@@Kxz716 I think you are judging without first knowing, I hope this track makes you change your mind according to Metal in all its variants, I know that a track is something very limited, but I hope you can understand the point I am referring to when listening to this..... th-cam.com/video/wcHX-14rOhk/w-d-xo.html P.S. Bach and Wagner would love Metal if they existed in this period of time!
This music gives me sense of finality. An impending sense of doom, all the chaos of humanity swirling around me. If an Apocalypse were to ever befall Mankind, Bach's Passacaglia would be playing.
Ton Koopman, such a humble man.If you saw him walking down a street, he'd be willing to talk to anyone. When a down-to-earth musician performs like Ton Koopman here in this live recital, one is drawn more to his performance etiquette and natural flow, rather than grand gestures of other artists. Musicians are a very varied set of people. There are not enough Ton Koopman's who play serving the music more than themselves. J. S. Bach and Koopman - a devotion to pure music making.. ps. my first ever comment on YT..
After the din of centuries, after the dust of history, after the banality of us all there will remain the genius of Bach. Would that anyone of us could have achieved in a lifetime what Bach achieved in a day.
The Toccata and Fugue in D minor is fine and all, but the Passacaglia may be one of the best tunes ever in the history of music. Amazing how Bach takes such a simple base theme and keeps adding layers, combining in a monumental work of art.
J. S. Bach interprété ou dirigé par Tom Koopman le grand Maître n’est que merveille de musicalité, un génie musical respectueux des grandes partitions. Aux grandes orgues, en concert ou à la direction c’est l’un des grands de ce monde de la musique baroque. merci aisthesis pour ce formidable partage.
La Grande découverte de mon enfance....le" Monde Sensible" qui fait vibrer le corps des ongles des pieds aux cheveux....L'EXTASE, mour tout au long de ma vie...
Such beauty and grace in one music. Bach is not wrongfully called as the "Master Musician"! I even own the record of Koopman playing this masterpiece on vinyl!
I can understand critical comments of many. Bach's music was originally not intended to be played in a "dull, secular spaces" like the concert hall in Japan. Bach's music is and will forever be 1. European, 2. Inspired by Christianity/Faith, 3. Sacred. This has nothing to do though with unquestionable Mr. Koopman's mastership! He did absolutely his BEST! Once there's an adequate cathedral built in Tokyo plus a matching instrument, Japaneese will be able to enjoy all Bach's inspirations!
There is a joke : Mozart died and arrive in Heaven. God receive him and said « I love so much your work ! I offer you the direction of the angel choir. - Sorry my Lord, but it’s to much. I’m confused… and Bach ? And the Lord answer : - I’m Bach.
You'd have to be a soulless rock to not be moved by this piece. This is fantastic. I like how in this interpretation the performer continues into the fugue without a pause, as if the fugato were another passacaglia episode.
How did this get 405 thumbs down?? This is an unbelievable version, all the extra trills on hands and pedals. Amazing speed and coordination. Best rendition I have heard hands down. Mesmerized by the grandeur.
Without being one of those 405, I can see how some people might find the fugue too fast, the registration a bit too heavy and some of the ornamentation too whimsical.
Ton is an absolute HERO and a master in every respect. And this os the greatest piece of organ music (and music) on the planet and in history…… but….🤦🏻…… he’s having an off-day. Its mechanical a lot of the time. His tempo is unsteady here and there…. He misses some of the rhetorical gestures he’s usually so good at….. and overall it’s just a “bit” too rushed….. every genius has an off-day. This is not Ton K at hos best at all….. who knows why?🤷🏼🤷🏼. He’s still a wondrous musician…
J'avoue que tous ces commentaires me font bien rire. Tous ces gens hargneux les uns envers les autres, qui prétendent détenir la vérité sans écouter les arguments des autres, oublient une composante essentielle de la musique : l'interprétation. M. Koopman est un grand connaisseur de la musique de Bach, et ce n'est pas sans raison qu'il propose une interprétation qui ne convient pas à tout le monde. Ces M. Je-Sais-Tout ne lui apprendront rien, sinon à se ridiculiser inutilement...
absolute madness..... really my very greatest respect for the old gentleman who plays the passacaglia and fugue in C minor like a real rock star... big compliment! So beautiful, you get goosebumps even as a seasoned man 👍
+SparkyMcBiff My dear Spark. You can see the van Hoef Gert's Concert at Victoria Hall, England, the last year, here two screens show the organist and his pedals' work all the time... Great!
A magnificent organ, played by one of the great masters. The neutral acoustics of a concert hall require very precise articulation in the absence of cathedral-like reverberation, and Mr Koopman in effect, turned his recital into a master class of how it's done.
Koopman is precise performer. He does well also as a harpsichord player. Bach composed many masterpieces. This one is among the many favorites I have of Bach compositions. The flowing themes are majestic. His style colors all later composers. Charles Marie Widor is one composer. His Symphony #5 toccata is similar in form to Bach's BWV 582 in its treatment of the voices of the organ and the pace of the bass. This Bach piece certainly rivals the later compositions by Widor and Boellmann. The organ can be tailored in its voices. This piece shows that.
cool interpretation.The notes sound so clear and distinguishable.The most epic are the brake downs, some other parts i prefer being played by some other people but that is miniscule. Anyone who can play this piece is in my opinion a master musician.
