Tim Maas: Bist du bei mir

[2010wieliczka]

how old was he at that moment, whan he sung it?

[portgeoff]

Cupcakefight is obviously not acquainted with the music of Paul Phoenix as a boy - now that is a real vibrato - as the main stay of the King's Singers now, one can see he has lost that vibrato completely.

[MsLafcadio]

This is very beautiful

I really like the slide show

could you please tell me where exactly you got these pictures because I would like to look them up

thank you

[musicfanBRA]

Jairdan, seeing the first slide together with the boy's voice singing this sublime piece arose strong emotions in me. You said you just posted a "stupid" slideshow, but maybe by chance you juxtaposed two extremes - the worst and the best that humankind can offer us. Thank you!

[organisten]

A lovely treble voice? This is a MAN! It's called falsetto. Boy treble this is NOT!

[robertroob]

@organisten excuse me, hoe in the world can you be so selfsecure?!?! you don't know anything about his vocal-education and developement, and you weren't there when this was recorded, Tim Maas is my best friend and a collega (bas)bariton, when he recorded this he was a boy-soprano, he never sang in his falcetto, i can even tell you his falcetto is terrible ;)

So please don't think you know things better cause you don't

[organisten]

@robertroob well since you do know better I therefore know that this is indeed a boy treble. How much education and development played apart I will not make any comment, but I *can* be reasonably selfsecure in saying that this treble was, to say the least, unusual.

[robertroob]

@organisten It has a bit to do with how you approach the boy-soprano voice... but that's a long story, it is not that unusual! I almost sang in the same way when i was a treble....

[schokolade975]

Churches have a nice acoustic!

[portgeoff]

No way a counter tenor or falsetto - try Paul Phoenix (St. Paul's Cathedral under Barry Rose) of the 1970s for vibrato . super. He's lost all his special sound - has been singing with the King's Singers as a tenor for 13 years! The finest treble ever, I find, is that of Andrew Lisle (Canterbury Cathedral, in the 1950s)(Bach's sighing and weeping and the Agnus Dei from Mozart's mass in C

[ifuliki]

Lovely voice. Must we be reminded of the horrors of man's inhumanity to man.

Aled

[ahfoe]

this is just the peak of classical music perfection. Thank God for inspiring Bach to write this piece. This music really is the voice of God expressed by the notes written by Bach. Just astounding. By the Way, how old was this man when he sang this piece? And is he a true soprano, falsetto countertenor, or a head voice countertenor(true counter). Although I am very sure that this man is using his falsetto. Thanks :D

[Swedchap]

Thank You! For me too, the slideshow fit's perfect with the deep and touching message of the song.

[LateinerRomulus]

Tahnk you so much for uploading this - I have heard many interpretations of this nice piece (and I sang it myself when I was in a boy's choir), but this is the best! Thank you!

[Ulysse0201]

'Just a supid...'; no... but, yes, video = movement !

Anyway...

Spend version, excellent choice !

Congratulations ... and Thank You...

[jetboy33]

IMHO, this piece does need to be sung by either a female soprano or, as here, a younger boy who's voice hasn't changed yet. An adult male voice, at any range, just doesn't do this justice.

[bairen2002]

I have heard it as a duet, in the 2005 French film "Joyeux Noël," - absolutely wonderful.

[cupcakefight]

Wouldn't you say this was a Counter Tenor or Falsetto- a treble shouldn't have such a vibrato, his voice would be a lot purer...

Saying that, i adore this piece

[Jairdan]

This question was discussed earlier in the thread ..Tim Maas was a dutch treble from Breda Cathedral Choir..This recording was made shortly before his voice break...

[cupcakefight]

Okay- I'm sorry for not being particuarily interested in the comments other people have made. I just like the music, but I think it's nicer when we sang it in our girls choir. lol.

[jpstenino]

Jairdan thank you so very much for the information.

This is a stunning performance and it is very important to know who was performing.

[studnic12]

not bach.. but still good

[firebreathone]

This is not bach's. It's Gottfried Heinrich Stolzel's.

