For those with more intellectual curiosity than a ferkinskin, here's a translation of Bach's title page to WTC:
"The Well-Tempered Clavier, or, Prelude & Fugues through all the major & minor keys. For the benefit & use of the musical youth eager to learn, as well as for the special pastime of those already skilled in this study. Drawn up & composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. With full title: Capellmeister to His Highness the Prince of Anhalt-Coethen, and Director of His chamber music. 1722.
I thouroughly enjoy Bach anyway even if have no idea what possessed him to produce the beauty he produced....and that with the intellectual curiosity of a termite.
You wrote "how can you possibly know what drove him to write any of what he wrote..apart from his personal notes?"
The expression "drove him to write" suggests that you have this silly romantic notion of early 18th c. composers being "driven" to compose by feverish impulses of creativity rather than by duties or pedagogical purposes.
What possible difference coud that make to the listener?
What difference does that make to the piece? And moreover...how can you possibly know what drove him to write any of what he wrote..apart from his personal notes?
Curiosity is sometimes as worthless as pale insults.
Like I said, it doesn't matter to people with the intellectual curiosity of an ant.
As for the supposedly feverish,romantic impulse you seem to imagine "drove" him to write WTC, we know why he wrote WTC because he told us in his dedication!
perfect balance/equilibrium (better than Schiff)...a very "olympic" and "reassuring" Bach...personally, at the piano,i prefer the visionary re-creation of gould, sokolov and alexandre tharaud.
Enjoyable performance, thanks! A couple of minor gripes: the BBC's editing error (not yours), where from 0'23" to 0'45" the video shows Hewitt playing a different section of the piece, mismatched with the soundtrack. And what's with splitting the performance at a fermata *during* the prelude, with its last 35 seconds in part "3 of 4", instead of splitting between prelude and fugue?
She said, "So much of Bach's music WAS written for his young children and his students."
Excluding the St. Thomas School students, who merely participated in exercises, most of Bach's students (over 70) were adults, most of whom were also students at the University of Leipzig.
And the vast majority of Bach's music was NOT written for his children or for his students.
Are you sure that your not simply getting mixed up with semantics? Does she not mean that the music was written for children listen to and not to play. The music has (in my opinion)a nusery type of feel to it, in some places a lully bye type feel.
I have quoted Ms. Hewitt word for word, even marking her inflection on the word "WAS".
This piece from WTC was not written for children. None of the WTC was written for children. This is adult music.
A few of the preludes and fugues exist in earlier versions in the "Little Clavier Book" of instructional pieces Bach started from his eldest son when he was 10 years old.
But Bach was not writing music to entertain children the way Dr. Seuess wrote stories to entertain children.
Das Wohltemperirte Clavier. oder Præludia, und Fugen durch alle Tone und Semitonia, So wohl tertiam majorem oder Ut Re Mi anlan- gend, als auch tertiam minorem oder Re Mi Fa betreffend. Zum Nutzen und Gebrauch der Lehr-begierigen Musicalischen Jugend, als auch derer in diesem stu- dio schon habil seyenden besonderem ZeitVertreib auffgesetzet und verfertiget von Johann Sebastian Bach. "Lehrbegierige jugend" means "studious youth" Bach often wrote music for young people to learn by playing it
I know what it means and what it doesn't mean. It doesn't mean little children frolicing about as depicted in the video.
This is not "music for children".
This is not nursery music.
Excluding the St. Thomas School students, who merely participated in exercises Bach did NOT teach, most of his students (over 70) were adults, most of whom were also students at the University of Leipzig.
And the vast majority of Bach's music was NOT written for his children or for his students.
And those who were his students weren't taking "piano lessons". They were studying composition. He'd start them out with lessons in figured bass and examples of chorale harmonization.
I think your perceptions about this piece are being influenced by what you see in this video and by Ms. Hewitt's assertion that "so much of Bach's music was written for children.
Pachelbel's Canon in D is often performed very slowly, like a dreamy-eyed Brahms lullaby. But that doesn't mean Pachelbel wrote it for children or intended it to be played that way. It's actually a virtuoso piece for 3 violins and basso continuo, intended to be played fast.
The first time I heard Angela Hewitt's playing, the program was Goldberg Variation and that remain the only time I could listen through the whole long piece without falling asleep. Marvelous skills with really sensible interpretation.
and...Sayuri...really, she's the most famous Bach playing, not just in Canada but worldwide, of our time. Probably best after Glenn Gould (and honestly, I like her better than Glenn Gould)
I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that... well, why not say it? yes, I prefer her rendition of the Back Partitas to G G's... still, his Goldberg Variations (2nd recording) I think belongs in the realm of titanic accomplishments... but these recordings are about her, and I am pleased for her success.
Nothing to be embarassed about. I feel the same way about Gould. I acknowledge his immense talent, but I just can't warm up to his style (and I truly wish I could). I think he's an acquired taste. I prefer Hewitt's Bach instead.
Of course, different to Schiff and Gould. Personally, I prefer Angela Hewitt's Bach to both. It did what Bach intended: refreshed my spirit. Thank you.