All the criticism!!! Jeesh! It's a great piece of music by a great composer and it's played well! What more do you need or want????? For those who think it's wrong, post yourself playing it!
maybe it's the fact that it gets exhausting from the continuous sound without a pause :/ but it is interesting by me,it might be just to much to comprehend for a beginner :)
VWC318 Nice point :) I love this piece with its slightly sinister feel and the organist interpretation seems to me to be pretty traditional and well executed. There's no pleasing some people...
Baroque Addict, sorry for my inadequate English. Quote: ". . you might like it or not, but there is no wrong or right interpretation. .." well, we can state something - it's wrong to make a rest between the two movements. The final chord in the Passacaglia has a minor third in soprano. So far I haven't seen any composition by Bach that end like that. The reason is simple - it not sounds good. We also know that "everyone" skip the improvisation just after the fermata in the fugue. Improvisations was an important part of the performances back then.
I have had a copy of this masterpiece in my collection for decades, though not being too “into” organ music I never knew it, never having gone much beyond the Toccata & Fugue in D Minor that starts the disc (Herrick / Zofingen / Hyperion). Then about a year ago I “discovered” BWV 540 and 546, and I really enjoyed them, especially parts. Then, recently, I listened to 582 and was awestricken. I don’t think I have ever heard anything so majestic and stirring in its wholeness. And to think Bach was so young when he composed it. While the interweaving of the variations is in itself mesmerizing, it is not hard to feel the emotional and, in Bach’s case, spiritual dimension. Personally I feel loneliness. Darkness. Despair. The last few minutes of the passacaglia is desolation. Then, miraculously, but inextricably from the dark underpinnings of what came before...the hope. The will. The long climb out. And in the end light and fulfillment.
The thing about Bach is you never quite get to the bottom of it. In that sense its somewhat like Shakespeare where everywhere you look there more substance and meaning. I like what Hefitz said of the Chacone "I've been studying and performing this piece for 50 years and I still don't understand it." That could be true for much of Bach's music. I think that people who comment on "what Bach meant" are probably making greater fools of themselves than the realize.
Sir Zinos I will have to agree with you, but it is also a matter of perspective, not every individual is the same, sir, but that being said music takes us where words cannot, and in essence to understand something is to embrace it has as a whole without question. Good day to sir ^_^
That is a true statement, I have heard this piece hundreds of time from pedal harpsichords to pianos and orchestrated versions and every time I hear it I always find something new.
I have not heard more intelligent comment on something than this one in a long time. I can poorly play some peaces of Bach's music on the guitar (including part of Chacone), but even the simplest ones are filled with something more than we can understand. Something so beautiful and true and good for our soul and general well being. This is not just a music. This is a magic. Just like Shakespeare is.
This work was heard twice at the Carmel Bach Festival. The organist was Andrew Arthur. The work was very impressively played with the organ filling the church with its glorious sound. There is quite nothing like hearing this work in person.
This is as good an example that you'll see of the different technique required to play a concert hall organ as against that of a cathedral. The acoustics are totally different, and here, Master Koopman plays in a way that would be less appropriate in a reverberant cathedral, but perfect in this venue. It is a measure of his vast experience of both. Total respect.
Herr Koopmann, ich habe Sie in Kleinich an der Stumm-Orgel gehört mit dem Schäfer Stückchen, bei dem Sie die Vögel haben zwitschern lassen, ein unvergesslicher Moment, vor vielen Jahrzehnten. Alles Gute, Gesundheit. Nur das Beste.
Intense flame, discipline, power and fire. Wow, the fugue is so overwhelming and keeps rising in fury. It builds up, thanks to a Bach scholar.. Then, those staccatas that add tension and those trills that break the monotony and the outburst of passion toward the middle. Koopman nailed it just as he did with The J. S. Bach mass in g minor's Cum Sanctus spiriti--- Its intertwinining chorals, always rising; always reaching momentum--- Bach's theory, flame and passion. He knows Bach. I wish I saw him live, although I had the pleasure of watching another Bach guru: Helmut Rilling in Stuttgart and Cologne.. Bravo Koopman. Now you're getting towards the end of the Fugue- perhaps one of the most piercing performances of this Passacaglia I have ever heard... Now he is ending it.... Oh, fearfully grandiose!
@@christianindividual4550 I wasn't kidding. But it's a bit his fault... he wrote live not Live. So I thought he might have died. Happily he is still w us. PS. I didn't understand your hahaha reply, but it did cause doubts.
He definitely stretched this piece out in ways I've never heard before, which brings things out in what I already imagine as the "ideal form" of the piece. Deviations from one's own expectations often help one attune to further appreciations in and beyond them.
I remember he came to ICU to perform and record some Bach pieces about 37 years ago. Superb, high-spirited organist then. He is now even better, very seasoned artist!
Bach said he wanted his songs played in every way possible (according to a memoir). That means all available instruments and notation. You can even pedal his songs if played on piano if you so wish, no one has the right to tell you otherwise. Play on!
+Earl Archibald Campbell of Argyll I think it's time for the musically educated to give up this distinction as it is simply not useful to most people. Especially in instances like this where OP's meaning was perfectly clear and you were only objecting to his word choice for purely pedantic reasons. "Instrumentals" have been referred to as songs for decades in popular music if not longer, and most people don't know or care about the difference, nor do they have any need to. Language changes with time and usage, and resistance to this change in the form of linguistic conservatism can do just as much to get in the way of understanding as to further it.