[MaguindanaoBoy]

My heartfelt advice: sing it a fifth lower or I will drink a fifth (of J. Walker) to make it thru. And phrase across 2 or 3 bars and leave out the vibrato on weak offbeats. This is like a Charles Ives demonstration of how not to sing - like some of his songs which demonstrate what not to compose.

[themadlolscientist]

Never mind the slide show....... I'm listening with my eyes closed anyway. Beautiful........

[ifuliki]

Ja, bist du bei uns, How could you have let this ugliness happen?

[Toelzerfan]

The "Holocaust"?

[gwmerc]

The voice is a delight and the few drawings by Käthe Kollwitz although not well reproduced are an ideal complement to the piece.

[monkgroupie]

aaahhhhh!

such beautiful singing!

[PolethemePam]

he almost sounds like a woman, because he has a big tremolo. amazing

[dielustigewitwe1905]

This is the best video that I have ever seen!!

Ich liebe this song!

Danke shoen for up roading!!

Greeting from Japan!

[Seddius]

the pictures remind me of the world war II...thus the melody in my opinion becomes a beautiful combination of lament and prayer dedicated to those who once sufferred...

this is not a stupid slideshow but a gorgeous one!

[elske15]

just absolutely wonderful

[Fenghiye]

Wrong german text ! "Es drückten deine schönen ! (nicht: "lieben")Hände mir die getreuen Augen zu."

[karlab75]

what are you ranting about? He sings 'schönen'!

[Leinaah]

Beautiful slideshow... it hits me everytime i see it! Thanks

[Mischafour]

Thank you so very much for posting this! Absolutely beautiful!

[maestrovoci]

One final comment. Boys who provide us with these moments of beauty have no idea how powerful, how affecting their singing is. For them, it is a powerful physical experience - their heads ring with the vibrations and it is like a brain massage for them. It is only later in life that they begin to comprehend the power of what they accomplished as boys, and why it is that so many who hear them - and us, too - leak around the eyes as they sing.

[treblechoir99]

'only later in life that they begin to comprehend the power of what they accomplished as boy'. Absolutly, agree with you. I remember too when I singing as boy. I'm singing still in a Choir, I don't forget this moment as boy.

[maestrovoci]

This can be due to emotions, or, I think, due to his feeling of security on those high notes. He knows his voice, but at this stage of voice change (not BREAK!!!) he is singing with an instrument that is beginning to become unsteady in the passagios. The high notes are secure, because they rest just above his upper passagio. I wish the recording had been made two weeks, and perhaps one month, earlier so we could hear even more beauty. All that said, I am grateful we have this wonderful sample!

[maestrovoci]

Delayed congratulations to Master Tim - recording a boy's voice at just the right moment en route to his adult vocal range is tricky. As a voice trainer of boys, I could only wish that this recording had been made perhaps two weeks earlier, because there are a few moments where his voice takes on a hard edge (1:19 - 2:29 - 2:45 are examples) as he allows lung power to overwhelm the beauty of his tone. (continued)

[treblechoir99]

What you tell, I think for the treble Major Denis Barthel. He's became head boy in 1931. His solo recording which sold 750,000 copies in 1931, not bad for this style at this time. He's dead the september 30 2008, the last surviving member of the choir of the Temple Church.

[IceTsukiNE]

ah, our choir is doing this song...it's absolutely breath-taking. I unfortunately don't get to sing it...I wish I could. It's so beautiful...

[JoseMariaAliciaRIP]

If you are with me,

then I will gladly go to death and to my rest.

Ah, how pleasant would my end be,

if your dear, fair hands shut my faithful eyes!

Good choice of "Slideshow" for this moving Sacred Aria of -J.S.Bach-

[Sola174]

Beautiful voice!

Funny how I as a girl can barely sing that high!

[tritonusgesang]

Wunderschön gesungen! Kompliment!

[melman74b]

These look like the pencil drawings illicitly made by Jewish prisoners in Hitler's concentration camps of WWII. The images are haunting and powerful, as is the music of another German, J.S. Bach, behind them. Powerful stuff...

[padrenatas]

Thats a beatifull and brilliant voice. Good Choice. About the video... ¡Who cares! the music is beautiful...Saludos desde México.

