Johann Sebastian Bach - Eight Synthesized Fugues
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- čas přidán 16. 04. 2020
- Johann Sebastian Bach was the master of the Fugue and no one ever reached his high level of Fugue compositions. It always was a challenge for musicains to play and produce his great work of Fugues in different ways and with a lot of different instruments. Inspired by the first recordings of W. Carlos with the new Moog Synthesizer in the year 1968 (Switched On Bach), it was always faszinating to listen to the electronic results of his compositions, and over the years I also tried a lot in this direction. For this production I only used the VST Plugin Synthesizer DIVA (created by Urs Heckmann / Berlin / Germany), an instrument with a full warm analogue sound.
- Hudba
Bach is naturally polyphonic and the counterpoint style is perfect for the layering of different tracks on a synthesizer.
The timbres fit so well to Bach's fugues!
0:00 BWV 578
3:33 BWV 566
6:55 BWV 543
13:34 BWV 545
17:22 BWV 542
23:06 BWV 536
28:00 BWV 544
32:24 BWV 541
Booa 👏👏👏
Obrigado
Thank you! I am not as familiar with Bach's opus as I could be, and this helps identify the individual works in a way that is useful. Time stamps are a good thing.
@@MizzWGGrrrl You've come to the right place then. :) All of Bach's best known works are available on CZcams, and most of the rest as well. The Netherlands Bach Society produces some of the very best modern recordings, but there are countless others as well. Brilliant Classics makes a boxed set of Bach's complete works on CD at an affordable price. We are blessed to live in a time in which his work is so accessible. I hope you will continue to discover and rediscover it to the full extent of your interest, and not only the music itself, but the God that Bach wrote to glorify. Soli Deo Gloria!
"Thanks!" to V. Pereira, H. Backhaus, .. J.S. Bach, .. .. T. Edison, .. .. .. .. .. ..
My FIRST exposure to BACH was via Wendy Carlos' "Switched On Bach" in high school in 1972.
THIS, for me, is a TRIBUTE to that wonderful morning when Miss Gloria Smith played that landmark LP for our Creative Writing Class - that changed my life forever. ♥♥♥♥
I had a music teacher in 6th grade who did the same with our class. Mr Hollenbeck. GREAT guy! And then he took us on a class trip to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia where they were doing actual live demonstrations of a full modular Moog - I was mesmerized and awestruck....and a hardcore lover of synthesis, AND Bach, from that moment on.
"Switched on Bach" was Walter Carlos!
@@DavidA-ps1qr same person
@@robertpfeiffer8836 Not really, and you know it.
@@DavidA-ps1qr I would venture to guess that "her" birth certificate still says Walter.
Music for the ages. 😊
And for all ages. :^)
I think this is the best non-Carlos synth treatment of these Fugues I've heard to date. I've played the whole thirty seven minute set four times over throughout the day. Despite having been imprinted with Carlos' work since my teens, I love what you've done: your treatment of BWV 542, for example - one of my favorite J.S. Bach Fugues - gives everything I could ask of it: a consistent voicing with subtle dynamics that avoids flamboyance, and trusts to the score to develop the power of the work. Thank you for sharing your skill and your passion, Henning.
Quite on the contrary to the previous comment, I am really impressed how well you captured Bach's soul in this interpretation. JS Bach himself was a very modest man who dedicated his whole musical genius to the glorification of God. The richness here is in the musical structure which gets even more accentuated through the pure use of the Synthesizer.
I have to agree it's truly beautiful
@@danbreeden68 Espetacular🙌✨✨
2023🙌✨✨
@@TB-wvvvw Why?
Never forget that Bach, though a devout Christian, had a hot temper (which he controlled) and wore a sword (which he was a couple of times tempted to draw) ! The man was a volcano of creative passion. Not surprising that he had 14 children.