+TedManney Wow. I have been a "THEY'RE NOT SONGS!!!" snob too but this is quite a convincing argument. I still, however, will not allow anyone to call the floor "the ground" or a glass "a cup". Just sayin'.
"Spectaculairement difficile à jouer! C'est hyper physique! Cela demande un investissement de Soi au-delà du Maximum du mental. J'apprécie l'Exploit! Bravo!"
Jerome Weingart Yes it ismin Tokyo. but the comoany who has built this organ is Kuhn, Männedorf, Switzerland. I play organ in Switzerland on many different Kuhn Organ.
It is a privilege of those who can play this magnificent piece to choose: registration, tempo, articulation, dynamics, etc. etc. But just prefer Richter´s interpretation.
In my opinion it is the musicans responsibility to restore old music. Karl Richter came from the romantic school, he didn't care about restoring. "Don't buy any score from Straube" my organ teacher said to me, "he wrote too many changes". Karl Richter was a pupil of Straube. Enjoy your Richter, but you have to know it's far from the baroque style.
Ok. Geir, but who really knows how really was old music? In this and previous generations there have many conflicting "authorities" claiming each one being the authentic connoisseur.
Sorry for my inadequate English. Enjoy your Richter! But some of us know he was wrong. The final chord of the Passacaglia, soprano is a minor third on top. So far I don't know of any examples that Bach end a piece with an minor third in soprano. And the sheet music shows us that there is no rest between the passacaglia and the fugue. Because I composing music in old style, I am able to discover an another reason why it's wrong to make a rest between the two movements: To surprise the listeners. I don't thinking of people today, since we are familiar to musicstyles unknown to Bach. We listening to big symphonies there the composers goes from fff to ppp in a second. Therefore, for us today we are not able to understand the value of whats should happend between the two pieces. But in Bachs own lifetime, I believe that the moment between the passacaglia and the fugue was a surprise for the listeners. Peter Williams tell us that noone knows Bachs own original sheet. But in the copies we read "organo pleno." Richter was totaly addicted to the romantic style, so he couldn't respect such information.
Correction: Gianluca Cagnani tells us in a comment above that only one of the copies is marked "organo pleno." Furthermore, old source(s) inform that was normal practise to perform passacaglias with a pleno.
Do not know Richter's interpretation, but I have enjoyed Koopman . Nevertheless, to me, the very best is the ancient recording of Edward Power Biggs at the pedal harsphicord which permits an absolutely clear definition of voices and the changing registers takeoff from any hint of heaviness...
[NB:This will likely be of interest to performers only] Ah ha! There a note in this piece that, as a performer, has troubled me for decades. It's the F in the left hand at 2:05. I see that Ton plays it with his third finger, then switches (substitutes) to his fifth finger, leaving his left hand to play the D F alto part whilst the right hand plays the soprano trill. Very sensible, and I have considered doing that. I don't like using finger substitution with Bach but in this situation I think that every other option (e.g. jumping the fifith finger from middle C to the F above) is worse. Now I see that Ton does the substitution, I think that I will too. Better to get the piece learned completely than to wonder evermore what to do with that troublesome note!
Bach, the master of dubstep. He took the theme, played on the pedal trombone/pousane, double trumpet or contra bombarde. How well he took the main theme and improvised on it, is shere genius
Bach e' insuperabile nelle composizioni organistiche. La gioia che pervade dalle sue note inonda l'intelletto e lo trascina in un paradiso di armonia !
Good interpretation - but if you like it more colourful than switch to Hans-André Stamm playing the passacaglia on the magnificent Trost-organ at Walteshausen near Eisenach (Bachs birth-place). Trost als built the famous organ at the chapel of Altenburg-castle (Thuirngia), an instrument that was highly estimatet by Bach himself !!!
the passacaglia is definitely not easy listening. The true beauty of this work is wrapped up in its complexity. This piece is very difficult to master and I have tried it myself (still in progress). That said... There is very little you can fault Koopman on. He stays true to the character of the baroque era and little tecnical error. This recital is spot on!
I'm glad Mr Koopman 'moved it on a bit'. Playing this piece in one speed and registration is less imaginative. He kept my interest right to the end of the work.
Vous avez entièrement raison, ce dyptique est absolument génial et l'envoûtement qu'il génère est inexpliquable. Le regretté maître Jean Guillou appelait affectueusement (et à juste titre) J-S Bach "Le Grand Magicien". Ton Koopman, par contre, est certainement un grand musicien mais surcharge toujours trop la musique de Bach avec des trilles qui à mon sens n'ont rien à y faire. De plus ses tempi sont trop rapides, c'est regrettable mais heureusement la musique de J-S est si forte que même une mauvaise interprétation ne gâche que peu la force de ses œuvres tellement sublimes. Pour cette passacaille, je conseillerais plutôt les versions interprétées par : Pierre Cochereau (N-D de Paris) th-cam.com/video/x4y4M0nPL_g/w-d-xo.html Jean Guillou (St-Eustache, sublime) ou récemment par Olivier Latry (N-D de Paris enregistré quelques jours avant le dramatique incendie) th-cam.com/video/TN7xYP2i0Bs/w-d-xo.html
The story of this piece composition follows a complex scheme. The theme played on the bass of the pedalis is borrowing two basic elements: " Christe en Passacaille" from 2nd tone Mass for the first half of the melodic cell and "Chaconne en Trio" from the 6th tone Mass for the second part of the melodic cell by the french organist André; Raison (not very famous today but he was in his times) whose Bach saw the score in the musical library of the college where he studied during his youth. in Lüneburg. This library contained many foreign printed organ partitions from all the western europe countries, but the structure and the development is imitating a Chaconne by Diderick Buxtehude he heard when he met him in Hamburg (Bux159, 160 or 161)
thats rigth, The passacaglia from Buxtehude and André Raison It is very similar. Bach extends the ostinato with additional measures, personally I think the best version of bach, and the fugue is one of the most complex.
