J. S. Bach - Well-Tempered Clavier 2 : Prelude f#minor

[Squeezebach]

This woman is the consummate Bach player. Wonderful expression, with a good ear for tone. I especially like how she just perceptibly singles out the melody, and brings it to the fore. Too many people lose the melody in the counterpoint when playing Bach. Bravissimo!

[2009Bolero]

Really beautiful, this is amazing work.

[chopify7]

Great music, Great atmosphere. 10 points!

[yumeybaconcutout]

the title only said prelude.... well i love surprises :D

[BenMcCormack91]

Really nice performance. Also, candles.

...

[harryslide]

This and hundreds of other pieces she has committed to memory. What a mind. What a soul! How gorgeous!

[Justme1635438]

Such a clean touch to the piano, amazing.

[undamaris2006]

Bach dà pace

[alexvivacqua]

Essa Angela, um anjo bachiano. Deu o recado musical completo.

[alexvivacqua]

Essa Angela deu o recado de Bach. Que elegante e forte interpretação.

[endeavourthelimits]

I absolutely L O V E the candle light with this piece ! Don't you?!?!?!

[roman1akid]

@igitur07 Yes. But remember the words of Bach himself: “The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.” Bach's music always does make me feel close to God sometimes...it's indescribable. :)

[SuperGeo1987]

@roman1akid dude, i think you might be crazy. "bach makes me feel close to god". are you an axe murderer? wtf?

[roman1akid]

@SuperGeo1987 What? How does saying that make me either crazy or an axe murderer...that makes no sense...and no, I'm neither.

[Chuazx98]

Bach is God of all god!

[PianoFanatic1989]

I think she has the best interpretation of Bach's pieces. Absolutely gorgeous.

[kermankalle]

Agentle to way to approach this unique piece of music. I like this very much.

[giounanlis]

Excellent

[AsturiasGuitar]

Rather to fast for my taste

[MrBrianojee]

Ahh... that's because you're a tosser with the attention seeking need to feel superior... don't worry though, hopefully it will pass

[mastroiani001]

What is the BWV number of this piece? I can't find anywher on Amazon or iTunes this performance. Please help

[sandyhackney]

@mastroiani001 Prelude 14 BWV 883

[mastroiani001]

Hi, does anyone know which number this is in the book? Thank you.

[TheGloryofMusic]

No. 14, Bk. II.

[ChocolateGrenade]

The tone of the piano is beautiful. What a wonderful performance!

[tamarahisk]

All the 3 themes are very different: the 1-st is very decisive (she uses the staccato to single it out), the 2-nd is dramatic (it is distinguished by its rhythm) and the 3-rd is very melodic and lyric.

That's why this fugue is especially beautiful and unique.

[tamarahisk]

Wonderful performance! Especially the fugue!

This fugue is extremely difficult - it has 3 different themes. The exposition starts with the main theme which passes in different voices, then comes the second theme several times, and then the third.

Finally, after all 3 themes are presented, they start to communicate: the 3-rd with the 1-st or the second or with the 2-nd etc., so in the end all three themes come all together.

To be continued...

[saturne46]

J'aime la noblesse et l'émotion dans le maintien et le jeu d'Angela Hewitt. On sent chez elle un véritable amour pour cette musique. Bravo et merci

[rladbwjdtl]

Her masterclass at SJSU was disappointing... It was for the Young-Pianists' Beethoven Competition winners. She's sooooo not a Beethoven person.

[KennYWooD2]

Were you one of the performers? I was there sitting on the stage during the masterclass portion.

[tomarunamerienda]

she makes it look so effortless..im jealous

[ratopal]

LOL

[kentokhromatic]

Isn't a composition like this actualized through the union between the work of the composer and performer, though? What I find miraculous is that a dead composer and a living performer can communicate in unity.

[russradicans]

Divine...

[piwanabongo]

I watched Ms. Hewitt play at an old church in Stratford Ontario Canada 10 years ago.

Her performance was riveting and sublime. The acoustics in the church was close to perfect. It altogether made for an unforgettable experience.

Angela Hewitt, Daniel Barenboim and Glenn Gould are proof enough that God does exist.

[Pollther]

"Angela Hewitt, Daniel Barenboim and Glenn Gould are proof enough that God does exist. "

Ha, bullshit.

[janvkimm]

You see, there are people using eveything to preach their own "views"

Greetings,

Jan

[SirWWW]

I do not think he or she meant it literary...

