J.S. Bach - BWV 540 - Toccata F-dur / F Major

[hymnistic]

Incredibly expressive and gorgeous performance and wonderfully resonant organ!

I like to play this for my prelude on CK Sunday. You can ever hear the words if you listen closely: "put on his head a, put on his head a, put on his head a Crown!

Christ the, Christ the, Christ the King!"

[megamorphg]

i'm surprised it is pretty dull, too. -_-'

it's supposed to be representative of the chakras opening apparently.

philosopherswheel (dot) com (slash) toccata.htm

[originaltommy]

why is the second pedal bit not true? I really hope I can play this well when I'm drunk some night. Not like there's much else to do in Canada. I just hope you don't tell me this is actually a Casavant. Wow, go Canada!

[ebach1]

what hapened with the second pedal solo ?

i never heard this version before :)

did you notice something different ?

[BeowulfVids]

by hard I mean harsh

[BeowulfVids]

@KhagarBalugrak, if you claim this is hard try listening to it on a Hammond Organ :p

[kranichjan]

@toxiconegro First of all, praise for your postings that really help to get a deeper understanding of Bach's organ music. As a long-time Bach listener ( and mathematician, possibly this explains that ? *grin ) I only recently started to study the actual sheet music of this wonderworld.

Garrison Church in Copenhagen - doesn't that organ figure in "Until I find you" by John Irving ( 2005 ) ?

As for the interpretation: of course, the most magistral one is that by Ton Koopman in Maassluis.... ;-)

[bleem55]

What happened to the end of the video? It cuts off in the middle of the reverb after the last note. Can you fix it? I was planning to make a CD of your music for my personal listening pleasure.

[KhagarBalugrak]

Honestly, this performance is too dull for my liking. It's very clear and technically perfect, but it lacks expressivity and variety. Worse yet, the place this was recorded at has no echo effect, which makes the organ sound very dull indeed. I'd be interested to hear this women play in a good place for organ playing...then I could really decide if she can play this well.

[toxiconegro]

@KhagarBalugrak

The way you did say it, it's a bit too harsh, isn't it? It's no live recording and therefore supposed to sound "clear and technically" after all. The organ is located at the Garrison church in Copenhagen (Denmark) build in 1724. Although I don't know this instrument personally, I don't think it's too bad. I definitely appreciate your opinion, critisism is always helpful but still, I don't really understand it. Cheers

[KhagarBalugrak]

@toxiconegro, well, I'm referring to the slow, slightly metronomic tempo and a disposition that produces too nasal, too empty a sound. This piece is very grand, very great in scope, and requires a different sound than this. However, I'm going to listen to this again and see if I can understand the performer's intention and ideas. I might end up liking this, but probably not.

[jpstenino]

@toxiconegro I read your reply to KhagarBalugrak you could give lessons in diplomacy and good manners. Thank you for your posts.

[tombaker1222]

@KhagarBalugrak In your first sentence you give her the greatest compliment - "Clear and technically perfect [...] no expressivity or variety" - That is the essence of Baroque music, for the greater part. Unlike the later Romantic composers who used dynamics etc to create emotions and other sensations from the audience, Baroque is much more about technical skill - there is very little room for, say, Rubato in Bach (unless at the end of phrases) yet Chopin's music is full of it.

[KhagarBalugrak]

@tombaker1222, well, I have to say that you're wrong about Baroque music being about expressionlessness. While your comment is in some sense true in that Baroque music abstained from personal emotions and personalized emotional communication, Baroque music is full of religious feelings and devotion toward virtue. Just look at Bach's B Minor Mass; there are moments of excruciating pain (particularly when Jesus is nailed to the cross) and moments of divine joy.

[KhagarBalugrak]

@tombaker1222, well, I have to say that you're wrong about Baroque music being about expressionlessness. While your comment is in some sense true in that Baroque music abstained from personal emotions and personalized emotional communication, Baroque music is full of religious feelings and devotion toward virtue. Just look at Bach's B Minor Mass; there are moments of excruciating pain (particularly when Jesus is nailed to the cross) and moments of divine joy.

[KhagarBalugrak]

@tombaker1222, I will say that Handel's music is often without any real expression, but I would not classify most Baroque music like this. Italian Baroque music is often full of joy and sorrow and drama. Just listen to Albinoni's oboe concerto in d minor. The second movement is as romantic and expressive as anything written in the Romantic era.

[NPorganist]

Laboured over this piece for many weeks before I began to gain fluency. Two stupendous pedal solos followed by progressions of glorious chord sequences in various major and minor keys. What a fantastic work! Some extremely tricky interplay between manuals and pedal as the piece progresses. Even the non-musicians can tell from the score that it looks far from easy. But the rewards of mastering it are incalculable. I wonder if Bach knew how many lives he would enrich as he composed his music.

[guinguette07]

An absolutely gorgeous interpretation by its CLARITY and its registration... Endly, we can listen something else as a magma of notes.

[claudiobassist]

Excelente!