Fugue e-minor (BWV 548) J.S. Bach

[SuperBabel2]

je ne comprends pas bien toutes ces discussions de "coupeur de cheveux en quatre", c'est une pièce éblouissante de haute maîtrise, remarquablement exécuté (je précise que je suis capable de l'interpréter...) ce qui donne à mon opinion une certaine valeur  D.BABEL

[foveauxbear]

Such a fantastic performance. Incredible!! thanks to Aarnouddegroen for this video. Blessings!!

[omochi0119]

amazing!!!!

[angietihi]

This is a really beautiful organ. And really good organist. Thank you. It is a pity about all the flame wars. So many people here seem to have a version of Aspergers.

[jsnauwaert]

@willzer808 Seems you have been called an idiot by me by mistake. There was somebody else making some really stupid remark about some instruments that would be more difficult to play than the organ...

Anyways, I don't care, you are probably an idiot too, considering for instance the amount of your posts for this one Youtube file alone. You have one thing in your favor: you have played (or at least you say so) most of Bach organ works (I don't even want to know how badly you played them...)

[jsnauwaert]

Pobinr is right. Bach is the greatest composer ever, without an ounce of a doubt. Will there ever be another Bach? Hard to say, I get the impression of not.

[Maxbay89]

this guy is too fast :(

[kknots]

You sound a lot like John Scott Whiteley in this one! Why do we need to listen to what's already been up? Try to differ your recording from the rest (rest=John Scott).

[bachbest27]

muy bueno bien tocado

[willzer808]

J.S. does kick ass alright. But i'm fairly convinced that its not half as challenging as other instruments, including paul gilbert's electric guitar playing. Seriously!

[Maxbay89]

@willzer808 thats a good debate :)

[SealedSage]

@willzer808 You're... you're joking right? This offends me so much I don't even know where to begin. Electric guitar will never match the extreme finesse of pipe organ studies. I can't believe anyone would ever believe otherwise. Playing with both hands, both feet, and balancing it all with a bunch of stops... I'm an electric guitarist too, but please man, have some respect. This challenge of organ music is a lifelong study, you can't just go out and buy a nice pedal or amp... peace

[jsnauwaert]

@willzer808 Idiot.

[willzer808]

@jsnauwaert Idiot.

[willzer808]

@willzer808 Oh and by the way Idiot, I have played most of Bach's organ works? Don't suppose that bears any relevance to anything... refer to yourself as an idiot in future please if you can get your head around that one..

[mudog35]

plays way to fast you can't enjoy all the variations

[Petronivs1750]

Klasse !

[passitelexk43]

tempo magnifico....

esecuzione splendida...GRAZIE!

[bachkirche]

Is this a Flentrop organ?

[robertgift]

RE: Video response: C. Barthen's performance.

Disappointed thathe difficulthird trill is missing and VERY disappointed thathe fantastic pedal trills are omitted.

The separated pedal notes are unfortunate. Not a musical line if the notes are not connected. No phrasing and articulation with all notes separated.

Same problem with manual notes not connected. Yes, more difficult to connect all notes which should be connected.

Otherwise, nice! Greatempo.

Like the closeups!

[malditosusernames]

nah, es imposible tocar eso!!!! zarpado Aarnoud!!! sos un groso, y yo que pensaba que tenía coordinación por ser baterista.... impresionante.

[3NUNS]

this guy should stick to the trio ´sonatas´ of Bach perhaps :))

[3NUNS]

this guy should stick to the trio ´sonatas´ of Bach

[hugovh1]

Nice playing;).

but a little to(o) fast.

[robertgift]

First trill too long!

Wonderful playing of the trills, especially accomplishing the impossible right hand trills in the soprano. BRAVO!

I dislike separating all the pedal notes. Separated notes do not a musical line make.

Of course, separate some notes for phrasing and articulation. But I tire of ALL the broken notes and yearn for notes CONNECTED.

Also desire contrast and relief by going to the Oberwerke at 1:50, etc.

Why not play the impossible trills at at 1:41 and 6:47?!