[lambsonic]

Interesting. So, the most observable, aesthetic, temporal expression -- art -- becomes proof of that which is the most unobservable, anaesthetic and eternal: God?

[Franci110]

There is a perfect atmosphere for this beautiful piece. I love this one and i hope that I will be able to play it soon, too. The Praeludium makes me also cry: GOOD WORK!!! T_T

[Overlapse1000]

She has wonderful sensitivity in her fingers, there are only a few small places where there is to much tone coming from the piano, near flawless plating in every way.

[BluesRob]

The candles are hokey. Angela doesn't need anything but a piano and a bare stage.

[aleberni]

muy bueno.evidentemente es una profesional

[muscarine2000]

has anyone listen to the version of this piece that is part of "lambarena, bach to africa"? it is truely marvelous!!

[ramirokay]

yes its  beautifull!

[nikkor1999]

Can you envision a life without Bach? I can't...

[jg33brunner]

All respect to Hewitt. Have cherished her work for years but never seen her live. The ye olde candles and ancient manor house/ setting doesn´t do the music or me any favours. JSB´s music is as timeless as any great music is, ... and anyway, aren´t some of those candles a litte close to the piano... or is Angela about to be burnt with her instrument for being such a bewitching performer?

[Crancob]

a delight! truely an angel sent by Bach!

[Crancob]

pure delight you are truely an angel sent from Bach x

[ferrarae]

A few days ago she came to Naples for a concert at Castel Santelmo. She is Italo(Umbria I am told)-Canadian

[remilokate]

Absolument Sublime

[gloriapertutti]

Che meraviglia questa fuga a tre soggetti

[whataquar]

on the contrare, I believe bach's fugues are the reason he is so popular. so compelling and creative, all vivid. I love his fugues, as i do everything else by him

[anisometropie]

Bach is the greatest of the greatest

[ParsonYorick]

"they aren't melodic or dramatic" in the romantic sense, but they ARE melodic and dramatic in the pre-romantic sense. I find Bach's fugues extremely beautiful.

[dmcII]

My kingdom to be able to play this beautifully !

[PeelTower]

Oh if only the critics could come close, their betters would have less of which to boast. Yet as we routinely see and ad nauseum hear, a critic's lot is such a sad nonentity I fear.

[sshuck]

I love it. Makes me think about the canon of the "greats", like Gould and Hans Richter, etc... .Why can't she be among the top figures of all time? She is, in my mind. Actually, I kind of prefer the awesome, talented, consummate-professional-type players who don't have such a cult surronding them. Makes me feel like I've found a gem or something.

[fw4434y3erhe]

Prelude is gorgeous. I am not convinced of the staccato in the fugue.

[gloriapertutti]

I am in full accord with you

[codonauta]

Do we find a dvd for sale with Angela Hewitt playing all these preludes and fugues?

[codonauta]

I love Angela Hewitt.

[bubblykings]

yes she is a great pianist and I love her as well!

[bobon47]

Very delicate interpretation.

[ha8av]

Lol joker! Looks like they decided to defy this rule! Unruly females! HOW DARE THEY!!!!??? Lol!

[slowframe]

i agree! off with her head!!!

[zzzooooo]

Beautiful and grandiose!

[kylepatrickribo]

baroque period right?

[zzzooooo]

Right!

The piece is in baroque period!

But,do you think this rendition not play in Baroque style?

[canman5060]

Angela Hewitt played like a very well learned piano teacher. She puts the composer first and her ego second.Gould has first class flawless touch but when he plays everyone knows that it is Gould on Bach not Bach on Bach.

[j3suis]

the thing is that you just can´t know how bach played his own pieces, sometimes the relation betwen the playng and the way it´s writen may change, for god or bad...

[alexongcs]

I AGREE!!!

[MadMadMadTom]

Hey YouTube ... why has my post appeared out of context, instead of alongside the earlier post (from Wilsparky) that it is commenting on?

[AGLMIL]

Bach espero muchos anos por alguien que interpretara su musica con alma. Ahora esta muy contento. Gracias Juan Sebastian y Angela.

[leocoral]

A great artist.

She played J.S. Bach Well Tempered-Clavier Books I and II in Mexico at our best concert hall (Sala Nezahualcóyotl) It was extraordinary.

