J.S.Bach, Prelude & Fugue in F Minor , BWV 857 (WTC, Book 1) on clavichord

[@JérémyPresle]

Very deep, powerful prelude and fugue. This goes straight to the heart.

[@gergokovacs3332]

I started to learn this piece, and finally somebody play the same slow tempo, what I feel natural. And this is the piece which sings on every instrument except the piano! BTW I play it on Rhodes with little overdrive, so accented notes creates distorsion. Perfect for Bach.

[@1860JulianMintz]

Dear Wim, your acute sense for the tactile aspect of playing infuses this entire prelude and fugue with a protracted, powerful tension that goes on from the first note to the last (and beyond), which held my breath. Your profound understanding of the desolation and anguish that emanates from the subject of the fugue touched me deeply. Thank you so very much for all the effort you invest in this important project. Your kindness, intellectual capacity and, above all, your beautiful playing, are a true gift of inspiration for all who follow you. Thank you.

[@AuthenticSound]

Thank you so much for the lovely words, Julian!

[@gergokovacs3332]

WOW! Crystal clear poliphony as always!

[@AuthenticSound]

Glad you like it!

[@robingoergner725]

A loverly performance, Wim. It's always a pleasure to hear you play on the clavichord.

[@AuthenticSound]

Great to read you, as always, Robin!

[@uldymuldy]

Very pleasant to listen to. Peace, steady and no hurry. Thanks!

[@AuthenticSound]

Thanks Uldy!

[@momoalnajjar]

After listening to you interpretation of the prelude, I couldn’t stop playing it like that.

[@AuthenticSound]

There are worse things than that :)

[@patrickl.2303]

I enjoy watching you perform Wim. It makes me appreciate the music more. Keep up the wonderful work you are doing.

[@Murilo9519]

Fantastic, as usual, Wim! Thank you =)

[@AuthenticSound]

Thanks Murilo!

[@gergokovacs3332]

I keep this sending to friends for educational purposes. My dream is, that all classical pianist should take at least few lessons on harpsichord, clavichord, bit also synths and electric pianos. Just for better undrstanding.

[@asmodevsluxuria]

I loved it, specially the Prelude

[@AuthenticSound]

Thanks Carlos!

[@TheViolin-Pavlov]

WOW ! INSPIRATION,thank you so much! binge-watching you're vids,,,,TNX

[@robertm2000]

Superb!

[@DIYerGuy]

Wonderful.

[@theskoomacat7849]

Yes!! One of my favourite works from the first book. Quite a unique interpretation. It goes to show there are still many things "under the sun" :)

[@AuthenticSound]

Thanks for listening

[@adriansosa1430]

THANK YOU!!! You somehow made me feel the chords unexpectedly... --intimately.

[@AuthenticSound]

Great to read Adrian!

[@n7275]

F minor is such a serious key.

[@AuthenticSound]

Very!

[@mutra6]

You are inspiring

[@AuthenticSound]

Glad to be of any inspiration to you!!

[@Garrett_Rowland]

Fugue - 3:25

[@johndeckers8383]

Great performance!

[@williamhuband7913]

For me, following your masterly performance, this piece becomes a monumental work of emotion ! I doubt you could not have pulled it off on a "lesser" instrument !

[@AuthenticSound]

Great to read you here, Bill. No, the clavichord needed to be at her maximum her, she was warmed up by the CPEBach wurttemberg IIi recorded right before, and that was necessary

[@ghmus7]

This tempo was a little surprising, but the more I listened to it, the more I liked the way it brought out the minor affect.I have played this P&F extensively on the organ. for the Prelude, I use 1 8' flute, with a tremolo. for the fugue, I play in very slow tempo,(very similar to your tempo) but with organo pleno, of course including the Subject in the pedal with reeds as the end. I think it works.

[@ghmus7]

And I notice, that you include the same ornaments that I do, I must be on the right track lol.

[@ghmus7]

The intensity of the fugue almost seems to burst the clavichord, a great effect!...which probably I like the massive quality that the organ can give to it.

[@ghmus7]

Bravo!!!

[@AuthenticSound]

Thanks Gregory, great to read your reflections as well. The clavichord was 'warmed up' indeed , since I made this recording right after the CPEBach Württemberg III. Seriously, the instrument gains in range of dynamics which in the fugue as you heard so well, becomes obvious.

[@InXLsisDeo]

I have to say I prefer to watch this video at speed 1.25, otherwise an inspired performance.

[@AuthenticSound]

If that's giving you pleasure, I'm happy with it! But do me one favor, listen to the exact speed a few days in a row and let me know how your experience is than, I really am interest to know!

[@Renshen1957]

Another fine performance, and an introspective one. And completely different from how I play the Prelude & Fugue, which is great as every performer's performance should be a personal expression the sum total of one's research and artistic sensibility. Bravo.

[@AuthenticSound]

Thanks!

[@VladVlad-ul1io]

Notification Squad is on Duty!!! :d

[@lshin80]

Wim, what was J. S. Bach's opinion on the music written by his son C.P.E.? Did he ever say anything "officially" on the subject?

[@AuthenticSound]

Is far as I know he did not (as Bach curated much of his archive, we now also very very little of his preferred builders, as if he realized any statements on that could have an impact on builders, on his sons...?)

[@ml57uk]

I've just been looking at the f-minor prelude of WTC book II (BWV881). All the commentaries I have read agree that this represents the 'empfindsamer Stil' of CPE, who by this time was working independently. At the very least, then, one would assume that JS did not object to this kind of music and saw it as a legitimate style. I'd love to hear Wim play it! I have several (quite different) harpsichord interpretations to listen to, but none on clavichord.

