Calligraphy in Bach Literature
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ก.ย. 2024
- An overview of how calligraphy is discussed in Bach literature. Piano performance by Nazli Milany with the fugue BWV 861. / @nazlimilany679
Seeing is the key to a good description of calligraphy. Without practical experience, it is like creating a piano playing manual without being a musician yourself. You miss essential things, from simple to very complex. That is actually the common thread in this review.
There is a tendency to restore the individuality and dynamism of the manuscripts to ideal, definitive archetypes. An example is clinging to clefs without context of side margins, color, ubiquitous fingerprints and staff starts. Technique is used to isolate clefs to that valuable and characteristic information.
There are handwriting samples on Bach Digital of every calligrapher on their individual pages. Those reproductions are ugly, to use an appropriate scientific term. They have been cleaned up and in black and white. A vain attempt to outwardly appear like objective modern editions. That says a lot about the editors' ability to observe and ability to find words for it. We need precise language, accurate, complete and summarizing.
The remedy is simple: do it yourself. Bach literature desperately needs that injection of quality that comes from the interaction of seeing, doing, and discussing. There is hardly any topic in which calligraphy does not play an essential role in the study of Bach. Chronology, identification of the individual writers, expression, usage.
Embracing the individuality of every stroke, dot, spot brings us close to Bach - he comes to life. The tension between the unique shapes and the need and necessity to categorize is great. Facilitating software architecture that serves chronology in the sea of scores is essential. Patterns are extremely complex and it should be easy to get everything to play out before your eyes.
I ask for mercy for my mistakes. I regularly express myself firmly, but I do not believe in proclaiming the truth - these are rather spontaneous comments, direct responses to what is happening.
Bach will certainly have seen the fugue theme from BWV 861 in Ariadne Musica. He himself had already used motives of it in 1707 in cantata BWV 150 for the aria for soprano starting with the words : Yet I am and remain cheerful.
00:35 BWV 668 - 18 Chorales
www.bach-digit...
01:11 BWV 135 Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder / John Eliot Gardener
www.bach-digit...
05:22 BWV 24 Ein ungefärbt Gemüte
www.bach-digit...
06:33 Georg van Dadelsen - Schriftentwicklung
08:04 Walter Emery - Bach’s ornaments
09:47 Bach’s eyesight
11:20 Yoshitake Kobayashi - Die Notenschrift Bachs
12:35 Bach dictates a friend auf dem Stegereif to the quill : from the stirrups
13:40 Ruth Tatlow - Bachs Numbers
14:33 Scrap paper
BWV 172 Erschallet, ihr Lieder - bar number and fingerprints by Bach
BWV 100 Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan
www.bach-digit...
BWV 246 Passio Domini Jesu Christi secundum Lucam
www.bach-digit...
BWV 851 Prelude Bernhard Christian Kayser - harmonic analyses by a Bach student
www.bach-digit...
15:54 Calligraphy by Anna Magdalena
www.bach-digit...
16:33 Yo Tomita
pure.qub.ac.uk...
The Routledge Research Companion to Johann Sebastian Bach - Edited By Robin Leaver
17:31 David Schulenberg - Bach and the beaming of small note values
Elaine Gould - behind Bars The definitive guide to music notation
This is an awesome, well written notation bible - but there is friction with 18th century rules.
17:54 Leland Smith and the music notation program Score
www.namm.org/l...
such a pleasure to listen to his wonderful stories and bright thinking and designing
18:21 The golden Ratio for proportionalities in music notation layout
18:34 Bach Digital
www.bach-digit...
smart.bach-dig...
18:54 BWV 151 Süßer Trost, mein Jesus kömmt - fingerprints by Anna Magdalena
www.bach-digit...
19:50 cellist Georg Mertens
georgcello.com/
19:59 Bach museum Leipzig : Bachs Schreibwerkzeug
www.bachmuseum...
