Johann Sebastian Bach - Prelude and Fugue, BWV 552 {Peter Hurford}

[@freddyharvey2405]

I love all of Bach's organ music but there is something so majestic and powerful about this one, it is my favourite

[@judsonbrendan657]

InstaBlaster.

[@Franz_Liszt_Korean]

Me too

[@charlesdavis7087]

Me too. I don't know why I love this work so much and I've been an organist most of this life. I am now 76. There's something so noble and grand about this work... but it was Bach's Toccata and Fugue in F major that changed my life forever. This particular version of the St. Anne, I find highly unimaginative. Too academic. I also believe that "imitation is" not "always the highest form of compliment." Do you play and instrument?

[@hugoflores8090]

I love how deeply Bach's organ penetrates my ears. Oh YES! Bach, give me your organ.

[@hugoclarke3284]

@@charlesdavis7087 Could you recommend any other recordings?

[@richardkallio3868]

Anyone who says they don’t like organ music ought to give this particular recording of this masterpiece a listen. I’m sure it would be a game changer.

[@richardkallio3868]

Hurford’s articulation for playing Bach is so crystal-clear! It remains a lifelong goal of mine to play that well.

[@johnshite4656]

I've heard this piece many times, tried to play it a few times also, but seeing the original manuscript is a first for me. That writing is art all by itself, it's really beautiful drawn out on paper. If I end up going back to organ again I would look for facsimiles of the originals..... This seems very legible and easy to understand, and any intentions of the composer would be contained therein. I like how there isn't a separate staff for pedals, it just says "Ped." when it's time to play pedals. Notation itself is an amazing thing!

[@hofmusikus91]

07:50 thank you for the massive pedal I'm in tears

[@marcocampus7943]

If Bach is the greatest of musical architects, this is one of his greatest cathedrals. It takes two heads to think of such a thing, four hands and three feet to play it. Truly a monument of the organ repertoire of all time. The musical representation of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The number 3 that always repeats: three sections in the prelude, three themes in the fugue, three flats in the key. I cry in front of such a thing, because really only King Bach can do it.

[@keplergso8369]

I agree, such a beauty is amazing. It is clearly one of Bach's greatest masterpieces for organ, maybe with the Passacaglia and Fuga.

[@MatthewChapmanSTL]

That fugue, man. If it doesn't leave you with the greatest joy you've ever felt, well,... You need to listen to it AGAIN

[@michaelomalley2022]

Superhuman. The greatest musical genius in the history of humankind.

[@Mackattack1080]

Without a doubt

[@littlecrookedhouse]

This is hands-down one of my favorite pieces of music in any genre. My late mother loved it as well as I, especially the "fullness" of its emotion. It was played as the postlude at her memorial service, with the volume cranked up the way she liked it. I was my organist's page-turner on this, and can still sight-read it well enough after 30 years although I was only a pianist.

[@daviddenniston8923]

Before my mother's service, I asked the organist if she could play this and she laughed at me. Yes, it is immense, but so is losing a mother. To this day I regret not hiring a professional and even flying them out for the job.

[@PointyTailofSatan]

I have played this organ! It's a small Casavant tracker, but OMG it is SUPERB! Lightning fast action, and super fast speaking pipes make it perfect for Bach. Almost every famous organist passing though Toronto makes a pilgrimage to play this amazing organ. Gould's organ recordings were done on a similar Casavant at a church a kilometer away.. Sadly, that organ was destroyed by fire. Casavant are organ building GODS.

[@pianosbloxworld4460]

Ok. Casavant organs are awesome.

[@joedoakes456]

KZbin upload notes are incorrect. Instrument actually is Grant, Degens & Bradbeer, New College, Oxford.

[@joedoakes456]

But Hurford also has recorded extensively at the Casavant at Our Lady of Sorrows, also a wonderful instrument, in its own right!

[@PointyTailofSatan]

@@joedoakes456 I think you are wrong. I know the sound of the Casavant at Our Lady of Sorrows like I know my own hands. And this is that organ.

[@edwardwilliamson1863]

That was indeed a tragedy to lose that organ that Gould played on. I remember listening to a recording of his on that Casavant. He played very cleanly, though his registrations were a bit basic, and probably due to his spinal issues his pedal technique I think was somewhat limited. However, he demonstrated clean articulation and precise phrasing just as he was known for on the piano.