[MadsD0S]

@robertgift : Actually I like this pedal work very much. It is a matter of taste, but I like the more destinct and separated notes instead of the connected ones. Fortunately there aremany interpretations, so we will both be able to find some to our liking.

I guess we all know exactly how we want Bach played - unfortunately I cannot play myself, so I have to settle for just listening. I wish I could play like this.

[robertgift]

To: MadsD0S. The separated notes sound as though he was unable to keep the beautiful lines smooth and legato.

So often I hear broken lines in manuals because fingers were not made available to to tie one note to the next. One must "fingure" it out to do it.

Thistill a wonderful performance! I wonder how he managed to accomplish the third trill so well? I have such difficulty with it. Most just don't do it.

Even Helmut Walcha cheats and holds down the two notes.

[mudog35]

i think played a little to far I like the other guy that plays it better....way to fast!

[3NUNS]

@mudog35 : You mean Whitely?

[TIMedWork]

@mudog35 This particular performance I found especially pleasing. I believe that the tempo of the work is defined by the instrument's ability to enunciate. The Dean, Anthony Newman of Julliard, would often find himself in such arguments, taking the position I've just stated. Have listened to him on the subject and watched him perform alternately on both organ and pedal harpsichord the same works, it was clear his perception had considerable merit.

[nefta235]

es usted un maestro....olé

[Ant2101]

Wow!! This is an AMAZING piece of music =) well done! My favourite bit has to be between 3.16-3.38

Thanks for posting this masterpiece!

[Tuttiplaya]

SAME HERE! when it goes into major.. i'm like AHHH!!! :)

[diekunstderfuge1749]

Very good performance.

Thanks

[Biff947]

4:03-4:08 :-)

[HerrWarja]

Pardon me but is it e-minor or c-minor. You write too diffrents keys. One in the headline and one in the description...

[gene15644a]

Technique looks light and relaxed. Very nice work!!

[aamusc]

I just love the articulation: it is just right.

[obxemt]

Superb!!!

[iselldummysmacks]

and to think that all of our western music was spawned after this. the principium in which we base all of our melodies after. this music has a title which few genres of music has been able to ever achieve. timeless.

[tictickets]

Trill at 0:35 !

[MetallicaBOR]

Heavy metal is the law!

[glevantino]

u would not have your heavy metal without this.

[MetallicaBOR]

I love classical music more than you. You did not understood me. I wanted to say that bach is so heavy. i like bach

[Gerstroncio]

Please metalfags, stop trolling with the BACH WAS METAL HURRRR, METAL IS TEH NEW CLASSICAL/BAROQUE MUSIC DURRRR, if you like metal good for you, but don't come here saying that bulshit.

[piter0x]

Excellent !

[pobinr]

This music goes way beyond anything subsequent composers managed to achieve. Bach from 300 years ago still sounds like from 300 years in the future !

The beautiful mathematical patterns. The balance & symmetry. The melodic density. The dazzling harmonies.

He was head & shoulders above Mozart Beethoven & the rest & they knew it. This sounds like one of his most difficult works to play. Great job you Did Arnoud. Long live counterpoint.

[glevantino]

could not agree more! Bach set a standard that no one else has yet reached. the complexity of his music amazes and really requires you to listen carefully to full appreciate it.

[gngeannakakes]

Actually, this piece is not that difficult to play - look at aarnouddegroen playing the Fugue in g-minor (BWV 542), now that is a far more difficult piece to play. I find the major difficulty in these pieces is the sheer length of them and not so much the passages which one can master with an untold number of hours put into playing them. The beginning and end parts of this piece, the spectacular parts, are not that difficult. It is in the middle parts where the difficulty in playing arises.

[dadzboy56]

Actually, I sort of disagree. I learned this piece (both prelude and fugue) for my senior organ recital in college. It is a witch to learn, and yes, does take untold hours practicing. Once well learned, however, it actually just sort of rolls along once you get going. It was one of the more fun Bach fugues I have played. One blessing with this fugue is that it is ABA so you don't need to learn quite as many notes as it may at first appear.

