Johann Sebastian Bach, 2nd English Suite a-minor BWV 807, Gustav Leonhardt, 1984
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- Опубликовано: 22 окт 2024
- Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750)
English Suite nr. 2 in a-minor BWV 807
1. Prélude
2. Allemande
3. Courante
4. Sarabande - Les agréments de la même Sarabande
5. Bourrée I alternativement - Bourrée II - Bourrée I
6. Gigue
Gustav Leonhardt, harpsichord, built by Martin Skrowonneck, Bremen 1984 after Nicholas Lefebvre, Rouen 1755.
Digital recording, Doopsgezinde Gemeente Kerk, Haarlem, The Netherlands, May and October 1984.
Great playing. I hope Leonhardt's name will not be forgotten. He was such a good musician. Listen to those arpeggiations. Always executed in a way to give just the right amount of accentuation to a chord. Thanks for posting.
My pleasure!
I am pretty sure that this recording was made on the David Rubio harpsichord that I saw in the early 80's in Leonhardt's study on the Herrengracht. My wife took several lessons from him. We were studying in Basel and flew to Amsterdam for a few days to see him. He served us Lapsang Souchong tea and Speculas biscuits. A magnetic gentleman, and such a fine musician. It is one of most memorable events in my life.
Lucky you!
We have such a large cadre of great players today because of Leonhardt’s contribution.
So true Benjamin
Indeed he was both a supreme master and a pioneer and my favourite harpsichord player
He has recorded such a vast amount of Bach and baroque music
He has done so much for the continuation of this music
His teeth though...
Pianists play these pieces twice as fast, yet they sound so much more energetic and exciting at this tempo and with this articulation. The silences are as meaningful as the sounds in Baroque music, all music, really.
Nice comment!
The best Prelude tempo and accentuation.
Thanks
I agree, Dear Vladimir. Leonhardt was always very thoughtful about finding just the right tempo, and, in this case, the staccati are very very well placed.
Yes it's PERFECT
So articulate
Love the coloring of this piece by Mr. Leonhardt.
Leonhardt was, is en blijft de basis voor oude uitvoeringspraktijk.
Wat een geweldige muziekant èn
swingneus.
Dank voor je leuke woorden...vooral swingneus...:)
(barely a decent) piece analysis! this is for my music assignment in which I am studying the allemande and courante of this suite. the other piece I am studying is the mozart suite in c major kv399, also the allemande and courante. you can find my comment (completed) here: ruclips.net/video/RIBrnG7-VyA/видео.html. (completed for allemande and courante)
0:00 - prelude
5:09 - allemande
7:28 - courante
8:26 - sarabande
10:17 - variation of the same sarabande
12:17 - bourée 1 variation
13:30 - bourée 2
14:04 - bourée 1
15:16 - gigue
Allemande: 5:09
Section A: The allemande of this suite is noticeably slower than the prelude. It, like all typical allemandes in Baroque suites, starts on a short anacrusis and is in simple quadruple time. The movement begins with a fugal style imitative entry from the right hand anacrusis to the left hand from start of first, to end of the second bar (5:10 - 5:22). A double question and answer section is written in the third bar, which shows 1 sequence starting with right hand, consisting of 2 quavers and a dottedquaver-> semiquaver syncopated set. The other starts with 8 quavers with a concave up-then down wavy contour, which is passed (or answered, repeated) in the right hand, then back in the left hand. Former sequence is vice versa, starting in right, then left, then back to right hand (5:22 - 5:30). During this sequence there is a slight pivotal modulation to G major (5:25), which is modulated into C major (5:29) right after the end of the q&a section. The melodic minor of A minor is used (5:31) (with an f# to host the initial modulation to G) to quickly transition back to the original key of A minor. And again, during this, there is another q&a/imitative entry sequence at the end of bar 4 (right hand) and start of bar 5 (left hand) which presents a downward then zigzaggy contour motion (5:30 - 5:35). The first mordent is heard in bar 5 (5:34), which sets the premise of frequent, evenly spread ornamentations throughout the remainder of the movement. G♮ in the middle of bar 6 (5:40) precedes a transition to E minor, dominant minor of original (A minor), which the piece stays in until the end of section A (before the first repeat sign). A ritornello (return of the fugal, main/first theme) occurs in E minor (newly modulated dominant minor) at the end of bar 6, this time starting on the left hand and ending in the right (5:41 - 5:51). A q&a section is heard yet again in bar 8, however this time not a sequence (I'm not sure how significant this is bc its barely a q&a tbh (5:51 - 5:56)). In between bars 10-11 (6:01 - 6:09) there is a rhythmic sequential pattern between the left-right hands, where there is a dottedquaver->semiquaver (dotted->semi) group followed by 4 semiquavers. This rhythm is repeated twice in each hand alternatively, so altogether 4 sequential repetitions (is that what it's called?). In the very last bar (!) of the first section (...), there is a dissonant-ish scalic passage (6:11 - 6:14) in the left hand, which blurs A minor (g#) and E minor (d#), which were the prominent keys in the section. To put simply, the scalic passage was the median-tonic of an E harmonic minor scale, with the median raised to mention A minor. This is followed by a broken E major chord (also in LH) (6:13 - 6:16), possibly to stabilise a brief key change for the start of section B. Ends in perfect cadence (bmaj-emaj).