ERrrr where the heck n feck is the last two bars. Robbed!
BachEmotion 1 month ago
Lovely playing with beautiful nuances and colors.
formersk8ter 8 months ago in playlist Bach Well-Tempered Clavier
yup this rox!
georgeswanepoel 1 year ago
very nice!
ForeverIsis 2 years ago
For those with more intellectual curiosity than a ferkinskin, here's a translation of Bach's title page to WTC:
"The Well-Tempered Clavier, or, Prelude & Fugues through all the major & minor keys. For the benefit & use of the musical youth eager to learn, as well as for the special pastime of those already skilled in this study. Drawn up & composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. With full title: Capellmeister to His Highness the Prince of Anhalt-Coethen, and Director of His chamber music. 1722.
wcbroccoli 2 years ago
@wcbroccoli Thank you for the translation. That surely settles any question of Bach's intentions with these brilliant works.
gnuwave 1 year ago
Comment removed
wcbroccoli 2 years ago
I thouroughly enjoy Bach anyway even if have no idea what possessed him to produce the beauty he produced....and that with the intellectual curiosity of a termite.
Watch that heart mate! Might explode.
ferkinskin 2 years ago
"Drove him to write "? "Possessed him to produce"? LOL
We're not talking about what *inspired* Bach to write WTC !
We're talking about what he wrote in the title page concerning the nature of WTC and his intended audience.
The fact that you don't care about these things or they don't affect your enjoyment is irrelevant.
Apparently you don't know the difference between inspiration and purpose.
Don't strain your tiny brain, mate. It might implode.
wcbroccoli 2 years ago
feverish,romantic impulse you seem to imagine "drove" him to write WTC????
Never even mentioned that!!
So much for your superior intellect Mr Broccoli!!
He wrote it in his damn dedication!
Ooo aren't you hot headed...you want to calm down...You'll do yourself and injury...heart attack or so!
ferkinskin 2 years ago
You wrote "how can you possibly know what drove him to write any of what he wrote..apart from his personal notes?"
The expression "drove him to write" suggests that you have this silly romantic notion of early 18th c. composers being "driven" to compose by feverish impulses of creativity rather than by duties or pedagogical purposes.
wcbroccoli 2 years ago
You write: "...how can you possibly know what drove him to write any of what he wrote" as though you think I'm talking about what inspired him.
The discussion is not about his inspiration. It's about his purpose,and intended audience, as stated in his title page to WTC.
Learn to read. And learn the difference between inspiration and purpose.
So much for your inferior intellect, Ms. Ferkinskin.
Hope your head doesn't explode trying to understand all these big words.
wcbroccoli 2 years ago
Bravo Angela! Bach is King!
121jazzy 2 years ago
Like it matters who he wrote it for!
Nice
ferkinskin 2 years ago
It doesn't matter to people with the intellectual curiosity of an ant.
wcbroccoli 2 years ago
So why does it matter?
What possible difference coud that make to the listener?
What difference does that make to the piece? And moreover...how can you possibly know what drove him to write any of what he wrote..apart from his personal notes?
Curiosity is sometimes as worthless as pale insults.
ferkinskin 2 years ago
Comment removed
wcbroccoli 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Like I said, it doesn't matter to people with the intellectual curiosity of an ant.
As for the supposedly feverish,romantic impulse you seem to imagine "drove" him to write WTC, we know why he wrote WTC because he told us in his dedication!
wcbroccoli 2 years ago
It matters in the context of the thread about Hewett's statement that, "So much of Bach's music WAS written for his young children and his students."
If you'd bother to read the thread, you might not be asking such stupid questions.
wcbroccoli 2 years ago
You write "And moreover...how can you possibly know what drove him to write any of what he wrote..apart from his personal notes?"
as though you dismiss his "personal notes" as a significant source of information about his intent.
What you naively call "his personal notes"
are not scribblings in his day planner.
It's the his title page to WTC.
wcbroccoli 2 years ago
very first time to listen to Angela Hewitt playing it. thanks!
jayjay0866 3 years ago
pure beauty
thelookingglassss 4 years ago
perfect balance/equilibrium (better than Schiff)...a very "olympic" and "reassuring" Bach...personally, at the piano,i prefer the visionary re-creation of gould, sokolov and alexandre tharaud.
jeanphilipperameau81 4 years ago 2
Enjoyable performance, thanks! A couple of minor gripes: the BBC's editing error (not yours), where from 0'23" to 0'45" the video shows Hewitt playing a different section of the piece, mismatched with the soundtrack. And what's with splitting the performance at a fermata *during* the prelude, with its last 35 seconds in part "3 of 4", instead of splitting between prelude and fugue?
thebpl 4 years ago
If you look listen to the first video it's because Bach wrote it for children.
DrMontague 4 years ago
Hewitt did not say Bach wrote it for children.
She said, "So much of Bach's music WAS written for his young children and his students."
Excluding the St. Thomas School students, who merely participated in exercises, most of Bach's students (over 70) were adults, most of whom were also students at the University of Leipzig.
