My favourite RUclips channel. I spend a LOT of time on this platform, but I have never clicked a new video faster and more excitedly. Fraser, you rock!
I would vehemently disagree with people complaining that you talk “too much”. Your discussions make your videos unique! Had I been searching for a pure performance, there is a spoiling abundance of such videos.
Great video! I really enjoyed the insight you were able to bring to performing this piece, and the tips on playing the organ. I learned many things! Please don't be discouraged by the base-less negativity that can be found in the comments. I would be very sad if you slowed down your content production because of a few individuals whom misunderstand you. Thanks again, Cole
You reminded me as a 9 year old starting to learn to play organ. My brothers also played a lot of Bach on the home electronic pipe organ when I was young, and I can still dream all of the notes and moods that are in this masterpiece. Thank for you inspiration!
Thank you for taking the time, effort and interest in making the video twice, German and English as there was so much information that we English speakers would lose, even with the sub-title captions (which make no sense). Your breakdown of this piece was very interesting, so much that most of us take for granted when listening to someone playing.
This month I will see and play an organ for the first time. I am so excited to start learning. I actually memorized the Toccata so I will try to play it on the spot, without any prior knowledge of organ playing. It will be a long journey though. I have to concil my time with the law college and I also need to get a job asap. Lastly, in my country organ music is almost completely forgotten. Lets see how things will unfold.
What's interesting about the G major piece, is that back in the days, according to some sources, there used to be ONE organ at the time of Bach which had the black pedals at lower height than usual (as in the days of Bach almost all organs had extremely high black pedals compared to the regular ones). It is believed that Bach might have written the G major fugue at this instrument, knowing that he was able to use the heel more conveniently than on other instruments. That also explains why perhaps the fugue theme was written the way we know it today, where you can more easily bind the three sixteenth notes than in any other Bach fugatic theme. Can't ever be sure, but it makes a lot of sense if you think about it 🙂
My mother was an organist. This is the piece she wanted at her funeral. So when that time came, I contacted the American Guild of Organists, and asked who had this in their hands at that time. Probably most if not all of them had played it - but this is not a piece many can just pick up and do well, if they haven't been practicing it and keeping it "in their hands". Three organists could have done it in a few days notice, and one could do it when the church was available for the funeral mass. It was played on a pipe organ (of course) and absolutely was the perfect send off. Thank you for playing this, I so love hearing it!
"Here is my organ." "I thought I'd show you the organ." "A very romantic sounding organ." "The largest organ in this part of Germany." "A very delicious instrument" And we haven't even passed the 1:30 mark of the video yet.
Your pedagogy is fantastic. I always had a lot of internal anxiety when making practicing classical pieces. Teachers who jump too fast on mistakes ruin the learning experience. Now that I'm getting back into playing and practicing these on my own, you showed me some great reminders. The most important ones, in my opinion, are to (a) properly diagnose errors and make adjustments right away, (b) try different combinations of LH/RH/Ped when practicing individual lines, and (c) it's not performance ready until it's performance ready!
It was said that Virgil Fox, who played the F Major Toccata, brilliantly, had been playing one of the notes incorrectly for Y e a r s .......... He had said in response, " I've been doing it that way forever, I'm not going to change it now."
First time on your channel. Fascinating, as the organ has always seemed so complicated-to a piano player such as me. Also fascinating is how your accent moves from Scottish to Sean Connery performing a German general in a World War II movie. 😉
What an enjoyable video showing us the pieces and parts of this well known Bach organ piece. I played piano for many years and the teacher I had for the longest time had me learn the Bach 2 & 3 part Inventions. And in high school choir (which I only had for one year), our teacher used the 101 Bach Chorales as warm up music (singing only nonsense syllables) and to test who was actually sight reading and who was just following along (oh those end chords that often changed from minor to major or the reverse; little tricks!)
I'M ALIVE NOW!😄 Absolutely invaluable lessons on an excruciatingly difficult piece. Thank you! Loved the theatre organ tift at the end. Nothing like a little ragtime on a monster...😄 Great stuff, sir!
Watched the video for the third time now. Still cannot wrap my head around the footwork involved. I am sort of envious of your capabilities but I realize I will never be able to play the organ anyway. So I just acknowledge that feeling and go back to enjoying the music and appreciating the work that goes into playing it.
Just commenting to say: the advice he’s giving with practice is good for pretty much any instrument. If you’re struggling with a piece or song, bring down the tempo, get used to playing it slower, and build up. It’s a very common tactic for guitarists as well, and I’m not surprised it works here as well. I also have a lot more respect for organists seeing just how many parts are going on here at once with the one instrument.Lovely content, have a like and a follow. :)
ha, this really threw me 30y back, when I was 10-11y old and first tried to play it, to the utmost contempt of my piano teacher then... luckily I didn't care and went on to learn it anyway, mostly on my own, occasionally seeking advice from another very nice teacher whom I knew, who wasn't so derisive at the notion of a kid playing BWV565, as it actually reminded him of himself when he was young... took me quite a few years, but I learned it in the end... I do still remember very clearly having exactly the same "synchronisation issues" when first playing everything altogether with the pedal... 😁
I really appreciate your explanation of the messages the composer has given and the organists to make it their own. The teacher and the student, passing the baton per se. You're a great teacher and organists, which can tenderly tweak the voicings the pipes! You're much like Virgil Fox. Always inclusive.
You have stated precisely what you are going to do on your videos and when you do that, a few people put a thumbs down. I simply can't understand why anyone would do this.
