*_Ahlgrimm-Fiala wrote for this publication in 1953 in Vienna 1/2_* From the "Ritter-Lexicon" one learns that a C a p e II m e i s t e r of the later 17th and 18th century attached to a nobleman's court was responsible for providing all types of musical entertainment and instruction for the court. He was required to know enough Latin and Greek to be able to read and understand books on music written in those languages: He had to have such a mastery of French and Italian as to converse in them with the perfect fluency of a courtier and to translate them with skill. He had to be well-informed on the art of singing and to have a thorough knowledge of the clavier, the instrument specially useful to composers. In performing his musical duties, he had to display untiring zeal and diligence, and to devote himself especially to composition. When Bach composed his French Suites in 1722, he had already spent five years in the service of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen as Capellmeister, where he received a salary equal to that of the Court's Marshall: 400 Thaler. In 1694, at the age of nine, he lost both parents and was left destitute. He came from a modest, middle class family : his father was Stadtmusikant at Eisenach, his mother was the daughter of a small furrier. How on earth then did the young Sebastian, without resources or aid, manage to acquire all the knowledge necessary to become a Capellmeister at a ducal court? A lucky coincidence helped him. After the death of his parents, Bach lived with his eldest brother Johann Christoph, Organist at Ohrdruf' There, he attended the Grammar School and started his lessons in music. Meanwhile, hi9 brother's family grew so large that they no longer had room for the orphan. Sebastian had no money; neither his schooling nor his musical studies had been completed. On the face of things, the situation seemed hopeless. He had, however, one great asset: "an uncommonly beautiful soprano voice"l Because of that, Herda, the Cantor at Ohrdruf, gave Bach a recommendation ' for admission to the choir of the wealthy cloister of St. Michael's at Luneburg. Full of confidence, Bach at the age of 15 set out on foot to Luneburg - a distance of 300 km . He was given an audition and was immediately accepted as a soprano in the choir. This honour gave him the privilege of enjoying free schooling at the Grammar School attached to the monastery, as well as free board and lodging and a little pocket money. Even when his voice broke, as it m~st have done soon after his entrance into the quire he was not to be thrown back on destitution : he was welcome to stay on to play organ and violin. Consequently, Bach was well provided for during the next years and could devote himself fully to his studies. Strictly separated from the commoner's school, SI. Michael's cloister also housed an Academy for the sons of noblemen. In its curriculum which differed vastly from that of the Grammar School, dancing was the main subject. Among the other subjects that were taught were French, Latin, ethics, politics and, lastly, fencing and riding. The ordinary pupils had no contact with the young noblemen, unless they hired themselves as a sort of "fag" to a boy of rank, acting as the latter's servant, polishing his shoes and waiting on him_ Though Bach never became a "fag", he managed to make contact with the Academy. The most influential teacher at the Academy was the famous French dancing master, Thomas de la Selle who was impressed by the boy's musical abilities. To this man, above all, Bach owes his comprehensive knowledge of French chamber music. Moreover, de la Selle gave him the opportunity of hearing the Duke's excellent French ensemble at Celle. Through daily contact with this Frenchman Bach learnt to speak French, for the dancing master hardly knew a word of German For more than three years Bach remained in Luneburg, breathing an atmosphere charged both with the religious and secular as well as thought of the day. Here he matured into a musician of extraordinary, almost worldwide culture of a scope never offered to Haydn, Mozart or Beethoven. Often Bach is described to-day as the lonely, embittered Cantor at the school of SI. Thomas in his later days at Leipzig . On the contrary J. S. Bach, young and successful, favoured and richly rewarded by his Duke, the composer of the vivacious, sparkling suites and chamber music, was quite a different person. His 'Courantes, Allemandes and Minuets are based on the actual dances of his time. Though they were scarcely ever used for dancing, they are not far removed from the music that people danced to in those days. In form and rhythm, they comply with all that de la Selle had taught him. They contain everything that a fastidious dancer could possibly demand of spirited and brilliant dance music . How well Bach succeeded in giving his works the power to endure. Though nothing can be more fleeting than fashions in dancing, what intense pleasure his dance music st ill gives us today, long after the dances themselves have been forgotten. The music, however, has lost none of its lustre.