And the vast majority of Bach's music was NOT written for his children or for his students.
wcbroccoli 3 years ago
Are you sure that your not simply getting mixed up with semantics? Does she not mean that the music was written for children listen to and not to play. The music has (in my opinion)a nusery type of feel to it, in some places a lully bye type feel.
DrMontague 3 years ago
I have quoted Ms. Hewitt word for word, even marking her inflection on the word "WAS".
This piece from WTC was not written for children. None of the WTC was written for children. This is adult music.
A few of the preludes and fugues exist in earlier versions in the "Little Clavier Book" of instructional pieces Bach started from his eldest son when he was 10 years old.
But Bach was not writing music to entertain children the way Dr. Seuess wrote stories to entertain children.
wcbroccoli 3 years ago
Orgelmeister1750 2 years ago
I know what it means and what it doesn't mean. It doesn't mean little children frolicing about as depicted in the video.
This is not "music for children".
This is not nursery music.
Excluding the St. Thomas School students, who merely participated in exercises Bach did NOT teach, most of his students (over 70) were adults, most of whom were also students at the University of Leipzig.
And the vast majority of Bach's music was NOT written for his children or for his students.
wcbroccoli 2 years ago
Comment removed
wcbroccoli 2 years ago
Bach compiled notebooks of music for his own children and for his 2nd wife.
Early short, early versions of some pieces in his WTC, Inventions & Sinfonias appear in the notebook for his eldest son.
But contrary to what this video suggests, he didn't write nursery music.
The vast majority of his students (about 70) were young adults studying at the Univeristy of Leipzig.
wcbroccoli 2 years ago
You ignored the rest of the dedication.
"Zum Nutzen und Gebrauch der Lehr-begierigen Musicalischen Jugend,
als auch derer in diesem studio schon habil seyenden besonderem Zeitvertreib."
"For the use & profit of musical youth eager to learn, AS WELL FOR THE SPECIAL PASTIME OF THOSE *ALREADY* SKILLED IN THIS STUDY."
Surely Bach did not imagine that THOSE *ALREADY* SKILLED IN THIS *STUDY*
would be children or would want to play children's music as a pastime.
wcbroccoli 2 years ago
Comment removed
wcbroccoli 2 years ago
Also, keep in mind that I was addressing Hewitt's statement that "So much of Bach's music WAS written for his young children and his students."
Actually, very little of Bach's music was written for his young children, and none of it was written for his students.
Most of his students (those who took private lessons from him) date from his Leipzig years 1723-1750.
WTC dates from 1722 when he was still working for Prince Leopold in Coethen.
wcbroccoli 2 years ago
And those who were his students weren't taking "piano lessons". They were studying composition. He'd start them out with lessons in figured bass and examples of chorale harmonization.
wcbroccoli 2 years ago
I think your perceptions about this piece are being influenced by what you see in this video and by Ms. Hewitt's assertion that "so much of Bach's music was written for children.
Pachelbel's Canon in D is often performed very slowly, like a dreamy-eyed Brahms lullaby. But that doesn't mean Pachelbel wrote it for children or intended it to be played that way. It's actually a virtuoso piece for 3 violins and basso continuo, intended to be played fast.
wcbroccoli 3 years ago
I take on board your indeph view. I'm not knowledgeable enough about Bach to argue. Thanks for your comments they are appreciated.
DrMontague 3 years ago
what are those ghostly children running around for? wonderful playing!
clashtitans2 4 years ago
Clean and beautiful performance of clean and beautiful music
iddyumpty 4 years ago
The first time I heard Angela Hewitt's playing, the program was Goldberg Variation and that remain the only time I could listen through the whole long piece without falling asleep. Marvelous skills with really sensible interpretation.
and...Sayuri...really, she's the most famous Bach playing, not just in Canada but worldwide, of our time. Probably best after Glenn Gould (and honestly, I like her better than Glenn Gould)
joannalaforet 5 years ago
I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that... well, why not say it? yes, I prefer her rendition of the Back Partitas to G G's... still, his Goldberg Variations (2nd recording) I think belongs in the realm of titanic accomplishments... but these recordings are about her, and I am pleased for her success.
rsalinasprice 3 years ago
Nothing to be embarassed about. I feel the same way about Gould. I acknowledge his immense talent, but I just can't warm up to his style (and I truly wish I could). I think he's an acquired taste. I prefer Hewitt's Bach instead.
dmcII 3 years ago
uh..Sayuri? Angela Hewitt is pretty much the most famous Bach player in Canada..have you not heard of her before?!?!
chexymexy 5 years ago
I have had a wild crush on Angela Hewitt for a while now. Anyone who can play Bach like that is my dream woman.
ragman21 5 years ago
Of course, different to Schiff and Gould. Personally, I prefer Angela Hewitt's Bach to both. It did what Bach intended: refreshed my spirit. Thank you.
cswwbs66 5 years ago
u are very taleneted!!! (unlike some people i hear XD) -no offense- nice dinamics and touch!
Sayuri462 5 years ago