🎵 Bach - 'Little' Fugue in G Minor BWV 578 with Commentary
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.ค. 2024
- JS Bach's 'Little' Fugue in G minor BWV 578 always scared me as a young organist.
In this video I talk about my learning process, performance practices, registration and then I perform it.
Can I overcome my fears of this piece?
00:00 | Introduction
00:42 | Practising and Learning
07:20 | Articulation
11:00 | Registration
13:35 | Performance
The organs used in this video were Nitra (Piotr Grabowski) and St Bavokerk Haarlem (Voxus)
------------------------------------
Making money is not my primary objective. After expenses are taken into consideration, remaining revenue is invested back into BEAUTY IN SOUND. Audio and visual equipment is expensive, and I also pay a fair fee to all recitalists who appear on BIS. This is why I regularly ask YOU to help, and I’m sorry for having to do so. I hope that you can all see the tangible improvements being made to BIS along our shared journey.
Ways to help and support BEAUTY IN SOUND:
Join the channel for fun and funky emojis in the Live Chat:
► / @beautyinsound
Becoming a Patron allows you access to an exclusive club with additional content and many perks! It is a very friendly and close community, currently consisting of over 330 people.
► / beautyinsound
PayPal is preferred for larger donations (another over £100) because they take a smaller cut of your contribution than TH-cam do:
► www.paypal.me/RichardMcVeigh
Thank you - truly! x
------------------------------------
If you like organ music, then you really must join the BIS Organists' Association:
► / organistsassociation
To make a hymn or organ request, please use the BIS Requests Form:
► forms.gle/XoqcdzGTt6YRP6Mx6
------------------------------------
SUBSCRIBE to keep updated on live streams, new uploads and other fun things.
Let's build an amazing community together!
Love,
Richard x
------------------------------------
Follow us on:
► Facebook: www. beautyinsoundmusic
► Twitter: / beautyinsound
------------------------------------
Business enquiries:
► enquiries@beautyinsound.co.uk
------------------------------------
#richardmcveigh #beautyinsound - เพลง
*Thank you everyone for your incredible response to my commentary videos! Which pieces do you want to see me tackling and commentating in the future?*
I would love to see how you would approach a work from Max Reger and maybe another Bach piece, slightly more complex like a prelude and fugue for instance. Love the way you focus on reading, articulation, registration… about time we see someone do this!
Ooh maybe some Howells. Rhapsody 3? Could you do something actually guiding us through some of the registration? Maybe you do two videos, perhaps a performance with the commentary detailing the registration changes (like an audio version of those early recitals where you overlaid the stop list over the performance), and a 'commentary free' version just for pure listening? It could be quite educational, especially if it's on a sample set that is more modest in scale, and more easily relatable to some of our medium sized parish organs (2/3 manual with some generals but no stepper) - so not an excessive amount of tiny registration changes every couple of bars!
I would love toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV 538. Beautiful piece!
Whatever the piece, please take us really slowly through the registration choices you make and other options you consider. That part was fascinating but went by super fast (for us amateurs). Thanks!
@@martijndonselaar9603 For me the toccata is the real jewel here but I wouldn't mind hearing the fuge as well. No matter what: definitely BWV 538!
My organ teacher (when I was a teenager) always pushed me to practice backwards, however I almost never do it. But I guess the risk is then that the last parts of a piece do get less attention. By the way, nice to hear this piece in soft registrations, it adds to the transparency. A booming 16' reed pedal bass doesn't do the delicate balance of this piece justice, I think.
I cannot play a pipe organ but have always been fascinated with these wonderful instruments. I have to say your videos are most instructive, the technical side, and the learning pricess makes complete sense to me and are very enjoyable to watch and listen to, 👌 fabulous.
Wonderful! BTW, C.P.E. Bach mentioned that his father would embellish to the greatest extent, but not violate the music. Bach considered the score as the 'launching-off' point.. Bach's desire to embellish was directly the result of him visiting Buxtehude.. When he came back to Arnstadt, and played during the church services.. everyone was 'upset' because they couldn't follow him! Bach, being a young man.. was quite adventurous. I so enjoyed your commentary and playing!
