Knut Nystedt - Immortal Bach | Nederlands Kamerkoor and Risto Joost (conductor)

Live recording of 17-04-2015 at the Pieterskerk, Utrecht (the Netherlands)
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A co-production of the Nederlands Kamerkoor, brava and Concerto Media for "Nederland vol koren"
Filming and editing: Concerto Media

[@multipleraccoons]

“Come sweet death” is embodied here. The last polyphonic section made me feel like I was about to breathe my last breath, but I was at peace. Beautiful and moved me to tears

[@fixor]

this is a sound sculpture in air, a metamorphosis of matter!

[@sawdoctor0]

Fabulous. Such pure female voices - not a trace of vibrato. And what fantastic basses. Oh you lucky choir!

[@Ruffiello]

Vibrato and purity can go together. A healthy free voice has vibrato.

[@MonLab]

I agree. I'm loving the absence of vibrato, specially in this female voices. Glorious!

[@donaldedward4951]

YES, INDEED, HOW LOVELY, NOTHING TO DISTRACT US OR TO SPOIL IT FOR US..

[@kristoff_silva]

even Skip1234 said that " healthy free voice has vibrato" ( i don't know if it's really true), it's so gorgeous when a choir is free of them

[@fimbulvarg1213]

I dare say you can sing neither Bach nor Nystedt properly with vibrato. In Bach's time it wasn't a thing yet (so it doesn't suit his music at all) and modern compositions mostly live off tiny dissonances and beat tones that suffer a lot from vibrato

[@emporio1977]

From all the iterations of Nysted's IMMORTAL BACH one can find on the internet, especially the last two bars by this ensemble is the most intense and gripping interpretation.

[@andresserrano7178]

This is GORGEOUS, indescribable

[@mathiastietke7094]

Als würde die Zeit und das Herz still stehen. Fünf Minuten und 55 Sekunden lang.

[@stenmoeller]

Knut the Man. A lovely piece, both to perform and to listen to.

[@warrenstutely1093]

Superb vocal technique , beautiful composition and magical clusters !!!! Thanks. Warren

[@motube3053]

J'aime beaucoup cette version. Beaucoup plus émouvante ! Une belle découverte, bravo !

[@selfdefensechiemgau]

Respekt 👌👌👌👌👌

[@jeanmichelysebaert6034]

Excellent travail !! Remarquable !! Très grand professionnalisme Jean-Michel Ysebaert - Professeur de chant

[@Joggelschorsch]

amazing live performance of this piece! especially the end

[@rockeryrock]

ongelofelijk mooi!

[@conradandersen5152]

Das ist zum Weinen schön - Danke!!

[@shbow1]

A beautiful rendition of a heavenly beautiful piece in a perfect setting

[@foliesamsterdam3836]

Great! Sounds better in a church than in Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ I must admit. Next time I go to De Pieterskerk. Great cameratechnique as well.

[@amparorb8413]

Enhorabuena por vuestra extraordinaria interpretación. Una vez más, me ha vuelto a emocionar. Indescriptible.

[@Jillianclz]

great, now i'm crying T.T

[@ottarbirkeland239]

Wenn ein CRAZYger norweger dragen Bach an. I don't know if my german still works, but it is Knut Nystedt who did this to Bach. Some like it, some find it disrespectful. I like it. You have to be a fan of Bach to make this effort.

[@louis.croisez]

On dirait une composition un peu à la manière du son produit par une synthèse granulaire. C'est magnifique. Et ce choeur ... wow!

[@maxim3830]

3:25 - De kerkklokken op zondagochtend bij het binnengaan van de kerk. De geur van gestreken goed en eau de cologne. Aroma's van pepermunt en koffie, vluchtig als de blikken in het voorbijgaan. Vlucht die verlangen wordt en dan weer vervreemding. Herinnering aan mijn kindertijd.

[@snadert]

Fantastisch.

[@wilhelmuswittemans6573]

delicate and moving

[@tedrickenator]

Lyric from anonymous author: Come, sweet death, come, blessed rest! Come lead me to peace for I am weary of the world, O come! I wait for you, come soon and lead me, close my eyes. Come, blessed rest! Come, sweet death, come blessed rest! It is better in heaven, for there is all pleasure greater, therefore I am at all times prepared to say “Farewell,”. I close my eyes. Come, blessed rest! Come, sweet death, come blessed rest! O world, you torture chamber, oh! Stay with your lamentations in this world of sorrow, it is heaven that I desire, death shall bring me there. Come, blessed rest! Come, sweet death, come blessed rest! Oh, that I were but already there among the hosts of angels, out of this black world into the blue, starry firmament, up to heaven. O blessed rest! Come, sweet death, come blessed rest! I will now see Jesus and stand among the angels. It is henceforth completed, so, world, good night, my eyes are already closed. Come, blessed rest.