As a Cellist, I cannot fathom using TWO hands and TWO feet as organists do!! JSBach, die Beste immer....ich genieße ALLES was er geschreiben und gespielen hat! Vielen Dank.
Many excellent things about this performance, although I keep imagining that he speeds up every now and then in random passages. Additionally, there does seem to be a general, gradual accelerando as the fugue progresses. That doesn't seem necessary: There's plenty of gathering tension built into the music without speeding it up. This performance ends up sounding a bit frantic towards the end, which dissipates some of the immense power of the music. A shame, but still for all that an excellent reading.
wunderschön ! ..... auch ein tolles Instrument und natürlich die (Traum) Passacalia von J .S .Bach ..... Interpretation die "tief" geht ! T R A U M H A F T
This song makes me imagine a battle in space between celestial beings and monsters, in which the former destroy themselves, unleashing a blinding light to kill the monsters ...
![BOWKYLION - วิงวอน (ex-change) [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cLdnZWDaO-w/mqdefault.jpg)
I fell in love with Bach in the 3rd grade. It didn't help me gain friends, but this love has never left me. An absolute genius!!!!
same! I'm only 14, have only 4 friends but i couldn't be happier. Classical music saved me from suicide! And for that I am eternally grateful
You're in good company.
Redheadedmusician I am truly glad to know that Bach's music has been such a powerful life force for you.
you should listen to Buxtehude too. 😊
SAME! I'm 18 but ever since I was little, I always listened to classical.
This is the real heavy metal - like, literally tons of it.
You said it!
Well, some pipes aren't metal. Some of them are wooden😊😉
this sound dark lol.
I don't think so. Heavy metal is not spiritual. It's more about mindless violence. This is very sublime and emotional.
@@Kxz716 I think you are judging without first knowing, I hope this track makes you change your mind according to Metal in all its variants, I know that a track is something very limited, but I hope you can understand the point I am referring to when listening to this.....
th-cam.com/video/wcHX-14rOhk/w-d-xo.html
P.S. Bach and Wagner would love Metal if they existed in this period of time!
My favourite Bach organ work played perfectly.
It is indeed one of tbe most perfect organ peaces ever written.
This music gives me sense of finality. An impending sense of doom, all the chaos of humanity swirling around me. If an Apocalypse were to ever befall Mankind, Bach's Passacaglia would be playing.
At the same moment also celebrating some achievements within the chaos of humanity ... and the striving of individuals against the odds.
@@Hhelm01 Sorry for the late reply. Yes, the Fugue has the essence of what you are saying. This music truly captures both sides of the coin.
But is the fugue not salvation?
Ton Koopman, such a humble man.If you saw him walking down a street, he'd be willing to talk to anyone. When a down-to-earth musician performs like Ton Koopman here in this live recital, one is drawn more to his performance etiquette and natural flow, rather than grand gestures of other artists. Musicians are a very varied set of people. There are not enough Ton Koopman's who play serving the music more than themselves. J. S. Bach and Koopman - a devotion to pure music making.. ps. my first ever comment on YT..
Generally, I've seen that organists are humble people. Not like other artists. Maybe because they usually play at churchs. Greetings from México.
beautiful first comment :)
After the din of centuries, after the dust of history, after the banality of us all there will remain the genius of Bach. Would that anyone of us could have achieved in a lifetime what Bach achieved in a day.
The Toccata and Fugue in D minor is fine and all, but the Passacaglia may be one of the best tunes ever in the history of music. Amazing how Bach takes such a simple base theme and keeps adding layers, combining in a monumental work of art.
It's not fine, it's great.
And comparing everything is dumb
And then the incredible ending, when the mighty edifice crumbles and collapses, like the Fall of Troy.
Tokio 2008
This piece has such depth and is so inspirational and moving it makes me cry
Most of Bach makes me cry.
The master Koopman at work... Such a wonderful artist...
J. S. Bach interprété ou dirigé par Tom Koopman le grand Maître n’est que merveille de musicalité, un génie musical respectueux des grandes partitions. Aux grandes orgues, en concert ou à la direction c’est l’un des grands de ce monde de la musique baroque. merci aisthesis pour ce formidable partage.
La Grande découverte de mon enfance....le" Monde Sensible" qui fait vibrer le corps des ongles des pieds aux cheveux....L'EXTASE, mour tout au long de ma vie...
Such beauty and grace in one music.
Bach is not wrongfully called as the "Master Musician"!
I even own the record of Koopman playing this masterpiece on vinyl!
リズムを守りながら展開するフーガには感嘆するしかありません。
本当に優れたバロック音楽の表現者でした。
I can understand critical comments of many. Bach's music was originally not intended to be played in a "dull, secular spaces" like the concert hall in Japan. Bach's music is and will forever be 1. European, 2. Inspired by Christianity/Faith, 3. Sacred. This has nothing to do though with unquestionable Mr. Koopman's mastership! He did absolutely his BEST! Once there's an adequate cathedral built in Tokyo plus a matching instrument, Japaneese will be able to enjoy all Bach's inspirations!