It’s probably what I call the Organ-Stasi - the organ secret police... They hate the world of the organ becoming even remotely popular and, God forbid, secular or even entertaining... At a concert many years ago, one of them approached me after the show was over and proceeded to point out the one or two mistakes I had made in a piece by Franck. Naturally he had the scores of the entire programme with him. I asked him if he liked the sound of the organ or the acoustics of the building etc etc. He replied he had been concentrating so hard on following the music, he hadn’t really payed the instrument itself any attention. I then suggested he take to he organ seat to show me precisely how my erroneous passages should have been played (and announced this to the rest of the audience still present). He politely declined, commenting he couldn’t actually play the organ at all. My whispered reply cannot be repeated here, suffice to say the last word of it was “off”...
You are both an inspiration and a scholar. I enjoyed a large collection of your videos this evening, and ended on this one. I, as most organ students, have struggled with the fugue, and finally came to the conclusion I'll never be able to play it, so I gave up. Bottom line, it isn't so much in what works for someone else, rather, what works for you. If you want to put the time, energy and effort into it, you'll find a way to accomplish it. For me, I find I'm far too scattered, and tend to start work on a new piece, then start playing something entirely different before making any progress on the initial project... Either way, you have inspired me to take my Bach back down from the shelf, and study it once again. Well, that and a little Boellmann Toccata.... Looking forward to more videos soon! Thank you!
great video! as someone with no talent to speak of that took piano for years and harpsichord in uni, it's like I can finally vicariously imagine what it is like to play a piece of difficult music that is out of my reach! thank you for the great explanation!
I can't play the organ. I can't play any instrument. I can't read music. But I enjoyed this video immensely. What I didn't enjoy was the interruptions from commercials. If RUclips needs them to finance their operation, so be it. But do they really have to interrupt a piece of music to play them. I think not. They need to get their act in order.
Great organ lieber Herr Fraser. Ere I departed Germany to America at the very end of 1951, beginning of '52 I lived with my uncle Michael for two years. He was the pastor of Neukirchen zu Sankt Christoph in Bavaria. I could see Chechovoslakia from the windows. Yes, I lived in the rectory and the church was my playground. Of course I was a devout and devoted altar-boy for formal occasions. The church had a pipe organ. It had a 'Blasbalgen'. I could step on a foot treadle and blow up the bellow and jump to the keyboard and hit a few notes. Mein Gott, I wish I could have learned the basics. Uncle Michael had a 'Orgel' in his office and I was pleased when I got permission to play it. I was musically deprived so I tuned to art instead. 40 years teaching art, computer tech and publishing yearbooks, manuals and newsletter were there to satisfy my unabated hunger. At 81 I am happily retired surrounded by kids and grandkids and lots of great friends. Thank you for your delightful evening presentations in my computer retreat. Bernie.
Just found your page, absolutely amazing. It's another instrument I can't play, along with all the others. I am amazed at how anyone can utilize two feet and two hands playing totally different music. I have subscribed and look forward to more videos.
I've started learning the Pastorale in F by Bach. Believe me, I go VERY slow as I am not terribly accomplished on the keyboard, but there are some beautiful parts and melody and finger changes over some long pedal points. Someday, I may be sitting playing it and you, Fraser, and the rest of the Internet, can critique it! :-)
Bravo Fraser! I've learned more about this piece in 27 minutes than I have in the last 30 years! I still can't play it through, but this gives me an excuse to practice a bit on my Hauptwerk Virtual Organ for a while this evening! Great tutorial, thanks!😁🎶🎵👍👍 *EDIT:* My biggest problem is that I still don't have a working pedal board, even though I have 2 manuals, but at least I can work on the right and left hand parts, and fake it on the bass (as my lower manual is split an octave below middle C and then mapped to the pedals)😉
Surprised to find this in my recommendations, but the algorithm did me right and I subscribed immediately. The structure and format of this video was really entertaining and informative. I don't know if it is worth the editing, but it would have been nice to be able to see the part of the partiture being played when the camera zooms out.
I'd like to add some information about organ recording. This is of course secondhand knowledge, but as far as I can remember, the guys who record pipe samples for Hauptwerk use a setup with five microphones. Two kidney types like yours more or less close to the organ case, with one omnidirectional in the middle to catch the low frequencies. Because the human ear cannot detect the origin of low frequencies, mono is sufficient. So, that signal is mixed to the stereo after passing through a lowpass filter, you can do that on site. They use additionally two microphones facing backwards to record the reverb in a second stereo channel. By mixing this signal to the main afterwards, you can select the amount of reverb you want, or like in the case of Hauptwerk, it is 4-channel surround anyway, and it works, perfectly. If everything is set up correct, you can close your eyes, swivel your head around and you feel like you are in front of the organ. I wrote above: "more or less close" - as closer you get, as more dry is the sound, but also the relative distance between the various parts of the organ increases. In the case of my sample, I had to decrease the volume of the Rückpositiv because it was even more powerful than the Hauptwerk and I cannot imagine that is how the organ sounds in reality.
Yep, that’s true. In an ideal world, where we had lots of time and resources, that would be the way to go. I just replied to another comment on that subject saying almost what you did! I’m working on a solution that’s easy to setup, easy to transport and doesn’t require hours of work in the studio afterwards mixing down. We’re getting there! I also want a good balance of organ (including mechanical noise) and space... and then there’s the question of budget... obviously I’d love a setup featuring B&K 4600s and Schoeps or Brauner for the close up work, but that’s another world altogether! Donations welcome!😜
The essence of that setup is: you don't need to buy two omnis, one is sufficient and use that with the two you already have. And you can mix that on site on both channels with a fixed ratio.