Unbelievably interesting and educational. Plus a wonderful performance at the end. Thank you (on behalf of all amateur organists everywhere)!
And especially thank you for the feet.
🦉
Wow. I learned this one a lifetime ago in college but doubt I could muddle through it now. I wouldn’t want to hurt Johann’s feelings. But what pleasure you brought me today, to hear again the harmonies, the suspensions, etc. Thank you so much!
I muddle through most things, but it doesn't stop me from putting it online!! 😉
Also: Bach loved experimenting with registrations! Often, when going to play for folks.. he would set up a registration that would on the onset.. make folks cringe, UNTIL he started to play.. and then the folks were amazed! As you know, Bach was always trying new combinations of instruments for a particular piece.. IMHO, if Bach were alive today, I bet he would have a blast playing with a synthesizer..
After a stroke nearly 2years ago, it inspires me to keep up my labours relearning and expanding my knowledge of Orgelbuchlein. I use Hauptwerk St George's Rotha. It's all I need!
Bravo. Thank you for bringing back very fond memories of my one semester as a music major in the fall of 1967. The University of Redlands (Redlands, California, USA) had a practice organ 2nd floor west end, the recital organ in the Music Building main floor, and the marvelous Chapel organ. As an oboist, my brain never expanded to more than one note at a time. Enjoyed your thought process very much.
"No one way to play Bach" is accurate since the most detailed score he left was for the Dorian, which showed manual changes for antiphonal contrast were expected.
Illuminating commentary, droll humor for spice. We keep coming back for a reason.
Richard, your description above describes my experience of 578 perfectly too. I think we have lived parallel lives!!
Like you, I play nearly all the big Bach P&Fs, but I still haven't quite got around to 578...! 😅
One of my favorite pieces by Bach 🎹🎶🎵🎼great job 👍
Actually, I for one would really like to see how one starts the beginning process of learning a new piece. But the rest of this video is also extremely helpful!
Yes, me too!
I tried it a while back in this video (and its follow up) th-cam.com/video/6Nfg0cJpzbs/w-d-xo.html but it was far less interesting than wait for my brown grass to turn green. Which it may or may not even do.
01:05 "I like to start at the end [when learning a piece]"
😲 Me too!! But I've so far failed to persuade anyone else to do it!! I'm thrilled to find someone else that does this!!
BTW: Starting from the end is the ONLY way I have of memorizing music. You'll remember I think that I played Bach 542 from memory for your 60 organist recital in May 2022. I learned that from the end backwards. In 2020 I learned dozens of Bach works that way. It's literally the only way that has ever worked for me.
Of course, there's more to memorizing than just that, but for me it's a vital aspect.
You mentioned in the 60 organist recital that you don't play from memory (or didn't - I noticed you played some Gigout (Grand Choeur) from memory recently). If you or anyone else would like to learn how I memorize music, I'd really love to pass on what I've learned (from various wonderful concert pianists including Danny Driver, Stephen Hough, and Kaoru Bingham) and discovered myself. (I was going to write a book on the subject in 2021, but then the lockdowns ended). I find it an incredibly enjoyable experience - and no, it's NOT done by repetition!! 🙂
Thanks John - I’d be very interested to think more about memorising music. I can only play one piece from memory and that’s BWV 565 after having playing it 83 times in a row!
I've been learning music from the end for years (50 or so ... hence my YT name ... :- ). I "discovered" it when I was in college. I decided to try it primarily because as I progress through a performance of the piece it becomes more secure as I go, as opposed to the reverse when the last part is the last learned and therefore the least practiced and well-known.
And yes -- I'd be very interested for you to share your learnings and experience regarding memorizing.
