J.S.Bach Toccata in F major BWV540/1

[wannacu100]

superb

[aXmo20]

erstaunlich, ich spiele die toccata in ähnlichem tempo, und spiele das pedal etwas mehr gebunden, aber auf aufnahmen hab ich diese akzentuierte leggiero- leichtigkeit erst einmal von einem franzosen gehört. Best of youtube -exzellent interpretiert !

[thesilverhouse1]

...OVERWHELMING...

[ernent]

The Toccata is a serious contender to the title "The most sweeping music ever written"

[colombo640]

IS IT TRUE THAT THIS IS PLAYED BY BACH HIMSELF IN HEAVEN EVERY SUNDAY?

[asdf1234567889]

@colombo640 yes, God's will must be like that! =)

B.A.C.H is AWESOME!

[3NUNS]

@colombo640 : He is three busy !

[3NUNS]

@colombo640 : No !

[fietsen3000]

very nice;) and a good pac!!

[KhagarBalugrak]

What a brilliant performance. One of the best I've ever heard.

[dorianmodify]

I like to play this slower so the descending pedal figure is more lyrical, and I sing with it. The complex cords are not so quickly passed over, if you savor them a bit longer. But either THIS fast or slow, NOT the unmusical chop, chop chop, where there is no singing phrase. The phrasing here is somewhat musical, but I still like slower. Guess it means I am getting OLD, hahaha. But I agree, you can hear the bells 'atolling ! It's one of my FAVORITE pieces of music.

[eskatee]

A new olympic record

[kyotokid4]

...this is Bach's carillon piece. The imitative carillon style was popular in France at the time. M. Bach just took it to a new level as he did with other forms of the day. At this tempo it sways and peals. Just listen to the phrasing after the second pedal solo, can you not hear the bells ringing?

I used to play this piece at a faster tempo myself because that is what I could feel. M. Bohme;'s interpretation and clean articulation makes this piece ring and not sound "hurried".

[oyapeg]

Too fast.



[TravisEdward]

I'm sure why so many people are hammering on the tempo. First off, this guy plays its near flawlessly at this tempo, so clearly his tempo choice is not hindering him musically. We are all entitled to our opinions, but I think the tempo is perfect. Taking it at a brisk tempo really makes it feel like it is in 2. Any slower tends to make it feel a little notey in my opinion.

[calkurne]

@TravisEdward it's not so much his ability to play at the tempo, as the clarity of the notes at the tempo; with this peace i feel, along with many others, that the pace is to fast and should be played slower.

[DOBORBEN]

ejemplo de lo más grande que puede hacer el hombre...

[observerman]

This brilliant piece really lifts your soul. It's like waking up into a Near Death Experience and finding yourself at the threshold to heaven. Bliss! Seric54

[Luka56c]

PERFECT PERFORMANCE !!!!!

Bravo!

[kris6591]

the sound is perfect but the tempo is really litlle fast

[rvrdog]

Bravissimo!

[BaroqueLover72]

Gorgeous! My only complaint is his tempo is waaaay too fast in general. What is the rush? There are a lot of notes to savor here, otherwise it's a terrific interpretation.

[all4theillini]

Way, way, way, too fast.

[lebnenh1]

j.s bach is the greatist

[godwhyisthistaken]

this is one of Bachs, most unquie SONGS.

[543693The]

Sainte beauté ....

[ropeyarn]

 absolutely awesome!!!!!

[SnijtraM]

@bachspirit

There is nothing to haunt :). When you connect to the music, the message goes to you directly. That's why music exists. Nobody mastered the divine language better than Bach did.

[speaks3703]

absolutely superb interpretation of a fantastic piece!

[ericbelify]

Magical. Divine. Nothing more and nothiing less.

[guinguette07]

Absurd tempo

[nganir]

wonderful performance of an unqualified masterpiece. 7:00+ : pure bliss........

[KosteckiAdam]

really good.

[leonboelmann]

..eppure Bache ' estremamente ..preciso...

le canne non hanno tempo per emettere il suono.....

possibile che non ci si accorga che il basso al pedale ....e' semplicemente muto?? ..senza il basso....e' tutto inutile....

...le canne non hanno tempo per emettere il suono...e l'ambiente risonante ne ostacola la emissione, a volte addirittura la distorce se non la annulla....

eppure Dio vi ha fatto le orecchie ....

[bobmusick]

I think it is :)

[bobmusick]

is that bach's seal (or part of it) on the organ?

[sailingforde04]

Yes , after all it is the "bach organ"

[bobmusick]

What do you mean?