Thanks for the splendid essay! I learned a great deal about JSB that I never knew . . . especially that he was fluent in French! Life is full of surprises - thanks for revealing one of them to me! (Oh, and the recording(s) are splendid; the sound is so good that these could have been recorded last week! Bravo!)
@@richardcleveland8549 These were re-releases from 1974, but the pressing was excellent indeed as the initial recording technique by Philips and instruments. The qualitty of the little preludes I could not correct that well after all those years the vinyl was heavily damaged. Enjoy!
Yes, I know you like her playing as much as I do. OK, Wanda Landowska is the Grande Madam of the harpsichord, but when you hear these Philips recordings from more than 70 years ago It is hardly to believe how mature these J.S. Bach recordings were, and the documentation was absolutely superb.
@@HarpsichordVinylGallery I love Landowska as well! 🥰 Isolde Ahlgrimm recording's were looking forward to the historical informed performance style. Which some 20 years later, and today is the prevailing practice for music of the past. These recordings are important. 🙂
*_Ahlgrimm-Fiala wrote for this publication in 1953 in Vienna 2/2_* THE TWENTY LITTLE PRELUDES If one were to enter Bach's home of over two centuries ago, he would undoubtedly think that he is stepping into a museum, or is calling pan a famous collector of musical instruments. He would find two violins, a violino piccolo, three violas, a small bass, two cellos, one viola da gamba and a lute strewn over the walls, or lying on tables. No less than five harpsichords and two "lute-harpsichords" fill the rooms. One of the harpsichords is even equipped with a pedal; that is to say, it is placed on top of another harpsichord, which stands on the ground and has large keys that can be manipulated with the feet, like the pedal of an organ. All these instruments in Bach's time were practiced on daily, and it is easy to imagine how impressed Bach's children were when the great musician performed on the big harpsichord with the pedal. Such an instrument was widely known in those days, and it was the desire of every organist to possess one. How much pleasanter to practice on it at home than on an organ in an icy cold church! In 1719 little Wilhelm Friedemann, Bach's eldest son, reached the age of nine. like any other child, he must have frequently attempted to produce some sounds on all these instruments. Finally, on the 22nd of January 1720, his father started giving him regular lessons and wrote for the boy a little clavier notebook. He began by noting down simple instructions on the position of the fingers and on how the various ornaments should be played. Then, during lesson hours, he jotted down nine of these little preludes in his son's notebook. The ninth was never finished - perhaps some unforeseen interruption occurred during the Of course, the boy was eager, ,to start playing immediately with his feet, like his father did. Therefore, Bach, in many of these little pieces arranged the bass in such a way that the pedal could be used even by a child without many difficulties. But more important is the fact that these little preludes gained in beauty from the use of the pedal. How skillful a teacher Bach must have been for his son! Only four years later, at the age of 13, Wilhelm Friedemann was able 'to master the six Trio sonatas for pedal-harpsichord that Bach had composed for him as exercises. Today, these sonatas are usually played on the organ and call for supreme ability in the art of organ playing. Very little is known about Bach as a teacher. Forkel, Bach's first biographer however does give us some insight which is based on accounts given him by the master's surviving pupils, and especially on what Bach's son, Carl Philipp Emanuel. told him. He writes: "I will start by saying something about his methods of instruction. The first thing he did was to teach his pupils how to acquire his own special kind of touch. No pupil of his was ever let off practicing exercises for the first few months. In fact. Bach firmly held that such exercises had to be kept up for at least six to twelve months. If however he noticed that alter some months a pupil was beginning to loose patience, Bach helped him along by devising little pieces that were complete in themselves whilst incorporating passages containing each of the exercises. The six little preludes for beginners from the manuscript by Lichnowsky are works of this type. These Bach jotted down himself during lesson hours, solely with a view to meeting some special need at a particular stage of his pupil's development. Later on, however, he transformed those preludes into beautiful and expressive miniatures of art. These finger exercises, either separately or worked into little pieces specially devised for them trained both hands to play all the various ornaments. The next step was to start his pupils off on his more ambitious compositions which, as he well knew, would be the best means of developing their powers. In order to