Richter plays Bach: WTC1 No. 16 in g minor BWV 861

[bachopinbee5991]

he influenced the appassionata mov 1(0:54 and idem)

[cellotalent93]

questo è l'infinito,l'assoluto.bach



[MrRexeL86]

Absolutely great fuga!

[CaradhrasAiguo49]

I hear echoes of Mendelssohn's Variations Serieuses from this fugue

[ThePowerpoon]

who likes playing minecraft?



[samulous87]

When you play the trill in the first bar do you trill with the higher or the lower note?? Sounds like he trills upward.

[7stiga]

@samulous87, I've been told by all my teachers to trill from the upper note for any baroque pieces but I think you're right, it sounded like he trilled from the lower note.

[UcronicUtopic]

I've that edition... isn't the Andras Schiff one?

the fingers are very nice; the subjects come out themselves (every Bachian has this dream)

[pianovirtuoso1000]

Richter has very nice performances on these Well Tempered Klavier Pieces!

[IpsaPaphum]

Oh, what a piece of work is Bach! How noble in rhythm, how infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god. The beauty of the world, the paragon of composers!

[xiangyik]

@IpsaPaphum I see you are a big fan of both Hamlet and Bach. You have good taste. :) (Yet what are these guys now but the quintessence of dust?)

[MicrobeObliteratorMo]

@IpsaPaphum good taste indeed XD

[carlosLor]

genial genial genial...

[3NUNS]

in the prelude watch out for the melodies and the fugue is a slow march

[3NUNS]

the mysteriousness of this fugue ... remebering that the fugue is a texture

[Reddragoon100]

I literally never get tired of hearing a picardy third.

[3NUNS]

@Reddragoon100 : especially when in france and that is all the cream that they put in your coffee

[scluna44]

really very good... but I feel like his articulation of the subject is boring.

[3NUNS]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh­hh ... the episodes !

[kazukiongaku7]

wow, what a masterpiece

[literateandstylish3]

The fugue was part of a theory assignment but I hadn't heard the prelude until I YouTubed it. Beautiful! I just bought this on iTunes :)

[3NUNS]

sublime writing by JSB !

[3NUNS]

how definitive !

[pebbli94]

The fugue's really good! He brings out the voices very well.

[3NUNS]

@pebbli94 : And then bowls them down by his technique !

[pushingitpush33]

My finance' says this is not good quality!

[3NUNS]

@pushingitpush33 : Call the divorce judge if you have been stupid enough to marry someone who doesn't know the first thing about good performance.

[soschadao]

i always like the final chord, he ends with a G major chord yet in other versions you will find a G minor chord. they sound like they are form two diferent planets almost

[pebbli94]

It IS scored as a G major chord, which is a picardy third.(tiers di picardi)

[Erikk91]

at the end, as in baroque era the minor tonality was not considered perfect, bach usually rose up the third minor to a major (in this case g-bflat becomes g-b as in g major) but only in the very final accord. this armonic process is called "terza piccarda" (picardy third) and was called this way by rousseau.

[yeahso0578]

Im going to start learning this piece tomorrow

its so beautifull.. i cant wait =)

Any advice and tips on what to do

[khoojlyn]

your scored videos are great THANK YOU very much

[scaryfantasy24]

Prelude is easier to play then Fuge. I don't like how Fuge is written in four voices... But it does sound great. Just difficult to read.

[mrcmrc1000]

The movements starting from 3:46 are the most beautiful part of the fugue.

[iguarni]

in fact the real genius is who composed this wonderful piece from the silence!!! BACH IS A GENIUS STOP

[Delmerpowys]

I am studying this fugue, could you do it with coloured notes please?

[Coolbeanz33]

Not good. u need to work on ur skills my young padawan.

[itachisharkak]

Coolbeanz33, you need to know where to put a stupid comment.

[Coolbeanz33]

biatch

[gorgalsi]

these are fugues of Bach, I did not even hear until yet. I wonder how it is possible to create soooooo many WONDERFUL works in only one life. I am so touchen by this music, I can't describe it.

[luq777pl]

He is not using pedal but he uses echo of this chamber instead.

[proteas1992]

oh yes!!!

[ernest85hk]

i wonder if it is way too slow? I can present almost as much voice as he could in a way higher tempo

[BlushingRoses]

I actually really appreciate this tempo because I'm doing an analysis of this piece, and the slower speed makes it easier for me to hear the repetitions of the subject and counter subject in the fugue.

I think it's a lovely interpretation! Thank you very much for posting :-)

[jiejingz]

in bach's time, the fugues generally have slow tempos. Its not wrong to play it fast, and its also correct to play it slow.

[chosarang]

question: why is the trill played starting on the original note rather than from above?

[hansmeyer111]

to chosarang:

It is the harmony which demands that. When we start the thrill from above is to emphasise a "small" disonance, to "delay" the actuall note. Thie beginning is only a beautyful g# minor.

[Pianoplayer002]

g# minor as in g sharp minor? What do you mean?

