Added: 4 years ago
From: rachinini
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  • Very excellent, thank you.

  • You sir, are amazing!

  • respira per favore...

  • excellently done

    

  • your accuracy is pretty good. I'm probably gonna get a lot of heat for this, but this song was written as a chorale, being that the style it should be play should be flowing, smooth, legato, connected.

  • very well done.

    

  • great job! and most especially enjoy the great lilting tempo which i prefer over a pensive, lagging one.

  • Very beautiful.

  • You're a very talented Classical Guitarist, Bravo on you're great performance of this great Bach Piece.

  • :) I really like your performance :)

    

  • rachinini - very nice as always. is this the correct tempo? I play it a lot slower. You are soo good!

  • I think your playing is brilliant! I'm going to be coming back to this video a lot. Thanks.

  • i want to kiss your hands

  • Wow my brother! I gotta watch/listen to your version at least once a day! Sounds frickin' AWESOME,, and I am practicing daily again thanks to you. You nail it man, love the timing!

  • You look so psycho and awesome. How you play the guitar.. rawr. I fallen in love with you, dark angel.

  • @dvidcyl

    With regards to interpretation, YouTube won't let me post URLs here. Bernard D. Sherman's website has some good information how how tempos and stylistic ideas have changed with regards to baroque performance--back to more original performance ideas.

    With regards to a ballet accompanist, I have Bizet, not Bach on YouTube. You will have to come to my page to see it. The piano realization of Bizet there was originally for ballet--but pressed into other service for this occasion.

  • This sounds like it was inspired more by the organ chorale prelude over the cantata. This brisk tempo goes along with many organ interpretations of Wachet Auf and, in general, a lot of baroque music. Much baroque music is not far removed from the dance, as this shows.

    I particularly liked how you made each voice sound different. I could clearly follow each through this realization. To make each voice on a piano is hard enough; doing it on a guitar shows great skill.

    Thank you.

  • @rrchapman That the music of Bach (or anybody) lends itself to a variety of interpretations is not a testament to the genius of Bach (or anybody) so much as it is a testament to the fact that people will do anything for a laugh.

    Perhaps you could recommend the recording of a great ballet accompanist playing the Goldberg Variations or the French Suites of Bach or something for the edification of us ignorami. I mean, who are we talking about here?

  • by far the best version i've found on youtube.

  • Fine arrangement. You kept all the voices moving and intact. Lovely!

  • Rachini, Very nice job

  • absolutely beautiful! Bravo!

  • Not bad for just some guy in his kitchen.

  • 'O.O' Wow!

  • Other than the previously-mentioned wrong note, I wish to mention that I would prefer not to hear the guitar played through a piezo pickup because of the horrible tone. Perhaps you had no other choice due to your economic situation and I can't fault you for that. So, in general, a nice job! Try to play it with a microphone when you can, played through some quality preamps and at a good sampling rate. It will do wonders for the sound! Pro Tools works great, but there are others also.

    Keep at it!

  • wow...this is absolutely awesome, watching your fingering just stunned me!

  • Hey Allen, it's Russell Burnett. How are you??? I remember sharing with you years ago how much I loved Christopher Parkening for performing this piece. Seems you've kicked it up a notch, as Emeril would say. I miss hearing you play. By the way, fantastic job!!! You make it look so easy. I would like a copy of your arrangement. I made one recently for Jack's Lament from Nightmare Before Christmas. It's here on youtube. I messed it up kinda though. Peace out and God speed brother!

  • even though it is baroque piece, it has the honest feeling of a folk song ~

    plus, I have never considered playing the guitar in the way you are sitting. It reminds me of a stand-up bass.

  • I think you´ve played it too fast. But for this speed you´ve played it exelent!

    I would play it more slowly because the contrapoint and the choralmelody should be very clear.The music get lost with the speed!

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  • Wrong note at 0:25. That should be a G-sharp in the descending scale. Otherwise, good!

  • Awesome!!!!!! I love it!

  • please can you send me the Tab of sleeper's Awake (Cantana 140) on Guitar, i find nowhere this notes/Tab.