lessen difficulties for them, he resorted to an excellent device: he first played through to them the whole of the piece they were about to study, and told them, "That's how it should sound". Thus the pupil knew what he was to aim at, and was helped over the technical difficulties. By this means, many a young clavier player, who might have taken years · to understand how a certain composition should be interpreted, may have managed to play it quite well in a month, thanks to having heard it performed once to perfection." "Lastly, as long as Bach's pupils were under his surveillance, except for his own compositons, he allowed them to study and acquaint themselves only with classical works that could claim to be art. Discrimination in matters of taste is slower to develop than feeling, and how often that discrimination can be misled or even ruined through constant contact with spurious art. Familiarity with what is genuinely first-rate is consequently the best way of teaching youth." Events proved that the great master's methods were right. His four sons had the reputation of being the world's greatest organists. They gained international fame in Milan, London, Hamburg and other places - a fame which Bach had never coveted for himself. Vienna, Ahlgrimm-Fiala
Such a wonderful rarity ... Such a fine musician ... Thanks a lot for your great work, as always and ever ... 💝💝💝 Typo: Neuen kleine Präludien BWV *924/932
@@_PROCLUS Thanks I have corrected the type error of 924 (instead of 824) which is well appreciated. I am not doing very well at the moment with my health, but I restored the French suites by Isolde Ahlgrimm, which was kind of tour de force to repair all the clicks. Such a talented player is worth all the efforts to let her shine again.
I was waiting a long time to handle this recording because the state of the vinyl needed lots of correction but this week I am imprisoned at home with a medical issue to finally take care of this recording. Enjoy.
*_Ahlgrimm-Fiala wrote for this publication in 1953 in Vienna 1/2_*
From the "Ritter-Lexicon" one learns that a C a p e II m e i s t e r of the later 17th
and 18th century attached to a nobleman's court was responsible for providing
all types of musical entertainment and instruction for the court. He was required
to know enough Latin and Greek to be able to read and understand books on
music written in those languages: He had to have such a mastery of French and
Italian as to converse in them with the perfect fluency of a courtier and to translate
them with skill. He had to be well-informed on the art of singing and to have a
thorough knowledge of the clavier, the instrument specially useful to composers.
In performing his musical duties, he had to display untiring zeal and diligence,
and to devote himself especially to composition.
When Bach composed his French Suites in 1722, he had already spent five years
in the service of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen as Capellmeister, where he
received a salary equal to that of the Court's Marshall: 400 Thaler.
In 1694, at the age of nine, he lost both parents and was left destitute. He came
from a modest, middle class family : his father was Stadtmusikant at Eisenach, his
mother was the daughter of a small furrier. How on earth then did the young
Sebastian, without resources or aid, manage to acquire all the knowledge necessary
to become a Capellmeister at a ducal court?
A lucky coincidence helped him.
After the death of his parents, Bach lived with his eldest brother Johann Christoph,
Organist at Ohrdruf' There, he attended the Grammar School and started
his lessons in music. Meanwhile, hi9 brother's family grew so large that they no
longer had room for the orphan. Sebastian had no money; neither his schooling
nor his musical studies had been completed. On the face of things, the situation
seemed hopeless.
He had, however, one great asset: "an uncommonly beautiful soprano voice"l
Because of that, Herda, the Cantor at Ohrdruf, gave Bach a recommendation ' for
admission to the choir of the wealthy cloister of St. Michael's at Luneburg. Full
of confidence, Bach at the age of 15 set out on foot to Luneburg - a distance
of 300 km . He was given an audition and was immediately accepted as a soprano
in the choir. This honour gave him the privilege of enjoying free schooling at the
Grammar School attached to the monastery, as well as free board and lodging
and a little pocket money. Even when his voice broke, as it m~st have done soon
after his entrance into the quire he was not to be thrown back on destitution :
he was welcome to stay on to play organ and violin. Consequently, Bach was
well provided for during the next years and could devote himself fully to his
studies.
Strictly separated from the commoner's school, SI. Michael's cloister also housed
an Academy for the sons of noblemen. In its curriculum which differed vastly from
that of the Grammar School, dancing was the main subject. Among the other
subjects that were taught were French, Latin, ethics, politics and, lastly, fencing
and riding.