[sailingforde04]

It is a replica , or at least a near replica of the organ bach had played in the Paulinerkirche

[Contrappunto]

Fine performance and at least comparable to the Alain version uploaded as a 'video response'. Interested in the organ itself, certainly a monument to the great JSB. Herr Bohme is a sure-footed interpreter even if his pedal technique is less authenticated than e.g. Gleeson or Germani. Fugue also fine.

[carvetop]

Not in the key of F?

[Nazardrecit]

why do you say that?

[carvetop]

The pitch is F#. Could just be the tuning of the organ.

[Nazardrecit]

The organ is indeed 'tuned sharp' which is to say that the a is tuned higher than the ca. 440 c.p.s. that is the most common tuning today. Anything played on this organ will therefore sound 'higher' than it would if played on an organ at a=440. This most certainly does not mean that 'the pitch is F#' ! It is also common for new organs today to be tuned to equal temperament.

[carvetop]

Thanks for the technical information. Still sounds like an F# to me. Guess my perfect pitch needs to be transposed a half-step.

[speaks3703]

@carvetop Basically, what you're used to hearing is Equal Temperament.  This organ is not tuned in that way. For this instrument, the tuning is A=465, the choir pitch used at the time of Bach, whose music this instrument was specifically designed to play.

[Biff947]

This is amongst the greatest works ever written.

[Lisztlovers]

excellent'

[telephilia]

A really majestic piece. A vision of some sort of divine ecstasy!

[missionaryorganist]

I just love it...I keep coming back to this recording and listening over and over again.

[yiftb]

I love it too! Since the first time I heard it years ago I've been looking for it and now that I bumped into it I'm sitting here sleepless and happily listening to it again and again.

[MrNBA24]

I love ' Toccata in F Major '. I love it.

[ryanwfrederick]

I was there several years ago, and heard the P&F in D played at Friday vespers. Simply magnificent to sit there, close your eyes, and imagine the old Thuringian cantor doing his thing...*sigh*

[thereverendedward]

Yes, it really does sound that good in person. I was there for the celebration of Bach's 325th birthday, and, while they didn't play this particular piece, they did play some other organ pieces that he wrote.  I would go back in a heartbeat.

[Galisraelband]

Fantastic!

[Adlbaerg]

ächt guat gschpillt und dia argla erscht...

[gulmartin]

Super coll

[PointyTail]

Pretty cool to think Bach is lying only 20 feet or so below Bohme.

[3NUNS]

Who is calling Bach a liar ?

[Yellottwe]

Buried in his grave.

[corgholio]

lol XD

[3NUNS]

@PointyTail : Just as much a liar as you !

[pjps1234]

SIMPLY PERFECT!

[mmenchu]

@pjps1234 indeed!

[benenoit]

La seule chose que je trouve à critiquer c'est la technique des pieds. Il fait beaucoup trop de mouvement de jambes. Normalement, la cheville devrait travailler plus que celà.

[DOBORBEN]

this music is amazing.........

[bastiorgel]

Yeah, Ullrich Böhme, cool!

[paranormaalutrecht]

Beautiful.. only, I miss some linguals in the bass ;)

[hydractor]

A wonderful performance by a great organist. It is a shame that the person with the camera was more interested in the building and the organ case than in the organist's playing.  I would have been satisfied to watch only his hands and feet as he played.

[willowthebored]

Another excellent recording on the lovely St. Thomas instrument. Commendable job as always to Mr. Bohme, albeit *slightly* fast (but not too much). Could have held the final chord for a bit longer, too.

[arkeo2001]

WOWOWOWW, wonderful! Five stars!

[andre26071955]

It is indeed quite a fast tempo, but the Gerald Woehl-organ and the acoustics of St. Thomas can have it.Excellent performance!

[88hitlerwasright88]

Real Art.

Soul of Europe.

Arts and Races Connected.This is the best important and unbeknown reality of the World.

If you want ''Know'' races,you must look theris Arts,Works and Culturs.

Every artwork ''respects'' that race's soul.

And,this music respecting the soul of europeans

[codroipo80]

would someone please delete this rubbish?

[lutheranorthodoksi]

you're welcome.

[willowthebored]

Absolute epiphany! Thank you, sir, for opening my eyes! My path is clear now. I shall go to the desert for forty days before having myself baptized by C'Thulhu in the heavy water of an active nuclear reactor pit.

[saintsaens888]

i like Bohme's speed. I even have a faster version but i don't know who the organist is. The registrations are magnificent and the pedal work is perfect.

[pipeorganloverNJP]

Sir George Thalben-Ball's is really fast. It's here on YouTube, too.

[susumu07]

I'm saying that really old organs usually need to have parts replaced,not retuned. They CAN be re-tuned, but it often doesn't sound like new because the restorers want to keep as much of the old machinery intact as possible.

The organs in Bach's day DID need to be tuned, but the reason old organs sound fuzzy is not that their notes are out of tune - it's that their parts are worn out or loose and need replacement. Bach personally tuned many organs, his tuning was the VERY best for that time.

