I learnt the entire Well-Tempered Clavier by Bach. Here are 6 discoveries I made along the way.
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 28 июн 2024
- In 2012-13, I studied, played and informally recorded all 48 preludes and fugues from Johann Sebastian Bach's incomparable 'The Well Tempered Clavier'.
This was a huge project that took me almost a year to complete. Along the way, I made some fascinating and surprising discoveries about Bach and his music, and I made significant steps forward as a pianist and musician.
Enjoy!
00:00 Introduction
00:50 My four reasons for learning the Well-Tempered Clavier
03:24 1) This music is hard
08:51 2) There are many ways to interpret this music
13:02 3) There is something to appreciate in every prelude and fugue
17:16 4) Bach is full of surprises
26:56 5) My sight reading improved
29:51 6) I will never fully understand this music
31:23 Conclusion
Let me know in the comments what you have learned from the Well-Tempered Clavier!
Bro thinks "a few days" is a long time to learn a Fugue, meanwhile I've been sitting on the same Fugue for over a year. 💀
I have some efficient techniques for learning new music, which I will explain in future videos
@magnusgro4366 You're doing it wrong.
@@rovankamal7647 Enlighten us.
@@dlcurtis69Just remember better lol
Im like that but on a Prelude 😅
I agree. WTC 1 & 2 are my desert island scores!!!! It's endless, brilliant, epic, it's everything, it's the blueprint of western keyboard music. You can learn everything by just practicing WTC. And it's always beautiful, not moody like other composers, yes that includes Mozart and Beethoven. Bach, is free from human ego. It's just divine mathematic musical perfection. He is THE teacher.
Not even Bach's own children, on their own admission, played all of the WTK. But for the present day pianists, including serious amateurs, it's a must. My suggestion is, do it from the end, the hardest preludes and fugues first, then all else will be easier.
I was very surprised to see only 300 subs on a video of this quality
Just starting out really, we'll see where it goes....thanks for your comment
Can you think of any example within the WTC of two pieces that seem like they were cut from the same cloth? I cannot; every one seems unique in character, means, form, texture, development, and so on. There is a kind of internal integrity to each prelude and each fugue that is not shared with any other. The fertility of imagination and orginality, as well as the depth of feeling and vitality, is what makes these two collections of Preludes and Fugues so endlessly rewarding. The many hours I have spent with them have helped me grow, and even gave me a desire to grow in ways I did not expect, helped me make sense of a lot of other music, improved my understanding of keyboard techniques and fingering, consoled my sorrows and brought me great joy. It was probably the most enjoyable and fruitful work I ever did. And I am not done.
That is a great question....at first consideration, I would agree with your answer and say that each is unique. However, I do notice similarities between some preludes and fugues of the same key, for example both A minor fugues seem to be quite aggressive, while both F# major preludes are peaceful, written in precise 2-part counterpoint. A topic I need to explore more!
Let us indeed celebrate the amazing fertility, creativity, & ingenuity of the Human Musical mind, and not reach for the twisted old wooden crutch of supernatural beings in the Sky having some mumbo-jumbo agency over our lives! Yes, I realise Bach was motivated by the Divine!
Bach has his Big Four:
1) The Well-Tempered Clavier
2) Goldberg Variations
3) Musical Offering
4) The Art of the Fugue
These Big Four are the Well of Everlasting Youth of musical creation!
Yes! I've mucked around with the other three, they are amazing compositions. One day I would like to learn and record the entire Die Kunst der Fuge.
For keyboard? Maybe.
For all instruments? Hell no, bach hsd many, many greater pieces.
@@marcossidoruk8033 not even just for keyboard; since there'd have to be an organ work in there. These seem like just things that can be adapted to be playable on modern piano.
JS Bach wrote music in every known form except opera. He invented no new forms and created no new style or idiom. But to the old forms and styles and idioms he brought an emotional expressiveness, a nobility of thinking, a majesty of concept, a spaciousness of design which were unique. So completely had he exhausted both the technical and aesthetic possibilities of polyphony that by necessity the composers who followed him had to set off in an altogether new direction. As for you, sir: congratulations and bravo on this remarkable achievement and for sharing your insights here for the rest of us... I have been listening to the WTC for almost 60 years and find something new in it every time I hear it. regards
Thanks a lot for your comment.....I do wonder what my experience of the WTC will be like when I'm 60, or 80 years old....and how my perspective on it will have changed by then.