Not only did Henning Backhaus venture to apply the huge possibilities of the modern synthesizer, but generally he did a nice job in applying both beautiful and fitting timbres/ patches to the various pieces. That is where most experiments with the synthesizer usually fail: the patches that are chosen are simply bad taste. Not in this case. I especially enjoyed BWV 543, BWV 536 and BWV 541. And finally, I envy this musician for his wonderful pianistic skills!
La música de J S Bach en sonidos electrónicos ha sido toda una revelación de la era moderna; es la reaparición del Genio de Eisenach para aportarnos aún más. Esta nueva modalidad ha cumplido cabalmente con el designio del arte, que es ser una especie de turbulencia. Es para nosotros, a 300 años de distancia, un privilegio, aún cuando percibimos que esta 'tersura cibernética' sólo nos abre el apetito por "la tradición en la interpretación", como dijera Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Gracias, gracias.
Excelentes tus comentarios.
Two of my all-time favorite records are Switched-on Bach by Carlos, however, I have to add your Fuges to the list!! Wonderful!!
This is so good. I love Switched On Bach, and this comes pretty close for me. Keep up the good work!
Beautiful interpretation. Flows so well. Bach would have approved.
The "Little Fugue"! Thank you. One of my all time favorite Bach pieces. Carlos also did an outstanding job on this piece. But this is fantastic too, and holds it's own among the best I've heard!
This is beautiful instrumentation , it's like being in a Cathedral , Bravo on the Fugue compositions .
Omg, my new favorite thing. Beautiful beautiful divine sound. Thank you.
Johann Sebastian Bach était en avance sur son temps ... Grand spécialiste des fugues, il a pu les sublimer jusqu'au paroxysme ... Elles fonctionnent avec tous types d'instruments ... Danke schön Herr Cantor ...
I think that Bach is "en avance" also for our temps. It never ends to fascinate
Listening to classical music is a transcendent experience. The symphonies, concertos, and sonatas have a profound ability to evoke a wide range of emotions, from joy and exuberance to introspection and melancholy.
For those who slag Music made with Synthesizers - Listen to this! Many Thanks for sharing this beautiful recording, my studies on Bach begin here, since I haven't heard Wendy Carlos' yet :-)
Thanks a lot to share with us this excelent bach electronic version, specialy this Fuge in G minor is my favorite.
techno Bach. Fantastic. I can't imagine what Bach could also invent if he had a synthesizer. Thanks!!!!
Vielen Danke Herr Backaus für diese Werke! Ein Fröhliches Neues Jahr 2023! Friede für Alles! 🕊 🕊 🕊 🫒 🫒
WONDERFUL.
Il n'y a pas d'autres mots que de dire : "Merveilleux" ... Quelles interprétations magnifiques avec des superbes phrasés ... Les fugues du Cantor de Leipzig sont des
monuments de la musique ... Bravo à l'interprète de des joyaux de la musique ... J'aurais voulu savoir quel Musicien a joué ces pièces ...
personne n'a joué, c'est transcrit et joué par MAO
That was a lovely rendition, subdued synth choices, thanks for sharing.
As we are now in the 21st Ctry I m hopeful to witness more synthetists dedicate their Talent & Time to Sacred Music...to Open the Vista to the Heavens through the unfathomable Soundscapes created by synthesizers☆
LOVE THIS! Just discovered....NICE!
Love Bach's music and not only coz it has spiritual context but there is uniqueness , style and structural order in the music 🎶 . How wonderful is the mind of God who gave each one of us unique talents. Have been playing electronic music using digital piano and use Bach's Air in D suite and Fugue no 2 BWV847. Never get tired of playing it!
You got it. Discipline, musicality, the spirit of the music. Bravo! More!
Very good job. Très bon travail. Et très bonne programmation des sons. Alain from France 🇫🇷👍👍👍👍👍
Extraordinariamente bello este remix 👏🎶👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍🎵🎵🎵
It makes you believe in God. How a guy hundreds of years ago wrote music for acoustic instruments that became the best music for the modern synthesizer. Bach's music sounds like it was written FOR the synthesizer! Divine timing.