The ordinary pupils had no contact with the young noblemen, unless they hired
themselves as a sort of "fag" to a boy of rank, acting as the latter's servant,
polishing his shoes and waiting on him_ Though Bach never became a "fag", he
managed to make contact with the Academy. The most influential teacher at the
Academy was the famous French dancing master, Thomas de la Selle who was
impressed by the boy's musical abilities. To this man, above all, Bach owes his
comprehensive knowledge of French chamber music.
Moreover, de la Selle gave him the opportunity of hearing the Duke's excellent
French ensemble at Celle. Through daily contact with this Frenchman Bach
learnt to speak French, for the dancing master hardly knew a word of German
For more than three years Bach remained in Luneburg, breathing an atmosphere
charged both with the religious and secular as well as thought of the day. Here
he matured into a musician of extraordinary, almost worldwide culture of a scope
never offered to Haydn, Mozart or Beethoven.
Often Bach is described to-day as the lonely, embittered Cantor at the school of
SI. Thomas in his later days at Leipzig . On the contrary J. S. Bach, young and
successful, favoured and richly rewarded by his Duke, the composer of the
vivacious, sparkling suites and chamber music, was quite a different person. His
'Courantes, Allemandes and Minuets are based on the actual dances of his time.
Though they were scarcely ever used for dancing, they are not far removed from
the music that people danced to in those days. In form and rhythm, they comply
with all that de la Selle had taught him. They contain everything that a fastidious
dancer could possibly demand of spirited and brilliant dance music .
How well Bach succeeded in giving his works the power to endure. Though
nothing can be more fleeting than fashions in dancing, what intense pleasure his
dance music st ill gives us today, long after the dances themselves have been
forgotten. The music, however, has lost none of its lustre.
Thanks for the splendid essay! I learned a great deal about JSB that I never knew . . . especially that he was fluent in French! Life is full of surprises - thanks for revealing one of them to me! (Oh, and the recording(s) are splendid; the sound is so good that these could have been recorded last week! Bravo!)
@@richardcleveland8549 These were re-releases from 1974, but the pressing was excellent indeed as the initial recording technique by Philips and instruments. The qualitty of the little preludes I could not correct that well after all those years the vinyl was heavily damaged. Enjoy!
@@HarpsichordVinylGallery Thanks!
Thank you so much for allowing us to hear such great recordings, nothing better than such pure music
Thank you Harpsichord Vinyl Gallery for another Isolde Ahlgrimm recording of J.S. Bach. I always enjoy her performances, such a wonderful treat. 😊
Yes, I know you like her playing as much as I do. OK, Wanda Landowska is the Grande Madam of the harpsichord, but when you hear these Philips recordings from more than 70 years ago It is hardly to believe how mature these J.S. Bach recordings were, and the documentation was absolutely superb.
@@HarpsichordVinylGallery I love Landowska as well! 🥰 Isolde Ahlgrimm recording's were looking forward to the historical informed performance style. Which some 20 years later, and today is the prevailing practice for music of the past. These recordings are important. 🙂
*_Ahlgrimm-Fiala wrote for this publication in 1953 in Vienna 2/2_*
THE TWENTY LITTLE PRELUDES
If one were to enter Bach's home of over two centuries ago, he would undoubtedly
think that he is stepping into a museum, or is calling pan a famous collector of
musical instruments.
He would find two violins, a violino piccolo, three violas, a small bass, two
cellos, one viola da gamba and a lute strewn over the walls, or lying on tables.
No less than five harpsichords and two "lute-harpsichords" fill the rooms. One
of the harpsichords is even equipped with a pedal; that is to say, it is placed on
top of another harpsichord, which stands on the ground and has large keys that
can be manipulated with the feet, like the pedal of an organ.
All these instruments in Bach's time were practiced on daily, and it is easy to
imagine how impressed Bach's children were when the great musician performed
on the big harpsichord with the pedal. Such an instrument was widely known in
those days, and it was the desire of every organist to possess one. How much
pleasanter to practice on it at home than on an organ in an icy cold church!
