Something for a Friday: All of Bach

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Chorale Prelude, "Hilf Gott, dass mir's gelinge", BWV 624

Back to Bart at St Bavo's for this week's 88 second offering ("Help me, God, that I may succeed/triumph") recorded thirteent months ago.

I can sympathize with anyone who is attracted to things that are "a bit strange" - but I don't hear what Bart's going on about in his essaylet; I wish he'd've highlighted a couple of bars where the alto line has to shorten notes to fit in with a harmony - but which then doesn't succeed. Heigh-ho; his fingers make all the sense anyone could wish for.

http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-624/

[Padraig]

...couple of bars where the alto line has to shorten notes to fit in with a harmony - but which then doesn't succeed.

Darn it, fhg, he got me there too!

Is there no end to these organ pieces - not that I'm really ...?

[EdgeleyRob]

Still plenty to go Padraig I think.

Thanks ferney.
There are fermata signs above the top note in some bars which I thought should usually be on the notes below too,or is that something to do with the shortening of notes,or am I getting confused,or Baching up the wrong tree ?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Fermatas in Chorale settings don't (necessarily) mean "make them longer" as they do in later Music: they show where the phrases of the chorale tunes end (and, therefore, where the singers should take a breath - so the note might be longer, or there might be a bit of a pause before the next note/phrase begins). It's more of a caesura than a fermata.

In four-part harmony, the fermata sign goes above the Soprano and Tenor line (whose tails always point upwards) and below the Bass and Alto lines (tails pointing downwards) as you say, at the same time. In Chorale preludes, all the sign is showing is where the phrase ends are, so they're put over the chorale melody line in the video score you show.

[EdgeleyRob]

Fermatas in Chorale settings don't (necessarily) mean "make them longer" as they do in later Music: they show where the phrases of the chorale tunes end (and, therefore, where the singers should take a breath - so the note might be longer, or there might be a bit of a pause before the next note/phrase begins). It's more of a caesura than a fermata.

In four-part harmony, the fermata sign goes above the Soprano and Tenor line (whose tails always point upwards) and below the Bass and Alto lines (tails pointing downwards) as you say, at the same time. In Chorale preludes, all the sign is showing is where the phrase ends are, so they're put over the chorale melody line in the video score you show.

Ah thanks again ferney

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Cantata BWV 81; "Jesus schläft, was soll ich hoffen"

Stormy weather! "Jesus sleeps - what can I hope for?", a seventeen-minute cantata based on the story from Matthew's gospel of Jesus calming the waters during a storm.

A recording from January of this year of a performance given by the Netherlands Bach Society directed by Shunske Sato in the Walloon church in Amsterdam, and with a pretty impressive vocal quartet.

http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-81/

[EdgeleyRob]

Many thanks as always ferney.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Harpsichord Concerto in A, BWV 1055

A "OVpP" performance, in which the String Quintet sounds much bigger than a group of five soloists. Lovely, invigorating way to start a Friday/end a working week. Francesco Corti enjoys the solo role with his six colleagues from the Netherlands Bach Society, recorded last February in the Muziegebouw aan't Ij (the Music Room on t' River Ij) built especially for performances of contemporary Music. That's good - Bach Our Contemporary!

http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-1055/

[JimD]

Apologies if this has been asked (maybe several times) before, but is there a way of following the chronological order of appearance of the works on the website other than by scrolling back through them each time? I'm partial to (seeming) randomness.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Apologies if this has been asked (maybe several times) before, but is there a way of following the chronological order of appearance of the works on the website other than by scrolling back through them each time? I'm partial to (seeming) randomness.

AFAIK, Jim, this hasn't been asked before - and (again, AFAIK) the only way of following the works is to click on the white "All Works" box which is immediately underneath the photo of the current work (with the red block "Watch the Performance"), and to the right of the red box which says "Popular Works by Bach". BUT for some reason, the works so far are not listed chronologically!

Which is a long way of saying that I don't think that I can help you. Sorry.

[JimD]

Thanks for the attempt. There is a 'Last added' option in the white box to which you refer and I had assumed it gave the order of appearance on the site. But you must scroll back through several pages to reach (what I had assumed were) the early ones. BWV is I suppose the 'rational' order and it too is available. But of course you would need to wait until the end of the project, by which time, as has been helpfully pointed out by someone here, many of us may have snuffed it. Ho hum, what it is to be obsessive. Yet one must use some order, for, as philosophers would no doubt point out, randomness too is a modality of order.

[EdgeleyRob]

Thanks as always ferney.
All the 'sort by' options involve having to scroll through the pages

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Prelude & Fugue in E; BWV 854

The ninth pair from Book 1 of the Well-Tempered Clavier; played by harpsichordist Christian Rieger at his home in Cologne, recorded last April.

http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-854/

[Padraig]

I caught that one fhg. ( I'm often tempted to write fgh but that would be noticed by you know who).

I've hardly ever been able to recognise one by key or by BWV and so it was for this one. But as soon as I heard it I remembered it as one I once thought I might have been able to play - if I had the music, and if I had the time and the harpsichord and any other excuse for not doing it. It is certainly an attractive pair with an instantly melodic appeal.

I know that I'm probably spouting heresy, but I've always felt that Gounod was on to something when he conjured his Ave Maria from the Prelude in C. Ever since I heard that song and recognised where it came from I have been sensitive to Bach the Melody Maker.
Just a careless thought.

[EdgeleyRob]

Beautiful,thanks ferney and Padraig,glad this one worked for you