J.S. Bach - "Pedal Exercitium" (BWV 598)

[MarSwanlake]

WOW. AMAZING...

[GrandeBombarde16]

@MarSwanlake Thanks!!

[MarSwanlake]

@GrandeBombarde16 No problem! excellent job!

[StoryNClark]

Uh Oh! I'm getting...HAPPY FEET!

[GrandeBombarde16]

@StoryNClark LOL.

[AmgNoWai]

Superb! Great tempo and ending, wonderfully done.

[GrandeBombarde16]

@AmgNoWai Thanks so much!

[Berliozini]

100 % good made. Popular organists never sat to try.

[GrandeBombarde16]

@Berliozini Thank you! 

[pcstratmanB]

Nice logical sounding ending. Nice even tempo through the whole thing.

[GrandeBombarde16]

@pcstratmanB Thanks very much for watching and commenting, Paul!

[mcpetropolis]

BRAVISSIMO !!!!

[GrandeBombarde16]

@mcpetropolis Thanks so much!

[alanjknig]

I believe something different. I first encountered 598 in the 80s. It is a practice, which I think Bach wrote for himself. In his bio literature, I think it says somewhere that he developed great pedal technic. My score had a repeat at the end. The low final D is there for an obvious reason:go back through the exercise again, even interminably. Bach was a hard worker. I never thought that this was a public performance piece, not when there is so much marvelous pedal work in his organ pieces...

[GrandeBombarde16]

@alanjknig Well, everyone is going to read a different meaning into the unresolved "D" that Bach wrote. Bach obviously had tremendous pedal technique, so this exercise gives a good idea of Bach's agility on the pedals. However, leaving the unresolved "D" at the end of the score simply to indicate complete repetition(s) doesn't seem like a logical thing for Bach to have done, as repeat signs have always been in use. It also doesn't present a way to bring the piece back to G at the conclusion.

[GrandeBombarde16]

@alanjknig As you probably know, most professional organists repeat the first few measures of the piece before playing their added ending. My view is that Bach purposefully left this work "unfinished" to present a challenge to future organists. The challenge I believe Bach left is for those organists, who are so inclined, to create an ending for the piece that is dictated by their pedal technique and musical knowledge.

[alanjknig]

@GrandeBombarde16 For organists to create their own endings is a good hypothesis and maybe the actual one, not for posterity but for anyone. However, I think he wrote it for himself and do not agree that repeating is illogical. The first half is roughly tonic, the second half, mainly dominant--all D based. Bach worked very hard at his pedal playing, this being one of the ways he did it, given all the position challenges contained. The title is "Exercise", and can be performed, too.

[GrandeBombarde16]

@alanjknig Ok, now we're pretty much in agreement. I didn't say that repeating the exercise was illogical, I only said that I thought that leaving the D at the end would have been a strange way for Bach to indicate a repetition, since he made use of repeat signs in his organ works. Given that he could create and play a five-voice fugue extemporaneously, it's definitely plausible that this exercise was not written solely for Bach himself.

[GrandeBombarde16]

@alanjknig Some will make the ending simple and others will make it elaborate, keeping the piece from becoming a cut-and-dried composition. To argue that this piece has no place in public performance is to argue that any piece intended to be etudal should not be publically performed, which is, in my humble opinion, a questionable stance. Bossi's "Etude Symphonique," Demessieux's etudes, and many other pieces should not be played in public?

[alanjknig]

I run into organists this year who easily claim that Bach left the work unfinished.

[GrandeBombarde16]

@alanjknig Yes. Do you believe that it is finished? The work is in G minor, but it "ends," with an unusual cadence, on the note "D."

[GrandeBombarde16]

@unnoticedpasserby Bach's 'Fugue in D Major' (BWV 532) is a good example of an advanced pedal part in his organ works. The major organ works (especially fugues) of the German composer Max Reger (1873-1916) are where it's possible to find pedal passages as difficult as (and harder than) this pedal exercitium combined with challenging parts in the manuals. To see the extreme difficulty of Reger's works, check out Paul Jacobs' performance of Reger's "Fantasy and Fugue on B-A-C-H" on YouTube.

[GrandeBombarde16]

@unnoticedpasserby Well, most of the time, composers are "kind" to the organist and reduce the difficulty of the foot passages when notes are being played on the organ keyboards (manuals). The composition in this video is a piece designed to cultivate the pedal technique of the player; hence, the difficulty. However, throughout Bach's major organ works, you will find challenging pedal parts that accompany contrapuntal textures in the manuals.

[l000kin]

Great work, very well played! It's only a pity, that the sound is really awful, it sounds totally synthetic, that's not an organ sound, but computer sound.

[GrandeBombarde16]

@l000kin Thank you very much for your compliments on my playing! However, I'm sorry that you have that opinion of my organ's sound. This digital 84-stop Allen 632-D installed in my home provides me with a vast array of tonal resources that I simply would not have, if there were instead a small pipe organ in my house. If you dislike the sound of my home organ, you don't have to listen to it... There are a few videos on YouTube of this composition by Bach being played on pipe organs.

[AllTheStopsJB]

Splendid. Nice new shoes too... :)

[GrandeBombarde16]

@AllTheStopsJB Thanks, Justin! :)

[goodchappy]

Very well played as usual

[GrandeBombarde16]

@goodchappy Thanks very much, Peter!

[oldbear52]

Definitely no tip-toeing here!!!

Great piece, Tim!!!

Thanks for sharing your talent!

[GrandeBombarde16]

@oldbear52 Thanks a lot for your comment, Dave! Glad you liked the piece.

[silverstartrucker]

Excellent...at the right speed as well...It doesn't sound right when played slower, as on some youtube versions.

[GrandeBombarde16]

@silverstartrucker Thank you very much, Arthur! I appreciate your feedback on the tempo.

[silverstartrucker]

@GrandeBombarde16 - Of course, the correct term is Tempo. I would like to hear Richard Lea play it on the organ of Liverpool Cathedral.

[GrandeBombarde16]

@silverstartrucker Yes, this piece would sound great on the massive organ of Liverpool Cathedral. The extremely long reverb in that cathedral, however, might require that the organist play this piece at a slower tempo... I'm not sure of that, of course, but that's my guess, given that the cathedral has 8-9 seconds of reverb.

[RobCharles1981]

Impressive!

[GrandeBombarde16]

@RobCharles1981 Thanks, Rob!

[HarmonicNature]

BRAVO!!! Amazing, stupendous, mind-boggling...! :-)

[GrandeBombarde16]

@HarmonicNature Thank you very much!