[cruddiestcrudever]

And it's quite a simple key signature the way I see it, but I haven't learned it (yet!) so what do I know.

[paul260478]

yes i know, totally agree.

one of his former pupils , and friends.

proud of it. Kind and friendly man

greetings

paul

[gene15644a]

Bach was one of a kind, sadly never to come this way again.

Oh if he could just appear for a weekend, and give Recitals.... the money he'd make.

[wcbroccoli]

@pobinr Most music has recognizable patterns (melodic, harmonic, motivic, structural, etc.). But how are the patterns in this Bach fugue "mathematical"?

[pobinr]

@wcbroccoli Show me a pattern that isn't mathematical

[wcbroccoli]

@wcbroccoli If you really believe all patterns are "mathematical"

(whatever that means), then your phrase "mathematical patterns" is surely redundant, like saying "wet water."

[zyrtec3]

@wcbroccoli The "meaningful academic discussions" over a genuine piece of art is to me like discussing the soloist's dress in the concert hall aloud during the concert. :)

Bach WAS a mathematician! If you ever wrote a baroque style fuge yourself, you know what it is about.

[wcbroccoli]

@zyrtec3 Actually, I'm working on a fugue based on the subject of a fugue written by a friend in order to show him how it's done. His subject is fine but his counterpoint and development of ideas are poor.

All good music, not just fugues, requires orgaization & development of musical material. But none of that involves math.

I have a university degree in math, so I can assure, there's no math involved in writing a fugue. All that's needed is a little knowledge and a good imagination.

[zyrtec3]

@wcbroccoli Thanks for comment! I do bow my head to all who are competent in mathematical arts, in which I am an ignorant. To me the rules of the Palestrina type counterpoint and then (whata relief!) Bach's counterpoint were pure math = natural discipline.

The "math" behind the unharnessed and furious artistic imagination (call it God's inspiration, illumination, or else) work like a comb to a tangled hair or ortography to expressing emotions. Makes it comprehensive. Sometimes divine!

[pobinr]

@wcbroccoli Yes but where there are permutations of patterns such as in a fugue then u must acknowledge surely that a mathematical description or model can apply more than with more random forms of music.

[wcbroccoli]

@pobinr By "permutations", you're refering to changes in the order of the entrances of the voices in each new expostion. In a 4-voice fugue on a single subject, there are 24 possible orderings, but it's rare when you will see more than 4-6, and changing the order of the entrances doesn't involve any computation or knowledge of permutations or combinatorics. No math is involved.

[wcbroccoli]

@pobinr All music, not just fugues, has structure.

The mere fact that you recognize that the order of the entrances of the voices of a fugue might vary from exposition to exposition does not imply any mathematical description of model in composing or analyzing the fugue.

Do you know what is double counterpoint at the 8ve? No math is involved to create or undertand it. You just have to know to avoid the interval of the 5th on downbeats because an inverted 5th becomes a 4th.

[pobinr]

@wcbroccoli It's a no brainer isn't it that the high degree of order, patterns recurrent themes etc we see in Bach's music means it's more mathematical compared to more random forms of music.

Mandelbrot explored whether fugues are fractal like.

[wcbroccoli]

@pobinr I can "permute" (which is just a fancy word for "change the order of") the letters of the word LIVE to spell the words EVIL or VILE.

But the permutation ILVE is not interesting because it doesn't spell a word.

There's no math or modeling involved in finding these permutations.

I could compute that there are 24 possible permutations, but that computation is neither necessary nor useful. Only 3 of the possible permutations spell English words.

[pobinr]

@wcbroccoli Bach's music is perhaps the most significant ordering of any system to have occurred in the known universe since matter 1st organised itself into life 3 or 4 billion years ago.

Yet to u it's not mathematical !

Ha ha they taught u maths but not what maths is.

[wcbroccoli]

@pobinr Such romantic drivel.

Do you even know what an ordering is?