In old piano italian conservatorio's official exams you were obliged to play 12 preludes and fugues from First and also 12 from the Second One at eight year's exams called "compimento medio" (middle period end exam).
eh si! Io me li sono fatti per l'esame dell'ottavo anno al conservatorio. Un livello molto alto in italia!
Molto interessante.....that is half the Well Tempered Clavier!
This video was very encouraging, I recently completed recording the inventions and sinfonias. I intend to study the entire Well Tempered Clavier. Congratulations on all this work.
Amazing work! Do you have a link I can listen to?
“Many people remember that when in 1977 the Voyager spacecraft was launched, opinions were canvassed as to what artefacts would be most appropriate to leave in outer space as a signal of man's cultural achievements on earth. The American astronomer Carl Sagan proposed that 'if we are to convey something of what humans are about then music has to be a part of it.' To Sagan's request for suggestions, the eminent biologist Lewis Thomas answered, 'I would send the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach.' After a pause, he added, 'But that would be boasting.”
― John Eliot Gardiner, Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven
Great book, great quote, great conductor!
They did however put 3 Bach pieces on the Golden Record which is actually on the Voyager in Space in case aliens find them ever :) One of the pieces is in fact Prelude no 1 in C from WTC1!
The WTC is my musical comfort food. I'll bust it out and stumble my way through reading a prelude or two, or maybe just a couple of voices of a fugue. But it never fails to set my mind at ease.
Loved your thoughts on it!
Yes! That's a great way to describe it. A lifelong companion - familiar and yet endlessly mysterious
one time i sat down with a new piano instructor and asked "how long would it take for you to learn Bach's tempered clavier?" Got a facepalm reaction from that one
Hahahahaha
P&F in c minor bkI always reminded me not of bees, but a steam locomotive, particularly, looking at the wheels/joining rods.
Yes! It's sometimes given me an image of the Empire state building being built. It makes me think of industriousness, busyness, activity.
Three years ago in Paris I attended Andras Schiff's performance, in two different sessions, of the two WTK books. I still wonder how it is possible to memorize the entire work, especially the fugues, without a single mistake or doubt.
It is said that Bach composed this work away from the harpsichord, so this is the product of that prodigious mind in a moment of brilliant speculation.
At my intermediate level of piano, I like to study here and there in the WTK the pieces that I can handle, many far from my current ability, and the only thing I can say is that the fact of carefully reading this music increases not only your understanding but it allows the performer to get closer to the mystery of the beauty of this endless music.
I sincerely admire and envy your work!
That guy is a true Bach scholar. I'd love to make it to one of his concerts one day (difficult when you live in Australia 🤣🤣🤣)
I stopped piano for a few years but it was Bach's first Goldberg variation that made me want to return to it. Ironic since I hated hated Bach as a kid.
If I live long enough to master WTC, then maybe I'll "graduate" to Goldberg. Don't be holding your breath though, at 72, I may never "master" WTC!
@@kendebusk2540honestly it's easier to master Goldberg than the complete WTC
I am currently learning the B minor Praeldium and Fuga from the second volume and am finding it... lets say a fun challenge. When you say that you learnt both a prelude and fugue in a week, well, that just blows my mind. I've never actually done much research on the two volumes nor listened to the pieces save for the one im learning, so this video was really interesting to learn so much. Great video man!
That particular prelude is fun, to me it almost sounds like a detective trying to solve a mystery...quite sneaky!
Mixing both my interests of piano and languages - what an underrated channel!
Yes! Two of my main interests in life, since I was very young. There are many parallels between them, which I will discuss in future videos.
Bach is always worth it!
Trying to learn them as well . I am on prelude 11 Prelude In D Major really hurts!
Nice! Yes it does lol. Are you learning them sequentially?
Bravo for this video!😁
Refreshing take on my beloved and dusty old JSB. I really enjoy your style of video, smart, unassuming, insightful. Was confounded by the small number of subs, but then again you are just starting. Do go on, i believe you really have something special here....
You are too kind. Two days ago this video had literally 37 views - I watched in shock yesterday as the view count suddenly started climbing. I make these videos for people like yourself, so your encouragement to make further content means a lot.
Bowtie looks sharp, thanks for the video
Edit: Having watched the full video now, I found section 4 (bach is full of surprises) extremely insightful as a songwriter. Thanks for this information, it’s quite valuable
Thanks, I appreciate it! When you say you are a songwriter, do you mean to say that the WTC will help you or provide some inspiration in your own creative journey?
Well done!! Anyone who is willing to put in that much time and effort towards Bach, just to challenge themselves, gets a standing ovation from me!! It’s such astonishingly great music. And to think Bach wrote them for primarily didactic purposes, not for the concert hall
Thank you....yes, it's amazing isn't it....the gift to music that keeps on giving
Fantastic quality content, Sir! 👌
Bach improves literally everything and everyone!