[@stevewallschlaeger1379]

Every single time I listen to this I know Bach sounds like he expresses extreme longing pain and emotion. He puts it on the page in every part. It sounds like he s crying and sobbing about someone or something. It is In fact a reason I listen how he goes around the circle of fifths in his counterpoint and makes the diapason scream on the top and it is just so full of technical voicing. Almost too much to digest and by the end relieved exhausted and most always at least a bit more at peace thanks Peter Hurford for your musical translation. Hands down I like yours the best. I never like to say best overly trite praise I feel. Each person has music that is different and wonderful of itself. Yours is a favorite translation. The world is lucky to hear

[@castlerock7423]

It is also one of my favorite renditions of this piece. Hurford was a master at interpretation.

[@ethanlamoureux5306]

Thank you, Steve, for your comment on that other video which caused me to look up this one. I agree, this is a very good rendition by Peter Hurford. The organ is also exceptional!

[@marksmith3947]

That's a very profound comment about the emotional depth of the piece. Thank you for sharing

[@carmoe17]

Still my favorite interpretation of this wonderful piece!

[@ant8064]

Mine too!

[@joedoakes456]

Agreed!

[@therainforest4314]

Absolutely breathtaking. Thank you for the inspiration. :)

[@robertodioletta370]

Per me questa è l'opera più bella della storia dell'organo di tutti i tempi e ho studiato questo strumento espressamente con la sola finalità di poterla eseguire. Probabilmente quella di Hurtford e la migliore esecuzione in assoluto anche se rimango affascinato dall'interpretazione di Chorzempa che tuttavia è completamente diversa. Avevo il suo CD ma l'ho riascoltata volentieri. Grazie mille ed è bellissimo seguirla col manoscritto. ROB ⭐✨👌🏿

[@Jean-PierreBosc-zu5dt]

Excellent Organiste !

[@leonardselva3692]

My favourite . Fantastic tempo majestic entry with the main prelude melody coming back at 8:00

[@FighterFred]

Fantastic. Nice to see the handwritten manuscript, that gives a better understanding.

[@AbdelOveAllhan]

Vaughan Williams requested this be played at his funeral, and so it was.

[@MichaelCWBell]

V.W. just got another point from me :)

[@daveb3809]

Thanks for uploading this wonderful piece. The energy, dynamism and passion are beyond describing. It blows everything else to oblivion. Musicians have asked and are still inspired by this timeless genius and legend. He makes me still want to cry.

[@peterdixon9353]

7:50 - chills!

[@alessandroperucca6011]

Straordinaria composizione, vetta assoluta della storia della musica❤grazie. E bellissima esecuzione.

[@александрчерников-й6к]

Огромное Вам Спасибо за предоставленную возможность полностью вместе с нотами погрузиться в эту Прекрасную Муэыку Великого И.С. Баха!

[@user-fu7zf4ck9z]

This piece is the closest thing to heaven

[@marcocampus7943]

Im crazy for the Dflat note at 3:42

[@pseunition6038]

Dominant 7th.

[@thejils1669]

My particular chord progression happens at around 14:06. There is a pedal note of C forming the bottom of a Cmaj7 chord leading to f min. I have always heard recordings (even Biggs) where this pedal note is played as C1, not as written here, C2. What an immense, thrustful note it is at the C1 pitch. Check out some other utube recordings that play this C1. However, for me the most satisfying musical writing in this incredibly constructed, majestic piece...one of Bach's finest...is the penultamate, high D trill (as part of Bb maj7) resolving to the Eb tonic...WOW!

[@rosalielevacque4727]

C est écriture la musique de Bach virtuose et je l aime tellement jouer de ses musiques. Je suis organiste et je ne joue de Jean Sébastien Bach autant rendre hommage un grand maître. Mon mari est organiste également le spécialiste des musiques de Bach. Merci pour votre partage. ❤

[@jamesweitkamp4824]

that pedal at 15:17 is so good

[@antoniocamargo1683]

Admirável, eleva, transforma, inspira, é de todos o maior e mais inspirado autor. Bach é insuperável.

[@doctorfoster1968]

Hi, this recording was actually made at New College, Oxford (not at Our Lady of Sorrows, Toronto as in the description box above). Thanks for the upload :)

[@marcosPRATA918]

Essa partitura com algumas marcações específicas para órgão é um tesouro.