[@projectlinde37]

Details of the music sheet media.stretta-music.com/images/291/312291_detail-01

[@arnoldvdwaals]

Ge-wel-dig!

[@davidfranke1545]

Ge-wal-tig! ^^ (Greetings from Germany)

[@kristianberenz1467]

Die Zeit bleibt stehen. Ich werde auf mich zurück geworfen und kann wieder voller Zuversicht nach vorne schauen.

[@OmBholenathOm]

Я думаю Иоган Себастьяныч был бы очень доволен, узнав, как над его произведением поиздевались

[@mariamuziek]

Hemelse muziek.....: wat nog meer te zeggen?

[@RobertArbroath]

I really don't see the artistic value of mixing all the harmonies together holding the notes. What is the idea behind this?

[@Ennah08]

+RobertArbroath My guess would be, that Knut Nystedt was looking for a new insight and a new beauty - but if you don't like it, perhaps "the idea behind" doesn't really matter ...

[@stevebrewer2365]

+RobertArbroath  As Ennah08 implies, it is a matter of taste. I like this music very much, and your comment challenged me to put into words what I think and feel about it. For me, Knut Nystedt does indeed achieve new insight and new beauty. He takes the notes and harmonies of the original Bach chorale and makes something exciting and supremely moving out of them by presenting them not sequentially but simultaneously. It is fascinating to hear the harmonies that emerge out of this fresh view of the score, harmonies that make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. We hear something from the canon anew: it sounds fresh and modern (at times a bit like Ligeti). The original is already sublimely beautiful. With Nystedt's piece, we now have two beautiful things instead of one. This seems to be an expression of the way in which we are deeply informed by, and connected to, the past: we stand on the shoulders of all those who went before us, but we also have our own unique contributions to make. The actual performance arrangement of dispersed groups (indicated in the score) also contributes to the experience: different musical lines approach the audience from different parts of the building, which intensifies the power of the music and makes of it something very physical. The a capella performance, with long held notes where the text loosens its hold and we can focus on the sound alone, also foregrounds the human voice as instrument of great beauty. And as with all singing, the very clear division of the voices into male and female parts underlines and emphasises our separated, gendered existence and the beauty, tension, pain and ecstasy that result from difference. So I think this music is at least in part about our human physicality, the barriers that separate us, the desires that draw us together and the longing we have for concord. We should not forget the meaning of the text, however: 'Come, sweet death, come, blessed rest! Come lead me to peace' (translated from the German). The fear of pain and death is transfigured as the searching harmonies of the start of Bach's original chorale find repose in the final chord. What Nystedt does, I think, is present the human search for meaning and release from fear of death in an age which perhaps does not share the secure faith that Bach probably had. We enter into a sound universe where there is a real threat of chaos, disintegration and harmonic pain, perhaps pointing towards the emotions we may feel when confronted with an apparently meaningless cosmos. This threat is just about kept at bay because the progression of Bach's notes provides a slim safety net of recognisable musical meaning even as the piece risks falling apart: human beings resist the emptiness of the void. And yet, the whole thing resolves finally into peace and acceptance; we have peered into the cold abyss and re-entered a human world of warmth, light, hope and calm. This is, then, a very optimistic and reassuring work which asserts the value of our human world in the face of the darkness that surrounds it. Last but not least, this is a challenging, intense and moving piece for a choir to sing, involving much careful counting and maintenance of pitch over sustained periods. It provides a powerful experience of isolation (separate groups sing the original notes at different lengths) and yet, paradoxically, of togetherness (as the overall sound texture depends on the separate groups working together). This in itself can perhaps be read as a metaphor for our human lot of isolation as an individual, but of an individual bound from birth to death in community. The womb of social life may well be the home that this music returns to in the end, after a nightmare of mortal fear. The intense hush at the conclusion of this performance and the collective breathing out in relief suggest something of the power of this music (best experienced live) and bear witness to its significance and relevance.

[@RobertArbroath]

+Steve Brewer thanks for your detailed comments!

[@ottarbirkeland239]

Nystedt divides the choir in 5. They follow the conductor, but some sing at 4 beats, some at 6, some at 8, some at 10 and some at 12 beats. But at the end of each phrase you get together again. It is a fun thing. I doubt that Nystedt thought that this was something popular. I guess he wanted it to be one of a kind thing. Would it work. Obviously it did. For some.

[@stenmoeller]

I would agree with Steve Brewer who managed to put into words what flies through my mind when being so fortunate as to participate in singing this piece. To many it takes time to adjust the ears, some like it or are even slightly overwhelmed (as the lady in the video at 5.30) whereas to many, it becomes just noise. To me, this piece is life, from innocent birth, wandering through life in turmoil to final peace, so beautifully shown in the arrival at the final chord. Just close your eyes and feel it :-).