 in E minor BWV 855 | Netherlands Bach Society

"E minor is perhaps one of the most tense keys." Harpsichordist Frédérick Haas talks about the Prelude and fugue in E minor, which he performed for All of Bach.
Recorded for the project All of Bach on August 17th 2015 in Brussels. If you want to help us complete All of Bach, please subscribe to our channel bit.ly/2vhCeFB and consider donating bit.ly/2uZuMj5.
For the complete performance of the Prelude and fugue no. 10 in E minor go to • Bach - WTC I Prelude a...
For the complete playlist of The Well-Tempered Clavier I go to • Playlist
For more information on BWV 855 and this production go to allofbach.com/e...
All of Bach is a project of the Netherlands Bach Society / Nederlandse Bachvereniging, offering high-quality film recordings of the works by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed by the Netherlands Bach Society and its guest musicians. Visit our free online treasury for more videos and background material allofbach.com/en/. For concert dates and further information go to www.bachvereni....
Frédérick Haas, harpsichordist
Harpsichord: Henri Hemsch, 1751

[@elfpix]

His recording of the second book is outstanding. How wonderful it would be to hear his exegesis of every one of the p&fs in that book. So glad to see at least this one.

[@JudgeDeeDecides]

To hear this wonderful musician describe the key as tense, and then to see him play in the companion video with a clenched jaw, muscles bulging, is fascinating.

[@HarpsichordVinylGallery]

Nice to see the instrument again that was once instrument in residence of the Early Music Festival in Utrecht. Fantastic instrument.

[@ninodaney]

Quelle clarté ! Je vous admire beaucoup

[@wolkowy1]

After hearing Frederick Haas' performance (and seeing his hands operating on the keyboard like it was a guitar) of this particular Prelude and fugue and after hearing his interview, I felt challenged by his interpretation and ideas, which were totally contrasted to those of mine. However, I'm saying it with great respect to his courage to play it like a 'mad' musician who not only feels but also thinks deeply how to make his performance "tangible" (in his own words, at the end of the interview), and - in contrast to beachcomber's comment here below - is full of knowledge as an expert! Point after point he counted here are so important relating to these, indeed, most bizarre elements stressed in the way he performed. He didn't explain why the change of mood in the middle of the Prelude, so if I may suggest: maybe it came as a preparation to the most unusual Fugue. Chapeau to you, Frederick Haas, and Thank you NBS!

[@franciscoe.novalessalinas4981]

Ejecutante Magisral un estudioso de la obra de Bach trasmite en cada acordé la intención y la emoción intensa qué el autor sentía en ése momento. toca cada parte de tú cerebro y lo vibra de emociones magníficas es extraordinario muchas gracias. desde México.

[@patriciarodriguezmartinez3233]

Gracias por estas interesantes explicaciones

[@unagondolaunremo]

très bien expliqué, merci!

[@carmenvaldivia8651]

Splendide!

[@AnnaKhomichkoPianist]

Love the video! Thank you for the upload!

[@comtaar2245]

Tonalités plus ou moins épicées! ❤

[@nawfalsalman3074]

This talk is almost as interesting as the prelude and fugue.

[@AnnaKhomichkoPianist]

Thought the same!

[@qwaqwa1960]

Some WTC on the clavichord would be nice, especially given Bach's preference for it.

[@TsageriStreet]

🧡

[@qwaqwa1960]

Tense key? Right...

[@Beach_comber]

"E minor is perhaps one of the most tense keys." But did Bach think like that? I thought ascribing different characteristics to different keys came in later. Don't different minor keys just differ by pitch? Have patience with a non-expert if I'm talking nonsense please!

[@WinrichNaujoks]

No, the notion of every key having its own character was well established at that time. Read Mattheson's description of the different characters.

[@herrickinman9303]

Bach surely realized that not everyone in his day who would play WTC would have their instrument tuned to the same pitch. This fact challenges the notion that e-minor is more tense than d-minor. Some pieces Bach included in WTC were originally in a different key. Bach transcribed them to a new key simply to complete the sequence of 24 keys, not to impart some imagined character of a particular key. This e-minor WTC prelude appears in an earlier version in the WF Bach book in the same key, but in a much shorter and much simplified form. The original righthand part is just chords, demonstrating that the work was conceived harmonically.

[@herrickinman9303]

@@WinrichNaujoks Because of the various unequal temperaments used in tuning keyboards of the time, different keys would have sounded different when played on keyboards, but that doesn’t necessary mean that e-minor was perceived as "tense" or even more intense than, say, d minor. The perceived character of any key is entirely subjective.

[@comtaar2245]

Il y tant de Bach aux Pays-Bas. Cela fatigue parfois. Pourquoi ne joue-t-on rien d’autre ici?