Bach's Bungalow

Started by aquablob, April 06, 2007, 02:42:33 PM

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Opus106

Quote from: opus67 on November 23, 2008, 01:20:47 AM
Can someone tell me why "Original Version" is specified next to most of the tracks?
http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/hnum/9185211

Thanks.

Quote from: premont on March 22, 2009, 12:13:15 PM
Afterthought: "Original version" as opposed to e.g. an arrangement by Busoni.

It would be unnecessary to write this when it is about a harpsichord rendering.

Quote from: opus67 on March 22, 2009, 12:19:13 PM
Good point. I'll keep an eye out for harpsichord discs, if any, that has the tag.

I just noticed recordigns Mozart's symphonies tagged with 'Original Versions.'
Regards,
Navneeth

Marc

Quote from: opus67 on April 08, 2009, 04:28:20 AM
I just noticed recordigns Mozart's symphonies tagged with 'Original Versions.'

Hmmm, I think the tagging of all the movements is a bit exaggerated.
But yes, of some symphonies there are more versions. Funny enough there is no such a tag coupled with no. 40.
I knew more or less about two versions of nos. 31 (two versions of slow movement), 32 (slightly altered as an ouverture), 34 (?? probably referring to the lost menuetto of a so-called 2nd version, maybe KV409, which is sometimes 'guessed' to be this alternative menuetto ??) and 40 (second versions with clarinets). I did not know about no. 33.
Maybe a Mozart-connaisseur at this forum knows something about this .... or has bought this set and read the booklet. :)

But then: don't worry about Wolfie, this is Bach's Bungalow. ;D

How about his different versions of errr ..... the Johannes-Passion ..... the Brandenburg Concertos ..... some orchestral suites & organ pieces .... ??

Opus106

Quote from: Marc on April 08, 2009, 12:25:58 PM
But then: don't worry about Wolfie, this is Bach's Bungalow. ;D

How about his different versions of errr ..... the Johannes-Passion ..... the Brandenburg Concertos ..... some orchestral suites & organ pieces .... ??

:) I actually wanted to add that I was not trying to go off-topic with the post.
Regards,
Navneeth

Marc

Quote from: opus67 on April 09, 2009, 05:12:29 AM
:) I actually wanted to add that I was not trying to go off-topic with the post.

Don't worry, no problem to me.
But maybe there's more chance of an answer to your question in a 'genuine' Wolfie-thread. ;)

Opus106

Quote from: Marc on April 12, 2009, 11:37:09 AM
Don't worry, no problem to me.
But maybe there's more chance of an answer to your question in a 'genuine' Wolfie-thread. ;)

That was just an observation, not a question. :) What I initially thought to be restricted to only keyboard works by Bach was also seen next another to composer's (the name's irrelevant ;)) works.
Regards,
Navneeth

Marc

Quote from: opus67 on April 12, 2009, 06:38:58 PM
That was just an observation, not a question. :) What I initially thought to be restricted to only keyboard works by Bach was also seen next another to composer's (the name's irrelevant ;)) works.

OK. Back to Bach then. :)
BTW: when talking about piano arrangements, I prefer f.i. Kempff to Busoni, although I've always liked the add-ons of the latter in Ich ruf' zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 639.

Antoine Marchand

Quote from: Marc on April 13, 2009, 03:51:18 AM
OK. Back to Bach then. :)
BTW: when talking about piano arrangements, I prefer f.i. Kempff to Busoni, although I've always liked the add-ons of the latter in Ich ruf' zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 639.

Hi, Marc. Slightly off-topic again  :): Have do you seen the film Solaris? There Andrei Tarkovski (a great lover of the Bach's music) recurrently uses the moving prelude Ich ruf' zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 639,  with a tremendous effect of depth.   

Marc

Quote from: Antoine Marchand on April 13, 2009, 04:10:30 AM
Hi, Marc. Slightly off-topic again  :): Have do you seen the film Solaris? There Andrei Tarkovski (a great lover of the Bach's music) recurrently uses the moving prelude Ich ruf' zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 639,  with a tremendous effect of depth.   