God makes you believe in Him... hence JSB predicated his compositions with JJ it is Latin for 'Jesus juva' - Jesus Help, and on completion JSB penned down SDG- that is the only way to go in life❤
@@gabrielsmit7733 Amen!
Lovely interpretation. A joy to listen and so relaxing.
Thank you for this! It is truly delightful
Brilliant performance. . I think JSB would have loved to hear your interpretations of his work and I'm sure that he could have taken synthesizers in his stride!
I love it more this sounding this way .sacrilege I know ...but true...thats clockwork for ya
nice work! DIVA was the perfect synthesizer choice
Beautiful
Beautifully done!
Excellent travail. Ces plugins sonnent vraiment très bien- et je préfère cette version à bien d'autres créées avec des Moog souvent exagérés dans la résonance. Merci pour ceci!
I am not a classic expert, but to me this sounds as if it is close to Bach had meant it, if he had a synthesizer. One of the best efforts!
Dude this is excellent!
I ❤️ it.
Great job!
Sounds so wonderfully newtonian
I've had some very nice voicing experiments with a good MIDI of 'Giga' from 'Partita no. 1 in B-flat major' (the MIDI was from a classical pianist's performance), and Madrona Labs' Aalto.
With the right tweaks, I came up with a naturally expressive, "flute-stop-meets-harpsichord" that was also bassoon-like in the lower range.. it just worked, somehow.
Being able to hear it in Werkmeister III tuning (or any of the Carlos tunings) didn't make me sad, either. Nice to hear DIVA in this context!
I love this
Nicely done.
Bravo! Bravo!
Fabulous interpretations. It's only the sheer purity of the writing that allows this to sound so amazing. I wonder what JSB would have thought of it?
He might even be the first one to play the synthesizer!!
@@josephsimantov5343 For classical compositions, yes, most likely! He'd have had blast with vocoders too! Seriously, though, I suspect he would have taken the fugue (building one voice on another, sharing themes across parts, etc.) concept to new heights. A reality of the time was that a composer was constrained by performance technology: amazing though the pipe organ is, there's only so much you can do with eight fingers, two thumbs, and two feet. With modern tools he could have extended that concept further, perhaps to symphonic proportions (though more isn't necessarily better). Carlos addressed performance constraints by using voicing (in contrast to Henning, who kept it comfortable and very agreeably simple), and I continue to enjoy her work decades five decades after I first heard her work.
Well done sir.
Nice.
Good to see classical composition becoming popular again
Technically, classical "performance". The "composition" is actually over 300 yrs old. But yes, I agree with your point!
This is baroque music, not classical.
@@hoon_sol Perhaps better for us all to re-define "The Galant Period" as referring to the period of written Western music from +-1720 thru (not just +-1770 but even all the way to include) +- the first 1/4 of the 1800's; this would be so that we don't have to continue referring to that whole period as "The Classical Period", because by-now the term "classical" has somehow come to be generally used to refer to literally all more time-honored musical works & styles (of both East & West) \
Even tho that period included the mostly-brief "Sturm & Drang" movement (ca. the 1770's) which rebelled against its ideals (ideals at that time termed 'neo-classical', referring to those of the ancient Greco-Roman style of the more-affluent which was then being for the first time widely publicized & newly emulated (esp. by those more affluent) thru-out the West { & so-termed because the Roman term 'class' referred to a stratum of culture based on such ideals } ), ideals of more emotional restraint & balance, of mostly happier emotions expressed, & all via more simplicity [usually just one predominant melody, & less-daring modulations] (contrasting with the just-earlier "Baroque" period's frequent polyphony & its wider variations in many aspects esp. modulation) -- yet also in just as much perfectionism if not more -- still, since "merely having fun" (even if 'perfectionistically') is the root-meaning of cognates of "gallant", then, [again,] perhaps the period's easiest re-terming would be via the first-proposed mere extension of the duration of the currently-defined "Galant Period" ? \\
@@waking-tokindness5952:
Absolutely pointless and meaningless. There's nothing "perfectionist" about the garbage that succeeded Bach.