[mikezzzaaa3]

I am a fan of Gould. However i think that her prelude has depth,resonance and feeling similar to that way Richter plays the F# major prelude of book one.(who says that we should play Bach in an autonomous mechanical fashion). It is better than Gould. However I nener liked this convention of playing the fugues in a staccato patchy style-so I prefer Goulds fugue. I think that is fair.

[wilsparky]

I don't think Gould can play European music quite as well as a true European can. It's in the blood you know. Rather like a none Spaniard trying to play the flamenco....some even say if not Andalusian then forget it.

Could an Israeli really understand, for example, Wagner? I don't think so, do you?

Quite different cultures. One bold, overt yet precise. The other secretive and unforthcoming.

[pagreen1966]

'I don't think Gould can play European music quite as well as a true European can'. wilsparky.

How deeply ironic given that Gould's not too distant ancestor's came from Europe and indeed his mother's grandfather was a cousin of the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg.

[wilsparky]

That's not 'ironic' none Europeans have lived in Europe for a long time....next question.

[faraz1729]

Nonsense.

[MadMadMadTom]

As Gould was, and Hewitt is, CANADIAN, I don't see what point you are making - unless it is that neither of them is up to the standard of the best Europeans?

[wilsparky]

I was just having a drunken rant at the time...I didn't mean a word of it.

If apologies are required then I apologise.

[GV32]

wilsparky said:"I don't think Gould can play European music quite as well as a true European can. It's in the blood you know. Rather like a none Spaniard trying to play the flamenco..some even say if not Andalusian then forget it.

Could an Israeli really understand,for example,Wagner? I don't think so, do you? Quite different cultures.One bold, overt yet precise.The other secretive and unforthcoming."

GV32 says:I have heard alot of dumb things said in my life, but that has got to take the cake

[wilsparky]

Well I certainly got your attention. I'm surprised that more people didn't comment I was simply being mischieveous...I thought I would flush out a few Mary Whitehouses...and up popped you, Voila! Apparently the only one 'dumb' enough to miss the fucking joke.

[GV32]

Nevermind, I just looked at your page, you are not just a moron when you are drunk, you are in perme-flaming moron phase constantly. Natalie Merchant??! You can never ever talk about music for the rest of your life. You are excused for your arrogance Silly Willy, intoxicated or not, forever and always... How could you have known what good is poor boy when your idea of "playing well" is Natalie Merchants "Wonder"??? ...I am sorry I feel like I hijacked the short bus from the retards.

[wilsparky]

Let me guess...you are a Woody Allen characature?

[canman5060]

wilsparky,

It you do some research you may be "surprise" to see many of the world most outstanding Wagner Interpreters are Jews and majority of the Wagnerites are Jews. Even Richard Wagner cannot deny it but try kind of hard to counter attack in his essays Jews and Music.

[wilsparky]

So you are good at recognising talent and copying it...the point is?

[toneeeeeee]

What's with all the gould worship on here? Gould is amazing but plays this prelude a tad too fast. Besides have you heard his Beethoven? Yeeeuck.... I love this performance. Broavo!!!

[leocoral]

Que maravilla.

Un Bach magnífico.

[zukiwawa]

she plays beautifully! I am working on this one currently, but my instructor told me not to do so much rubato. she plays a lot of rubato in prelude, is this still Bach style?? Please give me some feedback and advices, Thank you~

[bachmadness]

Traditional Bach doesn't have that much rubato, that's true, but Hewitt in her current interpretations (as opposed to her CD) uses a lot of it, even in the fugues. Bach didn't really say much about it and honestly, it's nice to hear something different!

When you practice it's probably good to play it perfectly without rubato first and then start adding it wherever you see fit. Obviously there are limits though. But just go with what your soul feels "works".

[palcsi]

A recently unearthed, hitherto unknown, live Leipzig Radio broadcast recording from 1724 of Bach actually at the keyboard, reveals once and for all that Bach indeed used a heavy, ravishing rubato, that had almost a swagger to it.

[johnnylifelive]

hardy har..

rubato's not something that is categorically wrong or right.. Bach talks about cantabile, and one can check out his kid's treatise. With the emphasis on improvisation during the baroque, it's not likely that noone did rubato, as they had all sorts of topoi and classes of composition: antico, etc.