    My E-MAIL:

  • Amazing! Where have you been hiding? Do your own album! You are great!

  • Nice!

  • dude this is soo good!

  • Hot guy and amazing music, can life get any better?

  • Great work! wow must exhaust the hands...

  • Thank you!

  • you should be playing on a stage in front of a large audience......not an empty kitchen!

  • Great performance, great arrangement. Love the counterpoint.

  • A timeless piece from the genius of J S Bach

  • Brilliant!!!

  • This is a very good arrangement, and extremely well played. Thank you.

  • I am playing this in C and listened to several versions on you-tube..I enjoy yours the best by far! Thanks for sharing,,,,great!

  • it's beautiful, man. real talent

  • Terrific arrangement and playing! Any chance you'd be willing to share the sheet music?

  • You are so incredibly talented! It is so beautiful, it makes me shiver!

  • You are so incredibly talented !

  • Good grief! Skill!

  • dude that is such a wonderful song.

  • Your interpretation is soulful and dreamy.............We are fans!!!!

  • You've done an excellent job on this piece, I must say this one of the best interpretations of Sleepers, Awake I have heard! Keep the music alive my friend!

  • Excellent. No apology necessary.

  • This is most likely the best version of this song on youtube. thank you for sharing. it is truly appreciated.

  • Perfect performance

  • Amazing, great job!

  • This is really pro o.O

  • you fucking shred homes

  • Your timing is extraordinary; moreover I don't think I've heard it so soulfully played. Capturing the idiom of baroque music is very, very difficult despite the fact that the music of that period is so widely liked.

  • wow, really amazing

  • Your moving bass lines are exquisite. Are you playing it in D? I would love a copy of your transcription. Is it published? What is the electric guitar you are using? Great work- I'm sure Mr. Bach would agree!

  • Beautifully played. You certainly have the

    talent to pursue a career as a classical guitarist. The acoustics are perfect in that room.

  • Wonderful...

  • fabuloso desde cáceres spain, tan perfecto como david russell a mi modesto entender, Bach siempre será Bach

  • Man your dexterity is amazing! Incredible! This sounds REALLY good! I'm learning this in C major (Ben Bolt's arrangement, but I think this key sounds great, too. I sure would be grateful for the tab, if you even have it.

  • If I could play as beautifully as that I'd be grinning from ear to ear.

  • Sounds great! and though I may agree with Z that it ought to be slower, observe the room in which he is playing: an entirely appropriate pace for the space. I think the artist would adjust naturally in a larger room.

    Having said that, I think the 'cantus firmus' ought to be more prominent and the ornamentation slightly subdued.

  • WTF are you talking about it was played perfectly. Also, before you criticize look at the info he calls it "MY OWN ARRANGEMENT", so he's entitled to make whatever changes he sees fit. Besides, the tempo is fine, Have you ever actually listened to the organ chorale? The tempo is not far off.

  • I like it :) But maybe a little slower would be better. And with a little more feeling.

  • A very good job, Rachinini !

    Congrats !

  • particularly, your playing reminds me some fun and enjoyable very moment of my life.

  • How is this recorded? Sounds direct..

  • Fantastic! excellent playing.

  • EXCELLENT JOB! I know how tough Bach is. Especially on a guitar. Bravo!

  • I thumbed down the idiot who takes out his lack of musical ability on people who he aspires to be like. I bet he would never ever tell you that in person; he's the guy sucking up to you the most after you stop playing and tries to show off how much he knows about music theory.

  • I'm not saying he's not a better guitar player than me, because he is. But listen to this played on the organ as one of the Schubler Chorales, or in the orchestral/vocal version as part of the original cantata, and then try to convince me that it doesn't sound a bit puny on a guitar. Once again, I'm not attacking his skill as a player, just his choice of piece. Jeez.

  • This is one of my favorite pieces on guitar. I play it more slowly but it's interesting to hear another approach. Jerry Snyder has a nice arrangement that has a nice feel to it. You might like to try it!

