Preludes and fugues from "Ariadne musica" (1702/15) by JKF Fischer. The book has 20 of these preludes and fugues in 19 different keys, plus five ricercars based on chorales.
The compositions play...
Preludes and fugues from "Ariadne musica" (1702/15) by JKF Fischer. The book has 20 of these preludes and fugues in 19 different keys, plus five ricercars based on chorales.
The compositions played here are in E major, F minor, F major, F# minor, G minor, and Bb major...all in 10 minutes. These are very short!
The examples here are from the complete recording by Bradley Lehman, 2005, on the new Taylor & Boody organ at Goshen College (Goshen IN). This is available for purchase as the 3-CD set "A Joy Forever", including music by other composers. Details: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl/la...
The organ's temperament is: F-C-G-D-A-E as 1/6 comma 5ths; E-B-F#-C# as pure 5ths; C#-G#-D#-A# as 1/12 comma 5ths. Based on Lehman's research, this temperament is derived from the title page of Bach's "Well-Tempered Clavier". Details are at http://www.larips.com
"Ariadne musica" itself was an inspiration for Bach to write his own books, going further to use all 24 keys. Bach also borrowed Fischer's F major fugue subject for his own similar F major subject in book 1, and Fischer's E major fugue subject for his own in book 2's E major.
What might this book have sounded like as Bach played through it for his own enjoyment and edification?
The pages of score shown here are from the 1715 edition, written in soprano clef and bass clef.
As a whole, "Ariadne musica" calls for 19 different notes...and obviously the instrument is not to be retuned between these one-minute pieces! The 19 notes are Cb; Db-Ab-Eb-Bb; F-C-G-D-A-E-B; F#-C#-G#-D#-A#-E#-B#. There is no Gb or Fb, but otherwise we have everything short of double-flats or double-sharps. The occurrence of Cb is prominent in the soprano voice in the A-flat major prelude, in the last phrase of the piece.
A complete roster of the sharp and flat usage, piece by piece:
C major: F# c# minor: F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E#, B# d minor: Bb, F#, C#, G# D major: F#, C#, G#, D# Eb major: Bb, Eb, Ab, F# e Phrygian: F#, G# e minor: F#, C#, G#, D#, A# E major: F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E# f minor: Bb, Eb, Ab, Db F major: Bb, Eb f# minor: F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E#, B# g minor: Bb, Eb, Ab, F# G major: F#, C# Ab major: Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Cb a minor: F#, C#, G#, D# A major: F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E# Bb major: Bb, Eb, Ab, Db b minor: F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E# B major: F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E# c minor: Bb, Eb, Ab, F#
Also interestingly, the five ricercars appear to have been written so they work fine on meantone organs. They use only F#, C#, G#, and Bb; no Eb or D# anywhere, and nothing farther out on either side.
But...among the 20 preludes and fugues, only five of them work unproblematically in meantone: C major, d minor, e Phrygian, F major, and G major.
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Very pleasant this performance: the whole Ariadne Musica and other Fischer's collections are really beautiful and very didactical (the video here displayed is equally instructive for musicians, since they can follow the score). I would like to know if is it possible to put the remainder of the collection and get the organ specifications. Greetings from Brazil
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it. The recording of the entire book is available in the 3-CD set "A Joy Forever". Search the internet for "Goshen College Music Center Organ" or "Larips Fischer" to get the organ specification and details about the recording.
This is a nice clear recording: you can easily hear the effect of the extraordinarily sharp C# and G# of this tuning in the E major piece. Pay attention to the last bars of the prelude and fugue respectively, or the A-C# in bar 4 of the prelude.
To me these chords sound unnecessarily strained and cacophonous - like equal temperament gone wrong. Maybe Brad likes them. That's personal preference.
Are you going to believe some who tells you he knows what JS Bach's personal preference was?
I invite you to play all the way through the book yourself, paying attention not only to the E-G# character and A-C# character, but also to the Ab-C and Db-F that come up in this music. Use any temperaments of your choosing, and listen to them carefully. Also, if you're able, listen all the way through Serge Schoonbrodt's recording of this book in MEANTONE. The issue is much more complex than a cavil about disliking a particular E-G# sound!
And, I should add: in this temperament, the A-C# you're complaining about is exactly the same size as the Db-F. It's true that in some other temperaments, perhaps of your own preference, the A-C# is considerably smaller/gentler than this...but those temperaments pay for it in having Db-F correspondingly wider.
The naturals here are spaced with 1/6 comma tempering. If they'd be narrower, say 1/5 or 1/4 comma downtown at C-G-D-A-E, you'd have an even worse A-C# and/or Db-F to complain about.
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I would like to know if is it possible to put the remainder of the collection and get the organ specifications.
Greetings from Brazil
whoa!!!!!! good vid! 1b
In modern notation there is a fine edition of Fischer's complete keyboard works edited by Werra, 1901, available as Edition Breitkopf 8407.
Someone is working on a new and free PDF edition (not yet complete) available at the IMSLP (International Music Score Library Project).
To me these chords sound unnecessarily strained and cacophonous - like equal temperament gone wrong. Maybe Brad likes them. That's personal preference.
Are you going to believe some who tells you he knows what JS Bach's personal preference was?
The naturals here are spaced with 1/6 comma tempering. If they'd be narrower, say 1/5 or 1/4 comma downtown at C-G-D-A-E, you'd have an even worse A-C# and/or Db-F to complain about.