*_Rest of the documentation 1/1_* There, Johann Gottfried Walther (1684-1748) held the post of Town Organist. One cannot, however, discuss Walther with(;lUt in!roducing one of his friends, Johann Sebastian Bach, then in his twenties and also employed in the town as Castle Organist and Court Musician to the Duke of Weimar. Through the decade 1708-1717, Bach and Walther were close professional associates. In addition to his role as Town Organist, Walther was gaining fame as a composer and teacher. In his spare time, he managed to compile the first German Music Dictionary, Musikalische Lexikon, a volume of over 500 pages, published in Leipzig in 1732. Both Walther and Bach were obliged by their positions to giye frequent organ concerts, and their enthusiasms, coupled no doubt with the necessities of public performance, led them along parallel paths of musical adventure, They adopted the Italian repertoire as a practical extension of their own. In transcribing many of the Italian string concertos for the or'~an, both German masters felt free to reorg.anize the original musical fabric, taking advantage of the fact that the organ, by change of manual or registration, may fully express contrasts between tutt; and solo, and, by use of individual stops, point up an expressive melody. Their methods, however, were somewhat different. Bach favored the string concertos of Vivaldi and, in his transference of some half dozen of them to the organ, exercised a severeign freedem . Walther was m
Excellent choice as an upload. There was an Organ Album with many of Walter's transcriptions. I might add Walter's Musicalisches Lexicon. Alternative. Title, Musicalische Bibliothec has many important bits of in performance, Walter manuscript of his Cousin J S Bach is a source of earlier versions of many of Bach's keyboard works.
John Challis was a dear friend. He had a vision that the harpsichord would be be a modern instrument for the the 20th century. He fought an uphill battle over this. Mr. Biggs was a great friend of Challis but he wanted an old sound in a new dress. John, being an astute businessman built what Mr. Biggs wanted, being the famous person he was. Thus, this instrument is the largest instrument he ever built. Mr. Challis built a seven foot instrument for me that, to me, is a marvel. I wanted the most modern sound he could get and it is still my pride and joy after some 50 years.
John Challis was a dear dear friend. We first met in Detroit and later reconnected in New York. I was honored to play this, his largest instrument before Mr. Biggs took over. It is a glorious instrument which, unfortunately is now incarcerated in a museum in Cambridge, MA. Hopefully, some day, someone will rescue it and play its' wonderful sounds again. In the meantime , I am the owner of a 7 foot Challis that he built for me. It is played almost every day and is a reminder of this man's true genius.
You are privileged to have known John Challis and to have an instrument built by him. You are right, instruments are made to use and not only to store in a museum.
I like very much that you put the liner notes in your videos. I've never seen any other youtube poster do that, although these notes are invaluable in appreciating and understanding the works. I've saved all my old scratchy, skippy records just so I have those jacket notes, which give incredibly detailed information about the music.
Yes I agree! Context means everything especially with these older pioneer recordings. You cannot compare the standards of 40 years ago with the taste and knowledge of today. It is like a bottle of water. It got a very different meaning in a desert than in a flooded area. Maybe I am getting too old but I don't understand services like Spotify or buying digital tracks at Amazon without any context at all. It is an easy consumers world and not that much for an exploring mind. To put those text up is a little bit of extra work and it will be copyrighted (as long as I try to mention the sources of the texts of these old vinyl recordings, I have not encountered any problems) but it is essential to get a better understanding of the music. And there is an inviting screen that can be used excellently for the purpose of scrolling text instead of showing only one or more pictures.
I have to agree completely with what you've written. All the effort that you put into reproducing the liner notes from these old recordings is much appreciated!
"Musica Poetica or musical composition is a mathematical science through which an agreeable and correct harmony of the notes is brought to paper in order that it might later be sung or played, thereby appropriately moving the listeners to Godly devotion as well as to please and delight both mind and soul ..." -- Johann Gottfried Walther
*_Rest of the documentation 1/1_*
There, Johann Gottfried Walther (1684-1748)
held the post of Town Organist. One cannot,
however, discuss Walther with(;lUt in!roducing
one of his friends, Johann Sebastian Bach, then
in his twenties and also employed in the town as
Castle Organist and Court Musician to the Duke
of Weimar. Through the decade 1708-1717,
Bach and Walther were close professional associates.
