Karl Richter - Toccata & Fugue In G Minor - BWV 915

Karl Richter performing in Ottobeuren...

[@MichaelCWBell]

I love how Bach breaks the rules with this too. The fugue: he adds notes into the percussive accompanying chords that immediately take it away from pure counterpoint. Music is greater than the rules and Bach, famous for his musical respect of form, again shows his unbelievable status.

[@floriandevuyst]

Bach is the Master

[@SeverusSnape70]

I play or study Bach almost every day and he breaks the rules continously. God bless him! I like very much this fugue/tarantella, it's a great idea making a very complex piece from a folk dance.

[@79_Au.]

I'm surprised by how often Bach uses dissonance against the rules of counterpoint. In his invention in D minor, he uses a tritone followed by a Major 2nd.

[@weltgeist2604]

This piece, this bloody piece. What am I even supposed to say? I have listened to this almost every day for over a year, sometimes listening to the fugue for over an hour on repeat. I am completely infatuated by it. Look at that subtle glance Richter gives whilst he shreds the chords, oh my God the tasteful thickness of it, it sounds like a steam train descending down into the depths of a Jovian metallic rainstorm, although it is merely a keyboard, I can somehow hear the grinding and the churning of the mechanisms, and the coal being shoveled into the furnace, as soot and steam engulfs the room and mixes with the sweat on the end of my chin, and when Richter moves towards the finale, relief washes over me in an awesome way, as cool, smooth, liquid gold is poured onto my scalp and trickles down my spine, where it finally forms a pool, and leaves me in a state of complete contentment.

[@Eunannos]

Oh my...😀

[@alsatiancousin2905]

Now THAT is a fine description of a dumbfounding piece. Kudos to you.

[@weltgeist2604]

@@alsatiancousin2905 It's actually a bit of a joke, a dog whistle to a very small group of people.

[@alsatiancousin2905]

@@weltgeist2604 - Ah, well sarcasm always goes to waste with that small group of people, and I am talking about their height.

[@weltgeist2604]

​@Angela Hitler But when the Brandenburg Concertos came out in 21' I think he really came into his own, Polyphonically and Instrumentally.

[@cuajareto_de_las_galaxias]

Esta fuga monstruosa y la Giga de la Suite No. 6 in D minor, BWV 811 son dos enormes transgresiones al Barroco, de un valor incalculable para todo lo que vino después. Es como escuchar a muchos compositores al mismo tiempo, así de enorme era el dios Johann Sebastian Bach, el más grande de todos los tiempos.

[@barney6888]

this is one of three recordings that i heard as a 13 year old that converted me to classical music. i don't know of a higher praise to give. absolutely rock solid performer.

[@RelayerTC]

For me it was Mahler. I was playing trumpet in the band in school.

[@pamelafrancis4476]

All roads lead to Rome.

[@robertgift]

Wonderful! What were the other two recordings?

[@barney6888]

@@robertgift Barbirolli doing J. Strauss and Karajan sixties set of Beethoven.

[@MichaelCWBell]

Of course we know the fugue is the highlight of this piece. What marks Bach the summative foundation of Western music is that he paved the way for its entrance. He prepares us for its entrance. It’s about understanding rhetoric, communication. An architect. Always there is context and structure to well- informed ideas.

[@aleksandra830]

Niewiarygodne,że klawesyn może tak brzmieć.Połączenie geniuszu Jana Sebastiana Bacha i Karla Richtera.Jaka boska muzyka!

[@annamcancarini6953]

If you buy the cd with Richter at cembalo, the sound is completely different, really wonderful, pure and deep. On you tube the beauty of classical music is almost lost.

[@KhalidTemawi]

Have any idea where to buy it online?

[@lt1caprice57l]

This was probably ripped from a VHS tape, the video quality suggests VHS, or perhaps Beta, but VHS was far more common. That would explain the poor sound quality vs. the CD.

[@alsatiancousin2905]

Oh my, lost? No good music is ever lost - it is only lost for people who cannot appreciate it.

[@hhjun629]

I definitely agree!!

[@MichaelCWBell]

For pedestrian composers as myself, the improvisational flourish that concludes the fugue that also mirrors the opening of the toccata would have escaped me. The more I learn the less I esteem my own ability.

[@Physicks499]

what a monster of a fugue

[@floriandevuyst]

ENORME

[@Darrigrande]

@@floriandevuyst Bach + Richter zusammen machen ein unglaubliche Performance!

[@timoteimolcut3446]

4:37 "I feel the power..."

[@dariocugia1938]

Karl Richter, Sviatoslav Richter...the Best!!!!

[@floriandevuyst]

Fugue starts at 4:10

[@BubuMarimba]

That's a fuga indeed! Galloping!

[@weltgeist2604]

4:17 Dat Polyphony tho.

[@paulhodges4665]

My soul gives me goosebumps whenever I listen to this

[@JoeCembalo]

Awesome!

[@MichaelCWBell]

Back again for this. Back again for that fugue. Back again for my fix. I think it must be my favourite fugue subject in all Bach. Ascending 4ths up to the minor 6th, and then with an unmerciful pull back down to the tonic... tonic... tonic. And then the prodigal fiasco that follows. It’s a strange thing that the best of Art misses the attention of most people.

[@Tizohip]

Wolfgang1782 Back to Bach

[@jerlatti]

That technique, so Landowskesque!