Bach es el padre dela música, sus obras sublimes llegan al alma, saludos desde Chile 🎼🎶❤
If ever a musician was inspired directly by God, it must be J. S. Bach. This music is too glorious to be of human provenance.
There is a joke : Mozart died and arrive in Heaven. God receive him and said « I love so much your work ! I offer you the direction of the angel choir.
- Sorry my Lord, but it’s to much. I’m confused… and Bach ?
And the Lord answer :
- I’m Bach.
You'd have to be a soulless rock to not be moved by this piece. This is fantastic. I like how in this interpretation the performer continues into the fugue without a pause, as if the fugato were another passacaglia episode.
It is literally scored like that, the fugue enters without pause.
This has to be the best organ playing I have ever seen, such enthusiasm!
How did this get 405 thumbs down?? This is an unbelievable version, all the extra trills on hands and pedals. Amazing speed and coordination. Best rendition I have heard hands down. Mesmerized by the grandeur.
They should listen to it more than once. Then perhaps they will realize just how incredible this is.
just auto-thumbs down bots passing by
Without being one of those 405, I can see how some people might find the fugue too fast, the registration a bit too heavy and some of the ornamentation too whimsical.
Ton is an absolute HERO and a master in every respect. And this os the greatest piece of organ music (and music) on the planet and in history…… but….🤦🏻…… he’s having an off-day. Its mechanical a lot of the time. His tempo is unsteady here and there…. He misses some of the rhetorical gestures he’s usually so good at….. and overall it’s just a “bit” too rushed….. every genius has an off-day. This is not Ton K at hos best at all….. who knows why?🤷🏼🤷🏼. He’s still a wondrous musician…
Because the tempo is too high and the interpretation is consists of constant head shaking?
Magnificent, Bach is simply amazing.
Such perfection! I could listen to this over and over.
If thought piano was difficult, look at this monster instrument.
Amen brother
Oh god yes. I'm trying to play through Bach's organ trio sonatas and they're a nightmare.
It is not all that more difficult, it really just requires some multitasking. (Bach pieces are difficult on any instrument you play.)
truly monstrous, the entire wall is the instrument, he's just sitting at the console.
organ is easier in some ways though
I love Bach so much I listened to some of his individual pieces for actual weeks without listening to anything else. This one for example 😅
J'avoue que tous ces commentaires me font bien rire. Tous ces gens hargneux les uns envers les autres, qui prétendent détenir la vérité sans écouter les arguments des autres, oublient une composante essentielle de la musique : l'interprétation. M. Koopman est un grand connaisseur de la musique de Bach, et ce n'est pas sans raison qu'il propose une interprétation qui ne convient pas à tout le monde. Ces M. Je-Sais-Tout ne lui apprendront rien, sinon à se ridiculiser inutilement...
absolute madness..... really my very greatest respect for the old gentleman who plays the passacaglia and fugue in C minor like a real rock star... big compliment! So beautiful, you get goosebumps even as a seasoned man 👍
Absolutely wonderful!
Finally I find a video where the camera looks at what the feet of the organist is doing.
Thank you!
+SparkyMcBiff My dear Spark. You can see the van Hoef Gert's Concert at Victoria Hall, England, the last year, here two screens show the organist and his pedals' work all the time... Great!
They say sit where you see the pianists fingers, and the organists feet!!
if there was anything in young age which saved my life much later, it was the music of J.S. Bach. Thanks for this interpretation.
Ton heeft altijd zijn harte ziel in de muziek en in die zin is hij een orgelman van de Amsterdamme
A magnificent organ, played by one of the great masters. The neutral acoustics of a concert hall require very precise articulation in the absence of cathedral-like reverberation, and Mr Koopman in effect, turned his recital into a master class of how it's done.
582 is one of the masterpieces for eternity. Love these variations over an obstinate bass.
my favourite piece of BACH , pure genius as is all his music
Koopman is precise performer. He does well also as a harpsichord player.
Bach composed many masterpieces.
This one is among the many favorites I have of Bach compositions.
The flowing themes are majestic. His style colors all later composers. Charles Marie Widor is one composer. His Symphony #5 toccata is similar in form to Bach's BWV 582 in its treatment of the voices of the organ and the pace of the bass.
This Bach piece certainly rivals the later compositions by Widor and Boellmann.
The organ can be tailored in its voices. This piece shows that.
cool interpretation.The notes sound so clear and distinguishable.The most epic are the brake downs, some other parts i prefer being played by some other people but that is miniscule. Anyone who can play this piece is in my opinion a master musician.
Breakdowns... or brake downs? Just want to be sure I understand you. Both are possible.
I can't get past all those ornaments.
I saw Master Koopman in Barcelona 2 years ago at Bachelona Festival, such a pleasure!
All the criticism!!! Jeesh! It's a great piece of music by a great composer and it's played well! What more do you need or want????? For those who think it's wrong, post yourself playing it!
maybe it's the fact that it gets exhausting from the continuous sound without a pause :/ but it is interesting by me,it might be just to much to comprehend for a beginner :)
VWC318 Nice point :) I love this piece with its slightly sinister feel and the organist interpretation seems to me to be pretty traditional and well executed. There's no pleasing some people...