Thank you for your cheerful personality, your awesome talent, and for taking us along for a ride we would otherwise never have had! Many compliments! (BTW I have subscribed immediately)
#1--You're a great presenter; #2--Thanks so much for breaking down the fugue, fascinating; #3--Brilliant to see how you reconnect with a piece of music and how you might learn it. Loving your channel. Your wife's camera work too!
I was very interested and slightly amused when you said that if you can remind yourself what you are having for dinner etc.. That is exactly my problem, when I am repeating something a number of times mainly to memorise it, my mind strays and wanders off and I make mistakes. I have found that when this happens I say the chords internally and that helps me to focus on what I am doing. If I do lose concentration, saying the chords brings me back to the music I am internalising. My biggest problem is remembering where I want to change registrations and to stop my mind from wandering off to some other place. I am enjoying your videos and I am already picking up a number of hints and advice by listening and watching .
This is a man showing many talents and very impressive skills. As a pianist I know that playing a piano is hard let alone an organ I have had the honour to play an organ I could not wrap my head around how people play with their feet and hands and keep in tempo. Well done I'm very jealous. Ps very clear explanation now I under stand a lot more about how talented organists really are I don't think people under stand the level of skill required to play this instrument at this level
I'm not a musician but I love music. I watched this to the end and thoroughly enjoyed. Yet another great video 😀 (I did learn guitar when I was younger and played Bob Dillon songs over and over. I also picked up the sheet music for Toccata and Fugue in D minor for keyboard and got as far as learning the Toccata before giving up 🤔. Now I can barely play Twinkle, twinkle little star😆).
It is pure bravery to play recordings of music you've not played in decades, and that makes for wonderful encouragement for new and less new organists, so thank you for not trying to feign perfection as a lot of musicians do, you are an excellent organist. I see similar styles in our playing as I also studied with a former pupil of Monsieur Langlais. I'm thrilled to have come across your page, and I look forward to watching more of your videos, keep being the kind, encouraging organist and man you are! (By the way, I do hope you have students, I'd put money down that your students are, or would be, VERY skilled through your tutelage!
Your description of every young organist wanting to learn this piece is absolutely correct. It was one of the first pieces I wanted to learn, although the first official fugue I learned was the 'Wedge', BWV 548.
Why hello, where has your channel been all my life? I used to play the organ a lot, less so now, but I wish I'd had advice from you when I first learned. This has got to be one of the most interesting, helpful tutorials around. Thank you!
Indeed, the first piece that got me into organ playing and what I wanted to learn now almost 40 years ago! Very nicely explained, I had great fun watching you make mistakes! Brings back memories.
Great channel you've got going here - a nice niche subject I love - huge instruments in grand buildings! Sound is very good too - I'm listening on studio haedphones! Keep it up!
The fugue is by far one of my most favourite organ pieces - easily my most favourite Bach piece. I love the bit a couple of bars in when you get that incredible bouncing melody, and with it finishing with that wonderful combination of chords - it's simply breathtaking! Thank you so much for making an amazing long video on this piece - keep up the fantastisch work :) Video suggestion - this same video format, but for the widor toccata? 😂
I've been watching your channel for about a year, I love it, your style, very down to earth, informative and entertaining. I keep thinking you are Welsh, so I'm sorry about that. It was encouraging to see that you take pieces apart and practice the difficult bits first and you mention about muscle memory, it's crucial to get notes right to start with and gradually fill in the gaps. It's such a reward when you can finally play a piece well yet couldn't even read the first bar months back. I'm in the UK, St. Albans and have my own 3 Manual drawstop Hauptwerk virtual organ, would love to hear you attack it with your Jazz renditions. I often play folk tunes and Jazz up hymns to get me in the mood. Keep up these brilliant videos. Pete
I thoroughly enjoyed that! RUclips algorithims seem to be refining my recommended vids list to hitherto unknown heights. My cultural edification, far from complete, is well on its way however. I've always found Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor a bit cliched, similar to Beethoven's Symphony no.5 and Vivaldi with those damn repetitious seasons that some people in parts of the world outside the tropics experience with monotonous regularity decade in decade out. I try to stay away from cliches however you have given an insight into a world I knew little of and it is enthralling. You could be explaining the intricacies of a washing machine and it would still be interesting.
30 years or so ago, I was learning the organ, and my career stopped me about the time I was ready to try learning the great T&F I'm d. Now, I once again have an organ, and will at some point try to learn to play this piece. Thanks for the tips on how to go about doing it!
The most difficult part of the fugue (at least for me) is where the right hand plays the long trill, left hand two voices and pedal the theme. As someone said, its mesmerizing once you are in the phrase, but getting in and out properly is quite difficult. Usually I accelerate and get out way to fast … the part which you are working at is not so difficult, but perhaps I play it wrong because I'm reading it more vertically instead of horizontally.
you should set up a Patreon account. Works way better with donations, especially small monthly ones. They add up to quite some amount for new equipment quite fast. Good luck
I have thought about that too. I think I’ll ask my subscribers what they think. I have an alternative for the German-speaking market - Patreon would be an international alternative. What do you think folks?
Awesome video! I recently did the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor on synthesizer in honor of my father who introduced me to Pipe Organ music. How I would love to play some of it on one of these mighty church Pipe Organs though one day. Huge Bach fan! I even named my only son Sebastian, in honor of the Master. :)
Your Hired! WOW So Brilliantly Explained & Dicsected & Examined & Explained. Would Like To Know How Accurate You Think Of Bach's Choice In Registration VS Ones Own? Also Would Be Great To Discuss How A Organist Developed A Good Concert Repitoir & How To Program Your Entire Concert On A Organ Console As Well As A Organ Piece.