  • Very skilful playing and arranging, but I don't like your choice of piece. I love this cantata, but I think this particular piece of music needs more massive forces than a guitar. By the same token, I have to agree with the person who thought you played it too fast. The guitar is not the solution to every musical problem, and in this case I think you wasted effort learning to play a great piece of music that does not sound good on a guitar.

  • "The guitar is not the solution to every musical problem, and in this case I think you wasted effort learning to play a great piece of music that does not sound good on a guitar."

    Don't mind this chap, clearly he doesn't favor the guitar and has taken it out on you.

    Well done

  • On the contrary, I love the guitar, I've been playing it for over twenty years and I love this piece of music, which is why I think I am reasonably qualified to tell when a piece of music is suited to the guitar and when it's not. In this case, I don't think it is. I'm not saying the guy is a bad player, just that I disagree with his choice of piece.

  • this might be the dumbest statement I've ever heard.. Perhaps its his tone you dont like. This piece is very popular for guitar, guitar duos etc. and it happens to sound great. I'd love to know your instrument of choice

  • My instrument of choice happens to be the guitar. I know how tough Bach is on the guitar, because I've arranged a Bach piece for guitar (the Aria from the Goldberg Variations, if you're interested). He's a better player than I am. And all I'm saying is, having heard this piece done on organ and with a full ensemble, it doesn't sound good on the guitar to me, however well he plays it. Which is very well. For the last time, I'm not criticising his technique. Just his choice of piece.

  • Epic cover, fantastic work!

  • Dobré ... . Brnká ti to.

  • Great! My greetings from Germany!

  • GOD i love bach. Always done, always will. Wonder what he is doing in heaven right now!

  • Thats a very good. Thanks for doing it! Great arrangment, and great technique. The melody sounds distinct and clear and just about perfect.

  • you look bored.

    but it's amazing anyway...

  • it's probably because he's reading sheet music

  • I try too play this piece too ( another arrangement) and I think you did a wonderful job on it!!! congrats! greetings and respect from Bram D.,Holland

  • I really admire your work, I'm just so erked at how fast you play it, I wish it was slower.

  • First of all, what a wonderful job! Very well done. I looked up the Andrea De Vitis performance referenced in an earlier post, and although I do like the slower tempo of his performance, I have to say this performance sounds in no way rushed to me. I see it simply as another interpretation. This version is light, and somewhat regal. I find it refreshing to listen to, and as a fellow guitarist, inspiring to watch. Keep up the wonderful work!

  • Beautiful

  • U N B E L I E V A B L E !

    Your talent is incredible.

    A blessing and one of my new Favorites !

  • u r sooooooo good

  • Such ease and finesse . . .

  • ur a freak.

  • I'm sure you don't need me to tell you this but that was soooooo goooooood. Wow.

  • perfect bro.

  • Beautiful arrangement. Superb musicianship! Bravo!

  • OMG that's soo cool

    I'm trying this composition myself on guitar but not so good

  • Beautiful!!

  • I Love your playing! My son studied classical guitar while growing up, but has sadly not kept up with it as an adult. It's a pleasure to have classical guitar in my life again. Thank you!! :)

  • Wow! Very nice! Smooth

  • Bravo! Magnifique!

    Merci.

  • Was this a hidden cam video ?

    :) Good performance, holy music.

  • hi this is beutifull right now i am playin other version but this is beter go ahead

  • Has anyone noticed this guy looks like the dude from Date Movie?

    Haha

    Great Bach cover.

  • Mr Rachinini, your playing is inspiring and is extremely percise and clear. I hope I can play like this one day...I have just begun. Thanks for the inspiration brother.

  • This is very nice man. Keep up the good work.

  • One of my very favorite Bach pieces and played beautifully. :)

  • Well catheh06 if I'm not mistaken, it sounds like you are not entirely thrilled with the interpretation either, and your inability to find a better one does not mean this one is good. The piece is not that hard except for the sections which include the chorale hymn. It's hard to make that melody resonate through in the middle register. The guitarist plays with great clarity and evenness. Perhaps we should just leave it at that and perhaps a better interpretation will come to YouTube one day

  • dvidcyl - you are a dic- you sit in judgement like some grand guitar guru and your silly ass has posted nothing, just negativity...this guy has more talent and class than you could ever wish to have you little wimp.

