Smith Hopkinson - MINUETS I E II J.S Bach

[manueltava]

Brilliant as always, the great master and phenomenal person that came to this world with the name of Hopkinson Smith.

[musictranscription]

I've done this score.

[ddanze]

Very spiritual music,the gut connexion!

[LAN748]

The world needs more people like this!

5 stars!

[LutenistDeMari]

An amazing musician but his hands are so tense, esp. the right hand. Watch Nigel North for relaxed technique, listen to Hoppy for amazing personality and voicing in counterpoint like noone else on lute.

[Dominicussen]

I don't think Bach cared a fuck about which instrument you play his music on, as long as it work. And this definitely does!

[BayAreaBiker2001]

Bach did write for the lute because it was more common in his area than the guitar, then limited to Spain. His lute pieces are now usually played on the guitar because it is much more common and reasonably close in technique to the lute. The guitar is a member of the lute family, as is the banjo and mandolin.

[lizardcz]

The guitar is NOT a member of the lute family. They are both fretted stringed instrument, but they are not related. Same goes with the Cello and the Viola da Gamba, or the Piano and the Harpsichord.

[philomelodia]

It depends on your definition of the lute family. If a lute is a strummed instrument consisting of a sound box with a neck and paralel strings, then the guitar fits that description as does the lute, the sitar, the shamisan, the oud, the ngoni, the banjo and the mandolin. If you just restrict yourself to western art music and define the lute family as a family of pear-shaped instruments with double strings, ribs, rose and so forth, then you jsut have the lute and theorbo and the oud.

[LutenistDeMari]

The guitar wasn't limited to Spain in Bach's time, it just wasn't popular in Germany.

[philomelodia]

It also lacked the subtle expressiveness and projection it now possesses. Baroque guitars sound tinny and weak to me. Like a muted Cuban Tres. I think Bach would've writen very different music for the guitar if it had existed in its present form when he was around. The timbre of the lute is very different. Lutes are like crystaline light and guitars are like warm darkness and very sensual.

[LutenistDeMari]

Baroque guitar does not lack subtle expressiveness. Listen to Hopkinson smith's album of Francesco Guerav. It does however, lack the projection of a classical guitar. But it is not trying to be a classical guitar. The classical guitar is best for modern repertoire, from Rodrigo to Brouwer, Philip Houghton, Domeniconim, Smith Brindle, and the mighty Britten Nocturnal. The old instruments suit old music beter, particularly when the music is idiomatic - fits like a glove on its intended instrument.

[philomelodia]

I'll track down that cd but I'll define myself as a scheptic willing to be persuaded. There's a Paul O'dette baroque guitar vid on youtube that I heard. Sounds pretty but no punch. Almost the music is too much for the instrument. Arpageos are ok but the rasqueados sound like a lion cub valiantly trying to roar like an adult.

[LutenistDeMari]

That vid you mention shows Paul in a big hall; The old instruments typically need a more intimate acoustic; There were no big concert halls back then. Early music works best in a smaller hall and in recordings - these are the best ways to ensure a strong sound without microphones. I actually think some early music players should consider gentle mic-ing. Obviously these didn't exist in the time of the music, but neither did big halls, nor the concept of performing music for a large audience.

[philomelodia]

Most interesting. Tell me, since you seem like someone whose knowledge of early music is pretty wide, can you recommend an artist who plays vihuela? I love the works of Mudarra and Narvaez and Milan but they don't sound right on the guitar somehow. I've heard Rob MacKillop's vihuela recordings on his website featuring clips but I'm not happy with his interpretation. Do you know of anyone who has recorded these artists definitively on the vihuela?

[LutenistDeMari]

Shirley Rumsey does an interesting cd for naxos of spanish repertoire in which, for most of the tracks, she sings and plays lute/vihuella. She also does some solo numbers. A great cd for a low price, and a rare treat hearing the voice and gut-strings conducted by one mind (more common back in the day). Smith's Vihuela work is excellent but rare on cd these days - you'd need to buy a 'best of' Smith. I take your point about the guitar - when I used to play Narvaez on classical there was always

[LutenistDeMari]

a nigling doubt; I think I know now why. The music is moving and poetic enought to make you desperate to play it - but not universal or ingenious enough to be convincing on an instrument other than its home-instrument. This is, I think, why I can enjoy Bach (played well) on guitar - the quality of Bach and the universality of his music is such that I can enjoy a tuba quartet do the art of fugue - while Narvaez and Mudarra only speak to me on an old instrument (and then they speak volumes).

[LutenistDeMari]

The sound of the Vihuela or baroque guitar and their technical limitations naturally edge the player towards a more subtle, less grandios, ultimitaly more poetic and less heroic reading of old music. Although I like Gibbons played by Gould and Azabagic's Narvaez can be fun.

[marsvltor2]

Very true - but it was very popular at the French court! Check de Visee etc!

[jevoshawke13]

I love the lute, but I don't believe it is right to critique it in comparison to a guitar or any other instrument. It would seem to me that a true musician wouldn't make such a degrading comment, but would be all the more respective of the professional studies of his peers in the realm of virtuosity.

[Quietguy69]

I agree with Nigel North: "The 'classical' guitar seems like the worst possible instrument on which to play Bach". If you want to hear some really yucky sounding Bach go no further than Segovia and Williams. Bream is great of course, as he plays everything with soul.

[loofascraper]

The classical guitar version is more interesting and beutiful.

[tikinxic]

However is an original composition for lute, did you know that?

[loofascraper]

Yes i do. But just because it was for lute doesn't mean it's more entertaining on the lute

[BubCar2]

If you could hear a transcription of this piece for guitar of the period you would notice it sounds very similar (minus the lower notes because baroque guitar only had 5 courses). The early guitar had double courses like the lute & was mainly played with fingertips, not nails.

On the other hand, this piece played on lute but with nails sounds similar to the modern classical guitar version, but with the more "angelic" feeling that goes with the pure lute harmonics (& less "orange" tone).

[LutenistDeMari]

Only if the guitarist in question is a better musician than the lutenist.

[filsuf]

Excellent excellent interpretation! I love the choice and execution of the ornamentation for every repeat!

I do learn something rare from this video about playing Bach and the ornamentation. Thanks for posting this ;)

[aparicon27]

captivating!

[njvlad]

Wow! Never heard anything like this. Amazing. Thanks for sharing. And thanks to YouTube.

[k5xcpq6]

Thank you for this. Any more?

[ElRoedor]

Thanks. This is beautiful. Please, upload more videos of Hopkinson Smith...

[onuryazgan]

Thanx!

Onur YAZGAN.