Indeed he does. Thanks for your comment!
I’m a big fan of Bach’s music and I’m trying to learn all of preludes and fugues too. This video inspired me a lot!!!
I'm very happy to hear that
Lovely video! Thanks for sharing your journey with us! ❤️
I completely relate to your description of the music getting more enigmatic as you get to know it! I almost can’t believe music like this actually exists.
It's amazing isn't it....I wish Bach was alive now so we could study his brain 🧠🤣
Very interesting story and insight.The description of your thoughts and difficulties are fascinating Thank you .
You're welcome, thanks for watching
Great video !!! Thank you.
Good morning Overlearner from Birmingham UK - firstly may I say your video is truly inspirational - I have just spent a year and a half teaching myself to play a slow moving version of Contrapunctus No 1 from the Art of Fugue - even as an intermediate level pianist the language of JSB fascinates endlessly - your video and level of pianism and love of music is a source of great encouragement - many thanks
Thanks for your comment, I'm also inspired to receive these messages from other Bach lovers around the world. The Art of Fugue is amazing, and I hope to play and record it one day
Thank you for a very interesting and thoughtful video. Sounds like a wonderful project, and judging by your recordings, you played these pieces to a very good standard. I play a lot of these pieces in a very imperfect way, but still have plenty I haven't even attempted to learn (eg A minor fugue, Bk 1) - lots to look forward to!
Truly a life's work to get into all the nooks and crannies of these pieces, and even several lives may not be long enough. When I stop and think about that statement, and also remember all the other masterpieces that Bach produced (including a glorious weekly cantata in amongst all his other duties), I can hardly comprehend how all this came out of the mind of one person. I guess that's Bach infinite genius!
Thanks again!
Thanks for your comment! One of my favourite quotes from Bach himself is: 'I was obliged to be industrious. Whoever is equally industrious will succeed equally well.' Something I've tried to apply to my own life!
Bravo! Looking forward to your playing of Goldberg Variations, Art of Fugue and Musical Offering.
One day 😃
14:11 Great images! The bees, the lonely traveler, the pipe smoker, the wedding day, the battle. Fantastic! Please make more of these!
ChatGPT here we come lol
I pray for my fellow ADHD pianists who find learning fugues very exhausting.
Wilhelm Kempff memorized the Well Tempered Clavier at age 13 and could play each piece in any key asked!!!
What!!
Source ?
Great pianists of the 20th century cd. “at nine at his admission exam for the Berlin Hochschule he could transpose any of the preludes and fugues of the Well tempered Clavier into any key by heart. “. So I was wrong he wasn’t thirteen he was nine.
Kempff even makes Gould look like a schoolboy... and I love Gould!
@@jaikee9477 Zi sa moara ma-ta care te-a facut prost ;-). So...nobody on the internet can appreciate that Gould cand sound like a schoolboy and etc ...now if this not a proof that freedom of expression should not be given to stupid ...I don't know what IT IS . oK. History will consider your golden opinion and etc . Happy nos /;-)))?
That's what I aim for as well. Well done!
Great to hear, keep me updated with your progress!
I really liked the video! I've seen lots of tutorials or analysis videos, but rarely I find videos about the joy of learning the music and about personal insights and opinions on the music at the same time that the music itself is shown. I would love to know more about the things you liked and find personally interesting about the well tempered clavier and Bach's works in general
There are so many Bach-related topics I could talk about....the question is, which topics should I do first!
Amazing video and achievement. Thanks so much for sharing. Really interesting insights and I particularly enjoyed the conclusion. If this music is the universe (or something similarly extraordinary) then it will indeed last well beyond all of us. Just a joy to hear your love and enthusiasm come through.
Thank you, it is amazing to hear from other Bach lovers such as yourself.
yeah, an excellent summary and analysis here. great stuff !
Thank you!
This is a great video! Hope to see more
Thank you
you will notice that bach is much harder if you known how this music should be played
I really admire you. I'm not a musician but managed to learn to play first prelude :)
The WTC is my all time favourite piece of music. I never get bored with it and the more I listen and study it the more impressed I get - thanks for this interesting video.
Nice! Do you have any favourite preludes or fugues?
@@Overlearner Well the only one I played and play regularly is the first one in C but to be honest what I find so amazing about the WTC is that I like absolutely every piece in both books - I own probably ten versions on CD and I'm always amazed at the consistent beauty and brilliance of it. And like you I hope one day to play it all.