[@persianney]

Nice ornaments in the prelude and very original tempo/interpretation. Didn't know it was possible to play it like this, going to try it now!

[@AuthenticSound]

I didn't know it either, it was a long path however, and not the easiest either

[@ml57uk]

Pieter Dirksen speculates that this was composed in the aftermath of coming home from a long trip to find his first wife (with whom he was famously caught in the organ loft as a young man) dead and already buried. I have no idea how solid the evidence for this idea is,but I always brood on what it must have been like when I hear or play this piece.

[@ml57uk]

And very powerful playing by Wim here, I must also say.

[@AuthenticSound]

thanks for sharing, Mike, didn't know that, it makes perfectly sense, and if Pieter statest this, you might be assured it is based on experience!

[@kefka34]

Great.The prelude is one of my favourites from WTC 1+2.Although I prefer WTC 2 overall.

[@AuthenticSound]

thanks!

[@charlestebbs]

I enjoyed the prelude at this tempo. The pizzicato character was a surprise but for me one of the interesting colours of the clavichord, an instrument I had not been sold on in previous hearings with other performers, but you are really selling it, Wim. For me the sound and articulation is a 'missing link' with the early fortepiano. The comments below by 'Phil Pan' are interesting and worth reading. The range of tempi Bach can withstand is truly incredible, in most of his music. Your fugue is pushing it too far at the slow end for my taste, however. Occasionally I can take this (on the organ perhaps - the F major chromatic fugue of the T/F in F) but for me there are also these grazioso episodes in the fugue that are there to lighten the intense mood of the piece and don't manage to do this at the super slow tempo (unity of affekt? Not sure: this theory sometimes makes us miss things in Bach). For me also I think in the fugue there are so many expressive moments and some deserve a little lingering over, but that is part of my mission at the moment (flexibility in Bach) as yours is tempo. I agree with Phil Pan that the F minor is a difficult one to put over to audiences (recently someone walked out of a complete WTC recital on h.chord I was told after this one! The concerts were spread over 3 events so it wasn't even after a long time of sitting down!).

[@charlestebbs]

Well it depends on the fugue, the affect, the mood, the acoustic etc There is no such thing as fugue tempo (although there is a saying, 'tempus fugit'). True some rush through and don't handle the detail. There is slow. And there is s......l..........o..............w. Too slow for me, I'm afraid.

[@adriatorras8077]

Mmm... What a deepness, it's Bach your favourite composer? In what place you will put Chopin, Mozart and Beethoven( prokofiev, rach, tchai, mendel, scarlatti, etc) ? Only curiosity.

[@AuthenticSound]

That's a hard one Adria... it is even difficult to make a choice which composer gets next spot on our Monday music videos... let alone I would have to choose!

[@mcrettable]

I love major endings and kinda wish they didn’t totally disappear after Bach

[@fredhoupt4078]

I liked the tempo of the prelude. However, I felt that the fuge was held back too much for my tastes. I wanted there to be more propulsion and I found the tempo implied too much gravity. Otherwise I enjoyed the performance.

[@jeanpierrecarabas5508]

Ich habe mal ein kleines Clavichord-Konzert in Basel gesehen (ca.1996 ?) mit Johann Sonnleitner (Zürich). Er war damals etwas fieber-krank, wollte aber trotzdem die Zuhörer nicht enttäuschen... & spielte. Es war - wie das Clavichrord nun mal ist - leise (aber sehr stilles Publikum), aber dennoch alles vollkommen klar und transparent (ev. spielte er auf einem Thomas-Friedemann-Steiner-Clavichord, der in Basel arbeitet und dessen Clavichorde wunderbar scharf im Ton sind.) - Ich dachte immer - im Vergleich zu einem Donner-Klavier v. Steinway - ist hier alles nur GEISTIG - reiner Geist, jeder Ausdruck ist wie in eine Bleistiftzeichnung, jeder Strich muss sitzen. Man kann nicht mit einem GROSSEN Donnerton und Oktavengerassel angeben.... wenn der geistige Ausdruck des Musikstückes nicht erfasst ist, kommt nichts rüber, weil das Clavichord Geist abverlangt. Ich denke nicht Wim Winters hat das Clavichord ausgewählt - - sondern das Clavichord hat Wim Winters ausgewählt!

[@AuthenticSound]

Great to read, Mr. Sonnleitner is a great player, we do have contact

[@rustydog1236]

The prelude seems excessively dry to my ear. To me the temperament is reaching the limit in how your instrument is set up in this f minor key.

[@AuthenticSound]

You might want to get some time to get used to it. Temperament, there is no limit in what one can do in Werckmeister 1707 (Wohltemperierte harmonia), it is basically equal temperament :-)

[@DavidPRose]

To me, this is lifeless and mechanistic playing, even with the timbre and sonorities of the clavichord at play.

[@AuthenticSound]

O damn, they discovered I'm a machine...need a quick algorithmic update I guess ! No seriously, please think before you type in comments... i worked for months on this performance, not technically, but to get the Affect of the piece exactly as I wanted it. No problem if it is not your cup of tea, but think on the poor human at the other side of the lens (me) that has no need for reading statements like this. it might be the worst thing to say on a musician.

[@n7275]

Well I liked it. Excellent playing.

[@truBador2]

Good performance but your piano sounds like cats walking on bedsprings.

[@truBador2]

You can say that again.

[@fredhoupt4078]

you do realize that it is a Clavichord, eh?

[@truBador2]

He must not have enough space for a piano.

[@fredhoupt4078]

What do you think that huge brown object is behind his back? How about a grand piano? Are you actually watching the video or just listening to it? I mean, I don't really care. You want to sound funny, go ahead.