[hansmeyer111]

I´m sorry, I ment g minor. The beginning is only a beautyful g minor chord, therefore it is not to play the trill from above

[3NUNS]

@hansmeyer111 :guht remark

[sailingforde04]

Got a point there you know ,

I suppose its the way he chose to interpret it

[UserID20]

@chosarang: In Baroque times, music such as this was practiced on a harpsichord instrument or something of the like, therefor whole notes were not well sustained, and trill were instead substituted to fill this "gap". Later, in the era of the piano, trills were looked to as simply decoration.

[hornuser]

Fugue starts at 1:57.

[HARMONICO101]

Why do people care about the pedal so much. This was originally written and performed on the harpsichord anyways so do whatever you think is necessary.

[pandaz1993himick]

Beautiful...i love the legato...i gives a third dimension to the prelude...the fugue is so solemn yet sensational!!!!

[wcbroccoli]

The sustaining pedal must be stuck.

[Pianoplayer002]

Regarding the pedal:

Richter is actually barely using any pedal at all, however, as far as I know, he is playing in a great castle plus that the recording techniques in Sovjet at that time were not perfected.

[PianoGirl555]

Who i am?

Legato should be made BY YOUR FINGERS..Pedal just helps in some parts..Not ALL of it...no no no!!!

[codonauta]

My piano teachers would jump out the chair with that immoderate pedal. :o)

[Lemonizm]

I would jump out of my chair if she really thought like that. If you have a half-decent piano teacher, she really wouldn't do that if she heard the whole piece.

[blievernic]

Too much pedal?? It's Richter.

[PianoGirl555]

Too much pedal...

[Lemonizm]

Who are you to criticize one of the greatest pianists of 20th century?

[Iaparulava]

I agree abosultly with you who are these poeple to speak about Richters heavenly Bachs interptetation!!!!

[OnGiantsShoulders123]

you are a prat Lemonizm. The comment is an opinion on Richter's interpretation and you can't simply dismiss it because you think Richter is untouchable. It's people like you who ruin the arts for others.

[Lemonizm]

First of all, read the comment by "Pianoplayer002". Second of all, you are right; I am a prat for defending one of the greatest pianists of all time, how ridiculous of me! Don't you realize how hypocritical your comment was? You are attacking MY opinion. Stop ruining the "arts" for people.

[AnnMarry19]

Now I think that this oerformance don"t interesting me...

[WEIJUNCHEN]

Great!

[1992peter]

Well done Richter.

WELL DONE.

This video, is where it belongs.

IN MY FAVORITE'S.

[amandaaccardi]

I LOVE how you put the music on here because i'm searching like crazy for a bach fugue i like for college auditions and this is great! it shows me what i'd be playing

also great job!

[goodridgewinners]

wow heaps faster than other versions ive heard.

[00bean00]

Still beautiful, right?

[SummerRoxxx]

bach plagerized himself from invention b flat on the prelude

[kiya3]

lol

[Sandman1278]

that was common

[pianoAndEngineering]

Lol, I think he had 21 kids with his 2 wives.

[pianowendy]

you idiot!

[smithsherman]

Если бы Музыка имел дух а чувство,Я всегда

готов слишить.Ево исполнение от 1:30 до 2:00

чисто удивительный а нет слови что бы описывать ето.

[truecrypt]

smithsherman;

It's a good sign you couldn't find words... ;)

May be it's a beginning of your reconciliation with great art of Sviatoslav Richter?

If so, you are welcome to discuss any aspects of his perfomance... but please, no bashing, obscenities and disrespectful comments!

[smithsherman]

This sounds like Gustav Leonhardt on the grand piano...half baroque...half modern...but not without sensitivity and worthy reflective qualities..that is until we get to the fugue...and then back to the

modern anti-expressive objectivist revisionist metronomic approach.

[truecrypt]

smithsherman, why not to stick to *archaic expressive subjective non-metronomic approach?* You'll find plenty of those on YT.

[onionpizza]

Excellent interpretation! - The fugue is one of my favorites from the WTC. Richter plays it much better than me. I'll never play this one like him, darn:-)

Thanks for showing the scores.

[Alessandro1985]

I like how you put the sheet music up - this is my favourite thing about youtube! I'd never have this stuff memorised or bother reading through it, so it's so nice to have it up!!!

[jluebow2]

hi there:

i love Bach in all variations. Richter is a great choice. I am from the U.S. Where are u from in Sweden?

[Pianoplayer002]

Stockholm, I wont tell you more ;) If you like Bach, you should check out the other Richter video I have (Prelude and Fugue in F# major, it's wonderful, a must-listen in my opinion ;)

[jluebow2]

hi there: great recordings and a very nice idea to show the music scores at the same time. good job! by the way, i grew up in germany, then moved to the U.S.

[JupiterIV]

@Pianoplayer002 You know, I found that if this prelude were played at a vivace of q = 152, it becomes the most Beethovenian of Bach's preludes.