[joeyboi87]

lovely registration and playing but far too fast i think

[Joshparnell]

that's a great video.

[RubemRM]

***** 5 stars!!

[greatcthulu]

This is faster than what I've heard, but I like it ^_^

[GerardRatigan]

Quelle virtuosité ! Magnifique

[poopingeneral]

This is truly the king of all instruments!

[Rotka13]

I think so too! It's amazing ^^ I love it!

[poopingeneral]

So much power behind this instrument, what a magnificent performance!!!!!! Bravo to Bohme!

[geghalfrunt]

Absolute control over the instrument!

A complete holiday for eyes and ears!

[susumu07]

This is the very church Bach wrote most of his music for, so it comes as no surprise that the congregation put his seal on the new organ!

And the organ's sound quality is crisp and beautiful just like the organ itself! None of that "fuzzy" sound corruption that comes from old, out-of-tune organs that most Bach performers use.

It can sound "baroque" without actually being old. Back then the baroque organs were brand new (Bach inspected many himself) so they would have sounded like new.

[wcbroccoli]

"None of that "fuzzy" sound corruption that comes from old, out-of-tune organs that most Bach performers use." Are you suggesting that once an organ gets old, it goes out of tune and can never be retuned? Or are you saying the organ's in Bach's day never had to be retuned?

[robertgift]

Pipes need to be tuned periodically.

The higher the pipe's pitch, the more it can change pitch from dirt settling in the pipe and on pipe walls and from pipe metal movement from cycles of heating and cooling.

Low pitched pedal pipes rarely need retuning.

It takes quite a lot of change to move their pitch.

Reed pipes are more sensitive to heat and changes and need tuning more often.

[wcbroccoli]

As I suspected. But what I was trying to verify the claim by susumu07 that historic organs used in recordings tend to be out-of-tune. Is there a special problem keeping historic organs in tune?

[robertgift]

There could be several tuning influences.

If old pipes are sagging, they are more vulnerable to more sag which can change pitch.

If the old buildings have more temperature variation than newer better insulated and temperature-controlled buildings, that can put the organ out of tune more.

[wcbroccoli]

I understand that parts wear out and have to be replaced.

But an organ that can only be seen but not heard in tune isn't much fun.

You'd think someone would have put together a fund to restore the organ to a fully playable condition.

[robertgift]

Yes, moving mechanical parts will wear out.

Pipes do not wear, except for reed pipes whose tuning wire holes and reed fastening holes may enlarge from decades of tuning.

Tuning a pipe organ will eventually total more than the cost of the instrument.

Many restoration funds are started.

But restoration is so expensive it takes a long time to raise enough money.

I have heard recordings where I wonder why they did not first tune the instruments.

[princedariensnr]

One also has to remember that many of the Baroque instruments used different tuning temperaments (other than modern equal temperament) such as 1/4 comma meantone, Kellner, Kirnberger or Barnes. Certain chords sound "out of tune" in these temperaments but it's exactly this "out-of-tuneness" that creates tension and colour. When the "right chords" are played, they sound more "in-tune" than they ever played on an equally tempered instrument.

[3NUNS]

Guht comment !

[wcbroccoli]

From 1723-1750 Bach was music director at all 4 of Leipzig's churches: St. Thomas, St. Nicholas, St. Peter's and the New Church.

St. Thomas gets the top billing because of it's association with the St. Thomas school whose 55 students were divided into 4 choirs to serve each of the 4 churches.

Incidentally, he wasn't the organist at any of the Leipzig churches.

And he wrote of lot of music before he came to Leipzip, in the years 1703-1722, including this Toccata.

[pipeorganloverNJP]

Flawless performance. *Claps furiously*

[logboy1]

You guys just have no idea how hard it is to play this piece do you? :(

[tuberman91kills]

I do. It certainly does deserve the designation of Toccata. I'm going to play this though, when I am skilled enough. And I'll propably start from the Fugue xD

[rustyfog]

Jamás dejará de ser impresionante -con todo y los adelantos tecnológicos tan sofisticados- la ENORME CREATIVIDAD ARTÍSTICA de LOS GRANDES (EN LAS ARTES, EN LA CIENCIA -SÍ, ESCRIBÍ "CIENCIA", PORQUE AHÍ EXISTE TAMBIÉN EL ARTE. JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH, tiene muy bien merecido ser llamado "EL PADRE DE LA MÚSICA", y quien haya dicho -sea quien fuere- que: "SI DIOS LE DEBE ALGO A ALGUIEN, ESE ALGUIEN ES BACH", tiene TODA LA VERDAD A SU FAVOR. En ésta matemáticamente musical Toccata, queda demostrado.