[simchadresden]

What is this for a stupid commentary: "Sorry, no video...just a stupid slideshow..." if 6 million in the shoa killed jews are not enough - among them more 1 one million kids- then its propably good...all human beeings to kill...and finish. However, its furthermore may be good to try to understand the text and the meaning from this lyrics of one of the importanst of all human composers.

[thebackwash]

Finally, a soulful interpretation of this piece. Most I have found on youtube are dry chamber performances accompanied by a harpsichord, or performed by singers with an overly operatic voice. Too much vibrato *kills* this piece.

I think Mr. Maas is dead on.

[Zerlina12]

what did you mean with Mr Maas is dead on.?

[dailung67]

The voice is very similar to Will Bates. Note how he attacks the high notes. You will hear something similar in Will Bates' "Laudate Dominum". Don't think it is Bates, though! Does anyone know who this brilliant voice belongs to?

[Zerlina12]

Tim Maas is the boys name. I think he reach the vociebreak now.

[dailung67]

Thank you, Zerlina. This is really a beautiful voice. Listen to how he phrases, how he controls his breathing, and how he attacks when going up to notes and then slurs slightly on those descending - a truly well-trained bel canto singing.

[jemonfiche]

I have first heard this wonderful piece in the "Joyeux Noel" movie, and it made a powerful impact. afterwards, a friend of mine, good German speaker, translated the lyrics for me. pure poetry...

[Megshy]

This is just beautiful.

it's awe inspiring.

I can't stop listening to it.

I can't pin point any serious problems.

just small ones that were probably only presented on the day of this recording.

his voice is simply haunting.

Thank you for putting this up.

:]

[Gubtal]

Beautiful, I liked lyrics and music. Thankyou Jairdan very much.

[Moegiust]

An astonishingly good recording. Thank you for posting it.

For those who prefer to hear a mature soprano in this music, there is a classic recording by Elisabeth Schuman.

[ilikehere]

very good.....

[ilikehere]

very good.....

[sonnyrobot]

Thank you Jairdan for this contribution.

Born in London in 1939, I lived there through the war. I have since sung in Germany.

I shall be singing this piece next month in a UK recital, as a countertenor with organ accompanimemt, in German, in the key of B flat. I shall try to do justice to this precious jewel - both the music and words.

Jairdan, you will understand if I add that I was truly moved by the slideshow.

[Jairdan]

Thank you, I thought people wouldn't like it, that's why I said stupid, but obviously quite the oppositeis the case...

[antonen87]

von allen Ausfuehrungen, die es bei YouTube gibt, diese gefaellt mir am besten. Auch ich fuehle "Geansehaut" beim Hoeren, desto mehr, dass man SOLCHE Bilder zum Illustrieren gewaehlt hat - und sonst kann ja dieses Gesang als Hochzeitslied benutzt werden!

[Leinaah]

I also really like the slideshow!

[wasserwachtel]

gänsehaut!!!

[norcalrobbie2]

A good and rare recording, this singer sounds close to his voice break. In Bach's day, boys' voices would break far later in life (well into their late teens many times). You can see proof of it in old rosters for Bach's original choirs. I'd like to imagine that THIS is what a well-trained treble voice in Bach's day would have sounded like.

[Zerlina12]

Yes You have, I think right here. Listen for exampel on Christian Immler singing bach as a Boy alto. Even him close to his vociebreak.

[Zerlina12]

I must listen to this every day. Its so great

[bluewolf319]

a boy sang this!!!?!? O.O

[Zerlina12]

Yes it is a Boy. But I think when he sang this he was really close to his vociebreak. You can hear a little vibble sometimes...But anyway Tim sings it just beutyfull.

[Abrfitch1892]

duh!

tim maas

[rodneycruse]

Didn't see a stupid slide! The lad in the first picture with his hands up; miraculusly' in the mercy of God: survived the war

[JoanneChristie]

Yea the lad has his hands up now! THEY WON THE WAR!!!

[ichmalealsobinich]

Indeed this boy really survived the holocaust, some people - also germans - helped him. Later in the GDR, he was one of the main witnesses in a proceeding against a SS-man shown with a MP at the same photo.

[DerWandrer]

A little known fact, it wasn't actually composed Bach! It was originally by Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel. Bach then used it later in his Klavier-Büchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach (copywrite infringement is quite a new phenomenon.)