In addition to his role as Town Organist,
Walther was gaining fame as a composer
and teacher. In his spare time, he managed to
compile the first German Music Dictionary,
Musikalische Lexikon, a volume of over 500
pages, published in Leipzig in 1732.
Both Walther and Bach were obliged by their
positions to giye frequent organ concerts, and
their enthusiasms, coupled no doubt with the
necessities of public performance, led them
along parallel paths of musical adventure, They
adopted the Italian repertoire as a practical extension
of their own.
In transcribing many of the Italian string concertos
for the or'~an, both German masters felt
free to reorg.anize the original musical fabric,
taking advantage of the fact that the organ, by
change of manual or registration, may fully express
contrasts between tutt; and solo, and, by
use of individual stops, point up an expressive
melody.
Their methods, however, were somewhat different.
Bach favored the string concertos of
Vivaldi and, in his transference of some half
dozen of them to the organ, exercised a severeign
freedem . Walther was m
Excellent choice as an upload. There was an Organ Album with many of Walter's transcriptions. I might add Walter's Musicalisches Lexicon. Alternative. Title, Musicalische Bibliothec has many important bits of in performance, Walter manuscript of his Cousin J S Bach is a source of earlier versions of many of Bach's keyboard works.
John Challis was a dear friend. He had a vision that the harpsichord would be be a modern instrument for the the 20th century. He fought an uphill battle over this. Mr. Biggs was a great friend of Challis but he wanted an old sound in a new dress. John, being an astute businessman built what Mr. Biggs wanted, being the famous person he was. Thus, this instrument is the largest instrument he ever built. Mr. Challis built a seven foot instrument for me that, to me, is a marvel. I wanted the most modern sound he could get and it is still my pride and joy after some 50 years.
Liked it so much I bought the vinyl. It's amazing how good so many of Bach's forgotten contemporaries are !
Great that it is still available
John Challis was a dear dear friend. We first met in Detroit and later reconnected in New York. I was honored to play this, his largest instrument before Mr. Biggs took over. It is a glorious instrument which, unfortunately is now incarcerated in a museum in Cambridge, MA. Hopefully, some day, someone will rescue it and play its' wonderful sounds again. In the meantime , I am the owner of a 7 foot Challis that he built for me. It is played almost every day and is a reminder of this man's true genius.
You are privileged to have known John Challis and to have an instrument built by him. You are right, instruments are made to use and not only to store in a museum.
I like very much that you put the liner notes in your videos. I've never seen any other youtube poster do that, although these notes are invaluable in appreciating and understanding the works. I've saved all my old scratchy, skippy records just so I have those jacket notes, which give incredibly detailed information about the music.
Yes I agree! Context means everything especially with these older pioneer recordings. You cannot compare the standards of 40 years ago with the taste and knowledge of today. It is like a bottle of water. It got a very different meaning in a desert than in a flooded area.
Maybe I am getting too old but I don't understand services like Spotify or buying digital tracks at Amazon without any context at all. It is an easy consumers world and not that much for an exploring mind.
To put those text up is a little bit of extra work and it will be copyrighted (as long as I try to mention the sources of the texts of these old vinyl recordings, I have not encountered any problems) but it is essential to get a better understanding of the music. And there is an inviting screen that can be used excellently for the purpose of scrolling text instead of showing only one or more pictures.
I have to agree completely with what you've written. All the effort that you put into reproducing the liner notes from these old recordings is much appreciated!
💖
"Musica Poetica or musical composition is a mathematical science through which an agreeable and correct harmony of the notes is brought to paper in order that it might later be sung or played, thereby appropriately moving the listeners to Godly devotion as well as to please and delight both mind and soul ..." -- Johann Gottfried Walther