[@williaml872]

That prelude. My god. Bach was a savage

[@Examantel]

The piece is one of Bach's most complex, formally, thematically, and harmonically; written later in his life after most of his other Prelude and Fugues for organ. It is written in the relatively unusual key of E-flat major for its time, unusual in part because the organs were transitioning from meantone to well temperaments. In this piece, Bach's modulatory adventure journeys to the calm C major (V/ii), F major (V/V), and G major (V/vi), but also to the restless A-flat major (IV), B-flat minor (v), and E-flat minor (i) chords in this piece, which demonstrate to the most extreme the variations in the widths of the major and minor thirds, the latter three chords of which are unavailable in meantone.

[@castlerock7423]

What is meantone?

[@ashishthomas5562]

@@castlerock7423 it's a way of tuning. In the old days keyboard instruments were tuned in a manner in which pieces written only in a few keys could be played, usually C and up 2 fifths and down 2 fifths. The further you get from C the more out of tune. This is because of the pythogarean ratios of intervals frequencies. Bach invented a novel, now lost method, to tune in such a manner than all keys are playable, and just out of tune enough to add character to each key. This is well-temperement. Today a semitone is 2^1/12 of the lower key frequency. This way every key is out of tune but equally out of tune. This makes music a little more mechanical but it's easy.

[@Examantel]

@@castlerock7423 On modern keyboards, every perfect fifth is slightly narrower than a true, "pure" perfect fifth - this is equal temperament. But every major third in equal temperament is wider than a pure major third. Meantone temperaments narrow each perfect fifth even further with the goal of obtaining pure major thirds. During the Renaissance, harmony as we know it today was being developed, and meantone was the way by which it was realized. Every musician today knows that in a major chord, it is the major third that gives the chord its quality - the purer the major third, the calmer and more resonant it sounds. Unfortunately, the drawback is that enharmonic notes like A-sharp and B-flat are not the same anymore. That black key between A and B is usually tuned to B-flat, so that it plays very well in the B-flat major chord, but is horrible in the F-sharp major - way too wide. Each of the black keys has this problem, and the consequence is that only 8 of the 12 major thirds are playable (9 of the 12 minor thirds are playable as well). C, F, and G major are glorious in meantone, but A-flat major is horrible. Similarly, F, B-flat and E-flat minor have minor thirds that are much too narrow.

[@MichaelCWBell]

This is a lovely script-, handwriting.

[@АлександрЯрков-ш2з]

Браво гениально написано и сыграно грандиозно аш дух захватывает

[@tahaouhabi3520]

God created this, The One And Only God 🙏

[@LukeJohnson-sk6ds]

Who do you mean?

[@tahaouhabi3520]

@@LukeJohnson-sk6ds The One and Only God not Jesus

[@johnshite4656]

​@@tahaouhabi3520 Actually this was written by JS Bach. He wrote lots of cool stuff. I prefer to give the credit to the artist, the one who creates. If God does everything then Man does nothing and it's no use talking about anything at all.

[@dariogiorgiutti9418]

Heard and played one thousand times, and only now I understand which is the correct phrasing! Put together Walcha, Hurford, and Alain, and there it is!!

[@joedoakes456]

I'm curious. I'll check it out!

[@Franz_Liszt_Korean]

Great

[@lauradenoyes7087]

MERVEILLOUS!!!❤

[@TimondeNood]

Thanks!!

[@1jesus2music3duke]

Thank God for Bach, or thank Bach for God. Either way, I’m happy.

[@foliabadinerie]

Muy bueno. Gracias por compartir.

[@eduardojimenez9939]

1:32. Awesome!!

[@zyrtec3]

Thank you Bartje! That was one hearty meal, Brother! In fact WHAT A MEAL IT WAS! My favorite piece with "The Dancing Scripture of The Master"! Purely Divine! BTW - who is playing it? Is it YOU? And what is the instument?

[@Lucius_Chiaraviglio]

I noticed that Bach or the copyist (not sure which) saw fit to indicate flats in the key signature for all lines and spaces upon which the corresponding notes appear, not just one of them as in more modern times.

[@samuelgrobstein5232]

Bach used the two movements of the Prelude and Fugue in E flat, BWV 552, to frame the whole set of great chorale-preludes and duets in Part Three of his Clavier-Übung of 1739. In its ritornello-like first section, the Prelude displays the typical features of a French overture; formally however this grandly impressive movement follows the principles of Italian concerto form. There follows a monumental triple fugue, in which the three sections are made audibly distinct from each other by giving each section a different time signature. This has two consequences: it means that the first fugal theme is rhythmically altered in the following two sections, also that theme 2 and then theme 3 can be combined with the first theme, but never with each other. While the first part of the fugue is maintained in a strict and solemn stile antico, in its later stages the piece becomes increasingly lively, until towards the end it becomes almost like a free contrapuntal movement in the modern style.

