Smith Hopkinson - PRELUDE BWV 1006

[0406611]

es la corriente del rio la que hace que el agua transite por estos lares...... bienvenidos sean las reminiscencias del tañer con respeto y saber... y centrar en equilibrada desnudez la noble notación y la minima ornamentación, gracia mr. Hopkinson. Un placer.

[rups334]

Great! What a performance. I've seen Ron McFarlane video before. This one too awesome. I think Hopkinson Smith's BWV 1010 Prelude in Eb played in lute is also notably a great performance.

[1944scooter1]

I had the very great pleasure of meeting Mr Smith in Toronto in November 1994 - his masterclass remains a treasured memory. A true gentleman and a truly great musician....

[papeeloo]

Hoppy as they call him disappoints me a little in this video. His performance sounds like he just learned the piece and rehearsed it.

[Ah4b]

@papeeloo : i dont think thats the case. he plays freely like he always does. The sound quality is also quite bad.

[lolailosman]

@papeeloo

And you some like an ignorant moron, I have to say

[guitarwizard6]

This is a far more sane tempo than a lot of guitarists choose! I can hear all of the notes and actual MUSIC...

[eatingyourbreadcrust]

Finally..a lute suite played on an actual LUTE ! :)

[theanswer00]

yes but it is a violin partita :P

[haimcito]

yes but bach himself wrote a transcription of this partita for lute bwv1006a

[flyingplants]

Amazing; song, rendition & instrument. Thanks for posting such inspirational material ;)

[becauseCCA]

this is amazing. hoppy is part of my family and i had no idea he played this well and i had no idea that he had so many videos of him on youtube. im so proud of him

[feminale]

That's normal with family. A prophet is never appreciated in his own country until he leaves, lol.

[becauseCCA]

haha, i thought about what that means for like five minutes but im just going to go with pretending. ahaha. sry. he is a reaaaaally good player though. =]

[becauseCCA]

nvm my brain wasnt working then so...ya. thats a good saying. haha!

[ulyssesjj]

Do you happen to know who the Lute maker was of the instrument he is playing?

[becauseCCA]

no i dont know, all i know is that he has always had the same intrument and its so old. plus he nvr told me so...ya. sry

[parfumisme]

Joel van Lennep I think. 13 course.

[ulyssesjj]

thanks, I thought he played a jack vd Geest

[parfumisme]

i dont know that maker. I asked him at a concert in the Netherlands and he showed his baroque guitar that was also made by van lennep. Really like the sound of this lute. It is very deep and resonant. From what i can hear from this recording.

[lorenzofernandezmtz]

El tiempo se detiene, VIVE BACH

[menganoyou]

UNA JOYA, GRACIAS !!!

Bach habla la verdad y Smith lo "articula" sus palabras de forma increible

[BenDalmont]

shame about the lagging sound

[maxwelloliveira]

Impressionante!!!

[agvap]

psycho guitar :D well done

[mauriciozed]

It's not a guitar, this is a "Laud"

[agvap]

fuck you its a lute or " laute" i know that

[superfossi]

i couldn´t play such a big thing

awesome

[PaulGattringer]

it must be so fucking diffucult to play the baroque lute so well!

big respect

[Arnon7777]

A very hypnotic piece of music; I imagine much credit needs to be given to the player for bringing the potential it has to life.

[TheCrazyLutenist]

I agree, very well played. And on such a complex instrument as an archlute

[BubCar2]

A dense web of notes beautifully navigated. And the lute looks nicely shabby, as most lutes would have in those days, after a few years of devoted service.

[ludowicovan]

I have the CDs with all Bach's lute production performed by this super musician. I think this is one of the best versions ever, and I am very grateful to have the possibility of also seeing it. Thanks for posting.

[kumgangpoepsa]

Great! Lovely. I used to play lute in a Chamber Ensamble, we were two lutes playing some Renaissance music.

Tempo is an issue these days because people want to show up their technique, but music is an art, nothing to do with technique (eventhough it helps a lot) and running. The tempo here is just perfect.

[philomelodia]

I'm used to hearing this piece played at a much faster tempo. Does the sheet music suggest allegro or presto?

[RW889092]

No tempo marking. Just marked prelude, meaning introduction.