This was one of the first few pieces I learned to play on the organ, definitely my favorite to play. I played it on a baroque style organ on Halloween in the dark for the annual Halloween concert at my university.
I love this piece of music (I don't play)! I love the pipe organ, the machine and it's music. My favorite (and I hope this doesn't make anyone mad)- is Don Dorsey's Bachbusters version. He's the engineer and musician who came up with the music for Disneyland's Electric Light Parade. The orchestration on this, I believe, would've pleased the Master. If he were alive today, I think Bach would've been a rocker- a complete musical madman (in the finest meaning of that expression).
I probably wouldn't have understood what you mean, if I hadn't heard Wendy Carlos' improvisations on Switched-on Bach way back in the 1970s. I'm sure JSB would have wanted to keep experimenting.
That organ has a magnificent sound. Finally I heard someone say Baroque, more specifically Bach is difficult to play. How does Baroque compare to other periods for difficulty? Baroque is constant motion. That has to be difficult in and of itself. No room for error
Quite right - no room for error, but plenty possibilities for errors if you don't concentrate. I have always struggled with Baroque music, it takes me for ever to learn properly. Give me Widor and Vierne every day- I can pretty much sight-read that!
@@FraserGartshore I don't play or read music, but I can imagine Baroque is mind-numbingly difficult. I understand Bach wrote the inventions and sinfonias specifically for instructional tools. Some of his best work, the inventions. Like a delicate but extremely complex flower.
I always knew that was so much to these things, but man when he explains it out logically, It really is an incredible feat to play an Organ so well. I'm learning but it's really hard work, especially working 84 hour or more weeks away from home, most of my life. It's very slow going. A good electronic Allen Organ cost my Mum $27000 grand, and it sounds pretty Impressive, but not as impressive as a real Pipe Organ though. Keep up the awesome work my good man. And those Mic's did a pretty good job but you are right about the directional features of them, I can hear it alright. They don't these the King of Instruments for nothing.
I love your way of teaching, I, however, have the coordination of a drunk sloth traversing a sheet of ice in roller skates so will never learn the true way of playing the organ (thank you Korg for multi-track recording). Just out of interest, I have a question about coordination; can you rotate your right foot clockwise then draw a number 6 in the air with your right index finger and not have your foot change direction?
I love that piece of music. I know absolutely nothing about playing a piano or organ but I know what I like sir and you’re tutorial was great. I had an 8 track back in the 60’s or 70’s called “Switched on Bach” and I loved it, my friends thought I was nuts. Maybe they were right?😳🤔
![Twenty One Pilots - “The Line” (from Arcane Season 2) [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/E2Rj2gQAyPA/mqdefault.jpg)
My favourite RUclips channel. I spend a LOT of time on this platform, but I have never clicked a new video faster and more excitedly. Fraser, you rock!
I have so much respect for organ players. The amount of skill required to play organ is insane.
Bach was also the greatest organist of his time... along with composition. Ridiculous.
I would vehemently disagree with people complaining that you talk “too much”. Your discussions make your videos unique! Had I been searching for a pure performance, there is a spoiling abundance of such videos.
In my recommended - like many others here - and happy that the yt algorithm works! Great stuff.
Me, looking at pianists: Coordinating the two hands looks really hard.
Organists: Hold my beer
That's good! 😄 😎👍
Great video! I really enjoyed the insight you were able to bring to performing this piece, and the tips on playing the organ. I learned many things!
Please don't be discouraged by the base-less negativity that can be found in the comments. I would be very sad if you slowed down your content production because of a few individuals whom misunderstand you.
Thanks again,
Cole
I don't play organ but found this mesmerising as you explained all the elements of a fugue. Absolutely fascinating. You must be an amazing teacher.
You've been in Germany so long now that you actually sound a wee bit Welsh! Great vid!
Brilliant and very informative. I love your improvisations, and your chatty style whilst imparting knowledge is great! Thank you very much!
You reminded me as a 9 year old starting to learn to play organ. My brothers also played a lot of Bach on the home electronic pipe organ when I was young, and I can still dream all of the notes and moods that are in this masterpiece. Thank for you inspiration!
Thank you for taking the time, effort and interest in making the video twice, German and English as there was so much information that we English speakers would lose, even with the sub-title captions (which make no sense). Your breakdown of this piece was very interesting, so much that most of us take for granted when listening to someone playing.
If you can play it slowly, then you can play it very fast. More Ling Ling workout. Practice 40 hours a day.
This month I will see and play an organ for the first time. I am so excited to start learning. I actually memorized the Toccata so I will try to play it on the spot, without any prior knowledge of organ playing. It will be a long journey though. I have to concil my time with the law college and I also need to get a job asap. Lastly, in my country organ music is almost completely forgotten. Lets see how things will unfold.
What's interesting about the G major piece, is that back in the days, according to some sources, there used to be ONE organ at the time of Bach which had the black pedals at lower height than usual (as in the days of Bach almost all organs had extremely high black pedals compared to the regular ones). It is believed that Bach might have written the G major fugue at this instrument, knowing that he was able to use the heel more conveniently than on other instruments. That also explains why perhaps the fugue theme was written the way we know it today, where you can more easily bind the three sixteenth notes than in any other Bach fugatic theme.