No, I haven't. One of the huge problems in my life ;) is that I love to listen to music that much, that other hobby's 'fall in batlle'. Like movies, I'm afraid. :'(

But a few years ago I saw an impressive documentary about the last train to the concentration camps in Nazi Deutschland, driving through a destroyed France. Unfortunately I forgot the documentary's name.
In this film, BWV 639 (on piano, perhaps also the Busoni arr.) caused a heart-breaking effect, which brought me to tears more than once.

I'll keep your advice (if that's what it is :)) about Solaris in mind though, when I visit a DVD shop.

Marc

#88
Quote from: jowcol on March 27, 2009, 01:14:29 PM
Note:  There is a lot of free downloadable Bach organ music at: http://www.blockmrecords.org/bach/catalog.php?scope=recorded
This is made available as a grant, and is yours for the listening.  I can't say it's the best version of each piece, but an amazing resource.

Oh dear! I didn't read your post well enough. Now I'm getting adored for placing this link in the Classical Music for Beginners section, whilst you should get those honours! :-[
I most sincerely apologize!

I agree with you, though: amazing resource, and a great initiative to offer those works for free online!

karlhenning

Quote from: Marc on April 12, 2009, 11:37:09 AM
Don't worry, no problem to me.
But maybe there's more chance of an answer to your question in a 'genuine' Wolfie-thread. ;)

Al vostro servizio . . . .



karlhenning

Well, I have by now listened to more than a quarter, but probably not quite half, of the "Premium Edition" 40-disc box . . . maybe I've been lucky, but apart from there being hardly any duds (maybe the Italian Concerto on piano falls within that bucket), almost everything has been flat-out excellent.

dirkronk

Last night, i indulged in a mini Bach-a-thon, all on vinyl. I started with the violin/harpsichord sonatas BWV1014, 1015, 1017 and 1018 by Josef Suk and Zuzana Ruzickova--their first outing, a Quintessence pressing of a 1963 recording licensed from Supraphon. This on vinyl (I understand that only their later and less desirable rendition has ever made it to CD) and the Grumiaux/Jaccottet on Philips CD are currently my favorite versions. After that, I sequed into a couple of LP sides of Richter's WTC book 2...reminding me once again why I love that pianist in the work. This was followed by the first solo violin sonata from the early '60s stereo set by Szeryng: his earlier mono set has long been one I love, but I only acquired the later DGG set a few months ago, and this was the very first time I'd tried his #1 from the set. I was very happy to discover that Szeryng's gorgeous intonation was still intact here, though I didn't attempt a spin-off with the earlier set.

Frankly, it was a most satisfying evening. However, the fact that I skipped around..."grazing" as it were...on samples from the great master's repertoire made me realize that I more typically listen to entire sets: all or at least several of the cello solo sonatas in a sitting, or one complete book of the WTC, and so on. And it made me wonder how other people approach this music.

What's YOUR favorite way to listen to Bach? In enormous chunks? Tiny bites? A little vocal interspersed with a little instrumental? Solo instrument vs. Brandenburg concerti or other larger ensemble works? Some Bach thrown into a mix of music from other eras?

Just curious...

Dirk



Dana

      Very slow, intensive score study, usually with a piano within reach. Particularly with the freer forms, like preludes and fantasies, Bach was, and remains to this day, an unparalleled master and innovator of modulation. Bach likes to modulate, but there's conventional modulation, and then there are times when Bach just decides to start writing in a different key. Using a piano can also light up your imagination, in terms of voicing, and deciding which register something ought to sound in (I guess that last part is more informative in the solo works).

Archaic Torso of Apollo

Quote from: dirkronk on June 27, 2009, 08:14:33 PM
What's YOUR favorite way to listen to Bach? In enormous chunks? Tiny bites? A little vocal interspersed with a little instrumental? Solo instrument vs. Brandenburg concerti or other larger ensemble works? Some Bach thrown into a mix of music from other eras?

There's another thread around here asking what are the most beautiful moments in Bach's music. I couldn't answer it, because I can't isolate beautiful moments in JSB's music, due to its structure. Other composers' music strikes me as a series of episodes occurring in time, while JSB's works feel more like grand architectural achievements or, on a smaller level, exquisitely made items of furniture. How do you isolate "beautiful moments" in something like that?