[@FighterFred]

If you play the fugue slowly at home you'll find dissonances that are outside this world. It's long, technically difficult and mystic.

[@frrixz]

I believe it.

[@tatianagelfeld]

Thanks!

[@Michel-Fiorelli]

Incredible!!! Richter is the Bach's double, and he will be never surpassed.

[@elliotthop2072]

This harpsichord sound a bit like an organ ! Love it !!!

[@eliotamiazzo8041]

Neupert harpichord, modern construction, Feet 16-8-8-4

[@user-fu7zf4ck9z]

That's exactly why I prefer 20th century revival harpsichords

[@user-so1eb1et3d]

바흐와 칼 리히터 둘다 정말 존경합니다.

[@CarmenReyes-em9np]

La exelencia. 🥇

[@ottomol5647]

BACH IS A GENIUS AND WHEN INTERPRETED BY A TALENTED MUSICIAN SUCH AS RICHTER, WE HAVE A PERFECT ENTANGLEMENT.

[@llitosvideos]

Those chords at 1:58 got absolutely fucking bodied

[@pierrelallart7542]

🙏❤

[@bartolomeo7826]

i love how Mega Man Legends used a remix of this song for their final boss theme,it's great

[@SuperMegguy]

🙏

[@vhsjpdfg]

Fugue at 4:11

[@michellemana777]

The one .

[@riverstun]

Music starts 0:30

[@robertgift]

Wonderful. Would like to hear the fugue on organ.

[@MichaelCWBell]

Wouldn’t work it needs the percussive element.

[@nightshadegatito]

Play this at my rebirth from an ego-death DMT trip.

[@davyroger3773]

Good Luck!

[@numbr6]

The fugue reminds me of BWV577, The "Gigue" Fugue.

[@frrixz]

Same rhythm. In fact, I think “gigue” specifically means this quick 2x3 rhythm.

[@giovanniuscidda5650]

the fugue is wonderful for me, but is my opinion.

[@ottomol5647]

FOR YOU AND FOR EVERYONE THAT HAS A MINIMUM OF ART SENSITIVITY

[@ExAnimoPortugal]

This is not Toccata & Fugue. This is just a Toccata. A Toccata is a musical composition with many movements. The Fugue is just one of them.

[@usfghost]

Correct

[@moe5201]

André Gonçalves are you saying Bach was incorrect or the people who categorised his works made a mistake

[@AlessandroSistiMusic]

​@@moe5201 Neither. André Gonçalves is saying that this work is known as the "Toccata in G minor". Bach's early harpsichord toccatas were free-form works with multiple sections, usually (always?) ending with a fugue, as in the case here. There are other works where a toccata is formally divided from a fugue in the sheet music and the fugue is titled separately, but you won't find that in BWV 915.

[@fslubin]

Easy! He only plays keyboards that have no wrong notes in them.

[@hipocoristico15]

😂

[@paulhodges4665]

Yes I can get up yes I can get up so push me hard so beat me down...but I know U can do it alone and surprise me into a new challenge and chapter.....U don't see it coming U don't see it coming but now we dance together yes we are in tune we dance along with one another in the Twilight

[@ottomol5647]

INDEED..... A MONSTER OF A FUGUE...

[@JohnJohnson-yi6jg]

Does anyone know if this is one of those s t e e l-stringed harpsichords? I think it has a different sound than others.

[@MitchBoucherComposer]

I think the harpsichord is a Pleyel harpsichord. Its strings are metal as opposed to gut, as you noticed. More history of the harpsichord is available here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_harpsichord

[@Weiseorgelspieler]

This harpsichord is called "Bachflügel" and it was built by Neupert, Bamberg (Frankonia, Germany).

[@ruperttmls7985]

1:33 Handel’s Thy Right hand O Lord (Israel in Egypt).

[@alexzamer7679]

Good one! Similar but not quite

[@composer318]

0:32

[@fivenightsatlospollosherma5893]

4:32

[@yenhoho]

This is more colorful than piano version.

[@annacortini3824]

Who knows which kind of harpsichord is that?

[@turidemarcodeeustachijs3926]

Neupert modello Bach. Bellissimo.

[@duoaltair4759]

Meraviglioso! Grazie!

[@elagabalusrex1082]

4:22 Fucking hell are his tendons made out of titanium?

[@bikkies]

Probably no coincidence that 'fugue' looks so similar to 'fatigue'. My hands ache whenever I embarrass myself by trying to play this beast.

[@user-vm4iw4kt9l]

Bach was a monster of a fugue． I feel dizzy．

[@weekeeyuu836]

yup, it's a dilly alright

[@AB3632]

Video and audio out of sync which is really a shame for this

[@robertgift]

Would much rather hear this on a piano. (I owned a harpsichord.) 4:11 Fugue Maybe I should transcribe this forgan. Surprised that Max Reger has not.

[@OttobeurenKaiser]

Of course Max Reger already transcribed it!

[@robertgift]

@@OttobeurenKaiser Thank you. When did Reger have the time?? Ha! Just noticed my commenthree years ago.

[@user-sv9yk2vy4d]

アカンな。これがチェンバロの音か？信じられん。ランドフスカ女史から何の進展もない。無駄な指の動きが多い。前世代の演奏やな。

[@TheTimeDetective42]

Japanese never had this tech. ;) You guys were eating each other until Europeans showed up. =)