The words in a dictionary are a "significant ordering". So are the names in a telephone directory and the indexes you search with Google.

Explain how Bach's music is "the most significant ordering of any system."

Composers long before Bach were writing imitative contrapuntal pieces so let's carry on like he invented the concept.

[pobinr]

@wcbroccoli 'an' as opposed a'. Oh that's the real issue isn't it !

Ordering - 'A condition in which each thing is properly disposed with reference to other things and to its purpose; methodical or harmonious arrangement:'

Bach's music was not only far in advance of his contemporaries, in many respects it's still in advance of what's been composed since.

[wcbroccoli]

@pobinr "'an' opposed to 'a'"? You made it an issue. Not me.

An "ordering" is nothing more than an arrangement, or sequencing, of things. It doesn't have to be purposeful, methodical or harmonious. It could be random.

A shuffled deck of cards orders the cards randomly and is thus an "ordering" of the cards.

[pobinr]

@wcbroccoli Yes but Bach's music is 'purposeful, methodical & harmonious.' so WTF are you splitting hairs over ?

Many words have fluid definitions why split hairs for no purpose ?

U over educated 5hit head. An example that too much swatting can damage the brain. You're blocked

[wcbroccoli]

@pobinr You say Bach's music is "'purposeful, methodical & harmonious." You could same the same thing about the music of any composer. What music does not have a purpose (e.g., entertainment, devotion, etc.), does not follow a method (e.g, form, style, etc.) and does not have harmony?

Is calling anyone's music "methodical" a compliment? Hmmm.

You don't know what you're talking about. You're in way over your head.

[pobinr]

@wcbroccoli U'll b arguing black= white next. Uhav degree in Maths, unbelievable. Let me explain,shuffled cars r in a state of disorder not order.

Since ufail 2comprehend y Bach as described by Wagner was the most stupendous miracle in all music,then try watching 'BBC great composers' series on utube. No music has a greater sense of unity of purpose& design than Bach works. Handel not quite in Bach's league,Teleman not close. Without Bach there would be no Mozart or Beethoven as we know them.

[wcbroccoli]

@pobinr No. An ordering can be random. A shuffled deck is an example of a random ordering., You called his music an "ordering". An ordering does NOT have to display order. Apparently you don't understand the difference between "order" and "ordering".

You, Wagner and Romanticists, from Weber onward, failed or refused to see Bach in his relations to forebears and contemporaries. Like you, they idolized him as if he'd created musci out of chaos. You need to study music history.

[pobinr]

@wcbroccoli I made quite clear order in sense of non disorder &non randomness. UR completely pedantic&anal but not in the sense that can lead2helpful interesting communication.Mor in the sense of pointless perverse pedentary. A shuffled pack of cards presents no logical order does it. Like stirring your tea it increases the disorder. Christ didn't they teach u about chaos & anti chaos on your 5hitty course. Actually I think ur winding me up. I mean I can't believe ur so thick. So no mor reply2u

[wcbroccoli]

@pobinr You may want to believe you made yourself clear, but what you actually said was "Bach's music is perhaps the most significant ordering..."

What you said doesn't even make sense because no one's music is "an ordering".

Not one thing you've said about the music of Bach holds up under even casual scrutiny.

A shuffled deck of cards is an example of random ordering, "Ordering" does NOT mean "order" or "well ordered."

[flexicon1996]

@wcbroccoli wcbroccoli's points should be well taken, pobinr is having difficulties

[wcbroccoli]

@pobinr You fail or refuse to see Bach in his relations to forebears and contemporaries. You idolize him as if he'd created music out of chaos.

You don't know what you're talking about. Study music history.

[Maxbay89]

@pobinr dushe bag

[pobinr]

@Maxbay89 Seek help

[wcbroccoli]

@pobinr "Far in advance of" how? Composers long before Bach were already writing polyphonic works in complex imitative counterpoint using devices such as augmentation, diminution, inversion, double counterpoint, stretto and canon. Bach didn't invent any of that. He imitated what had been done traditionally, but in the styles and harmonic language of his day. As for Bach's contemporaries, Handel and Telemann, to name a few, also wrote fugues.

