• J.S. Bach Chaconne BWV 1004 (tr. Henri Messerer) - Olivier Penin, l'org

    From Roland van Gaalen@21:1/5 to All on Fri Dec 9 08:14:40 2022
    https://youtu.be/SfS14rpl0OI
    --
    Roland van Gaalen
    Amsterdam

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  • From Mandryka@21:1/5 to Roland van Gaalen on Fri Dec 9 13:20:51 2022
    On Friday, December 9, 2022 at 4:14:42 PM UTC, Roland van Gaalen wrote:
    https://youtu.be/SfS14rpl0OI
    --
    Roland van Gaalen
    Amsterdam

    I've only heard one other organ transcription, by Walter Börner, here played on the Groningen Schnitger

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEArrg7Jp-Y&ab_channel=MrOrganghost

    Neither of them seem particularly Bachian to me. I very much like the Schnitger organ. It works well enough on harpsichord though.

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  • From Notsure01@21:1/5 to Roland van Gaalen on Sat Dec 10 02:14:28 2022
    On 12/9/22 11:14 AM, Roland van Gaalen wrote:
    https://youtu.be/SfS14rpl0OI
    --
    Roland van Gaalen
    Amsterdam

    This was really great - I appreciate your sharing it.

    I saw a comment on YouTube by Julian Brelsford that summarizes how I feel:

    "This is such an amazing piece and I love how this version takes
    advantage of so many capabilities of the organ with different voices and registers. It's also interesting to hear the repeat of the initial chord progression, which is made clear by the way the organ here can play the
    chords clearly (where in the violin they can be rather obscure since the
    violin can't always play a three note chord & a melody at the same time)."

    Thanks again!

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  • From Herman@21:1/5 to All on Fri Dec 9 23:34:16 2022
    On Saturday, December 10, 2022 at 8:14:33 AM UTC+1, Notsure01 wrote:

    where in the violin they can be rather obscure since the
    violin can't always play a three note chord & a melody at the same time)."

    Oh dear. Why not go straight to a symphony orchestra and let them spell it out?

    The Chaconne doesn't really do "melody" and accompaniment. The theme is supposed to be IN the chords. Not over the chords.
    Few pieces of Bach's are as instrument-specific as the six violin partitas and sonatas, and the Chaconne is if you will the summit of this. The technical challenges (just four strings) are an integral part of the music. The idea is to overcome them with
    musicality. Not just by getting 'a bigger boat'.
    To me this whole thing smacks of 1900. Let's go and look if some granddad conductor mutilated this piece into a dramatic orchestral piece, for conductor showboating - sorry, 'educational purposes'.
    Of course the Chaconne is part and climax of a five-piece partita, but I guess that would challenge the attention span too much.

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  • From Herman@21:1/5 to All on Fri Dec 9 23:39:00 2022
    BTW I understand keyboard players, even organists, wanting to 'try' this piece, since it's rather special. It happens sometimes I try a keyboard thing on the violin.

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  • From Notsure01@21:1/5 to Herman on Sat Dec 10 05:06:34 2022
    On 12/10/22 2:34 AM, Herman wrote:
    On Saturday, December 10, 2022 at 8:14:33 AM UTC+1, Notsure01 wrote:

    where in the violin they can be rather obscure since the
    violin can't always play a three note chord & a melody at the same time)." >>
    Oh dear. Why not go straight to a symphony orchestra and let them spell it out?

    The Chaconne doesn't really do "melody" and accompaniment. The theme is supposed to be IN the chords. Not over the chords.
    Few pieces of Bach's are as instrument-specific as the six violin partitas and sonatas, and the Chaconne is if you will the summit of this. The technical challenges (just four strings) are an integral part of the music. The idea is to overcome them
    with musicality. Not just by getting 'a bigger boat'.
    To me this whole thing smacks of 1900. Let's go and look if some granddad conductor mutilated this piece into a dramatic orchestral piece, for conductor showboating - sorry, 'educational purposes'.
    Of course the Chaconne is part and climax of a five-piece partita, but I guess that would challenge the attention span too much.


    Well, I just quoted the guy and although I probably wouldn't put the
    thought quite the same way, I agree with him that this transcription
    clarifies the texture of the Chaconne.

    And I agree with you - I generally do - that part of the amazing wonder
    of the violin original is the brilliant way Bach creates this beautiful composition when limited to just four strings.

    But I'm not sure if you are against transcriptions in general - after
    all, where would those piano folks be without the Busoni?

    I may be just an ignoramus, but my understanding is that composers in
    the Baroque era would - maybe by necessity - transcribe music all of the
    time - and that Bach himself did this frequently. I've heard that there
    is a theory that the Toccata & Fugue, BWV 565 (D minor) was itself
    originally for violin, and then transcribed by Bach for Organ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb574T4nROg.