[Mortimer123]

What is "Bach style"? Check out the snippet of cellist pablo Casals's masterclass where he defends his approach against criticism by "purists" who say it's too romantic. Sometimes one hears that Bach shouldn't be played "romantic." But what does that mean? Bach's music is incredibly emotional and often downright flamboyant. Take the obvious example: the early organ toccata & fugue in d minor. Or the Chaconne for solo violin. Or the end of the contrapunctus 5 from the Art of the Fugue.

[prismsmiles]

Expression and emotion can well be put in an enormous range without employing so-called "romantic" techniques. By romantic, one does not mean emotion or expression per se but the "Grand Romantic" style of playing introduced in the early 19th century. This includes the employment of very free tempi, frequent usage of rubato often on single notes as well, undulating dynamics throughout the composition and liberties with the pedal. This is not a rule of course but these are generalisations.

[Mortimer123]

(continued) The modern piano has a far bigger sound than any "clavier" or harpsichord of Bach's time. The same goes for the modern violin. But does that invalidate a big-toned, full-blooded approach to Bach that includes flexible tempo and overt emotion? I think not. Apart from the (to me) obvious evidence in the music itself, there is the fact that Bach was an organist - and there is no instrument with more grandeur, more visceral emotional appeal.

[Cardien18]

Very true...

[MadMadMadTom]

... and she plays perfect legato without "smudging", and there is no affectation or striving after effect ... just that masterful simplicity that lets the music speak for itself ... what a relief after hearing Bach mangled by so many "Bach specialists"

Beautiful

[melaniejsnow]

I love this video. Both your playing and image are simply elegant. I love Bach!

[smurkledunk]

I saw her in concert last Saturday and spoke to her. SHE IS GREat! She is also quite friendly.

[blueyoyi]

just beautifull ...

[lourak]

Such exquisite touch - played in a wonderfully cantabile style, as Bach intended. Recall, please, his introductory remarks to the Inventions, where he calls for this "singing" style. Hewitt uses the resources of the modern piano to express what was in Bach's deepest musical consciousness, but because of the limitations of the instruments of his day, was unable to express. Just an opinion...

[luftspiegelung]

sooo schön, musik vom himmel:)

[CoastCruiser]

A Stellar Performance & In Such a Lovely Setting - Thanx Very Much for Sharing this!

[BrandenburgConcerti]

Finally I get to see her live! I cannot wait for the concert tomorrow!

[LVB1770]

I will also be there for and all three concerts!

FCC in Berkeley is a great venue. It will be amazing to see her play the entire WTC Books 1 and 2!

[BrandenburgConcerti]

all three concerts? that sounds exciting!

I am only going to the one today and the one on Friday - I have a midterm on Friday, so I need Thursday for review.

do you know if there is a dress code for concerts in the Congregational Church?

[LVB1770]

BrandenburgConcerti, Don't think there is a dress code. I watched the show from the control room. My best friend is an engineer for the church. I also met her piano tuner and got to play the piano a little bit. What an instrument! It has 4 pedals. The 4th one makes the sound softer without changing the tone.

It's a FAZIOLI F308 10'2", yea that's 10 feet!

Ms.Hewitt played amazingly. Hopefully, I can meet her Friday.

[BarNuun]

Her feminine touch vitality doth bring in muted light her candles sing ... (et cetera et cetera)

[pianofolle]

could u pls tell me whom u r quoting? shakespeare? (which work?) thanx

[BarNuun]

Regret pianofolle, but I cannot recall the source, a long list of possibilities.

[Nightscape2]

Gould is.... quirky to be sure, but in this pf for instance, Hewitt so perfectly captures the mood of humanity which Gould seems unable to do here.

[eligarf]

can you please refrain from critiquing a dead man who has brought so much beauty and joy to this world? it really is sickening that people feel they have to compare instead of just showing compassion and LOVE.

thank you very much for the beautiful post.

best all ways, from japan, eLi G., piaNOWARist.

[camasta23m]

Also, compare Gould's ornamentation with Hewitt's. Gould's is more precise and cleaner sounding. Hewitt is a genius, true enough....but Gould was a genius and absolute prodigy....unworldly.