Can't ever be sure, but it makes a lot of sense if you think about it 🙂
This person sounds half German half Scottish 😄
Scottish person who lived in Germany a long long time.
Fabulous accent!
Maybe he became a... Goodtisch-oll-Germanistik-Scotch-bright.
(🤔Silly me)
@@louisfkoorts5590 hahahs er what?!
This channel is a great hidden gem of RUclips, wow! Chapeau! Ended up here by accident, but I won't leave anytime soon.
Thank you!! Why does music teachers don't explain these things so often? Great class!
My mother was an organist. This is the piece she wanted at her funeral. So when that time came, I contacted the American Guild of Organists, and asked who had this in their hands at that time. Probably most if not all of them had played it - but this is not a piece many can just pick up and do well, if they haven't been practicing it and keeping it "in their hands". Three organists could have done it in a few days notice, and one could do it when the church was available for the funeral mass. It was played on a pipe organ (of course) and absolutely was the perfect send off. Thank you for playing this, I so love hearing it!
This was in my recommended, I clicked to see just the song and ended up watching the whole video
"Here is my organ."
"I thought I'd show you the organ."
"A very romantic sounding organ."
"The largest organ in this part of Germany."
"A very delicious instrument"
And we haven't even passed the 1:30 mark of the video yet.
Your pedagogy is fantastic. I always had a lot of internal anxiety when making practicing classical pieces. Teachers who jump too fast on mistakes ruin the learning experience. Now that I'm getting back into playing and practicing these on my own, you showed me some great reminders. The most important ones, in my opinion, are to (a) properly diagnose errors and make adjustments right away, (b) try different combinations of LH/RH/Ped when practicing individual lines, and (c) it's not performance ready until it's performance ready!
It was said that Virgil Fox, who played the F Major Toccata, brilliantly, had been playing one of the notes incorrectly for
Y e a r s .......... He had said in response, " I've been doing it that way forever, I'm not going to change it now."
Slowly, too....am I correct?
First time on your channel. Fascinating, as the organ has always seemed so complicated-to a piano player such as me. Also fascinating is how your accent moves from Scottish to Sean Connery performing a German general in a World War II movie. 😉
Although I come from Austria I always watch the English version of the video to stay in practice with my English ;-)
What an enjoyable video showing us the pieces and parts of this well known Bach organ piece. I played piano for many years and the teacher I had for the longest time had me learn the Bach 2 & 3 part Inventions. And in high school choir (which I only had for one year), our teacher used the 101 Bach Chorales as warm up music (singing only nonsense syllables) and to test who was actually sight reading and who was just following along (oh those end chords that often changed from minor to major or the reverse; little tricks!)
Now that I’ve found your channel , I am checking all your videos. They are, without exception, truly wonderful.
Incredible MASTER CLASS. !! The best i have seen !!! Thank you
I'M ALIVE NOW!😄 Absolutely invaluable lessons on an excruciatingly difficult piece.
Thank you!
Loved the theatre organ tift at the end. Nothing like a little ragtime on a monster...😄 Great stuff, sir!
I appreciate the regular video uploads. I really enjoy your content and style of presentation. Thank you.
Just a fun video. I’m always amazed at the talent it takes to play the organ (I can’t) and I’m in awe. Thanks for sharing!
I'm the 41.500 viewer here, absolutely astonishing video explaining the masterpiece in great detail! Nice work sir
Your personality pops !
It's like having a friend show you around.
:D
Your dedication to your content is fantastic, thank you
I’ve often wondered what the brain of an organist looks like when playing something like this or a more complicated piece of music.
Watched the video for the third time now.
Still cannot wrap my head around the footwork involved.
I am sort of envious of your capabilities but I realize I will never be able to play the organ anyway. So I just acknowledge that feeling and go back to enjoying the music and appreciating the work that goes into playing it.
I loved it. Interesting throughout. Not many organ channels out there, but you hold the standard!
Just commenting to say: the advice he’s giving with practice is good for pretty much any instrument. If you’re struggling with a piece or song, bring down the tempo, get used to playing it slower, and build up. It’s a very common tactic for guitarists as well, and I’m not surprised it works here as well.
I also have a lot more respect for organists seeing just how many parts are going on here at once with the one instrument.Lovely content, have a like and a follow. :)
ha, this really threw me 30y back, when I was 10-11y old and first tried to play it, to the utmost contempt of my piano teacher then... luckily I didn't care and went on to learn it anyway, mostly on my own, occasionally seeking advice from another very nice teacher whom I knew, who wasn't so derisive at the notion of a kid playing BWV565, as it actually reminded him of himself when he was young... took me quite a few years, but I learned it in the end... I do still remember very clearly having exactly the same "synchronisation issues" when first playing everything altogether with the pedal... 😁
I really appreciate your explanation of the messages the composer has given and the organists to make it their own. The teacher and the student, passing the baton per se. You're a great teacher and organists, which can tenderly tweak the voicings the pipes! You're much like Virgil Fox. Always inclusive.
You have stated precisely what you are going to do on your videos and when you do that, a few people put a thumbs down. I simply can't understand why anyone would do this.
It’s probably what I call the Organ-Stasi - the organ secret police... They hate the world of the organ becoming even remotely popular and, God forbid, secular or even entertaining...
At a concert many years ago, one of them approached me after the show was over and proceeded to point out the one or two mistakes I had made in a piece by Franck. Naturally he had the scores of the entire programme with him. I asked him if he liked the sound of the organ or the acoustics of the building etc etc. He replied he had been concentrating so hard on following the music, he hadn’t really payed the instrument itself any attention. I then suggested he take to he organ seat to show me precisely how my erroneous passages should have been played (and announced this to the rest of the audience still present). He politely declined, commenting he couldn’t actually play the organ at all. My whispered reply cannot be repeated here, suffice to say the last word of it was “off”...