I'm from Iceland and we have one author who has won the Nobel price in Literature - Halldór Laxness in 1955 - once he was asked what book he would take to the desert island and his answer was "The Well Tempered Clavier".
@@ornleifs would he take a piano with him or just the sheet music haha
@@Overlearner He just meant the book.
@@ornleifs I hope he has good audiation skills in that case
Fascinating video! I have been studying and practising the Well Tempered Clavier (mainly Book I, and more recently some of Book II) for the last 10 years or so. I really related to the insights and observations in this video, which are similar to my own in many respects. The WTC is truly a work of infinite depth, full of new discoveries to be made. I feel that I have made a lot of progress with some of the preludes and fugues, in terms of technique and interpretation, but learning the whole collection seems like a task that I will never be able to complete. I guess I just need to enjoy the journey!
Yes. I've played them all and yet I feel like I've barely scratched the surface....
Uff, I'm a pianist at age 45. I've been meaning to finally learn this work for 20 years. I might just have to do it now, before I find myself a senior citizen who doesn't know the WTK;)
I hope you do - let me know about your progress!
Interesting that YT alerted me to this. I have been translating the whole WTC into Express Stave Pianoforte Notation, and learning them from this, at my age of 75 and with lymphoma. Not memorising, unless it happens along the way. i compare sight reading in ES with traditional notation (TN). I find it takes much longer to learn most single P&F than one week, and I want to get the the stage where I can sight read any of them okay from notation. The jury is still out about my notation invention. The impetus at the start was my frustration with so many key signatures, accidentals, etc also legerlines, although in Bach the range is less, so legerlines are not such a problem. But i can now also see the usefulness of keysignatures in simplifying the look of melodic lines as long as you are very familiar with the particular scale. My students who havent yet learnt advanced keys can play Moonlight Sonata in ES for example and say its easier.
it’s crazy because i was looking for a video like this about learning the entire WTC two weeks ago…. you answered my wishes lol
Are you going to learn it? Let me know how it goes, if you do!
@@Overlearner would like to for harpsichord if the conservatory has a spot
I want to do this too! Beethoven, Bulow, Shostakovich, Gould, Schiff, and you as well, have all done it, and I want in on it.
You won't regret it if you do
@@Overlearner
I don’t see why I’d regret it. Any tips?
@@happypiano4810 I just mean to say, that the time and effort required is 100% worth it 😃
I think a good tip, if you are just starting this project, is to learn one prelude and fugue of a moderate/hard difficulty and see how long it takes you. From there, you can estimate how long it will take to learn the other 47 preludes and fugues. This will allow you to make a plan and a schedule for x number of months/years. It's a big project, so you need to have a realistic idea of how long it will take.
A very interesting and useful overview
Much appreciated
I love your videos!
From the countless masterpieces of the WTC i think the most profound moment is the Prelude in A minor in the second book. This chromatic piece is so weird and enigmatic!
I've always loved that one, particularly the second half of the prelude. It just gets even crazier the first half.
23:12’ it is fugue of F# minor … beautifully deep subject … this is the 1st prelude & fugue I learnt 30 years ago.
Yes I facepalmed when I saw this.....this happens when you copy and paste too much 🤦♂
Thank you for the video and the explanations. It is not rare I listen to the complete volumes. As an adult amateur pianist, I am only keeping the D# minor Book II alive. It is beautifully structured and challenging enough for the memory and fingers. See the mirrors of the subject both hand at the very end … very neat conclusion.
I love that prelude - such interesting rhythms and melodic contours!
2 weeks for 1 prelude and fugue is wild!
Depends which one(s) you're talking about haha
Puisque que vous parlez si bien français, je me permets de vous écrire dans cette langue qui est ma langue maternelle. Je viens tout juste de découvrir votre chaîne et j’en suis enchanté. J’ai écouté votre merveilleux commentaire du Clavier bien tempéré, une œuvre qui m’est très chère. Tout ce que vous en dites est remarquablement juste, intéressant et recoupe ma propre expérience. Je n’ai pas eu, comme vous, la détermination de l’étudier entièrement mais ce que j’ai appris m’a mûri musicalement. Chose certaine, vous n’avez pas perdu votre temps. Si l’on me demandait de choisir une œuvre à emporter au paradis, si cela était possible, ce serait sûrement celle-là! J’aurais alors l’éternité pour l’apprendre et je suis sûr que je ne m’en lasserais jamais.
Merci pour votre commentaire très bienveillant
Loved listening to the Prélude in D, hated having to learn it. Very difficult.