He absolutely nailed it! Playing its continuous sound without having any pauses/rests
yeah.. takes at least half a lifetime to play this piece properly :)
Baroque Addict, sorry for my inadequate English. Quote: ". . you might like it or not, but there is no wrong or right interpretation. .." well, we can state something - it's wrong to make a rest between the two movements. The final chord in the Passacaglia has a minor third in soprano. So far I haven't seen any composition by Bach that end like that. The reason is simple - it not sounds good. We also know that "everyone" skip the improvisation just after the fermata in the fugue. Improvisations was an important part of the performances back then.
This man can move his hands and feet faster than any death metal drummer
I have had a copy of this masterpiece in my collection for decades, though not being too “into” organ music I never knew it, never having gone much beyond the Toccata & Fugue in D Minor that starts the disc (Herrick / Zofingen / Hyperion). Then about a year ago I “discovered” BWV 540 and 546, and I really enjoyed them, especially parts. Then, recently, I listened to 582 and was awestricken. I don’t think I have ever heard anything so majestic and stirring in its wholeness. And to think Bach was so young when he composed it. While the interweaving of the variations is in itself mesmerizing, it is not hard to feel the emotional and, in Bach’s case, spiritual dimension. Personally I feel loneliness. Darkness. Despair. The last few minutes of the passacaglia is desolation. Then, miraculously, but inextricably from the dark underpinnings of what came before...the hope. The will. The long climb out. And in the end light and fulfillment.
The thing about Bach is you never quite get to the bottom of it. In that sense its somewhat like Shakespeare where everywhere you look there more substance and meaning. I like what Hefitz said of the Chacone "I've been studying and performing this piece for 50 years and I still don't understand it." That could be true for much of Bach's music. I think that people who comment on "what Bach meant" are probably making greater fools of themselves than the realize.
Sir Zinos
I will have to agree with you, but it is also a matter of perspective, not every individual is the same, sir, but that being said music takes us where words cannot, and in essence to understand something is to embrace it has as a whole without question.
Good day to sir ^_^
Maan Salha to you*
That is a true statement, I have heard this piece hundreds of time from pedal harpsichords to pianos and orchestrated versions and every time I hear it I always find something new.
For me, Bach is one of those composers who every time I hear something he wrote, I notice something that I didn't the last time I heard it. I love it.
I have not heard more intelligent comment on something than this one in a long time. I can poorly play some peaces of Bach's music on the guitar (including part of Chacone), but even the simplest ones are filled with something more than we can understand. Something so beautiful and true and good for our soul and general well being. This is not just a music. This is a magic. Just like Shakespeare is.
This work was heard twice at the Carmel Bach Festival. The organist was Andrew Arthur. The work was very impressively played with the organ filling the church with its glorious sound. There is quite nothing like hearing this work in person.
+Ankh Pom Carmel Bach Festival, was that in Haifa ?
This is as good an example that you'll see of the different technique required to play a concert hall organ as against that of a cathedral. The acoustics are totally different, and here, Master Koopman plays in a way that would be less appropriate in a reverberant cathedral, but perfect in this venue. It is a measure of his vast experience of both. Total respect.
Thanks for that. I would have had no idea.
I enjoyed hearing this played with such strong voicing and articulation. There is greater clarity of the melodic lines. Thank you!
Herr Koopmann, ich habe Sie in Kleinich an der Stumm-Orgel gehört mit dem Schäfer Stückchen, bei dem Sie die Vögel haben zwitschern lassen, ein unvergesslicher Moment, vor vielen Jahrzehnten. Alles Gute, Gesundheit. Nur das Beste.
Intense flame, discipline, power and fire. Wow, the fugue is so overwhelming and keeps rising in fury. It builds up, thanks to a Bach scholar.. Then, those staccatas that add tension and those trills that break the monotony and the outburst of passion toward the middle. Koopman nailed it just as he did with The J. S. Bach mass in g minor's Cum Sanctus spiriti--- Its intertwinining chorals, always rising; always reaching momentum--- Bach's theory, flame and passion. He knows Bach. I wish I saw him live, although I had the pleasure of watching another Bach guru: Helmut Rilling in Stuttgart and Cologne.. Bravo Koopman. Now you're getting towards the end of the Fugue- perhaps one of the most piercing performances of this Passacaglia I have ever heard... Now he is ending it.... Oh, fearfully grandiose!
Is Koopman dead? You didn't hear him Live... ??
@@christianindividual4550 I wasn't kidding. But it's a bit his fault... he wrote live not Live. So I thought he might have died. Happily he is still w us. PS. I didn't understand your hahaha reply, but it did cause doubts.
Once Bach enters your soul he never leaves. And to think if it wasn’t for Felix Mendelssohn we might have lost him forever.
Agree - Bach is THE basis of the music!
the transition at 5:09 is amazingly beautiful, I've listened to it dozens of time and I still don't have enough!
This song is goddamn lit 🔥😭
My favorite part is 00:00-12:41
He definitely stretched this piece out in ways I've never heard before, which brings things out in what I already imagine as the "ideal form" of the piece. Deviations from one's own expectations often help one attune to further appreciations in and beyond them.
Wow! There are no words to express the feelings that I get listening this piece. Thank you for upload it.
I remember he came to ICU to perform and record some Bach pieces about 37 years ago. Superb, high-spirited organist then. He is now even better, very seasoned artist!
Johann Sebastian Bach will follow humanity to the end. We should just be thankful!