Fraser Gartshore
Enjoyed that story.
Always watch for the guy, that sits, on the back seat on the bus.👨✈️
@@FraserGartshore Savage!!!🤣😆👍👍
You are both an inspiration and a scholar. I enjoyed a large collection of your videos this evening, and ended on this one. I, as most organ students, have struggled with the fugue, and finally came to the conclusion I'll never be able to play it, so I gave up. Bottom line, it isn't so much in what works for someone else, rather, what works for you. If you want to put the time, energy and effort into it, you'll find a way to accomplish it. For me, I find I'm far too scattered, and tend to start work on a new piece, then start playing something entirely different before making any progress on the initial project... Either way, you have inspired me to take my Bach back down from the shelf, and study it once again. Well, that and a little Boellmann Toccata.... Looking forward to more videos soon! Thank you!
great video! as someone with no talent to speak of that took piano for years and harpsichord in uni, it's like I can finally vicariously imagine what it is like to play a piece of difficult music that is out of my reach!
thank you for the great explanation!
You are quite captivating. Nice video. Earned a sub!
I don't know how I got here, but I can't stop watching his fancy feet... must subscribe.
I can't play the organ. I can't play any instrument. I can't read music. But I enjoyed this video immensely. What I didn't enjoy was the interruptions from commercials. If RUclips needs them to finance their operation, so be it. But do they really have to interrupt a piece of music to play them. I think not. They need to get their act in order.
cough:: adblockererplus ::cough
I can't play any instrument or read music either or have the necessary coordination.I think this would be very intimidating to learn.
absolutely superb... heading back to check out what I missed out on.
Glad you're not playing my overplayed piece on a regular basis. Grandpa Bach much appreciates the publicity of his other works
HAHA XD. I sure do love the publicity of some under-rated pieces of Bach.
No idea why this was in my recommendations, but serendipity is a fickle beast. You've got a new sub anyways,great stuff
Endlich wieder ein neues Video 👀😇
Hilft mir ungemein um meine englisches Vokabular zu erweitern!👍🏻👍🏻
Hmm just found your page, you have me spell bound, your advice is gold, please please do more like this, thanks
Great organ lieber Herr Fraser. Ere I departed Germany to America at the very end of 1951, beginning of '52 I lived with my uncle Michael for two years. He was the pastor of Neukirchen zu Sankt Christoph in Bavaria. I could see Chechovoslakia from the windows. Yes, I lived in the rectory and the church was my playground. Of course I was a devout and devoted altar-boy for formal occasions. The church had a pipe organ. It had a 'Blasbalgen'. I could step on a foot treadle and blow up the bellow and jump to the keyboard and hit a few notes. Mein Gott, I wish I could have learned the basics. Uncle Michael had a 'Orgel' in his office and I was pleased when I got permission to play it. I was musically deprived so I tuned to art instead. 40 years teaching art, computer tech and publishing yearbooks, manuals and newsletter were there to satisfy my unabated hunger. At 81 I am happily retired surrounded by kids and grandkids and lots of great friends. Thank you for your delightful evening presentations in my computer retreat. Bernie.
Just found your page, absolutely amazing. It's another instrument I can't play, along with all the others. I am amazed at how anyone can utilize two feet and two hands playing totally different music. I have subscribed and look forward to more videos.
Finally English version, thanks👍
I've started learning the Pastorale in F by Bach. Believe me, I go VERY slow as I am not terribly accomplished on the keyboard, but there are some beautiful parts and melody and finger changes over some long pedal points. Someday, I may be sitting playing it and you, Fraser, and the rest of the Internet, can critique it! :-)
An excellent demonstration of the improved clarity when the pedals are played with the toes alone.
Bravo Fraser! I've learned more about this piece in 27 minutes than I have in the last 30 years! I still can't play it through, but this gives me an excuse to practice a bit on my Hauptwerk Virtual Organ for a while this evening! Great tutorial, thanks!😁🎶🎵👍👍 *EDIT:* My biggest problem is that I still don't have a working pedal board, even though I have 2 manuals, but at least I can work on the right and left hand parts, and fake it on the bass (as my lower manual is split an octave below middle C and then mapped to the pedals)😉
Surprised to find this in my recommendations, but the algorithm did me right and I subscribed immediately.
The structure and format of this video was really entertaining and informative.
I don't know if it is worth the editing, but it would have been nice to be able to see the part of the partiture being played when the camera zooms out.
I'd like to add some information about organ recording. This is of course secondhand knowledge, but as far as I can remember, the guys who record pipe samples for Hauptwerk use a setup with five microphones. Two kidney types like yours more or less close to the organ case, with one omnidirectional in the middle to catch the low frequencies. Because the human ear cannot detect the origin of low frequencies, mono is sufficient. So, that signal is mixed to the stereo after passing through a lowpass filter, you can do that on site.
They use additionally two microphones facing backwards to record the reverb in a second stereo channel. By mixing this signal to the main afterwards, you can select the amount of reverb you want, or like in the case of Hauptwerk, it is 4-channel surround anyway, and it works, perfectly. If everything is set up correct, you can close your eyes, swivel your head around and you feel like you are in front of the organ.