[filsuf]

I like this tempo! This is as relax as Kim Handel on the lautenwerke (google and buy this great recording!). And I just hate the racing tempo of Perlman on the violin.

[ThisDream]

Someone please tell me how does he keep the lute steady? where is the strap?!?!?!? I refuse to believe he is using his hands, that would just be so bad!

[GeraldBoyClassical]

There is a strap. It's just very thin.

[hopfuser]

This guy playsthe old stuff as if he would create/invent the music new while playing. This is great.Chapeau!

[guitarradeviento]

wow!! Beautiful music.. I love BACH

[eddiedevriesz]

fernando Sor actually had his pinky resting on the soundboard..

[smithsherman]

Hoppy is doing his best John Williams imitation here.

[lakeylove]

Wrong.

[smithsherman]

Wrong

[bananacondaTV]

@lakeylove

What specifically iswrong? Why does this comment have 4 thumbs up? I do not understand.

[guitarradeviento]

Wrong

[haimcito]

dear smithsherman, i've never heard a good comment from you, so, i think you are a very frustrated guy, maybe you need a good shrink...

[kowalsky111]

dear haimcito, in our workshop he said very nice things as well and did never seem frustrated but very relaxed and open-minded. if you don't believe me, try it, he will shurely be around for a little while, so why not?

cheers

[stopgomofo]

it is not a dance but this a great tempo. maybe a little faster but still good.

[Westbrookmusic]

People are calling this "sloppy", which may by some standards be true.

However this performance was nicely felt by Mr. Smith, there is quite alot of beauty here. Nice and gritty.

This is my favorite lute performance I have found on Youtube.

[LutenistDeMari]

There is some slop yes. Its hard to say whether this natural and at times likeable 'grit' as you call it, was common for lutenist of Bach's time... or did they sound more clean and bright, like Nigel North? who knows?

[JaisBane]

it's probably a result of the fact that his right hand technique (while perfect for guitar) is not ideal for playing the baroque lute.

Regardless, a fantastic performance that is very unique and interesting compared to most interpretations found on the "tube".

[JaisBane]

I just noticed his pinky resting on the soundboard, which makes would make his technique for guitar anything but perfect, at least classically speaking ;)

Still, it does appear to me that his technique is more guitar than lute inspired.

[LutenistDeMari]

Yes he does seem to play angling right into the strings rather than along them. He was self taught basically so b of the d.

[LutenistDeMari]

his right hand technique would be very out of place on a modern guitar! do you mean perfect for baroque guitar?

[jevoshawke13]

I believe what is meant to be said is that his actual picking technique is very guitaristic, just not his actual hand position. He moves in a very guitar-inspired way.

[LutenistDeMari]

There aren't really any sources that tell us exactly how the fingers plucked or from which joint thought are there?

[ruthannryan]

Who cares?

[polifemo92]

hopkinson is the best lute player of our time, an bach is wonderful on the lute...

[654321654321]

i would love to play lute someday.

nice video, i enjoyed a lot.

[Jitpring]

Rather sloppy.

[ImaGuitaristDawg]

It is sloppy. He was probably nervous.

[BarNuun]

Was it composed to lute, violincello or lautenclavicymbol? I don't know but do enjoy comparing this with the versions by Milstein, Heifetz and Williams to understand it's themes, or by any choice of early instrument. Lovely. Masters maintain the voices' amplitude within a very narrow parallel range.

[ImaGuitaristDawg]

It was written for the violin first and then transcribed to the lute.

[BarNuun]

Thank you ImaGuitaristD!  Very nice to know.

[sonyamayer]

Editing @ 1:27! Why??? Oh well, his slow playing makes this originally lively dance sound more like an adagio for a funeral. =/

[LutenistDeMari]

A prelude is not a dance.

[merezi]

That's right! Prelude is a starting piece, in this case for lute suite no.4. Then comes gavottes and others. Some of others maybe like dance but its not prelude.

[lolailosman]

@sonyamayer

Dance? A prelude? Go and do some reading, please

[Ramatganski]

I'm sorry, there's an unbearble jump in the vid at 1:27. So sad.

[tinargimon]

This prelude was actually written in versions for violin, lute and organ! An awesome transcriber/transposer of multi-instrumental music, that JS Bach! Hopkinson Smith is a superb baroque lutenist, and his lute version of the Chaconne from partita in D minor is equally exquisite to this prelude. He plays this prelude in E (actually Eb on the lute) at the tempo it was meant to be played - allows it to breathe fully, not in the manner of many a guitarist who tackles it like a speed contest.