@@hoon_sol Evidently, e.g. Mozart's last two or three symphonies
( among actually many other such e.g.'s )
have yet to be either heard or analyzed by all here
\\
Very nice. Though I could imagine nicer patches. But well done!
Instruments played has no matter to composition of great composer he remains great all in all
Beautifully wrought sequences and layered performances. Very well done! (just an aside comment on my personal taste), the attack, which seems to be generalized on several of the voices , with it's gentle but very cookie cutterish repetition is not my favorite, but that is probably just an idiosyncrasy with me, and not really meant as a criticism. Well I guess it still comes off that way. Meant as a suggestion to try some other variants, like a horn style attack, or a plucked attack, or a sharp bowed attack??? This one sorta suits the flutes , and strings though. Great to hear another very talented synthesist , with some of the less well trodden material for us to feast our ears on.
Sounds like a 1960's dystopian sci-fi movie.
This indescribably beautiful music makes even an atheist reconsider the existence of an unknown, invisible force within us humans.
Did you play all voices the same time, or multi travking voice by voice?
Overall very nice, conhratulation.
Non, ce n'est pas du "re-recording".
C'est simplement le jeu de main gauche main droite.
Bravo. Diva is a best
Wow...April 25 2024 first heard this and of this artist...having grown up listening to WC 'm a bit embarrassed....
This man definitely was not from this planet!!! We can play all his works in reverse and we're still gonna have divine music!!!
There is absolutely nothing like J. S. Bach!!!
Well ... C. P. E., may be ...
nice work! do you play or make midi?
The lack of velocity ups and downs suggests that MIDI files were taken and run through a VST synth.-
Please fix information in your description: Bach did not create the fugue. He was the master of it.
You are right about that - thank you!
The creator of baroque-era fugue as we know it is Pachelbel.
Imagine what bach would've made today
Mathematical beauty
🧠💯
I think especially the higher notes are missing some kind of "magic" and variety.
Did you patched Diva yourself or are those presets?
archeomodernity
Bach's music remains Bach's music, even played with any instrument. Or anything, in this case...
henning backhaus , wo ist deine home base ? Ich würde dir ein dankeschön mit der schneckenpost schicken ..It is like a thread found from 68....ca me guerit. merci..
2:18 🫢
BACH IS THE APOSTLE OF MUSIC. PROBABLY HE TALK WITH GOD IN YOUR DREAMS EVERYDAY.
Hard to distinguish from the maestro (that's Carlos, not Bach) :)
Generally quite nice. But with the longer release you prefer on your sounds, individual voices would sound better in monophonic. Because with the long release, you get note buildup during fast chromatic passages. That buildup clouds the tonality, and no performance of this music would have had a release that long. It wasn’t composed for chromatic passages to sound dissonant.
This was mediocre but "Switched-on Bach" in 1968 was better.
Wendy Carlos (born Walter Carlos) seems to prefer being called she, not he/him. She had a condition called gender dysphoria.
Bach möchte aber lieber Orgel...
Sure, but that's like saying Shakespeare would rather have his plays in an old, rennaissance theater. It might be sacrelige to many traditionalists, but how is it that his mastery of counterpoint can be demonstrated after nearly 300 years on any instrument, in any tuning system, and in nearly any context? Also, much of what Bach "wanted" is still a mystery. On most of his scores, he provides no tempo indication, no tuning system, and no improvisational indication. And as long as they weren't Erik Satie, the composer likely wouldn't have condemned most arrangements made by other arrangers. It's difficult to say what Bach would've thought about this arrangement of his fugues, but the opinion of which the composer gives about how their pieces should be thought about isn't the most important aspect of music, but it is rather the artistry in which performers play them (which was a concept highly regarded in the rennaissance).
TL;DR:
It doesn't always matter how the composer regards their piece, but more the artistry in which it is brought to life.