[TIMedWork]

@zyrtec3 I must agree with you regarding the mathematics of Bach's music. On that subject there is a course of study at Dartmouth. Thought you might take interest.

See the Pulitzer Prize winning book, “Gödel, Escher, Bach: The Eternal Golden Braid”

[MrHicks091]

@pobinr Though I deeply love Beethoven & Mozart, I definitely feel that I must agree with you. Not only was he head & shoulders above them but, without his influence, I feel the music of these subsequent eras would have been much less rich!

[pobinr]

@MrHicks091 Yes very true. Watch the BBC great composer series on here. The 1st one about Bach. In it someone mentions that all subsequent composers learned to compose by listening to Bach. Without Bach there would have been no Beethoven or Mozart as we know them.

To this day no subsequent composers have managed to achieve what Bach did.

[rustyspo0ns]

@pobinr You're an ignorant. Do you, at least, have a mere notion of harmony and counterpoint ? Did you take time studying other composers ? Because maybe you would stop trying to find an "absolute best" in music....

[maudiouser]

well done! thank you so much for sharing your performance of this amazing work of Bach. I deeply appreciate all the work you must have done to play this so well. sincrely, stephen ader, santa fe, new mexico, u.s.a.

[debartzen]

Brillante.!Gracias.!

[sayspepe]

what joy it would bring to have a massive organ in my house.... wake my neighbors up with a little culture! : )

[gene15644a]

One of my relations did had a smaller organ in their home maybe half as large as the one this was performed upon.

Wish I could have played back then, and as well as this guy.

[trailwalker67]

Beautifully controlled flair of hands and feet without ostentatious showmanship. The music is the art. It was performed by a most respectful and artistic musician.

[lutheranorthodoksi]

I like this very much. If anything, just the tiniest bit too fast, but it was very well done. Thank you for the post.

[advisorC101]

Can't get enough of this and again nice pedal work Aarnoud!

[advisorC101]

Rewind!

[Splint002]

nice I play the cello and like the few bach pieces that have a what is it called again an dissdent i think anyway awsome.

[Ntalikeris666]

What Pipe organ is it? Is that in your House?

[cpeb14]

It is an organ in a church.

To be precise, it is the organ of the Bethlehemchurch in The Hague (Netherlands).

[Ntalikeris666]

i see... I was just comfused cause if you watch at the beggining of the vid you can see some house furniture, and in most of the vid you can see a toilet on the right of the organist. Very Good performance BTW

[advisorC101]

Prachtig! I like what you did with the pedal part at 5:51. Most organists I've heard play it don't do that.

[Protenor]

Unlike most of the people here I am not an organ expert, but I watch this video quite frequently, just because I enjoy this piece so much and I don't have any recording with me. Thanks for putting this online - sounds good to me like most of your videos except for "Ich ruf zu dir..." which I found a little too fast, no offense.

[redletterchurch]

Very well done. Bach is often played in a too mechanical, too crisp, too harsh a manner. You got it right. You stayed out of the way of the music...and let it speak for itself.

[quinn244]

very well done!!!!!

[spacecadet2016]

Greater clarity in the recording is required. Did you experiment with locations for the mikes? Admirable tempo; I'd like a more crisp approach to non-legato, especially given the recording quality. Some pedal notes, being low, could have been clipped shorter. Needs to be punchier. But well done!

[Brandotuomikoski]

Sorry if my comment below sounds bad, I am an organist and I cant tell much difference between a pipe organ and a good digital. SORRY!

[quinn244]

Im an organist to there is a big difference in a pipe organ and a digital my church has a rodgers trillium organ and theres a big difference and rodgers have one of the closest pipe organ sounding digital organs

[Brandotuomikoski]

I would say allen or M&O have much better than allen. where do you live? How old r u. im 14 n klive in Omaha nebraska. i play the 3 manual martan pasi organ at st cecilias cathedral. its one of the most famous organs.