Playing from memory is an interesting subject, especially since organists (including me) mostly don't and pianist mostly do. I guess we're too afraid playing some wrong notes or getting a black out during recording or a live concert. However, when you're at vacation and you enter a church with a lovely organ, you just wish you knew the entire organ oeuvre from memory ;)
@@RalphLooij - since I'm a very poor reader and tend to memorize fairly easily I play quite a bit of my organ ouvre from memory -- granted it is not that much. My biggest concern is not so much with a blackout as it is that I start to improvise when I didn't intend to .. :-|
I really love this learning and performance video !
It's so interesting and useful for my own, like the one about Gigout's Toccata !!!
Moreover, this amazing reverberation really adds a majestic side to your performance
thanks Richard !!!
I especially like what you said about interpretation, and that there is no "right was" to play a piece. Totally agree.
Thanks for the masterclass! Some good pointers towards learning a piece. Your final registration gives good clarity and I love the flourish up to the final chord.
Love the funny quips and visual jokes, while you're playing this very difficult piece.
Interesting to hear about the reverse learning process. I've never heard of it before, but it makes perfect sense.
So pleased to see another one of these videos so quickly! It's incredibly interesting as an organ enthusiast, and extremely useful as a novice organist to understand the thought processes you go through as you learn the piece. Your ornamentation was fantastic.
I'm pleased you highlighted Schouten's performance in your video - her articulation, choice of registration and the room acoustic combine to an absolute delight of the senses, and this is where I feel the choice of Sint Bavokerk fell a bit short - the reverb is intense, which muddies the subject a bit. A point of preference, but it's a piece that I think is more suited to a slightly drier acoustic.
That said - wow, what a performance - and an absolutely terrific video. This fugue is, without question, among my favourite Bach pieces, and seeing it come to life, step by step, is a delight.
Pedal-Exercitium, BWV 598 next, for something completely different?!
Great performance. Although I am not an organist I definitely agree with the registrations and articulations you have chosen.
Great video. The “work backwards” method was introduced to me in a choir context in 2008, and I haven’t stopped using and teaching it since. Very nice.
Thank you. Amazing it only took you 6 hours I worked on it from age 15-17 obviously I memorized it by then! I am inspired to relearn it again. I have been an amateur for the last 60 years, been to 4 Virgil Foxes concerts. Thank you
I completly agreexwhen you said there is no wrong way to play Bach. I came totally an amateur and cannot even read music well. I do play some Bach totally from memory. My interpretation of the little fuge is much like yours except for when the melody is played for the last time on the pedal, I accent it more. But I thoroughly enjoy your programs and I thank you for producing them. Everett
I found your method of learning a new piece quite interesting. I would have loved trying it years ago while learning Bach on the piano.
I love your registration!
Thank you Richard for doing this! As a dyslexic musician, I struggle with fingerings and this has helped me greatly.
Cheers, John M.
A wonderful video with the perfect blend of serious information and light-hearted fun! I find it very interesting that this piece is in the Edition Peters JS Bach "Easier Organ Works" yet the work it takes someone of your calibre to prepare for performance would (I think) say it's really not so "easy."
I've heard numerous performances of this piece and am fascinated by the various ways that players articulate the fugue subject. There is no one "right way", but there are wrong ways (e.g., constant legato). In fact, I believe that the articulation of the subject can be occasionally altered, for the sake of variety and surprise.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH for sharing your thoughts about how you developed your way through that piece! I am training that piece for approximately 12 months, and I had to find similar ideas and findings on my own, as the apprentice Organist which I am. Please more of this Videos!
Thank you for making it seem so easy! I love your owl socks too!!
Aha! Ebenezer Prout used to make his pupils make up words and sing fugue themes, and this one came out as "J. S. Bach wrote lots of pieces just like this" :-)
I used 578 to teach 'fugue.' The entire class would sing "I'm a fugue by J.S. Bach and no one else--simple subject is my game and Fugue in g minor is my name--I am a fugue, I am a fugue, I am a fugue...." It was marvelous!
This is fantastic!! Like watching an illusionist working on a new trick... experimenting and practicing... until he can truly create the appearance of magic for an audience.
