Bach's Orgelbüchlein: Playing the ornaments - Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein, BWV 641

Learning to play Bach on the organ, using the "Little Organ Book" or Orgelbüchlein. This episode looks at how to interpret Bach's ornaments. You can hear the piece played from here: • Bach's Orgelbüchlein: ...
For all the Orgelbüchlein episodes in order, see
• Bach's Orgelbüchlein (... .
For some background information, see the
introductory film on • Bach's Orgelbüchlein: ... .
This episode was recorded in Bjerkreim Church in Norway. Details of the organ can be found on ryde-berg.no/opus/051-bjerkre... .
The series is presented by Dr Tim Rishton www.rishton.eu
0:24 The hymn
0:54 The chorale prelude
1:17 performance issues
2:25 Why ornaments, and what are they?
6:30 Looking at these ornaments
15:05 Music performance

[@rolfwassens4047]

Ornaments: I ‘ve heard a lot of discussion about this subject. Can be annoying if you change from one teacher to another. Your explanation is very refreshing, thank you! You could argue one could be able to sing what you are playing - in that case you would expect some more space here and there- but I suppose you have a good reason doing it this way. Is sounds very beautifull and on this organ!

[@timrishton5871]

Yes, ornaments can be contentious - I'm very glad if you found this discussion useful, though it's far from the last word on the subject! Best wishes with your playing. Tim

[@melissaraven3164]

Very useful and informative, thanks. But I think it would have been better with at least the beginning of the piece played at the start - or even the whole piece, given how short it is.
I diverted to a video performance (which I didn't like as much as your performance) so I would have the melody fresh in my mind as I listened to your discussion/analysis.

[@timrishton5871]

Thank you - that's a really useful suggestion. Perhaps I should have done the music first, although there again, when I play the piece at the end of each episode I'm trying to demonstrate the things I've just talked about. Perhaps I should do a second round of films to implement all the things I've learned through making them so far!

[@melissaraven3164]

@@timrishton5871 Just occurred to me, if you added a timestamp in the blurb, people who wanted to could jump to that before watching the rest of the video. That would work for me (and perhaps others who are not very familiar with the chorale/piece).

[@timrishton5871]

@@melissaraven3164 Great idea - thank you. I'll try to do that.