  • dvidcyl - Well, maybe you could make a better one, since you are critisizing his. If not, I would stop talking bad about stuff you cannot do better.

  • wonderful, very talented

  • The musicality of this performance is mechanical and superficial. It is very tight and unemotional showing a high level of technical skill which is unfortunately marred by several wrong notes. Clarity of tone and speed do not make music. Often classical guitarists seem not to understand the depth and phrasing of classical music. Schooled originally perhaps in a folk rock tradition they lack the sensitivity, phrasing and nuance of someone grounded in classical tradition. Listen to Heifetz.

  • dvidcyl, you sound like a twat

  • Hanniballecturer, if you have a point of view perhaps you could articulate it in some intelligible form. When I was in junior high there was a student who went around telling people, 'Your mother wears army boots and your father uses Kotex." That was about all he could say, and nobody took him seriously.

  • I did articulate it in an intelligible form: You. Are. A. Twat. Seeing as it is becoming clear that you actually are a twat, you'll be the last to recognize this....

  • hanniballecturer....dvidvyl is correct in that he is not a twat...he is a twatwaffle : ) although i think that your phrasing was quite articulate just use twatwaffle next time : )

  • Aha, I wondered why we failed to connect on that issue... it's because he's a pedantic twatwaffle... Thank you!

  • Well, if you know so much about music interpretation, please upload a video. Otherwise one might think that you just copy-pasted your 'opinion'. A little modesty won't hurt.

  • Mistakes occur at 0:25, 1:23, 2:09, 2:47, 2:50 and 3:03. The piece is very difficult because of the requirement of articulating the original chorale melody over the obligato part, which Bach wrote. While the sound of this recording is pleasant, the metronomic evenness of the phrasing suppress a depth of feeling in the music. Contrast with Michael Hedges playing Prelude to Bach's Cello Suite #1, not as technically accomplished, idiosynchratic rhythm, but he expresses the soul of the music.

  • Show me a better interpretation of this piece on classical guitar here on youtube or anywhere. No wonder you can't find any. It's hard to find any decent interpretation at all. This piece is extremelly hard if you want to play the retornello and the ground base as he did. And though there are some light mistakes, it's very tolerable. This was written for organ and tenors, not classical guitar.

  • The version by Andrea De Vitis on You Tube is much better. De Vitis phrasing lets the music breath, he articulates the chorale, it is relaxed and captures the feeling of the music. The ornamentation is very elegant. The version here by contrast is very tight, superficial and rushed.

  • Hey, listen, to be able to sit down and go through all of those changes and not miss a note at that tempo takes great skill and practice--you're glorified technical 'critique' is a little brash. (I think you have articulated your chorale, ornamented yourself, captured your own ego with great elegance.) You sound like a stuffed shirt with your nose in the air! He's awesome and YOU know it! (I think you're are just jealous)

  • @dvidcyl Your review is influenced by more romantic interpretations of the music of Bach, in general, and this piece, in particular. Bach did not write music in the romantic period or in the romantic style. One of the evidences of Bach's genius is how his music holds up to non-baroque interpretations.

    This interpretation, which sounds to be taken directly from the standard organ arrangement, is valid. There are more than one way to express emotion and feeling; ask any ballet accompanist.

  • @rrchapman My review of this performance is more influenced by my own interpretation of Bach than by the precepts of the romantic period of music. I grew up in a musical family where for many years we heard everything from the music of Machault to Stravinsky. I don't need reminding that there is a difference between baroque & romantic, and I wouldn't first go to a ballet accompanist for opinions about varieties of musical expression. This interpretation is too idiosyncratic and out of touch.

  • @dvidcyl "This interpretation is too idiosyncratic and out of touch." Not really. There are many organ interpretations as fast as this one by respected artists with BWV 645. Koopman's pace on BWV 140, 4th movement, is very close to this pace.

    There is nothing wrong with slower interpretations. But, to call this "idiosyncratic" and "out of touch" ignores that there is a tradition of interpreting it faster, particularly as a solo work. That is your error.