I wrote above: "more or less close" - as closer you get, as more dry is the sound, but also the relative distance between the various parts of the organ increases. In the case of my sample, I had to decrease the volume of the Rückpositiv because it was even more powerful than the Hauptwerk and I cannot imagine that is how the organ sounds in reality.
Yep, that’s true. In an ideal world, where we had lots of time and resources, that would be the way to go. I just replied to another comment on that subject saying almost what you did! I’m working on a solution that’s easy to setup, easy to transport and doesn’t require hours of work in the studio afterwards mixing down. We’re getting there! I also want a good balance of organ (including mechanical noise) and space... and then there’s the question of budget... obviously I’d love a setup featuring B&K 4600s and Schoeps or Brauner for the close up work, but that’s another world altogether! Donations welcome!😜
The essence of that setup is: you don't need to buy two omnis, one is sufficient and use that with the two you already have. And you can mix that on site on both channels with a fixed ratio.
Thank you for your cheerful personality, your awesome talent, and for taking us along for a ride we would otherwise never have had! Many compliments! (BTW I have subscribed immediately)
#1--You're a great presenter; #2--Thanks so much for breaking down the fugue, fascinating; #3--Brilliant to see how you reconnect with a piece of music and how you might learn it. Loving your channel. Your wife's camera work too!
I was very interested and slightly amused when you said that if you can remind yourself what you are having for dinner etc.. That is exactly my problem, when I am repeating something a number of times mainly to memorise it, my mind strays and wanders off and I make mistakes. I have found that when this happens I say the chords internally and that helps me to focus on what I am doing. If I do lose concentration, saying the chords brings me back to the music I am internalising. My biggest problem is remembering where I want to change registrations and to stop my mind from wandering off to some other place. I am enjoying your videos and I am already picking up a number of hints and advice by listening and watching .
Your recording technique is good as well. I can hear the room as well as the instrument itself. Very nicely balanced.
Loved the explanation of your practice technique - I’ve never heard it explained this way before!
This guy should be given a Tv series.
This is a man showing many talents and very impressive skills. As a pianist I know that playing a piano is hard let alone an organ I have had the honour to play an organ I could not wrap my head around how people play with their feet and hands and keep in tempo.
Well done I'm very jealous.
Ps very clear explanation now I under stand a lot more about how talented organists really are
I don't think people under stand the level of skill required to play this instrument at this level
I'm not a musician but I love music. I watched this to the end and thoroughly enjoyed. Yet another great video 😀
(I did learn guitar when I was younger and played Bob Dillon songs over and over. I also picked up the sheet music for Toccata and Fugue in D minor for keyboard and got as far as learning the Toccata before giving up 🤔. Now I can barely play Twinkle, twinkle little star😆).
It is pure bravery to play recordings of music you've not played in decades, and that makes for wonderful encouragement for new and less new organists, so thank you for not trying to feign perfection as a lot of musicians do, you are an excellent organist.
I see similar styles in our playing as I also studied with a former pupil of Monsieur Langlais. I'm thrilled to have come across your page, and I look forward to watching more of your videos, keep being the kind, encouraging organist and man you are! (By the way, I do hope you have students, I'd put money down that your students are, or would be, VERY skilled through your tutelage!
You’re a wonderful organist!! I love your videos!!
Awesome! Yes, I stuck with you to the end! I'll be back for more!
God Bless! ~Lyn Wynters 🎶
Your description of every young organist wanting to learn this piece is absolutely correct. It was one of the first pieces I wanted to learn, although the first official fugue I learned was the 'Wedge', BWV 548.
Sir.. You are just on another level.. You're the best. 😂
Why hello, where has your channel been all my life? I used to play the organ a lot, less so now, but I wish I'd had advice from you when I first learned. This has got to be one of the most interesting, helpful tutorials around. Thank you!
I hope he gets more subscribers than the T-series! i love you FG🖤!
This is the best video Iv'e seen on this piece of music. So pleasant to watch.
Bach's Tocatta and Fugue is extremely powerful.
Indeed, the first piece that got me into organ playing and what I wanted to learn now almost 40 years ago!
Very nicely explained, I had great fun watching you make mistakes! Brings back memories.
Great channel you've got going here - a nice niche subject I love - huge instruments in grand buildings! Sound is very good too - I'm listening on studio haedphones! Keep it up!
The fugue is by far one of my most favourite organ pieces - easily my most favourite Bach piece. I love the bit a couple of bars in when you get that incredible bouncing melody, and with it finishing with that wonderful combination of chords - it's simply breathtaking! Thank you so much for making an amazing long video on this piece - keep up the fantastisch work :)
Video suggestion - this same video format, but for the widor toccata? 😂
What’s most interesting to me is to see how you’ve subconsciously picked up on and incorporated the Germanic linguistic tick ‘ja ja’ , in your speech.
Just listening to this new video of yours! Totally subscribing!!
I've been watching your channel for about a year, I love it, your style, very down to earth, informative and entertaining. I keep thinking you are Welsh, so I'm sorry about that. It was encouraging to see that you take pieces apart and practice the difficult bits first and you mention about muscle memory, it's crucial to get notes right to start with and gradually fill in the gaps. It's such a reward when you can finally play a piece well yet couldn't even read the first bar months back.
I'm in the UK, St. Albans and have my own 3 Manual drawstop Hauptwerk virtual organ, would love to hear you attack it with your Jazz renditions. I often play folk tunes and Jazz up hymns to get me in the mood. Keep up these brilliant videos. Pete
I thoroughly enjoyed that! RUclips algorithims seem to be refining my recommended vids list to hitherto unknown heights. My cultural edification, far from complete, is well on its way however.