[nadkaerian]

This is a great job! I think this kind of music is music (pop star sucks, don't they?... xD

[advisorC101]

And they are corrupt. ;0

[gilles2777]

meglio albert schweitzer

[Brandotuomikoski]

Is this a digital organ? looks like a van der poel digital organ

[orpimu]

Your digital soundblaster makes this wonderful

pipeorgan a van der Poel!

[rightsoever]

Wonderful. As it SHOULD be. Thank you.

[lustful2]

Excellent performance. And your interpretation was spot on. I don't see the need for any Organists to change direction in the playing of the Fugue. That is change manuals half way into the fugue. The whole essence of playing Bach is to use sensible articulation and see that there is clarity in the performance. Well done again.

[kaisserriesenrad]

Amigo, ¿debes estar tocando desde niño no? ¿es tuyo ese organo? ¡¡veo que te gustan las obras en "menor" de Bach!!... Celestial mi pana, Celestial, Johann fue un hombre inspirado por Dios, el despertará en la primera resurrección y será mi Maestro de música... te lo aseguro men...!! Te felicito!! hasta luego!

[redletterchurch]

Great job! BWV 548 and BWV 582 are my Bach favorites!

[LonerPoltergeist]

LOVE THIS!

[rollsroyce59]

Could you please tell me wo the maker of tho organ is?

[aarnouddegroen]

No problem: Vierdag.

[jpokot]

This is great, but I actually preferred the acoustics / tempo in a previous recording that you had up on YouTube; there wasn't as much reverb so the contrast between the voices was more stark. On the other hand, this newer recording doesn't accentuate the nasally organ sound that some people find so offensive, so I suspect it will be the more popular of the two.

Either way, it's a beautiful fugue.

[DanielBrennan9]

Damn Id love to play the organ, and this!

How long did it take to master this piece?

[3NUNS]

Mr. Brennan. 1) By using the virtuoso practise regime you can master this piece in about six months on the pipe organ ; and/or 2) by using the Listz pianoforte transcription [Peter's edition] you can master this piece on the piano. 3NUNS.

[thepat29]

Great performance, love the speed.

Why do you start the first trill with a `g` and not `fis`?

[ForestChav]

Trills in Baroque begin with an appogiatura on the UPPER note. Starting on the g is correct.

[thepat29]

Thanx, im learning this fugue right now (selfstudy) and this answer takes my doubts away. It will feel better now while playing.

[Wurzelausminus1]

best recording I've ever heard of BWV 548! Great job!

[organpipe8]

Awesome, enjoyed it, thanks for sharing.

[epimeison]

Claps, claps and more claps!!!

Absolutley NICE, Thanks Aarnoud!

[tobalwin]

Sounds exactlly the right speed to me. Many Bach fugues "climb" this one happens to "cascade"!

[MissDeniseHewitt]

Brilliant Performance as usual :) Denise

[3NUNS]

Hi, Howabout a classical music date. Miss Hewitt. From David.

[MissDeniseHewitt]

Hi, Thanks for the offer from Australia to London ?! Best Wishes - Denise

[3NUNS]

Denise. I am on AUS $ 100 000 per annum plus super and allowances on top of this. I will come and see you in London this Christmas Miss Denise Hewitt. Australia, once the home of the British who sought and built an attempt at greater British culture, is no longer so. I want to hear the lessons and carols at Kings College etc etc this Christmas. And how could you possibly know I was in Australia.

[MissDeniseHewitt]

Your Profile Country is Australia:) I should add that I'm a busy lady all year, but especially during Christmas and New Year! I hope that you really enjoy the Kings College Service, although I believe that it may be a challenge to secure tickets:) Best Wishes - Denise

[sovereign254]

It sounds better than the first one, although, I think this recording is too fast, but that's my opinion.

[ViniciusLoncanis]

Bellissimo!

Anche il trillo al pedale nell'esposizione del tema (0.45)!

[Funkypotat0]

Wow, it has been some time since a video was last uploaded, very nice.

[eecummingscsa]

very nice, thanks for posting.