Quick question from one musician to the teeming millions:
Who would you recommend for a recording of Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier?
I am not interested in Glenn Gould, because brilliant though he is, he plays through everything way too fast, missing all the “umph” you can squeeze out of Bach.
I’m just not familiar with that many other Bach recordings, and figured I’d ask here before flipping through dry performance reviews…
Try Hepzibah (sp?) Menhuin (sister of Yehudi).
GG should be shot for humming along with such excellent playing.
Anyone know why the pieces are called the “Well Tempered Clavier”?
I will post the answer if no one else does.
Clavier=keyboard, well tempered=easy?
Lessons for his sibling?
I had this argument with a snotty-nosed progidy about Bach and tempo (it was re: T&F in d minor) and, it turns out, Bach wrote fast shit (ie GG is probably tooling around at the right speed.) The ‘oomph’ (and slowness) that may feel correct are later, romantic interpretations.
Yes, the moaning is annoying, but for me the definitive version.
I’m guessing it has something to do with the tuning of the instrument.
It means, of course, that the instrument is tuned such that the ratio of frequencies in a half-step is the twelvth root of two, as opposed to the Circle of Fifths more common at the time. Wasn’t there a thread in the last month discussing that?
Chronos, you are the closest. When one is able to play all of the pieces in the set and have them all sound harmonious, the instrument is then well tuned. Which is what carnivorousplant and Moe were on the trail of. I believe that it was Bach’s specific intention that these pieces serve as a test case for determining an instrument’s tuning.
I must also concur with Dr.Pinky that GG’s renditions are superb, humming, groaning or not. The speed of the fugues is especially critical for their presentation.
I knew that.
I’m another one whose copy of the WTC is Glenn Gould’s. A straight, dry interpretation of these pieces would be kinda hard to sit through.
Well thanks everyone!
I’ll check out Ms. Menhuin’s recording if I can find it.
I don’t mind GG’s humming or anything, I just think he plays everything way too fast. And yes, the speed of the fugues is very important, but blowing through them really misses out on all the wonderful harmonies and suspensions and stuff that make Bach so wonderful (especially in the minor preludes and fugues).
But thanks for your suggestions!
<off to amazon.com for reviews…>
I gotta side with the Glenn Gould school. Bach had intended for much of his work to be played at specific tempos and those blasted Romantics and Classicists slowed the stuff down wayyyy too much.
I mean, I’ve heard several versions of Jesu bleibet meine Freude from Cantata No. 147 all slow, sweet, syrupy - then I found one played at the tempo the Master himself* intended. Worlds of difference! Same for Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme from Cantata No. 180. Don’t even get me started on Pachelbel’s Canon. The red-headed stepchild of the Baroque movement!
Give me people who try to recreate the sounds as the composer him or herself intended, rather than the interpretations of later composers/performers.
Anyway, MerrySquirrels, try finding people who specifically focus on baroque music. They’re generally the ones who try to recreate the performances as originally intended. If they play on actual period instruments (which often are indicated on the cover) then it’s a good sign you’ve got the people you want. Tower Records or Borders, at least the ones I’ve seen, often have a small section of WTC under the Bach grouping in the classical section.
*with apologies to Cecil Adams
Originally posted by Chronos
I’ve heard this asserted - that well-tempered means even-tempered. But I’ve also heard it asserted that there were other tempering schemes, that might not make the clavier sound equally good in all keys, but it would be at least acceptable in all of them and really good in most. I wish I could remember the cite.
Yes, I suppose that Dr.Pinky and Olentzero are right. Slower, “richer” Bach playing probably stems from Romantic era interpretations… though I’ve heard that there are two schools of thought on this one. Different piano teachers have told me completely opposite things as far as Bach tempo. Ah well… Perhaps I should get a brisk recording on a period instrument, and a Romanticized mushy version for those dark stormy nights…
And Boris B, I think I’ve heard what you’ve heard, and that it is the reason why he wrote one in each key, because the tempering allowed for each key to sound as good as the next (as is the case with modern keyboards). Though I don’t remember my source either…
What I meant was, I didn’t think Bach used even-tempering for the Well-Tempered Clavier. I thought I read somewhere that he made up his own form of tempering which wasn’t even, but somehow achieved a decent sound in all keys. Sorry for any confusion.