[@geiryvindeskeland7208]

Samuel Grobstein, I am sorry for my inadequate English. Quote: "There follows a monumental triple fugue..." No, this is not a triple fugue - the second fugue subject never combines to the other subjects in the 12/8 section.

[@14reger]

The fugue's theme is the same, it is the value of the notes that changes giving the listener a different impression. Also playing the three sections with different tempos might not be right. The debate is opened. Maybe the first section decides about the others. And Bach used to play very slowly at the organ and fast at the harpsichord. This is what we now from written reports.

[@chriscarson2547]

@@14reger I REALLY like this one played slowly. Daniel Chorzempa recorded this c. 1980 at over 20' long. None other even comes close. It is majestic.

[@ko9602]

Is this Bach's manuscript or handwritten copy? Gorgeous notation

[@davidecymba]

love this recording, but in the description there is a mistake: wrong organ. it's the new college oxford organ. at the lady of sorrows there isn't a 32'pedal reed :) anyway nice text!

[@bartjebartmans]

Got the info from the CD liner notes.

[@davidecymba]

@@bartjebartmans there must be a mistake... at our lady of sorrows there is a 2-p organ, nothing compared to the 4-p beast of this recording. hurford used both those organs (together with ratzemburg cathedral rieger organ) for most of his bach complete organ works recording... maybe for this reason there is some confusion =)

[@bartjebartmans]

@@davidecymba I will check the liner notes again to be certain what instruments we are talking about here. You seem to know what you are talking about.

[@davidecymba]

@@bartjebartmans I'm quite a fan of hurford's bach recordings... and as an organist i went on the web looking for technical details of the organs he used 👍

[@JSB2500]

I have this recording on CD 1 of Hurford's "J S Bach: The organ works Vol 2" 3 CD box set by Decca. There, the P&F is split into two (552a and 552b), but it is the same performance IMO. In the accompanying booklet, the organ is said to be "The Organ in the Chapel of New College Oxford". Recordings were made between 1977 and 1981. I hope that helps!

[@ironmaz1]

St Anne

[@TOTAL457]

The counterpoint is complex: a fugue within a fugue - an incredible masterpiece. I have listened to this music for 40 years and still find something new. Bach was a genius in instrumental music; however, when he composed vocal music, he continued to compose as if the vocal cords were an instrument. That is why some of his vocal music is tough and almost impossible to sing. I learned this from a documentary, and it is true.

[@bartjebartmans]

Not true. The choirs Bach wrote it for sang it. He knew exactly what they could sing and what not. Music in those days was written for specific groups, specific occasions. Composers often knew exactly the level of musicianship they were dealing with. Bach, for instance, played the violin solo Sonatas and Partitas himself and everything else he wrote for harpsichord and organ. We are dealing here with superior musicianship, rarely found in our times.

[@TOTAL457]

@@bartjebartmans I cannot remember the documentary's name, but one of the leading sopranos who sang one of Bach's Cantatas said the coloraturas should be shorter. I could change my statement by saying that some of Bach's vocal compositions are very difficult to sing - maybe Bach was too lost in the composition. Anyhow, Bach is a great composer and his music will continue to resonate for a very long time.

[@chipensemble]

Bach was actually very careful in managing the voice ranges- and being the technical master that he is, upon analyzing his scores- one can notice that his counterpoint leaps always move in pleasing patterns - thirds, fifths, sixths, octaves. The thing with Bach is that his music is absolute; he thinks of musical counterpoints as the focal point - this is why his music can be adapted into almost any instrument without losing its quality or altering it's original idea

[@padraicfanning7055]

@@chipensemble _Always_ in pleasing patterns? What about his use of the _saltus duriusculus_ in the Orgelbüchlein setting of "Durch Adams Fall" (BWV 637)?

[@chipensemble]

@@padraicfanning7055 I said that as a generalization on the care of Bach about the range of voices. Additionally, in the example you mentioned, the melodies are shaped in that way for the narrative of the piece.

[@tepmich]

WUNDER !!! Tepper Michael.

[@user-tl8oj4tv1g]

09:37

[@PetStuBa]

one of Bach's greatest organ works ... I like more the version beneath ...

[@PetStuBa]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/q3m7ZHeXn9-me5o

[@stevewallschlaeger1379]

What version of bach e flat prelude and fugue otherwise nicknamed St Anne do you refer so that I may look dial it up to listen?