This is relevant to your question, because I haven't really figured out a way to listen to Bach. Swallowing something like the WTC whole is exhausting, so I just listen to selections, often skipping around randomly. It's easier to deal with something like the Brandenburgs, because each of them creates its own sound-world. But if I listen to one Brandenburg, I usually wind up listening to the others soon after.

Another way of "listening" to Bach is to play him yourself. This is probably the most authentic of all, since Bach intended most of his instrumental music for home (often pedagogical) use. The idea of music lovers sitting in a hall listening to a virtuoso plunk out the entire WTC was completely foreign to people of Bach's time.
formerly VELIMIR (before that, Spitvalve)

"Who knows not strict counterpoint, lives and dies an ignoramus" - CPE Bach

Coopmv

Quote from: dirkronk on June 27, 2009, 08:14:33 PM
Last night, i indulged in a mini Bach-a-thon, all on vinyl. I started with the violin/harpsichord sonatas BWV1014, 1015, 1017 and 1018 by Josef Suk and Zuzana Ruzickova--their first outing, a Quintessence pressing of a 1963 recording licensed from Supraphon. This on vinyl (I understand that only their later and less desirable rendition has ever made it to CD) and the Grumiaux/Jaccottet on Philips CD are currently my favorite versions. After that, I sequed into a couple of LP sides of Richter's WTC book 2...reminding me once again why I love that pianist in the work. This was followed by the first solo violin sonata from the early '60s stereo set by Szeryng: his earlier mono set has long been one I love, but I only acquired the later DGG set a few months ago, and this was the very first time I'd tried his #1 from the set. I was very happy to discover that Szeryng's gorgeous intonation was still intact here, though I didn't attempt a spin-off with the earlier set.

Frankly, it was a most satisfying evening. However, the fact that I skipped around..."grazing" as it were...on samples from the great master's repertoire made me realize that I more typically listen to entire sets: all or at least several of the cello solo sonatas in a sitting, or one complete book of the WTC, and so on. And it made me wonder how other people approach this music.

What's YOUR favorite way to listen to Bach? In enormous chunks? Tiny bites? A little vocal interspersed with a little instrumental? Solo instrument vs. Brandenburg concerti or other larger ensemble works? Some Bach thrown into a mix of music from other eras?

Just curious...

Dirk


I am sure George is quite happy to hear that you have such love for Richter's WTC.    ;D

When I listen to Bach, I tend play the music for hours and will rarely mix in works from other period.

Richter, Szeryng, Grumiaux/Jaccottet are my all-time favorites when it comes to Bach.  It does not matter if their recordings are not HIP ...

Bulldog

Quote from: Spitvalve on June 28, 2009, 12:51:42 AM
This is relevant to your question, because I haven't really figured out a way to listen to Bach. Swallowing something like the WTC whole is exhausting, so I just listen to selections, often skipping around randomly.

I tend to listen to  the whole WTC at one sitting (assuming the recording is of both books).

My general pattern of listening to Bach is simply to listen at one time to the recording or recordings packaged as one entity.  Every day is a Bach solo instrumental day for me.

Mandryka

The best way of listening to Bach that I have experienced was The BBC Radio 3 Bach Christmas Fortnight -- about four years ago.

For two weeks the channel broadcast J S Bach and only J S Bach 24/7

When I first heard they were going to do this I really thought it was a bad idea -- I thought you would tire of his music after a short time.

No way -- every time, and I mean every time, you tuned in the radio there was somethong interesting, exciting, beautiful playing.

In the end I was sorry when it was over.

Did Bach write any bad music?
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darĂ¼ber muss man schweigen

Coopmv

Quote from: Mandryka on June 28, 2009, 01:42:52 PM
The best way of listening to Bach that I have experienced was The BBC Radio 3 Bach Christmas Fortnight -- about four years ago.

For two weeks the channel broadcast J S Bach and only J S Bach 24/7

When I first heard they were going to do this I really thought it was a bad idea -- I thought you would tire of his music after a short time.

No way -- every time, and I mean every time, you tuned in the radio there was somethong interesting, exciting, beautiful playing.

In the end I was sorry when it was over.

Did Bach write any bad music?

I do not have a shortwave radio to receive BBC.  Even if I did, the SQ would have been horrendous anyway ...