I'd love to tune your piano for you for you to explore the WTC with a tuning which makes a lot of sense with regard to Schubart's documented affects expected from each key. I think that you'd find very great revelation.
While listening to the G minor excerpts I was immediately repulsed by the fast versions. Gould invites reflection but is very idiosyncratic. To me, this prelude is wistful...searching, and a slower tempo is best. I do a crescendo and decrescendo in two of the trill sections and "notes inégales" in the melody. I have a harpsichord and find that the piano is better suited to some of the variations, this one in particular. The G minor from Book II on the other hand sounds better on the harpsichord.
Bravo for having attempted this project. I stand in awe...
Thanks for your thoughts, those fast tempos are certainly not for everyone.
I’ll add that some of it sounds like organ music to me. Bach doesn’t specify any particular keyboard instrument for these books (I think the only time he *ever* specifies what to use is with his organ music).
There’s apparently a recording of WTC out there where the pianist felt that way and had the piano tuned or regulated differently for the “organ” pieces and the “harpsichord” pieces, and so on.
It’s probably an idiosyncratic view, but I generally dislike the piano being employed to play music intended for other instruments. Of course it can be argued that Bach would have embraced the modern piano but the fact remains that he composed with the instruments he knew in mind, allowing for their strengths and limitations. To hear the work as Bach heard it in his own head is to feel even nearer to his genius. This takes nothing away from your own achievement in taking on this challenge.
Congrats !
I've only done 6 deeply, some other I've analyzed and others I've sight read without studying them. It's like learning a language: at first you understand nothing, then you learn the vocabulary, the grammar, the syntax, the slang! Reading a fugue is not as traumatic as before for me!
I'd like to do them all eventually, all my teachers have done so, but there are so many other things to learn, too. I think I would burn out by only doing Bach for 2 years. 3 P&F a year with other periods and composer in between sounds better for me
Non-pianists don't understand the cognitive demands of learning a fugue - it's truly a musical challenge unlike any other
JS Bach is the Everest of music.
It's interesting, whenever I learn new repetoire, Beethoven, Chopin, Ligeti, whatever it might be, i always find myself coming back to the WTC in between other projects. It feels like a musical foundation for everything else.
Memorizing gets to the heart of knowledge.
There's comes a point where sightreading becomes an involuntary action of the body. There are those who play professionally that can dream of anything BUT music while their fingers mind the store. It can be a curse.
Memorizing is the only way to the heart.
Richter lo tocó de memoria por una temporada. Posteriormente dejó de hacerlo y recomendaba no memorizar música ya que se gastaba mucho tiempo y energía que era mejor emplearlos en seguir leyendo más música
I have heard that in certain piano schools, they were taught to memorise each individual voice of the fugue, away from the piano. I've never done that, but I imagine it would give you a very strong understanding of the musical architecture in question
Rosalyn Tureck, BBC Legends recordings. They're my favourites by far.
Well done, congratulations on your achievement! And the video is very interesting and instructive! I'm following the same path for more or less the same reasons. At first, I thought of just playing WTC a little, and then quickly move on to romantic composers, but Bach enchanted me and I'm still here, now playing WTC book 2. I'm not a professional musician and I'm much slower than you and I will skip over many of preludes/fugues. On my chanel there are my recordings on digital piano. Also, I played some piano transcriptions of Bach's choral preludes.
Thank you! At the end of the day, it's really about enjoying this amazing music and striving to be the best musician that one can be. Love the chorale preludes!
This was a really interesting video to watch for me because you and I listen to the same music in completely different ways so it was a fascinating insite into a different perspective for me, particularly the A.I. generated art where i could see why you chose those pieces but they were all so completely different from how the music made me feel.
The only quote i have a problem with is "Beethoven shows you what it's like to be Beethoven" it made me really sad to realise he is dismissed so readily by oeople who can't relate. In my opinion Beethoven is connecting with our rawest emotions, its like a hug that tells you that you're not alone. So its upsetting that those of you with easy, happy lives don't even look in our direction. You say 'oh its just Beethoven, nobody else feels those things, hes just a freak' and yeah, i guess that upset me enough to still have it echoing through my head.
But yeah, i mean i shouldnt let it bother me cos whoever said it was wrong about Mozart aswell, Mozart doesnt say anything about being human, he just wants to make everything okay, its okay that youre poor you can still dance, its okay to be a whore, its okay to be dirty, everybody dance! Im an Athiest but even I can see that's the devils music. But yeah, thats all just me venting my opinion. Have Fun!