The tempo is all over the place, but I will always love Ton's enthusiasm.
Ha-ha - it really is! : )
This guy puts the most energy into this piece than an other (good thing)
Increíble!!! Grandioso!!! Excelente!!! Genial!!! Insuperable!!! Bach!!! Koopman!!! Bravo Bach!!! Bravo Koopman!!!!
I wish I could hear this live someday somewhere...
Bach said he wanted his songs played in every way possible (according to a memoir). That means all available instruments and notation. You can even pedal his songs if played on piano if you so wish, no one has the right to tell you otherwise. Play on!
They are not, "songs," they are pieces.
+Earl Archibald Campbell of Argyll I think it's time for the musically educated to give up this distinction as it is simply not useful to most people. Especially in instances like this where OP's meaning was perfectly clear and you were only objecting to his word choice for purely pedantic reasons. "Instrumentals" have been referred to as songs for decades in popular music if not longer, and most people don't know or care about the difference, nor do they have any need to. Language changes with time and usage, and resistance to this change in the form of linguistic conservatism can do just as much to get in the way of understanding as to further it.
+TedManney Wow. I have been a "THEY'RE NOT SONGS!!!" snob too but this is quite a convincing argument. I still, however, will not allow anyone to call the floor "the ground" or a glass "a cup". Just sayin'.
+TedManney Perfectly said. Thank you.
yeah play on!
5:30-6:30 My favorite part... just sheer genius that created it... :)
Pervading powerful chords mean that GOD HIMSELF ARE TALKING to us! Master Koopman feels it and therefore quite correctly plays !!! Tepper Michael.
Totally agree! This is a dialog with God!
"Spectaculairement difficile à jouer! C'est hyper physique! Cela demande un investissement de Soi au-delà du Maximum du mental. J'apprécie l'Exploit! Bravo!"
Interprétation magistrale. Grandiose et à la pleine mesure de l'oeuvre. Ces moments sont pures grâces et soyez-en chaleureusement remercié.
There is not enough likes in the world for this masterpiece. Gorgeous performance.
Bach è insondabile..... Come facesse a concepire certe armonie è veramente impressionante.....direi diabolico
my god! what an astonishing instrument!
Thats a Swiss Instrument. Kuhn, Männedorf.
in my head you sound like an english man :)
Martin Zoller I think that this organ is in a concert. Hall in Japan
Jerome Weingart Yes it ismin Tokyo. but the comoany who has built this organ is Kuhn, Männedorf, Switzerland. I play organ in Switzerland on many different Kuhn Organ.
Specification of the organ is written here:
www.operacity.jp/en/concert/facilities/ch/index.php
Bach, my Master, how grand and majestic is his work, more if it is played in this imposing instrument. ¡Genius!
Музыка Иогана Себастьяна Баха - это разговор с БОГОМ.
that would mean it never existed - but it does
Wunderschön gespielt....
Absolutely magnificent!
AMAZING, this guy ROCKS!
It is a privilege of those who can play this magnificent piece to choose: registration, tempo, articulation, dynamics, etc. etc.
But just prefer Richter´s interpretation.
In my opinion it is the musicans responsibility to restore old music. Karl Richter came from the romantic school, he didn't care about restoring. "Don't buy any score from Straube" my organ teacher said to me, "he wrote too many changes". Karl Richter was a pupil of Straube. Enjoy your Richter, but you have to know it's far from the baroque style.
Ok. Geir, but who really knows how really was old music? In this and previous generations there have many conflicting "authorities" claiming each one being the authentic connoisseur.
Sorry for my inadequate English. Enjoy your Richter! But some of us know he was wrong. The final chord of the Passacaglia, soprano is a minor third on top. So far I don't know of any examples that Bach end a piece with an minor third in soprano. And the sheet music shows us that there is no rest between the passacaglia and the fugue. Because I composing music in old style, I am able to discover an another reason why it's wrong to make a rest between the two movements: To surprise the listeners. I don't thinking of people today, since we are familiar to musicstyles unknown to Bach. We listening to big symphonies there the composers goes from fff to ppp in a second. Therefore, for us today we are not able to understand the value of whats should happend between the two pieces. But in Bachs own lifetime, I believe that the moment between the passacaglia and the fugue was a surprise for the listeners. Peter Williams tell us that noone knows Bachs own original sheet. But in the copies we read "organo pleno." Richter was totaly addicted to the romantic style, so he couldn't respect such information.
Correction: Gianluca Cagnani tells us in a comment above that only one of the copies is marked "organo pleno." Furthermore, old source(s) inform that was normal practise to perform passacaglias with a pleno.
Do not know Richter's interpretation, but I have enjoyed Koopman . Nevertheless, to me, the very best is the ancient recording of Edward Power Biggs at the pedal harsphicord which permits an absolutely clear definition of voices and the changing registers takeoff from any hint of heaviness...
My favourite organ piece from JS Bach. The style of playing, interpretation and registration is perfect. Love it!
J S Bach - Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor ,BWV 582- T. Koopman
Thank you / Beautiful
[NB:This will likely be of interest to performers only] Ah ha! There a note in this piece that, as a performer, has troubled me for decades. It's the F in the left hand at 2:05. I see that Ton plays it with his third finger, then switches (substitutes) to his fifth finger, leaving his left hand to play the D F alto part whilst the right hand plays the soprano trill. Very sensible, and I have considered doing that. I don't like using finger substitution with Bach but in this situation I think that every other option (e.g. jumping the fifith finger from middle C to the F above) is worse. Now I see that Ton does the substitution, I think that I will too. Better to get the piece learned completely than to wonder evermore what to do with that troublesome note!
