Bach, WTC Book 2, Prelude and Fugue No. 12 in F Minor, BWV 881 Poll

[sphinxsix]

I'm proposing some fun involving music which according to some is no fun at all.

Which of these performances would be your favorite one.?

Can a performance of a particular piece be described as objectively good (or bad).?

All commentaries are welcome! 

(the poll is incognito)

 

 

[fas42]

It takes class, you know, 😝 ... I don't know these works, at all - but the Decca Schiff caught my attention - it felt, very Bachy 🤪 - as the man himself would have played it. So, then pulled down my weary copy of the Penguin Guide; and lo and behold, that specific recording got 3 stars, and a rosette ... as good as it gets, so to speak - in the writers' opinion.

 

Nice to know that others appreciate the good stuff ... 🤣 🤣.

[Musicophile]

I have yet to do a systematic review of my versions of WTK2. I started out with Serkin, these days often go to Schiff or Hewitt if I want modern piano. 

 

I'll check all of the above out over the weekend and will report back.

 

I'm just somewhat puzzled that you've exclusively selected modern piano recordings. I still think there's a benefit to hearing this as Bach might have played it, e.g.

 

 

 

[accwai]

10 hours ago, sphinxsix said:

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How come audio on the second one doesn't match the video fingering in many places? In fact, audio in the two above are exactly the same. Any special significance?

 

4 hours ago, Musicophile said:

[...] I'm just somewhat puzzled that you've exclusively selected modern piano recordings. I still think there's a benefit to hearing this as Bach might have played it, e.g.

Checked a bunch of HIP performances on hand and the durations are all over the place. Therefore tempo does varies significantly just like the piano versions. So which is the one would Bach himself have played at? Also, Robert Levin's version in Hänssler Edition Bachakademie is on fortepiano. Is that authentic?

 

 

 

Quote

 

Why BWV 870 all of a sudden? Wouldn't it be like this?

 

 

 

[Musicophile]

5 hours ago, accwai said:

 

How come audio on the second one doesn't match the video fingering in many places? In fact, audio in the two above are exactly the same. Any special significance?

 

Checked a bunch of HIP performances on hand and the durations are all over the place. Therefore tempo does varies significantly just like the piano versions. So which is the one would Bach himself have played at? Also, Robert Levin's version in Hänssler Edition Bachakademie is on fortepiano. Is that authentic?

 

 

 

 

Why BWV 870 all of a sudden? Wouldn't it be like this?

 

 

 

Agree, nobody has a clue how Bach would have played this. The only thing we can be relatively sure about that it wasn't on a Steinway. He probably spend most of his time on different formats of a harpsichord. Regarding the fortepiano, there is evidence that Bach was aware of them (they were brand new at the time). He apparently mostly liked the sound, but the very early ones had a pretty hard touch. 

 

For those who read German, here's a source: "Hammerflügel und Kielflügel fielen im 18. Jh. gleichermaßen unter den Begriff "Cembalo". Erst ab etwa 1780 haben sich die Ausdrücke "Fortepiano" bzw. "Pianoforte", vor allem im deutsch- und englischsprachigen Raum, eingebürgert. Viele für das "Cembalo" ausgewiesene Werke Johann Sebastian Bachs sind also möglicherweise für einen Hammerflügel komponiert worden, zumal es auch vom Stand der Technik her wahrscheinlich ist, dass Bach schon in den 1730er Jahren Hammerflügel spielte oder sogar besaß. (Konstantin Klatt, Quelle: Bibliographie des Musikschrifttums online)". 

 

Now should we care about this or just enjoy the music how we hear it is a completely different topic. I'm sure Bach would have loved to play a modern grand. 

 

And the 870 vs 881, I got distracted during the Google search, my bad.

[WAM]

I have several albums mentioned above. I have I slight preference for Richter (for sentimental reasons), but I like the other versions in my library also. 

 

The beautiful thing about this music, that every performance makes you discover new aspects of this music. This music never tires.

 

[sphinxsix]

14 hours ago, Musicophile said:

I'm just somewhat puzzled that you've exclusively selected modern piano recordings.  I still think there's a benefit to hearing this as Bach might have played it

 

These were simply top search results from youtube. Actually Gilbert's harpsichord performance was among them but I decided not to complicate things even more. I have, I think 4 harpsichord versions and probably more than a dozen of piano ones - I have a preference for the sound of piano in general. Although the first time I heard Goldbergs on harpsichord, I said 'Now I hear it was supposed to be played like that', the proportion of piano vs harpsichord versions of GVs that I have is similar..

 

10 hours ago, accwai said:

How come audio on the second one doesn't match the video fingering in many places? In fact, audio in the two above are exactly the same.

 

This was supposed to be a trap, pssss..

 

10 hours ago, accwai said:

Checked a bunch of HIP performances on hand and the durations are all over the place. Therefore tempo does varies significantly just like the piano versions. So which is the one would Bach himself have played at?

 

Do I remember correctly that tempos of many WTC preludes and fugues wasn't suggested by Bach.?

 

 

4 hours ago, Musicophile said:

Now should we care about this or just enjoy the music how we hear it is a completely different topic.

 

I think that every interpretation that is emotionally convincing and simply makes let's say artistic sense is valid. I love e.g. some Bach keyboard pieces performed by string trio or quartet..

 

4 hours ago, Musicophile said:

I'm sure Bach would have loved to play a modern grand. 

 

+1 Well said! I also somehow tend to think that he might have preferred it to historical (to us) (forte)pianos and regardless of that he still wouldn't have given up harpsichord or organ.

 

1 hour ago, WAM said:

The beautiful thing about this music, that every performance makes you discover new aspects of this music. This music never tires.

 

It's hard not to agree! I think WTC is a single most represented composition in my music library.