Thanks for your comment. For sure, that Adams quote is a bit reductionist. Beethoven's music is incredibly nuanced and complex, and so is Mozart's. I don't think anyone is calling Beethoven a freak; he definitely tells us about himself, but that doesn't mean that we don't sometimes feel the same emotions as he did. All three composers convey universal ideas in their music, but in different ways.
Chopin revered Bach and religiously warmed up with Bach inventions and WTC. If one of the greatest composers and pianists of all time considered WTC as great way to improve technique maybe we should pay attention. As you said, WTC is a great way of improving technique without grind scales and arpeggions
I think one very underrated aspect of Chopin's compositons is his harmonic mastery - the complexity and richness of his chord choices, and his effortless movement between various keys etc. I wonder how much of that was the result of studying Bach
@@Overlearner yes. His first works are highly influenced by Mozart's operas lyricism as well as Bach harmony but it is on Chopin's late works where you can seen Bach's counterpoint combined with all the above (4th Ballade, Third Sonata Barcarolle...)
Amazing video!
I’m currently learning 2 preludes and fugues from Bach and 2 from Shostakovich amazing set. I wondered if you could make a video about how you approached learning a new prelude fugue over and over. Especially the fugue takes ages for me, because as you mentioned the fingering must be so incredibly intricate.
For Bach I find 5 different editors like Busoni, Schiff, Czerny and so on to compare there fingerings and frasing, then I spend around 2-3 days (approximately 3 hours per day) on just writing fingerings and frasings, then I go on and use another 2-3 days first learning the fugue slowly with metronome and thereafter 1-2 days building up to near full tempo. And first thereafter I take it to a teacher and start going in depth with it.
I wonder if you do the same or how you then do it. Thanks for the very interesting video!🎶
That's a great idea for a video. Thanks for your comment!
More people have climbed Mt.Everest than learned to play WTC off-by-heart*.
A towering achievement, and ensuring that Bach will never, ever die. It's the equivalent of learning the Torah verbatim in the oldest oral traditions.
* my guess.
Haha probably. Maybe. I don't know lol
I know you want to be accurate, but i actually Prefer them played slower 4:01 when i have a moment to fully appreciate the music. Just sayin
Glenn Gould used to have his piano specially adjusted to make it sound more like a harpsichord.
Number of sharps or flats at key signature never was even a slight limitation for me. I am surprised why such an experienced musician even mentions it.
Thank you for this video. Very interesting, motivating, contains lots of information, discovery. It's not something we've known all along.
What's your best practice advice for piano? The best and fastest way to learn repertoire and develop a great technique?🙂
I will be making some in-depth videos on this topic, but if you want a quick answer... the first word that comes to mind is: intention
Before you even touch your hands to the keys, ask yourself....what are you trying to achieve? what is the purpose of this practise session? Which section or sections of a piece will you work on, and how will they be better at the end of the practice session then they were at the beginning?
15 minutes of practice with intention is better than 45 minutes of 'whatever' practice.
My good Sir, i wonder if the difficulty is a linear progress, like gradually getting more difficult, when attempting the Well Tempered Klavier books, technique wise 🤔 Or does one have to jump from one number to a different one, like for example, the Chopin etudes ... just because #nr1 starts in a C major, doesnt have to mean it is the easiest piece to start with, and so on 🙂
I found the difficulty level to be quite random....C major book 1 is easy, C minor is hard, C# major is hard, D major is VERY hard etc etc.....but even the 'easy' ones are hard, if you know what I mean
@@Overlearner Yeah ... having gone through the Chopin etudes, i know exactly what you mean ... "Well this one sure sounds easy ... *streches fingers* ... should be doable" 🤪
@@Kivancli79 Ah, the Chopin Etudes....they are a whole other ball game. Have you noticed that Chopin op.10 no.1 is a direct reference to Bach C Major prelude book 1?
Bravo on getting all NINETY-SIX movements in this masterpiece done! Did you notice the last fugue in Book One is a tone row?
I've done all of that volume with a great deal of MIDI sequencing. Love the Richter recording because he pedals freely -- sheer heresy to purists (who shouldn't be using modern pianos).
Thank you! Actually I did notice that - in fact I mention it at 24:06. I too love the Richter recording...
When you say you've used MIDI sequencing, what exacty do you mean?
@@Overlearner I use a program called Cakewalk Sonar 7 to input a piece on computer, then I fix wrong notes in the resulting track and make any other adjustments, and the computer plays my perfected interpretation "live" on any keyboard equipped for it (many many).