  • @dvidcyl Consider ballet accompanists must make music (not simply perform notes) without varying tempos. They only have attack/touch, emphasizing voices, phrasing, and creating specific tonal qualities. A skilled accompanist can make music out of the notes, even under these conditions.

    I'm sorry that your experience is lacking in this area.

  • no había escuchado jamás una interpretación tan impecable!!!!!!!!!

  • Es absolutamente precioso.... El chico también...

  • Very nice the way you worked in the second part. Parkening, as I'm sure you know, used two guitars (or overdubbed himself.) Who are you, by the way? a music major? Please do more.

  • This is my favourite.

    I love you.

  • Amazing.

    As your years increase, you will perfect this with a slower version that will showcase your skills....not only your speed.

    When ytou started, I began to weep - and I did not stop until the end.

    What a gift this video is to the people on YouTube that can see it !

  • @Plowhandle Why would this be "perfected" in a slower version? While my personal preference is for this chorale prelude to be slightly slower, this is not an unusual tempo. I am thankful for a more dance-like interpretation given here, which is well within the bounds and intent of baroque music. Considering the performance space (a kitchen without reverberation), this was very effective. The intimacy allows for the dance to show through.

    I would assume in a large hall the tempo would change.

  • This really makes me want to attempt at learning how to play classical style again. Good work. I love the clearness of your melody playing, it sounds really good.

  • This isn't your own arrangement -- it looks note to note for Christopher Parkenings.

  • rachinini- that was great. Have you heard Christopher Parkening play this?

  • Hermoso!.Me dieron ganas de estudiarla de nuevo.Un abrazo desde Rio Negro,Argentina.

  • fantastic!!!! Absolutely perfect!!!!

  • The genius of Bach meets the talent of youth. Sublime.

  • hey do u mind telling me what kind of classical guitar that is? well appreciated! and awesome playing dude keep it up

  • Love it. So nice to see a talent that's not wasted on shredding.

  • most beautiful rendition i've ever heard.

  • Wow...beautiful

  • Oh b.t.w. - I like your Mario Bro. Theme!

    I'm not surprised it has over 100,000 hits!

  • Nice recording, with a very clean sound!

  • Beautiful, thank you for sharing your talent.

  • One of my favorites by Bach. Very well performed.

  • your so fucking good

  • Very very nicy and beautifuly played. I very much like the arangement can you tell us whose it is and if it is available

  • I remember listening to you playing this prolly soon after you first posted it, last summer. This is a very summer work, you've incorporated a great warmth to Sleepers Awake! I would like to "jam" with you sometime if you lived in Michigan man. Keep posting quality music like this bro. peace.

  • Absolutely amazing!

  • why you not sing thats be the music awesome

    you are so sweet i am shy huh

  • sounds like you need to learn to speak english to me.

  • Sing? Sing what?  Bach did not create any lyrics to go with it.

  • on this tune precisely, no. This in fact is not "Wachet auf". Wachet Auf was wiriten by Nicolai, before Bach, but bach integrated in in cantata #140 and added elements like this part.

  • @catheh06 This goes by the name "Wachet auf," as Bach set Nicolai's work in the Cantata.

  • I can't count the number of times I have listened to your creative arrangement of Bach's Cantata 140, and it's amazing that I feel refreshed everytime you play it. Thanks for inspiring me to try harder. Lee

  • I love this song! Well Done!

  • I just want to listen again and again... This is the song that my mother walked down the aisle to, so to hear it played so beautifully is very special. =)

  • thank you for using your talent and blessing us with it

  • excelente, muy agradable, congratulations

  • Excelente. Nota 10 pra este cara.

  • Yeah, I'll excuse the sloppiness at the end. That is indeed an excellent arrangement.

  • Very good.

  • nice song and very nice played;)

  • It sounds good on guitar, you should find an empty room to play it in.

  • you're ridiculous. i love it.

  • Me encanta, muchas gracias, I like it so much!

  • excelente interpretacion

  • Nice, great job! congratulations

  • Precioso. Enhorabuena.

  • Wow!!! That was fantastic! You are very good.