    The violin original Partita is not replaced by this transcription or by
    ones for Anvil and Steam-Whistle either. I'm pretty tolerant of
    transcriptions such a Stokowski, Ormandy/Caillet, Wendy Carlos - but
    even I draw the line at the Swingle Singers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1PmL5zYRi8

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  • From Herman@21:1/5 to All on Sat Dec 10 02:15:04 2022
    On Saturday, December 10, 2022 at 11:06:41 AM UTC+1, Notsure01 wrote:


    But I'm not sure if you are against transcriptions in general - after
    all, where would those piano folks be without the Busoni?


    er, with Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin, Brahms, Prokofiev, I could go on and on?

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  • From Roland van Gaalen@21:1/5 to Herman on Sat Dec 10 15:31:05 2022
    Herman wrote:

    Of course the Chaconne is part and climax of a five-piece partita, but I guess that would challenge the attention span too much.

    Okay but life is short and my capacity to absorb information, let alone somehow comprehend it in some sense, is tiny.

    From that perspective, it's a miracle that I like this performance and yes I am proud of that, in the sense of feeling privileged.

    A famous art historian (no doubt a great scholar) wrote (I'm paraphrasing): we only have enough time to examine a just few fragments.

    Just a few fragments. That's it.

    No doubt his number of fragments is much larger than mine, or his fragments are much longer than mine, or both, and no doubt his understanding is much, much, much deeper than mine.

    (Absolutely no false modesty on my part, even though on a logarithmic scale, the difference might not seem quite so huge, and after taking logarithms a few more times, we all end up in the same boat, as it were.)

    That's my consolation. What is yours?
    --
    Roland van Gaalen
    Amsterdam

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  • From Roland van Gaalen@21:1/5 to Herman on Sat Dec 10 15:26:17 2022
    Herman wrote:

    Of course the Chaconne is part and climax of a five-piece partita, but I guess that would challenge the attention span too much.

    Okay but life is short and my capacity to absorb information, let alone somehow comprehend it in some sense, is tiny.

    From that perspective, it's a miracle that I like this performance and yes I am proud of that, in the sense of feeling privileged.

    A famous art historian (no doubt a great scholar) wrote (I'm paraphrasing): we only have enough time to examine a just few fragments.

    Just a few fragments. That's it.

    No doubt his number of fragments is much larger than mine, or his fragments are much longer than mine, or both, and no doubt his understanding is much, much, much deeper than mine.

    (Absolutely no false modesty on my part, even though on a logarithmic scale, the difference might not seem so quite so huge, and after taking logarithms a few more times, we all end up in the same boat, as it were.)

    That's my consolation. What is yours?
    --
    Roland van Gaalen
    Amsterdam

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  • From Mandryka@21:1/5 to Roland van Gaalen on Sat Dec 10 20:36:51 2022
    On Saturday, December 10, 2022 at 11:31:08 PM UTC, Roland van Gaalen wrote:
    Herman wrote:

    Of course the Chaconne is part and climax of a five-piece partita, but I guess that would challenge the attention span too much.
    Okay but life is short and my capacity to absorb information, let alone somehow comprehend it in some sense, is tiny.

    From that perspective, it's a miracle that I like this performance and yes I am proud of that, in the sense of feeling privileged.

    A famous art historian (no doubt a great scholar) wrote (I'm paraphrasing): we only have enough time to examine a just few fragments.

    Just a few fragments. That's it.

    No doubt his number of fragments is much larger than mine, or his fragments are much longer than mine, or both, and no doubt his understanding is much, much, much deeper than mine.

    (Absolutely no false modesty on my part, even though on a logarithmic scale, the difference might not seem quite so huge, and after taking logarithms a few more times, we all end up in the same boat, as it were.)

    That's my consolation. What is yours?
    --
    Roland van Gaalen
    Amsterdam

    Oh for fucks sake, the whole partita lasts about 20 minutes.

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  • From Roland van Gaalen@21:1/5 to All on Sun Dec 11 01:29:17 2022
    Op zondag 11 december 2022 om 05:36:53 UTC+1 schreef Mandryka:
    On Saturday, December 10, 2022 at 11:31:08 PM UTC, Roland van Gaalen wrote:
    Herman wrote:

    Of course the Chaconne is part and climax of a five-piece partita, but I guess that would challenge the attention span too much.
    Okay but life is short and my capacity to absorb information, let alone somehow comprehend it in some sense, is tiny.

    From that perspective, it's a miracle that I like this performance and yes I am proud of that, in the sense of feeling privileged.

    A famous art historian (no doubt a great scholar) wrote (I'm paraphrasing): we only have enough time to examine a just few fragments.

    Just a few fragments. That's it.

    No doubt his number of fragments is much larger than mine, or his fragments are much longer than mine, or both, and no doubt his understanding is much, much, much deeper than mine.

    (Absolutely no false modesty on my part, even though on a logarithmic scale, the difference might not seem quite so huge, and after taking logarithms a few more times, we all end up in the same boat, as it were.)

    That's my consolation. What is yours?
    --
    Roland van Gaalen
    Amsterdam
    Oh for fucks sake, the whole partita lasts about 20 minutes.

    I see. There goes my excuse. Not sure if Penin played the whole thing, though. --
    Roland van Gaalen
    Amsterdam

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