20:22 Pianist Nazli Milany performing fugue BWV 861 from a new calligraphed score
The Gardiner slap reference was very deep 😂 great video as always!
Gardener's description of the incident with the Zipfel bassoonist is nice because he points out that in the parts that Bach wrote for cantata BWV 150 from 1707, breathlessness is part of the textual content and ability to the perform the part. In the aria of that cantata motives from the subject announce the calligraphed fugue BWV 861. I initially planned to tell you more about that, but later it seemed too endless.
Another fascinating episode in what is proving to be a remarkable series. The technical observations lead to a sense of encounter with the man.
Thank you for your generous appreciation. It is truly magical that so much life emerges from ink and paper.
Thank you for your love of Bach and his calligraphy. I am enjoying very much your videos, and gaining a more in depth knowledge of this great composer.
How nice that you see the videos and enjoy them and that you leave a comment!
this video is a piece of art. thank you.
I feel honored, thank you very much!
@@joostwitte5546 you have honored us wit your approach, please continue!.
Dear Mr. Witte - May I venture that this is your finest video yet? The greatness of your careful understanding, the simple and clear editing of your video, and your pithy sense of humour are all a worthy tribute to the genius of Bach.
That's good to hear, this topic is so close to my heart that I lost the ability to judge the video: rambling unhinged strong opinions or actually communicating some points. So thank you very, very much.
@@joostwitte5546 The only debt is how I owe you so much enjoyment and fascination from your videos! I am happy that I have been able to express my appreciation for them. Unhinged rambling on strong opinions isn't even a bad thing, as long as it's done elegantly. In the world of politics, it is the scourge of humanity; but with something like music, I don't think there's any risk. It's always just fun to talk about these things without worrying too much about being correct!
Your labour of love is much appreciated, Mr Witte. Thank you.
According to Wikipedia: Copyist Kuhnau's uncle, polymath and composer Johann Kuhnau, was the musical director of the boys' choir _Thomanerchor_ in Leipzig. After his death in 1722, Johann Kuhnau was succeeded as musical director of the choir _(Thomaskantor)_ by Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach remained _Thomaskantor_ until his death in 1750.
Wonder if Bach or Kuhnau would occasionally fancy escargot. _"You shall know me by the trail of slime."_
Thank you for the appreciation! It is a bit confusing that Bach's predecessor as Thomaskantor has the same name as the copyist. An infrared reflect analysis of what was on their menu seems very interesting to me. I would like to put together a cookbook based on that research, but that can only be realized in my imagination.
Great video, as always! Love the 'Apple Notebook' and the snail at the end!
Glad you watched it again Ignatius, I'm happy to hear you love the apple and the snail.
Absolutely brilliant video. I feel the need to see it again, to absorb all the information. Some years ago I wanted to attend a caligraphy course. Now I'm thinking about it again, thanks to your videos.
What a great appreciation! In the upcoming video I will explain how to make a head start when starting calligraphy in the style of Bach.
@@joostwitte5546 That's perfect, can't want! I'm sure it will be another masterpiece.
Did not expect a slug crawling across the sheet music at the end.
Lovely video, as allways. Really interesting how authors fill knowlegde gaps with their own personality (and that Gardiner reference was a 10/10). Very dissapointed that the folks at the Bach institute in Leipzig seemingly neglect calligraphy.
I look forward to the next video!
Thank you for watching and your nice comments. The description of the Bach Institute in Leipzig seems to me less a neglect and more a reflection of the difficult task of recognizing manuscripts at first sight. Of course, things have to improve, and it really bothered and hindered me when I started and tried study Bach's handwriting and encountered this document. The next video is scheduled for June 29: an hour and a half of calligraphy in real time of an adagio.
What are your predictions for the next video?
It is named “Bach at Work : Real Time Calligraphy“ and it can been seen within six and a half hours.
May I know what paper you use to write calligraphy? sehr interessant
The paper is made from hemp and rags and comes from India - it is unbleached, the fabrication is approximately the same as that used in early 18th century Germany.