[tuberman91kills]

Fabolous! I like the tempo. Fast and Furious ;D

[PsYchOsOmAtIcArt]

great performance. beautiful instrument wow

[sickperve]

this is probaly the most beautiful instrument i've ever listened to.

it warms me when ever i hear it.

i really need to learn how to play it.

[Organbest]

Eccellente interpretazione.

Bravo e molti complimenti.

[joeyboi87]

the transpose of the organ is unusual it sounds like a different temperment to other organs

[TommyTulpe7]

its a half tune higher than usual, so the f in this toccata is fis;)

[pipeorganloverNJP]

it sounds more like 1 higher to me :(

[jasiu8541]

Were the organ belong to Bach?

[44Woman]

Diese Kirche wird irgendwie magisch, wenn du da stehst und die Orgel beginnt Bachs Fuggen zu spielen .. danke!

[wandalewlandowska]

Truly extraordinary. I'm reminded that Bach is at his happiest in F Major. The other compositions which come to mind immediately are the Italian Concerto, the first Brandenburg Concerto and the prelude from the 4th English Suite. Bach won't permit this torrent of joy to end easily, as evidenced by the seemingly countless deceptive cadences. I am delighted to have heard this remarkable performance. Thank you! (The organ case is quite odd but seems comfortable in the church, nonetheless.)

[acer4me]

Rather fancilful to use a name so similar to that great harpsichordist Wanda Landowska!

Of course for who ever doubts it, JSB is buried in the Church with a very simple grave.

[wandalewlandowska]

Yes, I suppose it is.

[wandalewlandowska]

Confusion  caused no doubt due to pre-1950 references citing the church of St. James as Bach's resting place. He was indeed disinterred and re-buried inside St. Thomas' in 1950. (I believe it was in that year.) It is also interesting to note that some q people question if the bones which were re-buried are really those of Bach. Personally, I like to think that they are.

Wanda Landowska (by proxy)

[mogemoets]

And played on a Hammond pedalboard, no less....

(well JESUS people-----this is a TRACKER organ for Christ's sake-----what do you want-----COUPLERS...???!?!?!?!­?!?!)

This person sure can play the Jesus out of this piece!

Martin

The Queen of Sheba

[wandalewlandowska]

Go, girl!

[mogemoets]

When I was a little girl/debutante----and we were all in finishing school----they tried to make us play this piece----after Labor Day while wearing white shoes, no less.

We all protested, and the professor? well----we offed him...

Martin

The Queen of Sheba

[wandalewlandowska]

Love it, Martin! : - )

[mogemoets]

OOOOO baby

The Old Bach F Major is truly an easy piece, though----at the University of Houston, they made us play it at sight, transpose it, play it backwards, and melodically invert the piece---and THAT was as an undergraduate ausition requirement!

It's good to be the queen...

Martin

[wandalewlandowska]

Yes, I saw the instructions for doing these things with the F Major toccata in an advanced chapter of the Kama Sutra. Excellent text for debutantes...

Cheers,

Wanda

[mogemoets]

When i made MY debut as the Empress of the Epiphany, NOBODY wore white shoes after Labor Day....

NOW, people just do ANYTHING any more!

We have women in the parish who show their shoulders in church-----yes it's TRUE!

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful-----find a REAL reason!

Martin

[wandalewlandowska]

Yes, Martin, but I'll have to give it some thought. Meanwhile, must off to work for the day.

Wanda

PS Is Bohme's Fugue which follows the Toccata also on Youtube? This is the best performance of the Toccata I have heard and would love to hear him play the fugue, also.

[wonderschoonutrecht]

sehr sehr gut!

[MonsieurOrgue]

I agree with alra1975, reminds me very much of Koopman's interpretation - but none the worse for it. A tremendous piece matched by an equally tremendous performance! Tres bien!

[joeyboi87]

Toccata and fugue in F major is my favourite piece to play on the organ, this is a great recording too...which church is this??

[chefratzinger]

The St - Thomas kirche in Leipzig, Germany, the same church were Bach was the organist.

[PointyTail]

Dude, Bach is buried in the center of this church. The organ bass is probably shaking his bones.

[joeyboi87]

er I dont think he actually is buried in this church.

[googygok]

It is the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, where Bach was Thomascantor. He is buried there.

By thr way the ornament on the organ is some kind of remaniscence of his famyly coat of arms which he designed himself. You can see a pisture of it at the german wikipedia.

[alra1975]

Ton Koopman has made school.

Bohme is totally under his influence.

Anyway, quite excellent performance.

[lwnf360]

My absolute favorite Bach piece.

[ozjiaak]

Thank You!

It's wonderful. I hear several times and more and more like it.

Jozsef from Hungary (amateur organist)