[ThisDream]

I agree, as a guitarist myself I prefer it at a more reasonable tempo than some of these young speed demons today!

[ThisDream]

I have a question for any lutenist out there - are the strings of a baroque lute easier or harder to press down than those of a guitar?

thanks

[haimcito]

the tension of lute string is about 2.5-3 kg (each course- double string) =5- 6 kg per course, on the baroque lute the 1st and 2nd courses are single string, 1st 4-4.5 kg and 2nd  3-3.5 kg. on the classical guitar eac string has about 6-7 kg. it is very different ...

[ThisDream]

so you would say the strings are easier to press down on a lute? interesting...

[haimcito]

I never said thats it is easier. the tension is lower, but you must pluck 2 strings at once, you need a lot of precision, it's a bit like 12 st. guit. with very low tension, but with gut ,nylon or pvf strings.

[jadhat]

muy buena version

[disobedient]

The problem, kigawman, is that lutes aren't exactly commodity musical instruments like guitars or pianos (or even violins). You really have no choice but to get a custom piece from a luthier. That means big, big bucks. You might be able to get a used instrument for less, but good luck finding one. Even a basic lute without all the fancy hand-carved soundhole (like in the video) would probably cost several thousand dollars.

[zorksloss]

There is a music company selling 8 course rennasuance lutes with an introductory book for the lute and a tuneing chart (with a CD) for $500 on Amazon, but that's all. You would have to go to a Luther for an arch lute.

[LutenistDeMari]

its not an archlute!

[RW889092]

The fancy hand carved sound hole is called a rose and is on pretty all European lutes. Traditionally they depict Arabian designs.

[kigawman]

I wonder if anybody here knows, How much is a Baroque Lute anyway??

I gotta have one of these!!

[DaveGrossmanSoloBass]

Hopkinson Smith is great! I saw him play a couple of Bach's solo violin works in Berkeley many years ago. Is this video available on DVD somewhere? I have all of his Bach CD's. He's one of my favorite Bach Lute players. I met him at the show and told him about my Bach on Bass project. I actually now have something to show for it. (blatent plug)

[disobedient]

It must be very difficult to get the notes to ring out at such speed when the strings are so far off the fretboard. He plays such a difficult piece very well.

[TheCrazyLutenist]

It is very difficult to play an instrument like that. I play the lute, which is much smaller than the archlute, but the sheer number of strings makes life a lot harder. They are also put really close together.

i agree with you!

[LutenistDeMari]

He is not playing an arch lute though...

[bobbyVisitor]

The stings are no farther than on guitar. You're probably confused by a couple of basses that are 'floating', that is sit above the fingerboard and can't be fretted. If you look at them thinking they're over the fingerboard it _will_ look like the strings are terribly far.

[guitardude545454]

Is this a lute?

[aitkenjoshua]

Yes

[435439]

Hermoso me gusta mas esta version que las de guitarra ya esta obra esta escrita para el laud.

[jadhat]

esta escrita para violín

[playfromthesoul]

Mr. Smith is of an age when he should know better than to play Bach without singing every voice like a great artist singer. But, perhaps he can't. I don't know. Perhaps we will never know.

[bakdgreat]

what does bmv mean

[GuitarSonata]

Bach composed over 600 songs. Their is a numbering system for his works. BWV (I think you meant BWM instead of BMV) stands for "Bachwerkeverzeichnis" which translates to Bach Works Catalogue

[LutenistDeMari]

He didn't write many songs and he composed a lot more pieces than 600!

[k5xcpq6]

Very enjoyable.

[capnpayne]

this is really cool and i like his style, it's unusual

[meminio]

It returned!!!!! this video was posted some time ago here, in youtube and later ir desapeared. Now it's here again! bravo

[Fantasia034]

Well, i understand that recording, wasn't "live" but was edited; one of his then students told me!!!!

It shows his economical and fluid technique, he makes it look easy but it isn't any amatuer Lutenist knows

that, Bach is always hard!!!!!!

Fantasia034

[RobySanI]

Very good but, for some reasons, not at the extraordinarily musical level of his 1978 recording (Auvidis/Astrée E 7721).