It may sound like cheating, but it's eliminated most practicing and helps me plow through vastly more repertoire than I used to. (Bringing forth the buried treasures of repertoire is my mission.) If i want to repeat a piece I just open and run its MIDI track -- will be able to do this long after my fingers and feet no longer work. A fascinating adventure -- would be happy to coach you.
I see I was wrong -- that fugue isn't a tone row (notes are repeated in the subject) but close enough to be truly remarkable.
Nobody set these crazy tempos - we’re not all Glenn Gould, furthermore playing too fast can make pieces difficult for the audience too, hamper any expressive interpretation in the music. There are huge differences in tempo for the same piece by different pianists.
30:41 From what I remember hearing, I believe that Bach did not write music merely for music’s sake or instruction but ultimately for the glorification of God and the soothing of men’s spirits.
Very inspiring. I would love to do this and of course own the 48 but I fear this old bad boy pianist may run out of time with the years it would take
The good project you don't quite finish is better than the perfect project you never start
You memorized them as well? When did you move on from each piece to another and why? This is an incredible project, I was once very enthusiastic and tried to learn all the three part sinfonias but then gave up after the no. 5. I still learned from them I think but to learn all is just too much when you have school, job, friends and also a lot of other pieces I'm eager to learn
No, I decided not to memorise them as it would have taken too much time. I have however played three or four of them from memory for AMEB or university exams, over the years.
I moved on once I had learnt the piece to a decent level and recorded a video of it.
Insert meme: "congrats. Im happy for you" haha
Maybe one day I might achieve this too(but i doubt, unfortunately).
Also, dont forget about the organ. Many pieces works amazingly at it.
Think of the pedal point at the fugue 1 book 1 coda, for example.
RUclips has one or two video of WTC played at the organ. Very "ear opening" experience.
My very best regards for you
I used to play the organ haha. At my peak I played the famous Toccata in D minor, and the Fugue. I have heard some WTC played on organ, but not much - this is definitely worth investigating further.
Very interesting vid..... What's your view of use of pedal with Bach....like schiff says the well tempered is like the old testament of piano music ....and a lifetime experience...the way i play them now so different to past and future ....
At this point in my musical life, I just like to do what sounds good. In this case, it means that I use pedal.
Sorry if that answer is too simple, lol.
23:36 missing an A# in the right hand voice but absolutely brilliant video over all. Great work!
Thank you!
Holy cow, i'm not at that level and don't think i'll ever reach it as i've always found Bach's fugues to be quite complicated and technically demanding. Speaking about Bach, Oscar Peterson was a fan of his music, in particular The Art of The Fugue which he'd recommend to all serious pianists. Either way both books are way beyond my capabilities.
Art of Fugue is difficult at first - as a teen I came across the Glenn Gould organ version, and was frankly scared by it. Helps that I was reading Gormenghast at the same time! But it was the 300th anniversary of bach's birth that year and the Europeans had a radio program in which every country played one of the pieces, starting with RIAS chamber choir. By the end, I was hooked. #1 really is the perfect fugue. And XIV is the ultimate piece of music ever; it starts with a beautifully conversational, spiritual, symmetrical and balanced fugue; moves on to a very flashy second part that combines with the first, and finally moves on to a fugue on BACH, while adding in the first 2 themes, and this is breaking the bounds of tonality.
Once upon a time both books were beyond my capabilities too - but you have to start somewhere. Some of the preludes and even fugues are actually not that hard - if you started with some of the easier ones it would give you a huge boost in confidence
Joe-Han
The Well Tempered Clavier is “The Old Testament” (The New Testament is The Sonatas of Beethoven).
Classic quote
Most underrated channel
A week ago I had like 40 subscribers haha. Starting to pick up now
well deserving of a subscribe
Thank you
Which edition did you use for the sheet music in the video?
Several different Urtext versions
Wanda Landowska did the definitive recorded performances of Bach's Well Tempered Clavier Books 1 and 2.
What a lovely day on the intern- DJO-HANN????
Edit: I see you're a polyglot (and professional name reader!) so this must be engagement bait. Fair play.
To be honest I literally just forgot. Haven't been around German speakers for over a year 🥲
@@Overlearner Oh! I was doubly convinced when you got Johannes Brahms right at the end. Well it's a great video with some insightful points - thanks!
Whats the name or either the BWV from the piece thats played at 2:38 ? I got hooked from the first bar :)
Prelude No. 9 in E major BWV 854
@@juliusge2063 Thanks for the answer will look if theres some kind of guitar notes for this beautiful piece.
