Diane Bish - Triple Fugue

Ethic "inspired by Arp Schnitger" according to the organbuilder.

1979 a completely new organ is installed in the ancient case.
Its ethic is neoclassical and its stop names a mixture of French and German!
There is no swell box and the opresence of a Gambe 8' on the Great does not signify "romantic".
Bach specifcally asked for one in a rebuild.

I agree. Diane Bish is an acclaimed
musician of the first rank. Her ability
rivals any concert organist of note today.
Thanks Diane for your generous contri-
bution to our musical education.

The three parts are said to symbolize the trinity: Father, Son and Spirit, and the music reflects this. The title of the hymn reflects the symbolism of the first part. This work is also the prelude and postlude to a long, great series of chorale preludes based on the Lutheran catechism, and are also known as the "keyboard practice part 3" published by Bach himself for the benefit of those interested in such things.

In case anyone doesn't know, this fugue is part of the Prelude and Fugue in E Flat, S.552. It is called triple because it has 3 parts, but the first fugue returns during the others too. It is also called the "St. Anne" because the melody line of the first fugue is the same as a British hymn called "St. Anne" and also called "Oh God Our Help in Ages Past."

Baroque music has two sorts of accents: grammatical accents based on a hierachy of notes (stresses on the strong beats), and internal shaping based on the character of the individual figures. Both are largely lacking here. The equal notes in Fugue 3 destroy any sense of a hierachy of notes. Fugue 2 may not need phrasing like Chopin, but but the lack of any breathing marks destroys much sense of interplay between the parts of the counterpoint; similarly she plays through all the hemiolas.

Where were the funny offbeat accents, then? And, of course, she's dressed up because she's being filmed.

The most obvious example is the subject of the third fugue, with each of the first three notes played with equal weight and more-or-less equally snappy staccato. It completely de-characterises the line. Other oddities include the gluey legato in the first fugue (look at all those finger changes), almost total absence of phrasing in the second, huges ralls at the end of each section which destroy any sense of tempe relationship between each, a weakly placed final cadence, etc. etc.

Do you have any evidence that Bach would have not given each of the quavers equal weight? How does it de-characterize the line? Do you think "phrasing" appropriate to this music? And how was the final cadence weakly placed? I'm sorry that you didn't enjoy this performance. I did! :)

while the phrasing in the fugue 2 is not as developed as it could of been, its not absent - it can be clearly heard around 6.00, fugue 1's style might have been more precise, but to say that the tempo was destroyed is a bit harsh. It is a commendable interpretation. She's no Richter though I grant you that!!