[fsharpmajor]

A little known fact, it wasn't actually composed Bach! It was originally by Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel. Bach then used it later in his Klavier-Büchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach (copywrite infringement is quite a new phenomenon

There's no proof that Bach did not write this music. I've researched this in depth and there is no evidence that I can see that suggests otherwise.

[Scadik]

tak nadherny ze si to zamiluje kazdej kdo si to poslechne :)

[nejmimis]

to máš pravdu, fakt krása, jen nevim jestli je to smutný nebo veselý? asi jak to kdo vnímá a cejtí.....

[nejmimis]

Je to nádherný!!!!!!!!!!!! That s great song. Normal i listen drum and bass and jungle but this is great. i must have it. greetings from Czech Republic Jaroslav Prokop

[Allierre]

I love Bach´s Bist Du Bei Mir, interpreted by a female voice like this one.

[DonRaphel]

I have to dissapoint you, this is a boy soprano.

[Allierre]

You´ve not dissapointed me, you´ve surprised me.

But it´s amazing, indeed!

[Zerlina12]

Don Raphel, tell your friend Tim, that his vocie is amazing, it one of the better treble I heard.

[contrarymotion]

what a voice. Yes, definately close to breaking. A lovely timbre creeps before the break. Seems like he wants to sing it faster than the organ! lovely anyways.

[maestrovoci]

It sounds like it might be Max Emmanuel Cencic, the last great soloist of the Wiener Sängerknaben.

[contrarymotion]

Hmmm.... it could be. Are there any other vids of Max on youtube?

[Jairdan]

I downloaded it from treblemusic and it said that the boy sopranos name is Tim Maas and that he was a "Contest winning Dutch treble from Breda Cathedral Choir" There are a few videos of Cencic on youtube, but I don't see so much similarity...Cencic is outstanding of course...

[DonRaphel]

Jairdan, you are right, this is Tim Maas, a former treble from Breda Cathedral Choir. I know that, because I was in the same choir when this was recorded. We were the two head choristers in that time, this is recorded about 5 years ago. He is now studying music at the Conservatorium of The Hague, the Netherlands.

[DonRaphel]

Here at youtube you can hear more from that choir. Just enter "Choralen" and you find some amateur-recordings of a Christmas concert in 2003. in the song "Once in Royal David's City" I am the left soloist you see and hear at the start of that video.

[Jairdan]

Thanks, for the information...I watched a few videos and really liked them...How old where you in this video? Are you still singing or studying music???

[DonRaphel]

I was 16 y.o in the 'Once in Royal' video, my voice was already broken but I sang soprano untill I was 19, in falsetto, a kind of counter-tenor voice.

[DonRaphel]

I'm still singing now, as a Base/Bariton, in the same boyschoir, but also in a chamber choir with female soprano's and alto's and in a Belgium ensemble with 6 other male voices. (TTTBBBB)I'm not studying music, but I do have private singing lessons from a former teacher from the Academy of music of Rotterdam. And you, do you sing ore make music in another way?

[Jairdan]

Unfortunately, I'm completely untalented...But I love classical music...I'm an avid concert goer (mostly regional) and I buy lots of cd's..., but I'm not an expert...I'm more into literature. My main interests are "early music" and Bach and the Barock era.

[cabbalistic]

I don't think this is him. While Cencic was an excellent singer, this boy's voice has a lusher tone than Cencic's.

[JackHammond]

It has been discovered that the composer is Stolzel (sp?), the piece has been falsely attributed to Bach fo hundreds of years. The treble is wonderful.

[mjcglf]

Well, there is still debate on it, but most listings do mention the Stolzel connection. However, the arrangement in the Anna Magdalena notebook is definatly Bach. You can hear the intro and then conclusion of the Goldberg variations in this.

[lisecour]

triste !!!

[Zerlina12]

I wonder if it is a boy soprano...listen closley...

[Zerlina12]

Sorry the stupid question, I knew its Bach. Very good voice, I think this boy are soon in his voicebreak, its so strong, it almost sound as a countertenor or a womens voice. Really good

[Zerlina12]

Who is the composer?

[Zerlina12]

Beautfull voice