[@hugoclarke3284]

As much as I like Kay Johannsen, Peter Hurford's performance of this piece is leagues better. In the prelude, Johannsen's dotted rhythm is so crisp that it's almost superficial. You can't appreciate the buoyant "swing" of the notes because the semiquavers don't get the full value and merge into the following note. It's especially important on organ where the reverb from the acoustics reduce clarity. In the fugue, the opening section I prefer Johannsen's more majestic speed. Maybe it's supposed to be double time, but I think the nature of the theme demands a certain weight to it, and Hurford kind of just glosses over it. But in the final section his phrasing and articulation is much better, the themes are far more distinguishable. The registration is great and the pedals thunder beneath. Obviously credit is due to the organ and the recording quality too.

[@tomascostero9962]

09:37 Fuga

[@HLD4V7]

9:37 - fugue.

[@SpitzPrincipal4]

Beautiful tempo, excellently played but WOW that 32' pedal reed on this organ doesn't appear to blend much- beautiful- but it overpowers everything else.

[@JSB2500]

Indeed! There's always a reason for just one more version! 🙂

[@danielkelly5910]

There isn't a 32' pedal reed on the instrument at Our Lady of Sorrows. I know - I was organist there for a long time, and in fact sat in some of Peter's recording sessions. I can't account for the last pedal note. Perhaps PH added a b-flat above the low e-flat. At any rate, it's out of place.

[@mattiadm1196]

Marracash 👑🇮🇹

[@RobertSweet-nw4tm]

I wonder what Felix Aprahamian would have written about this work.

[@christopheragro1953]

"Aah, Bach!"--Corporal Walter "Radar" O'Reilly, MASH 4077.😂

[@KeithBeamon-g4u]

Blick Fall

[@steffen5121]

I made the 999th click haha

[@steffen5121]

excellent video and description as always. thanks

[@KittyIngrid-x9k]

Leuschke Crest

[@mjtpli]

Terrific! Any info on what organ/church this is? Wonderful reeds.

[@bartjebartmans]

The Church of Our Lady of Sorrows, Toronto, Canada

[@mw11stuff]

What score is this? Of course it is not Bachs original.

[@mw11stuff]

Ok thanks, but check out what for myself? I do not know what score it is.

[@bartjebartmans]

IMSLP is a web site. That is where I find most of the scores I use. The score I used is: First edition Publisher Info. [Leipzig]: In Verlegung des Authoris, n.d. [1739]

[@stevewallschlaeger1379]

Do you want to LOOK at Bach's originals go to Leipzig. Go to the Bach Werkstatt Gesellschaft to find how to do that There's the Bach Reader Has T David and Arthur Mendel. Some music excerpts appear there. Otherwise just enjoy the educational and lpurpose for this video. Vive Johann Sebastian Bach March 21 1685 bis July 29 1750. How many years ago is that??? 2050 will be 300. I prefer remberimg when he got here. GOOD NIGHT

[@MaryEaton-v6x]

Steuber Mountain

[@HughOsborn-t1v]

Kaden Square

[@PointyTailofSatan]

As great as this recording is, it is still eclipsed by the version played by E. Power Biggs on what is probably the greatest North German voiced organ in North America. I am referring of course to the legendary Flentrop at Harvard. Check out the amazing flute stops! kzbin.info/www/bejne/q3LaqoymgdytfKs

[@ThodoreYale-w2y]

Bartell Villages

[@CrystalGailey-p2t]

Pollich Street

[@HardyTodd-i8b]

Fleta Loaf

[@CissieBernie-h8l]

Pfannerstill Alley

[@LucyHarley-t9m]

Schultz Oval

[@ritacaesgalbraith7599]

Miller Melissa White Matthew Moore Richard

[@malcolmx1932]

Tha father - Bach The son - Vivaldi The holy ghost - Wagner Amen - Mahler

[@duqueadriano0081]

Mas o Vivaldi veio antes do Bach

[@malcolmx1932]

@@duqueadriano0081 Gosto mais do Bach

[@duqueadriano0081]

@@malcolmx1932 eu também, mas, cronologicamente, ele veio depois '-'

[@romulo5177]

kkkkkkkk

[@padraicfanning7055]

The prelude is trinitarian. The Father - the French overture theme (first seen at m. 1) The Son - the Italian concerto theme (first seen at pickups to m. 33) The Holy Spirit - the German fugato theme (first seen at m. 71)