@@joostwitte5546 thank you for the answer, very fascinating!
Any comments on Bradley Lehman's calligraphic arguments that the curls in p1 of WTV1 should be read upside down? If not turned upside down the resulting temperament is indistinguishable from the tuning adapted to the Bach organ in Leipzig which is based on Young 2 temperament with one note adjusted by 1 cent which I think is the correct interpretation of the curls.
That cover has come up a few times in my videos and I've been reluctant to give my two cents, partly because the discussion appears trench warfare. There is a Bach Calligraphy Manual on my website www.joostwitte.nl and under the paragraph numbers I have written down a few observations about these curls. That was from a while ago and I might look at it differently now - I don't actually have a firm opinion about it.
@@joostwitte5546 I was wondering specifically about the claim that the curls were written upside down because they could not have been written as-is. On your website I see many pictures but no paragraph numbers.
@@persianney My 2 cents: An example of a template for this type of decoration is a letter by Jan van der Velde to his teacher Felix van Sambix. On Bach's cover the ink of the ornamentation above at the far left and right is translucent. The changing opacity tells about dipping moments. There is dipping interaction and rhythm between the words Das Wohltemperirte Clavier and the curls : a readable sequence - opacity is telling. The shape of the curls follows the negative space of the capitals and minuscules. On a turned page I would expect to see a freshly dipped pen with dark ink - above the number 1. The light color on the far left was placed after the word Das (the s may have been traced for the second time) - then the first curls were placed. The ink of the curl above the W bleeds from left to right. That's what I see at first glance - but of course I could be wrong, it's more of an impression. My old impression:
www.joostwitte.nl/A_manual_How_to_calligraphy_music_like_Bach_Seeing.html#Numbers
@@joostwitte5546 The observed dipping interaction seems to contradict the claim that the curls could only have been written upside down (Lehman) and thus have to be interpreted, if you want to interpret them, by reading them right to left. Simplest interpretation as temperament when read as-is has been used by me for decade in practices, also by Robert Hill who arrived there independently. So this "upside down" business has bothered me all this time, thanks for resolving it! It's fascinating how much information is hidden in these manuscripts, but it reveals itself only to expert(s?) like you.
@@persianney I'm glad you asked further and that it brought peace to your mind. The semi-transparent brown inks are ideal for reading the pen position, applied pressure and writing speed, 2D unfolds into 3D and 4D. I studied the curls some time ago with my calligraphy teacher. As a novice, I would have to work very hard to be able to reproduce and understand and notice all the details in a copy. My teacher would be able to do it perfectly aus dem Stegereif, stand pede and in the blink of an eye. Amazing, rational technique as exciting magic.
Can I ask where you are from? I'm guessing maybe Germany or Sweden based on your accent.
Not Germany. (I´m German) I think he is from The Netherlands. = )
Yes, I am Dutch and my voice makes me feel as vulnerable as a slug.
@@joostwitte5546 🪶 💌
When Beethoven said: "not brook, but sea should he be called", he was referring to Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.
The New Bach Reader mentions on page 490 the explanation that Beethoven provided: "because of his infinite, inexhaustible richness in tone combinations and harmonies." That seems to suit Carl Philipp Emanuel well.
Thank you
PLEASE, WRITE A BOOK ! ! ! ! ! ! If you already have, and I've missed it, please share a link so we can buy it. THANK YOU for this beautiful work ! ! ! !
Thank you for your request. To be honest, I feel like I'm just getting started and still have a lot of practice to get my calligraphy right. For now, this channel is my outlet to do research and try to put into words what is there to see.
I second this. A book is due.
I just love your videos, thank you so much ❤
Thanks for watching and loving!
What a presentation! So much knowledge and skills go into this whole series - it amazes me and moves me to tears. Thank you, Joost!
Thank you Engelbert for the heartwarming response and appreciation!
Poetic commentary!
Thank you!