I've always found Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor a bit cliched, similar to Beethoven's Symphony no.5 and Vivaldi with those damn repetitious seasons that some people in parts of the world outside the tropics experience with monotonous regularity decade in decade out.
I try to stay away from cliches however you have given an insight into a world I knew little of and it is enthralling. You could be explaining the intricacies of a washing machine and it would still be interesting.
30 years or so ago, I was learning the organ, and my career stopped me about the time I was ready to try learning the great T&F I'm d. Now, I once again have an organ, and will at some point try to learn to play this piece. Thanks for the tips on how to go about doing it!
The most difficult part of the fugue (at least for me) is where the right hand plays the long trill, left hand two voices and pedal the theme. As someone said, its mesmerizing once you are in the phrase, but getting in and out properly is quite difficult. Usually I accelerate and get out way to fast … the part which you are working at is not so difficult, but perhaps I play it wrong because I'm reading it more vertically instead of horizontally.
you should set up a Patreon account. Works way better with donations, especially small monthly ones. They add up to quite some amount for new equipment quite fast. Good luck
I have thought about that too. I think I’ll ask my subscribers what they think. I have an alternative for the German-speaking market - Patreon would be an international alternative. What do you think folks?
Fraser Gartshore well, look who became the Lucky fellow with a patreon account
Awesome video! I recently did the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor on synthesizer in honor of my father who introduced me to Pipe Organ music. How I would love to play some of it on one of these mighty church Pipe Organs though one day. Huge Bach fan! I even named my only son Sebastian, in honor of the Master. :)
Your Hired! WOW So Brilliantly Explained & Dicsected & Examined & Explained. Would Like To Know How Accurate You Think Of Bach's Choice In Registration VS Ones Own? Also Would Be Great To Discuss How A Organist Developed A Good Concert Repitoir & How To Program Your Entire Concert On A Organ Console As Well As A Organ Piece.
Another excellent video, and in some parts quite different from the german version. It's fun watching both of them!
This was one of the first few pieces I learned to play on the organ, definitely my favorite to play.
I played it on a baroque style organ on Halloween in the dark for the annual Halloween concert at my university.
I know you're not supposed to compare professions, but this is just so much more impressive then playing the Violin well.
I know not much about music and even less about organs but have been tremendously entertained by your videos 👍 🎶
I love this piece of music (I don't play)! I love the pipe organ, the machine and it's music. My favorite (and I hope this doesn't make anyone mad)- is Don Dorsey's Bachbusters version. He's the engineer and musician who came up with the music for Disneyland's Electric Light Parade. The orchestration on this, I believe, would've pleased the Master. If he were alive today, I think Bach would've been a rocker- a complete musical madman (in the finest meaning of that expression).
I probably wouldn't have understood what you mean, if I hadn't heard Wendy Carlos' improvisations on Switched-on Bach way back in the 1970s.
I'm sure JSB would have wanted to keep experimenting.
That organ has a magnificent sound. Finally I heard someone say Baroque, more specifically Bach is difficult to play. How does Baroque compare to other periods for difficulty? Baroque is constant motion. That has to be difficult in and of itself. No room for error
Quite right - no room for error, but plenty possibilities for errors if you don't concentrate. I have always struggled with Baroque music, it takes me for ever to learn properly. Give me Widor and Vierne every day- I can pretty much sight-read that!
@@FraserGartshore I don't play or read music, but I can imagine Baroque is mind-numbingly difficult. I understand Bach wrote the inventions and sinfonias specifically for instructional tools. Some of his best work, the inventions. Like a delicate but extremely complex flower.
@@FraserGartshore I never conquered Vidor`s Toccata
I always knew that was so much to these things, but man when he explains it out logically, It really is an incredible feat to play an Organ so well. I'm learning but it's really hard work, especially working 84 hour or more weeks away from home, most of my life. It's very slow going. A good electronic Allen Organ cost my Mum $27000 grand, and it sounds pretty Impressive, but not as impressive as a real Pipe Organ though. Keep up the awesome work my good man. And those Mic's did a pretty good job but you are right about the directional features of them, I can hear it alright.
They don't these the King of Instruments for nothing.
See if you can't practice organ at sales of organs, look for churches closing, computerized organs that work with 3 manuals and pedals.
Your English is the most understoodable I've ever listened to. Sounds exactly like the English I'm using when thinking in English. Unbelievable...
Stein Immobilien Claudia Stein wow exactly my thoughts
@@blackdedo93 But he is bloody Welsh!
@@offrampt He said he grew up in Scotland...
Welsh? Who? Me? Not that I noticed! Scottish, yes!
Fascinating to see the pedals being played. I'm going to have to watch this again and again as I should be working!
10:11 "Bach" Then
I love your way of teaching, I, however, have the coordination of a drunk sloth traversing a sheet of ice in roller skates so will never learn the true way of playing the organ (thank you Korg for multi-track recording). Just out of interest, I have a question about coordination; can you rotate your right foot clockwise then draw a number 6 in the air with your right index finger and not have your foot change direction?
That's a cool challenge! After 30 seconds practising I can do it!
Excellent video sir, thank you very much for posting! I do hope you have students, you would be a superb teacher!
this organ sounds amazing. Bach was a genius, and you play that very well (and explain too). Thanks
I love that piece of music. I know absolutely nothing about playing a piano or organ but I know what I like sir and you’re tutorial was great. I had an 8 track back in the 60’s or 70’s called “Switched on Bach” and I loved it, my friends thought I was nuts. Maybe they were right?😳🤔