My eyes got watery watching this!!!
Bach, the master of dubstep. He took the theme, played on the pedal trombone/pousane, double trumpet or contra bombarde.
How well he took the main theme and improvised on it, is shere genius
la música de Bach nos eleva el espíritu y nos lleva cerca de Dios
Thank you for playing the song in its own original virtue, as it should be.
Nice clear lines, each part is clearly delineated and a good recording to take advantage of it. Registration works well.
Bach e' insuperabile nelle composizioni organistiche. La gioia che pervade dalle sue note inonda l'intelletto e lo trascina in un paradiso di armonia !
Good interpretation - but if you like it more colourful than switch to Hans-André Stamm playing the passacaglia on the magnificent Trost-organ at Walteshausen near Eisenach (Bachs birth-place). Trost als built the famous organ at the chapel of Altenburg-castle (Thuirngia), an instrument that was highly estimatet by Bach himself !!!
the passacaglia is definitely not easy listening. The true beauty of this work is wrapped up in its complexity. This piece is very difficult to master and I have tried it myself (still in progress). That said... There is very little you can fault Koopman on. He stays true to the character of the baroque era and little tecnical error. This recital is spot on!
Just brilliant performance. :)
Hermosa obra de j. s. bach un regalo para el espiritu con una brillante interpretacion
Superb performance. Thank you for sharing this.
I'm glad Mr Koopman 'moved it on a bit'. Playing this piece in one speed and registration is less imaginative. He kept my interest right to the end of the work.
This is my favorite organ piece of all time, and I feel justified in not explaining why.
I love the way you put that.
Vous avez entièrement raison, ce dyptique est absolument génial et l'envoûtement qu'il génère est inexpliquable.
Le regretté maître Jean Guillou appelait affectueusement (et à juste titre) J-S Bach "Le Grand Magicien".
Ton Koopman, par contre, est certainement un grand musicien mais surcharge toujours trop la musique de Bach avec des trilles qui à mon sens n'ont rien à y faire. De plus ses tempi sont trop rapides, c'est regrettable mais heureusement la musique de J-S est si forte que même une mauvaise interprétation ne gâche que peu la force de ses œuvres tellement sublimes.
Pour cette passacaille, je conseillerais plutôt les versions interprétées par :
Pierre Cochereau (N-D de Paris)
th-cam.com/video/x4y4M0nPL_g/w-d-xo.html
Jean Guillou (St-Eustache, sublime)
ou récemment par Olivier Latry (N-D de Paris enregistré quelques jours avant le dramatique incendie)
th-cam.com/video/TN7xYP2i0Bs/w-d-xo.html
I absolutely love how the pipe organ can be so dark and ominous, yet so pure and joyful...
Un KOOPMAN que sabe remontarnos a LO SUBLIME de la musica del genio de BACH.
fantastique et quel instrument , une merveille
amazing!!!
Brillante, gracias.
Koopman is a genious. he playts this piece like if was the minuet in G
Hmmmm.... that piece is probably not by Bach and you're right, he does play it like it's that piece. Perfunctory.
The story of this piece composition follows a complex scheme. The theme played on the bass of the pedalis is borrowing two basic elements: " Christe en Passacaille" from 2nd tone Mass for the first half of the melodic cell and "Chaconne en Trio" from the 6th tone Mass for the second part of the melodic cell by the french organist André; Raison (not very famous today but he was in his times) whose Bach saw the score in the musical library of the college where he studied during his youth. in Lüneburg. This library contained many foreign printed organ partitions from all the western europe countries, but the structure and the development is imitating a Chaconne by Diderick Buxtehude he heard when he met him in Hamburg (Bux159, 160 or 161)
thats rigth, The passacaglia from Buxtehude and André Raison It is very similar. Bach extends the ostinato with additional measures, personally I think the best version of bach, and the fugue is one of the most complex.
As a Cellist, I cannot fathom using TWO hands and TWO feet as organists do!! JSBach, die Beste immer....ich genieße ALLES was er geschreiben und gespielen hat! Vielen Dank.
My feet are barely controlable. I bump into things with them all the time. I can imagine playing with 2 hands I’m a pianist. 2 feet? How?
He played the entire thing without ever using the foot brake or the clutch! Amazing.
Profunda inspiración Divina, y nos la transmite Tom Koopman. Gracias.
Many excellent things about this performance, although I keep imagining that he speeds up every now and then in random passages. Additionally, there does seem to be a general, gradual accelerando as the fugue progresses. That doesn't seem necessary: There's plenty of gathering tension built into the music without speeding it up. This performance ends up sounding a bit frantic towards the end, which dissipates some of the immense power of the music. A shame, but still for all that an excellent reading.
wunderschön ! ..... auch ein tolles Instrument und natürlich die (Traum) Passacalia von J .S .Bach ..... Interpretation die "tief" geht ! T R A U M H A F T
This song makes me imagine a battle in space between celestial beings and monsters, in which the former destroy themselves, unleashing a blinding light to kill the monsters ...
Music coming straight from Heaven...
VERY,VERY GOOD, BACH IS TIMELESS
Musica eterna! Rimango ogni volta stupito quando dall'ultima variazione si passa senza interruzione alla sconvolgente fuga.