Thank you. I remember playing the pedal line on the piano whilst my dad played the manuals at home before I started learning to play. He had learnt the organ at school, but ddn't play regularly until he retired (for reasons I don't know, but can possibly guess). I've got some of his music now so will dig out his old Novello copy and learn it. Thank you for the advice on how to play it as well of bringing back a happy memory.
Interesting video. I'm glad to see that it isn't just self-taught amateurs like me who struggle a bit with BWV 578. I was slightly surprised that Anne Marsden Thomas included it in Volume 2 of the Oxford Bach series along with known "easy" works like BWV 533 and 549.
It's certainly easier than some other of Bach's fugues such as BWV 542, 541, 532 etc, but is harder than others. It only has a few tricky moments especially those bits with the trills (for me anyway).
Thank you for making this video, Richard! Your music is always a treat.
Fascinating and enlightening! Thank you for this!
I know nothing of the musical complexity taking place here, however it was a superb performancne, Made my lunch break : )
Ohh, I love this!!! Thank you for the "behind the scenes" interpretations!
Really helpful for me, including the reminder to start at the end! Thank you very much!
Liked the format, Richard. Very illuminating and enjoyable. Thanks!
A great accomplishment Richard! This fugue is awesome and enjoyed how you were able to learn it.
What a wonderful idea to make some commentary videos, hope you have a full series planned - They're really informative and it's great to see how others plan and prepare pieces......picked up a few tips and tricks from both of your videos!!! :)
I love these videos, and the commentaries with the odd funny image to lighten the mood. And a lovely performance to finish.
I love your humor in presenting something technical like this. Great voiceover skills.
I have perfect pitch and a very good memory for tunes. The best thing about this work is the happy ending. In the key of G minor, the last chord is major - this is a Picardy Third! Listen for the B Natural!
Wonderful. One of my favorite pieces by Bach. And you played it beautifully as everything you play.
Appreciate the commentary so very much, how you practice for this piece, and your display of your registration. Love the trills!! 4 camera split screen at the end fantastic.
Very interesting commentary. A glimpse into how you learn to play a new work. By the way, this was the first Bach composition that I ever heard. Love your interpretation of this piece.
Love the result!
There IS a "right way" to play Bach. Musically, rhythmically, and melodically. :)
I love that you are learning this!!! I think I made this request several times!
I've been meaning to learn it for a while. I hope this met your expectations! 😎
Thank you so much for a fantastic video! It was very fascinating having a semi masterclass and PONDERING new ways to practice from the legend himself! 😆🙏❤️
Simply marvellous ! Thank you.
Superb. Thank you for this, Richard, especially for demystifying long trills. (If only they came in a box...) You pack a lot of practical help into a relatively short space. This inspires me to tackle this piece again.
Yes: "Spiel" as in "play around"...have fun!
This is so neat! I have always known it's complicated. But never knew the thought process.
Thank you very much Richard for another wonderful video. I am a huge fan not only of the organ and J. S. Bach's work, but especially of this imo playful yet very structured piece. Being also a veteran budgie-owner, I must compliment you on sneaking in such a hilarous little "trill" - you sure made my Sunday a lot better.
Thanks again for doing such an amazing job, combining both professionalism and a decent sense of humor. Cheers :)
Former budgie owner here too!
This is one of my favourite organ pieces; played by the late Carlo Curly it is sensational - what a showman ! But John has it in the bag , Well done
Oh, I see that you practice too! Wonderful listening to you going over the different paces you went through
Great video and masterclass. It's fun to see how your mind works as a organist.
Very very interesting (and in a way validating) to see a professional approach this piece and hit the same sorts of snags I have as an amateur. The extended trills on that A and that F ALWAYS get away from me -- or, more specifically, the trill itself is fine, but the rest of my body somehow completely loses coordination and the ability to keep time.
Very informative and fascinating. Thank you so much.
One of my favorites to play for sure! :) That last bit at the end is challenging for sure.. But it sounded great Richard! ❤
Simply... beautiful. Subscribed... and listening.