[301250]

Not even the (Well Tempered) recordings of Richter's, Martins', Schiff's, Fischer's, Gould's, perhaps only Kempff's ......can be put alongside Angela's. There's a meditative quality about her playing that's seems to be missing in the others. SD Goh (Malaysia)

[camasta23m]

sorry 301...but Angela Hewitt's Bach is typical of the "Romantic hype" as I call it, of playing Bach. Bach is Bach, not Beethoven. Gould tops them all hands down without question

[levgram]

The quality of her playing is meditative, certainly, and like those who truly meditate, she is alive with the moment; the music is not something she plays, rather it springs to life through the quality of her being, and her extraordinary ability to bring that being to bear with the touch of her fingers, true extension of her soul and heart. Bach is happy to have her, you and I are happy, life is happy, because she plays as she does.

[301250]

Wow, Levgram you are a poet, truly. I, certainly would not have been able to describe her playing in such rhapsodic terms as you have done. Long live Bach!

[levgram]

Well,and I am smiling, in fact I am a poet, for real, and you, dear person, found it. I discovered Angela's playing during a very rough patch eg two years of being awake in chronic pain all night except for three hours/night - and the only things I could do to get through was to meditate, write, and trust to the soul/source expression of Angela's Bach. I wrote to her and she was kind enough to reply with an open friendliness. Now, when I hear her, it a soul's friend I hear, heart to heart.

[301250]

Yes, Lev, I too had an experience in the past that parallel yours and whose resolution came about aided by the power of music, to heal and transform. Mine was a case of existential despair and but for the timely intervention of Bernstein's heroic and inspirational Eroica with the Vienna Philharmoniker which was on the radio when I turned it on, well, I, probably, would not be around to write this.

[levgram]

very sorry to hear this, and very happy to hear how music reminded you of life's miracle and possibility. As a child I had a chance to go to a couple of Bernstein's Young People's Concerts. Wow! Music has always been my friend, in grief and joy, as it has for so many others. And now we have Angela's playing to celebrate not only the genius of Bach, or her talent, but of each of us as living proof of life's precious miracle. So fortunate! Thanks for writing as you have.

[301250]

Yup, but while I wasn't as lucky as you to have been able to attend any of Lenny's enlightening YPCs series, even if only a couple, in compensation (and we have to be grateful for life's small mercies) folks in Malaysia then had the series shown on TV (albeit black and white). It got me glued to the screen each week when it appeared and gave me the exposure than I would otherwise have had, to great music for the first time. Thanks to Lenny, and bless his soul. And yours too, mon amie.

[levgram]

how wonderful that you got to see that. I also watched, once I knew about them, on our little black and white tv, ten inch screen. watched and was amazed, thrilled, beyond words, that such was possible. it never left me and a few years ago I tried to find them to see if I might purchase them. But they were beyond our reach. ah, well. there's no time in the imagination so mssr. lenny is playing them, even now. all the best.

[cwh1969]

i'm not too sure about Gould. Yeah, he is good, but I personally think that Andras Schiff is more of a complete Bach perfomer than Gould.

[camasta23m]

Are you serious? Schiff's Bach is even more Romantic Era than Hewitt! Glenn Gould tops them all. He was and always will be the greatest pianist/musician this world has had the honor of knowing.

[klopfweisser]

Nobody exceeds Gould. You might like one performance or the other better, but NOBODY excees Gould in general. In any way.

[beannobody]

Bravo!!!

I love it

[richanchin]

She and Andras Schiff are in the Olympo, and Gould... he lives in another planet

[truxaltom]

wow, thank you for sharing!

[KennYWooD2]

My favorite pianist of all time! She's simply amazing! I've had the fortune of seeing her and meeting her and what a beautiful, charming woman.

[shannonsun]

This is sooo peaceful! Love the way she expressed it!

[kiwibd]

very good!!! I love her Bach.

[stevenlx]

I just love Angela..saw her at Wigmore a few times..just wish I could do Bach..I find him very tricky..but I am only Grade 5

[michaeljholme]

The only pianist to come close to equaling Gould in Bach artistry. Some may say exceeding, not me, but what a fantastic pianist, I don't have the words to desccribe her excellence.

[flipscratch81]

she definitely exceeds Gould.  There is no contest.

[omarfarahat]

i agree that there is no contest, but i don't agree that she exceeds Gould

[tonyshawk]

Neither do I, Gould's fingering technique is a wonder in its own, that's puts him far ahead from any other pianists attempting to play Bach. Nonetheless, I do like to listen to all of them play and I have the WTC recordings by Gould, Hewitt, Schiff, Richter, Landowska, Leonhardt and Walcha.

[hanmedi]

absolutey what I want.

[billwangard]

Brilliant!