J.S. Bach: Touching a Mystery Part Two

Finally available to international audience, MV Productions presents S. Gordeevtseva's essay: "Touching a Mystery" A New reading of Clavier Works by J.S. Bach Pedagogical Application to Children's Music School Repertoire.
This essay is based on the book by Evgeni Teregulov "Forgotten Rules: Problems of Articulations and Agogics in Clavier Works of J.S Bach", Kompositor Publish House, Moscow, 1993, and a series of lectures by the late Professor Alexander Alexandrovich Alexandrov of the Gnesins Russian Academy of Music where this leading research is being developed.

The rules of Articulation give the key to reading Bach's Clavier urtext scores that otherwise display no indications of tempi or articulation (that is when to play notes together or separately). The rules are related to string articulation principles, to musical rhetoric and protestant chorals. They define what is called "small speech-like" articulation manner of playing that gives each voice a clearer relief in polyphonic texture. Thus, the symbolism often related to religion and carried by musical motives and their combinations comes to life. The rules were known by Clavier players then and as a result never written on the score. Only exceptions were written for specific effects but were often misinterpreted later by editors of Bach's music as general rules. So to play Bach in style means to make his music intelligible and meaningful.


Her essay offers children and their music teachers an invaluable insight into the basic rules of articulation in clavier Baroque music and J.S Bach's works in particular. A selection of Bach's pieces from children's music school repertoire, edited by Gordeevtseva, is included in this edition.


A former student of both Alexandrov and Gordeevtseva, Svetlana Ponomarëva latest CD Schnittke/ Bach includes J.S. Bach Prelude and Fugue in C sharp Minor BWV 849 from the Well Tempered Clavier Book 1 and the French Suite # 5 in G Major (BWV 816).

As Alexandrov said: "Bach is the foundation one cannot dispense with"!


www.ponomarevapianist.com

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Bach
• Clavier
• Music
• Baroque
• Education

[pianistvesta]

Timbres, colors, registers are attributes of rich pianos nature but in polyphony they can never substitute for proper articulation, a key element when performing in the style of the epoch. Isnt it what any piano player aims for? Slurs do exist in Bachs clavier scores. However these rare indications usually mean an exception or they are written in places where various readings are possible. To generalize a particular slur as a principle throughout an entire piece is mistaken.

[pianistvesta]

Thank you for your interest. These short videos do not claim to be exhaustive. We cannot ignore the specificity of instruments of that time if we want to get closer to what Bach wrote and meant. Did you ever try to play a 5-voiced fugue on a harpsichord? Its an impossible task if you dont know how to approach it. Articulation principles (i.e. what is played separately and what is played together) allow us to make it possible and to differentiate voices in complex polyphonic textures.

[tuxedomoon]

Also Bach had many slurs carefully written on many of his clavier works,and please dont forget that he has a special touching manner as being described by Forkel,if someones want to find more about articulation he should study more the harspichord or the organ and then play the piano

[tuxedomoon]

Bach is reported to play legato.

which is probably the detache legato of the time.

Also he used a synthesis of Old fingering with his modern .From what i see i hear everything staccato and i cannot believe that the so many ornamentations and slurs written on his string works cannot be taken as a reference for his clavier works