Section B: Section B starts off with E major as succeeded by the aforementioned broken E major chord, and generally modulates a lot more with different scale degrees and keys (so impossible for me personally to list them all). There is a tritone at 6:19 (g#-d) to possibly suggest that the E major is not the main key, despite it starting off the section, and suggests the instability of the key in this context. Imitative entry/q&a sequence is used again in bar 13 and 14 (LH-RH) (6:19 - 6:28) that actually reminds me of an inverted ritornello, since the third and sixth intervals are quite similar, just inverted. semi + 4 semiquaver sequence repeated three times (7:08 - 7:18). The sequence is ascending, showing some tension before it is released in the second last bar. The section ends in the same way as Section A, except it is in A major, parallel major to original A minor key. It finishes in an emaj-amaj perfect cadence.
Courante: 7:28
This was difficult to analyse due to its speed, but this courante is most likely an Italian style courante due to its fast, continuous movement. The alternative is a French-style courante, where the rhythm is varied and sometimes changing from 3/2 time to 6/4 time at cadence points. At the very beginning, and generally, it is significantly faster than the preceding movement, Allemande.
Section A: First thing I noticed was the time signature and anacrusis, where the time signature of 3/2 was the expected for Baroque courantes, and so is the short quaver anacrusis. Again, one main thing that can be spotted is the imitative entry from RH-LH in the first and second bars (7:31 - 7:35), and also the frequent use of varied ornaments, spread surprisingly evenly across the movement. In bar 4, sequencing in the RH is found, where it begins with the latter half of the sequence, to form 2 1/2 repetitions (7:38 - 7:44). The left-hand goes through some modulations, where it starts in A minor in bar 4 (7:38) and transitions to F major in bar 6 (7:41). 7:46 - 7:53 displays a rhythmic sequence, where there is a dotted crotchet ornament + one quaver + 2 quaver sets in the right hand. The section ends in a V7 (as evident through the F note on LH before the trill on B♮ in RH) - I gmaj(dom7-cmaj) perfect cadence.
Section B: The section starts in A minor, and yet again there is a mini imitative entry sequence on the downward scalic passage from RH-LH (7:57 - 8:02). The F# in the middle of bar 13 suggests A melodic minor. A line of parallel 6ths can be seen in bar 15 (8:02), which could bring a little bit of tension to the piece, but overall not much. Bb and C# in the 16th bar highlights a modulation to D minor, and basically there is a lot of polyphony and overall just development until the end, which also ends the same way as Section A, which a V7-I perfect cadence from emaj (dom7)-amaj.
~fin
pls let me know if there is anything else I should add onto this! this could include general remarks and general tone, as I have not included many macro techniques in this analysis.
I could see/hear him in realLife And is one of my best memories ❤ it was in Cuenca (church) it was the famous "week of the músic"
Just ordered the CDs including this piece played so beautifully. The harpsichord sounds just right. Have heard this played otherwise but not up to this standard.
Love this piece and Leonhardt! XOXO
Good timing! Keeps moving. Good playing.
Thanks
Feels soo good to play this 🥰
This is what people heard coming from 18th Century low riders, when stuck at red lights.
And from me in the 1970's with a 200 watt car stereo.
Perfection.
This is a tough one for my exam.Examiner requires absolute 'solid' play for the prelude with strict tempo and accentuation !
8:29 sarabande
The harpsichord Lefebure 1755 was a joke. It's a new build instrument by Skovronek.
Corrected!
Wonderful:)
12:20 Bourrée
Prelude is The best 😅
Who can find fault with this great master, but please, I would like to hear a different style of playing the english suites on the harpsicord like the one I heard with the French suites performed recently.
Extraordinaire interprétation standard sur clavecin malheureusement désaccordé très légèrement…
GL :-)
5:11
Pianists always play this with too much tension, rushed.
MUST…be played on a good sounding harpsichord such as this one.
Try Mieczyslaw Horszowski playing it live in his late 90s. My favourite of the piano versions.
The flaky parentheses phenotypically communicate because aftermath pragmatically open in a secret kick. fluttering, incandescent thailand
Overrated.
Bach's music? Or Leonhardt's performance? Feel free to explain your comment...