Love and light ✨
Wonderful!!!!
I also like your sense of humor! Have a Merry and Blessed Christmas!
Thank you! You too!
BWV 578: always a Bach fan, a long time ago I had heard and hummed out this starting melody and vowed I would find it again but I couldn't then this video showed up with the bwv. I realized it would be difficult to translate to single ukulele (unless I were the legendary Chet Atkins). But still like this fugue rivals the more famous D minor.
Oh and Love the foot pedal screen where the sheet music would be, whomever thought that up
You saw pedalcam on music desk on BIS first
I love these practice hacks. Much appreciated, much applies to "life" also!
Excellent video, Richard. Although I'll never be able to play a fugue like that, I found it fascinating how you went about learning it. 6 hours practice before the video starts! I shall try to learn pieces from the end and see if I can actually learn a piece properly. Thanks for the inspiration and encouragement.
Awesome
This fugue has risen in popularity because it is simple (!) and sounds bright and bouncy. YT and your godself have raised it from obsurity - which is a Good Thing.
All it wants now is for for someone to fiddle with the registrations to bring it to the the level of "There once was a man called Ebernezzer Prout" (et cetera) to get the masses (!) humming to raise this sort of music in the Public's sight.
- perhaps some catchy lyrics would seal it in the minds of the populus? I wonder who will write the universal lyrics for this ubiquitous theme?
Thanks!
You're welcome William! Thank you for the $5 - much appreciated!
Excellent to watch, listen and learn - I thought I was the only one to struggle with seemingly "simple" things in thsi piece. As an aside - I'm watching this using the Microsoft Edge browser and there are subtitles generated by something analysing your speech. Well, it's mistakes are hilarious and very, very politically incorrect. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing !
Thank you Richard! I just “finished” learning the fugue only to discover I’ve only just begun. I wondered if you added more reeds in the last pedal entrance of the theme. Seems to drive the motive home IMO.
That was great! Thank you, Richard! Next commentary video: THE REUBKE 😃
Thanks for the.... sensible suggestion! 🤣
Awesome! The “reverse learn” technique was introduced to me a couple of years ago when someone was learning the Dorian. (thanks Richard!) I had never heard of it before and it has been an incredibly useful tool! Great tips. Topped off with a tip top performance!! 😀
The Dorian is such a wonderful piece!
Nice Ben Bloor reference! Good video idea and well played!!
What was the reference to Ben? It was entirely by accident whatever it was...
@@beautyinsound The “Paint dry reference” from the “What makes a good recital programme”.
Great players think alike 👌🏻😉
Good choice of tempo - allows for the detail to shine through.
I like the slower tempo as well as I don't see the point in anything faster than this. Works for me! :)
Just caught up with this. I'm not an organist (just an avid listener) but it's really interesting to learn about the process. I'm only slightly worried that I can recognise Jonathan Scott from his feet/organ shoes 😄.
I would love to hear you discuss and play Dupre’s “Cortège Et Litany, please.
It’s a great piece!
I disagree, I do believe many people including myself would watch or listen to your entire 5-6 hour practice session. I do love this video though, so thank you for sharing!
Nothing wrong with playing a passage legato if it's a variation or repeat of an earlier passage. Modern organ actions can do that nicely. :)
Thank you so much for this. I am an organist but haven’t played this in many years. I love your commentary. May I ask two things:
What is the tablet you use? I have never used one for music. I was fascinated by the fact that you could write on it!
2nd - I have never seen an organist play in socks. Can you tell me more about how you came about this? Sure opens the repertoire for fun! (Instead of the same old black shoes! Lol)
Hi Richard. Loved the video. It's really useful to see how you have learnt this piece. ( How's the lawn doing? I can send you some green up, but I don't think you'll be needing it having seen the weather forecast for the weekend. You might want to give it a quick cut tomorrow before the rain arrives. ) Top final performance of the fugue and super camera shots. Thanks again for all you do. Best wishes.