In 1719 little Wilhelm Friedemann, Bach's eldest son, reached the age of nine.
like any other child, he must have frequently attempted to produce some sounds
on all these instruments. Finally, on the 22nd of January 1720, his father started
giving him regular lessons and wrote for the boy a little clavier notebook. He
began by noting down simple instructions on the position of the fingers and
on how the various ornaments should be played. Then, during lesson hours, he
jotted down nine of these little preludes in his son's notebook. The ninth was
never finished - perhaps some unforeseen interruption occurred during the
Of course, the boy was eager, ,to start playing immediately with his feet,
like his father did. Therefore, Bach, in many of these little pieces arranged the bass
in such a way that the pedal could be used even by a child without many difficulties.
But more important is the fact that these little preludes gained in beauty
from the use of the pedal.
How skillful a teacher Bach must have been for his son! Only four years later,
at the age of 13, Wilhelm Friedemann was able 'to master the six Trio sonatas for
pedal-harpsichord that Bach had composed for him as exercises. Today, these
sonatas are usually played on the organ and call for supreme ability in the art
of organ playing.
Very little is known about Bach as a teacher. Forkel, Bach's first biographer
however does give us some insight which is based on accounts given him by the
master's surviving pupils, and especially on what Bach's son, Carl Philipp Emanuel.
told him. He writes:
"I will start by saying something about his methods of instruction. The first thing
he did was to teach his pupils how to acquire his own special kind of touch. No
pupil of his was ever let off practicing exercises for the first few months. In fact.
Bach firmly held that such exercises had to be kept up for at least six to twelve
months. If however he noticed that alter some months a pupil was beginning to
loose patience, Bach helped him along by devising little pieces that were complete
in themselves whilst incorporating passages containing each of the exercises. The
six little preludes for beginners from the manuscript by Lichnowsky are works of
this type. These Bach jotted down himself during lesson hours, solely with a view
to meeting some special need at a particular stage of his pupil's development.
Later on, however, he transformed those preludes into beautiful and expressive
miniatures of art. These finger exercises, either separately or worked into little
pieces specially devised for them trained both hands to play all the various ornaments.
The next step was to start his pupils off on his more ambitious compositions
which, as he well knew, would be the best means of developing their powers.
In order to lessen difficulties for them, he resorted to an excellent device: he
first played through to them the whole of the piece they were about to study, and
told them, "That's how it should sound". Thus the pupil knew what he was to
aim at, and was helped over the technical difficulties. By this means, many a
young clavier player, who might have taken years · to understand how a certain
composition should be interpreted, may have managed to play it quite well in a
month, thanks to having heard it performed once to perfection."
"Lastly, as long as Bach's pupils were under his surveillance, except for his own
compositons, he allowed them to study and acquaint themselves only with classical
works that could claim to be art. Discrimination in matters of taste is slower to
develop than feeling, and how often that discrimination can be misled or even
ruined through constant contact with spurious art. Familiarity with what is
genuinely first-rate is consequently the best way of teaching youth."
Events proved that the great master's methods were right. His four sons had the
reputation of being the world's greatest organists. They gained international fame
in Milan, London, Hamburg and other places - a fame which Bach had never
coveted for himself.
Vienna, Ahlgrimm-Fiala
Such a wonderful rarity ... Such a fine musician ... Thanks a lot for your great work, as always and ever ... 💝💝💝
Typo: Neuen kleine Präludien BWV *924/932
hope, you are getting well soon ...🌺
@@_PROCLUS Thanks I have corrected the type error of 924 (instead of 824) which is well appreciated.
I am not doing very well at the moment with my health, but I restored the French suites by Isolde Ahlgrimm, which was kind of tour de force to repair all the clicks. Such a talented player is worth all the efforts to let her shine again.
🙋🏼🌹🙏
🎼✨✨ grazie!
Enjoy!
I've been waiting for this performance for a long time! thank you!
I was waiting a long time to handle this recording because the state of the vinyl needed lots of correction but this week I am imprisoned at home with a medical issue to finally take care of this recording. Enjoy.
💐
Enjoy.
A personalidade de Bach...
I hope you will enjoy these recordings back from 1952 (it is a lifetime ago).
🎼✨✨ grazie!