Handel - Harpsichord Suite in D Minor HWV428 - Mov. 6/6

GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL (1685-1759)

Suite for harpsichord in D minor HWV428 "The Eight Great Suites" No. 3

6. Presto

Performed by Paul Nicholson

Category:

Music

Tags:

• piano
• sarabande
• classical
• baroque

[mesedoimuchuon]

The improvisations during the repeats are simply gorgeous. Thank you for sharing!

[XaliberDeathlock]

What--only 2 comments? This piece needs more appreciation.

[DiegoVerisi]

@CofradeArrepentido Oh, one more thing... This is what the late Scott Ross (probably one of the best harpsichordists and baroque keyboard music performer of the 20th century) said about Glenn Gould:

"When I hear Glenn Gould, I say, he understood nothing about Bach. An artist who doesn't show himself in public has a problem. He's so much off-target that you'd need a 747 to take him back."

I can't say I disagree...

[DiegoVerisi]

@CofradeArrepentido I have nothing but respect for the great Glenn Gould, I own most of his recordings, yes, even Bach's works. While I do enjoy listening to his recordings, I would not say his Bach interpretations are among my favorites. Yes, the instrument they're played on is part of it, but his interpretation tends to be a bit off at times. I do absolutely love his Beethoven Sonatas and piano concerti.

[DiegoVerisi]

@CofradeArrepentido Again, it has absolutely nothing to do with the sound of the instrument. You can play this piece on a set of handbells for all I care. If you like how it sounds great!  Is it really what the composed intended or how it would have been performed when it was first written? I seriously doubt it. It is all about playing Baroque music as it was intended.

[DiegoVerisi]

@CofradeArrepentido I still believe you're missing the point here. It is not about which sound you prefer, that of the harpsichord or the piano. That's a matter of opinion. However, my argument is not so much about opinion as it is about facts. The fact is that if you want to perform a piece and remain true to the composer and the period in which it was written, there are certain guidelines that must be follow. Period instruments for one, stylistic and musical execution are another. Cont..

[marcoperezguzman]

su musica contribuyo al desafio de la vida de un musico amigo y poeta

[CofradeArrepentido]

Some of us happen to like what performers like Glenn Gould did for baroque music, and I can respect people who disagree, What I can't respect is someone trying to objetify their own highly subjective prejudice by appealling to such an unsound line of reasoning. No syllogism will ever prove that this piece ought to be played by this or that instrument. There is no 'whole point to baroque music' anymore than there are 'true facts'. This will be my last comment, be well.

[CofradeArrepentido]

@DiegoVerisi You appear to have internalised the argument to such an extent that you're happy to claim: 'I personally dislike any baroque harpsichord music played on the piano as I don't believe it does justice to what the composer intended'. This is too precious and conceited to be taken as anything as being an affectation, typical of the faux sophiscate, pining over purity and jealously guarding the 'artist's true intentions'. Quite shallow really. Cont,

[CofradeArrepentido]

@DiegoVerisi No one has suggested that the piece for written for the piano, as you know perfectly well. Your argument seems to run as follows: Handel wrote the piece for harpsichord, therefore it should be played on harpsichord. An intellectually squalid argument at best, but more importantly, it's a fallacious argument, one that falls for a 'musical' version of the naturalistic fallacy - ie, to infer from what is what it ought to be. To be continued.

[DiegoVerisi]

@CofradeArrepentido The piece was NOT written for the "vastly superior sound of the piano". It doesn't take advantage of the dynamics or nuances of the piano. If you play it on the piano, the piece is played in the same manner you would on the harpsichord. Add dynamics, damper pedals, etc and you ruin the piece. I own a piano and a harpsichord and I'd never say the piano is superior. There are two different instruments, is like saying the sound of cello is superior to the viola or violin.

[DiegoVerisi]

@CofradeArrepentido It is pointless to speculate on true facts. To speculate that Handel would have written the piece for the piano had it existed, is a mute point. The truth is that it did not exist and this music was written for the harpsichord. It was written to exploit the intricacies and nuances of the harpsichord. Had the piano existed, he would have perhaps written a completely different sounding piece. It is useless to argue about what "could have been".