You learned the entire WTC in only a year? Holy crap that's amazing. Yet why did it take you 11 years to make this video 😂 Also, where are these recordings you speak of? 🤔
Thank you....the full story of this channel and why I took so long to start it will be the subject of a future video 🤣As for the videos I made in 2012, I still have them, but the recording quality is terrible. Basically just an early gen iPhone recording the piano from a meter or two away. One day I hope to record them all in a studio 🎹
Well made video! I just sub to you.
Thank you! It took me a lot of time mucking around with Final Cut Pro haha
I stopped playing the piano at age 18. I'm now 72. I'm about ready to re-start and am wondering if this would be a good project? I did about 10 yrs of lessons until my last teacher told me that if you could put sheet music into a robot (this was 1970) that it would sound like me, that I didn't put my soul into the music but was a masterful technical player. I think I should, but it's possible those comments from over half a century would distract me from at least being able to do it technically. And should I not listen to recordings of it if I do start, just play what's on the page? Comments from anyone welcomed.
Thanks for your comment - I think you should play this music because you really love it. For that reason I would recommend listening to it as much as possible first. I wouldn't let those comments from earlier in your life stop you from learning and playing this wonderful music. I hope that helps
Go for it man! I'm 53 and very regretabbly stopped piano lessons years when I was 13 (I had just heard Van Halen on the radio, begged my folks for a guitar- and the rest was history) , but the yearning to restart learning the piano is so strong in me lately, I very much want to play music from the classical masters and some ragtime/swing. I even have a lovely upright in my home, it's just going to waste right now. I feel it deserves a musical life once again! Cheers and good luck to you!
For what it's worth, a friend of mind started piano again after a 20 year break (age 17-37) and he said it all came back to him much faster than he was expecting
i would start with the 2 and three part Inventions just to warm up the first half year, then go into WTC. Inventions also pristine music good for the brain
@@MDMvision Thanks for the suggestion. I just looked at a few pages of the score and it does look easier (if there's such a thing with Bach), and as you say, to warm up. I know it will probably come back, but starting at a lower level might be the key to success.
Good content. Thank you
Thanks, appreciate it
The fugue in F minor is very nearly a tone row off the line. The only missing tones are picked as it proceeds. Aren't they?Well tempered indeed. Book ll the Bb minor was according Gould the most harmonically advanced and modern. Bach let the chromatic cat outa the bag. I think that cat lived in his study
I love that F minor fugue. Very futuristic
Which piece are you playing at 32 seconds?😊
D minor prelude Book I
According to Albert Schweitzer, Bach‘s trills are to be played slowly.
According to me, you can play them however you want mate. You can even skip them if you dont feel like them. Or play something else instead :p
@@MDMvision The girls are delighted when you trill beautifully… really. Try it.
16:52 sounds really cool, would be interested in listening to your soundcloud if you’re open to sharing, no worries either way
I plan to share my music, for sure, just waiting a bit until I figure out what I'm doing with this channel haha
I'm increasingly skeptical of Bach played on the modern heavy-actioned and heavily-strung equally-tempered grand piano.
I agree, but getting access to good harpsichords and baroque organs is very difficult indeed. We do what we can 🙂
eh. no. the piano us a good instrument for these.
Heh didn’t. It’s historical fact that he disliked the early pianos of his day. According to his son, he most preferred the expressive capabilities of the clavichord.
When you take away all the bells and whistles of the modern piano, you are left with just the note values as your main form of expression. This is reflected in Bach’s keyboard music, and why it’s so timeless.
Bach never provided tempo or expression marks so saying preludes are all played fast is a mistake. The D Major prelude sounds great as at 80 or 180 for example. Each player is allowed to choose her own tempo. That’s part of the genius of J S Bach.
Of course. Who said they all need to be played fast?
@@Overlearner the presenter 🤓
@@SStone-dm7es 03:44 "many of the preludes are typically played at very fast tempos"
@@Overlearner They don’t need to be would be my response to that …. Play as you feel for your own body and soul …
@@SStone-dm7es I agree!
Joe-haen ? I know British people have pronunciation difficulties but this made me bounce 10s in
I think we can forgive a minor pronunciation error. I'm sure he'll forgive you thinking he's a Brit when he's clearly Australian...!
@@BillHilton oh well this did cross my mind but I wasn’t absolutely sure
@@BillHilton actually, revisiting it I have no clue why I thought British, given these vowels
Apparently you haven't learned how to say "Johann" or "prelude"!
I joke, but it's interesting to hear some of the things I learned while playing these pieces formalised into a tidy list. Congratulations!