Lawn is akin to the Brazilian flag with its shades of green and brown. Too short to cut I think at the moment, but lots of rain forecast this week.
I love this!!! I Come From a piano/Theatre/jazz-background and just started my organ journey this summer. I’ve learned this piece… and what would be a good next piece??? I would love another fugue. But some (many) of them are sooooo dauntinf. Tips?
Thank you for that demo. However the last line 3 bars and a bit shows a trill that goes continuously towards the end. Can you let us know how we are supposed to trill with the left hand please. That"s my sticking point of not finishing the lovely Piece. Would love to finish this Fugue in G Minor and play it one day in Chichester. Cheers.
Richard, I have enjoyed all of your posts and tutorials and ideas. Have you ever played any concerts in Canada? If not, I think there are many venues that would love to have you.
On another note, do you have the fanfare beginning for God Save the King written down, if so is that something you can share, or can you post a video of what the structure would be.
Cheers
Glenn
I’m in the middle of learning this piece too .,,,,,, taken a little longer than 6 hours though. 🙈🙈 really interested in the learning from the end approach probably too late to try it with this piece as I’m almost up to the last page now but will definitely give it a go.
My copy of Call for Composers arrived today too thank you delivery was super quick only had an email last night to say it had been dispatched too. Looking forward to learning some of the pieces in there 😬😬😬
Glad it arrived safely!
Enjoyed watching even though I am NOT an organist. 🙏🙏🙏
Well at least you enjoyed watching it, even as a non-organist. Gold star to BIS for that!
Great job! My dream is to play this piece one day. Working on build my first VPO through repurposing an old Conn 653 theatre organ. Would you mind sharing which notation software you're using on your iPad? Thanks!
Has Paul Fey influenced you to play in socks? I remember you saying one time that shoes were important. Thank you so much for sharing your talent around the world!!!!!
love the registration choices and everything about both the preparation you shared and the performance. It seems you rarely (if ever) utilize your heals on the pedals. Is this just personal preference or is there more substance behind that?
I think this Fugue really doesn’t require heals, and in fact I think using heals would make it harder. There are pieces where I do outrageously use heals but 578 doesn’t need them. Actually - one note… in the final pedal entry I *think* I use my right heal on the A. Perhaps you could check? 😉
This is some incredibly valuable content! Thank you
What I wish you would talk about sometime is FINGERING! Back in the mid 80s I actually earned an advanced degree in organ performance, but I realize the thing I probably hate the most, and feel the most conflicted about when learning a new piece is fingering....it actually sucks the joy out of it.
So....if you could talk about this, and share what works for you, I would be most interested and grateful!
Will bear it in mind for future commentary videos
Yes I agree Bach needs interpretation: a Bach composition can be played with any instruments will sound like Bach and sound great. But if you play Beethoven
in any other instrumentation that Beethoven composed for, it sounds very strange and weird
Thank you Richard, I just learned this piece and your video is like beautiful icing to the cake, such an enjoyment.
And this second video of the series is with even more fun to watch as it covers things like your personal ornament taste and registration ( I think it will be great if you could dive deeper on registration, you can try the inbuilt MIDI recording function of HW and tweak the stops over and over again as you like)
And it’s eye opening to know one can learn a piece backward.
Good content, would love to see more (and longer) of these. Thank you
A wonderful way for a beginner like me to look over the shoulder of someone far more advanced and learn. What do I need to do, when and why?
What do you need to do? Stay tuned for more BIS videos on their way! :)
Beautiful video, with some very helpfull tips for studying this piece(s) myself. Wich program are you using on the tablet (and which tablet is it? Its quite a big one)?
There are quite a few apps available, but this one is called ForScore. It’s on the 12.9 iPad Pro.
Widor's Toccata. I'm having difficulty
Maestro, if I may ask, what "e-book" are you using (I can't recall the names of them, I'm a bit of a looney) and the software, etc, for downloading the music?
thanks
barney Tablet, that's it, and how do I get the music.
What kind of tablet are you using, and the software? More importantly, how do you turn the pages without touching the screen?