Bach Recital скачать в хорошем качестве

Bach Recital

Bach on Tuesday 4 November 1.05pm Jonathan Holmes at St Mary’s Ewell Programme BWV 574 Fugue in C minor, on a theme of Legrenzi Chorale Preludes: BWV 736 Valet will ich dir geben (Farewell I gladly bid thee) BWV 731 Liebster Jesu (Dearest Jesu) BWV 735 Fantasia super Valet will ich dir geben BWV 548 Prelude and Fugue in E Minor ("The Wedge") Fugue in C minor, BWV 574 Giovanni Legrenzi (1626-1690) was a significant Baroque composer in his own right, known for his instrumental sonatas and operas, which influenced later composers like Bach and Vivaldi. The specific theme Bach used is believed to come from Legrenzi's trio sonata Op. 2, No. 11. Bach's fugue (BWV 574) is a complex double fugue, meaning it has a four-part exposition and later introduces a second theme with its own exposition before combining the two, culminating in an elaborate, improvisatory style ending. BWV 736 Valet will ich dir geben. (Farewell I gladly bid thee) is based on a Lutheran hymn (a Sterbelied, or hymn for the dying) written by Valerius Herberger in 1613, with a melody by Melchior Teschner from 1615. The hymn was written in response to a devastating plague outbreak. Despite the sombre text of the original hymn, Bach's setting is vigorous and full of energy, with a lively gigue-like feel in a 24/16-time signature. The chorale melody (cantus firmus) is played in the pedal part, while the manuals provide a complex and virtuosic contrapuntal accompaniment. 2 Chorale preludes on Liebster Jesu (Dearest Jesu) BWV 730 and 731 Simplicity can sometimes be deceptive. The melody Bach arranges here accompanies a humble, inward-looking prayer by Tobias Clausnitzer. The hymn consists of just two short phrases, and the second half of each phrase is identical as well. Yet the melody has so many possibilities that Bach made it into several short organ preludes. BWV 730 sticks to simple solemnity, even though there is increasing decoration towards the end. Here Bach refrains from the ‘inventive’ interludes, in which he rather overindulged in his early years – to the annoyance of his patrons. The result is a chorale prelude that does full justice to the words, with a deep longing proceeding at a brisk pace towards fulfilment. In BWV 731, the chorale melody is highly embellished in the right hand, with a flowing, contrapuntal three-part accompaniment in the other voices and pedal.The original hymn was a prayer for illumination, often sung at the beginning of a church service or before a sermon. BWV 735 Fantasia super 'Valet will ich dir geben The form is a chorale fantasia where the hymn melody (cantus firmus) appears in the pedals in long, slow notes, while the manual parts provide a lively, virtuosic, and contrapuntal accompaniment. The melody used by Bach is well-known in English-speaking churches as the tune for the Palm Sunday hymn "All glory, laud and honour". Prelude and Fugue in E Minor, BWV 548 ("The Wedge") The Prelude, marked by a sombre and weighty character, is structured in a large-scale ritornello form, characteristic of the Italian concerto style that Bach so admired. It features an alternation between a full, orchestral-like texture (the ritornello) and lighter, virtuosic solo episodes. The music explores the expressive potential of the E minor key, incorporating rich chromatic harmonies and dramatic descending scale passages that build significant emotional gravity before reaching a powerful climax. II. Fugue The monumental Fugue is one of Bach's longest and most elaborate, extending to 231 measures. Its nickname comes from the fugue subject itself, which opens with a chromatic, "wedge-like" outward motion of expanding intervals, starting on a single note and widening in scope with each subsequent phrase. This highly original theme is developed with incredible contrapuntal ingenuity. The fugue exhibits an unusual and forward-looking three-part (ABA) structure: • Section A: The traditional fugal exposition and development of the main "wedge" theme. • Section B: A sharp departure in texture and mood, featuring a lengthy episode of rapid, toccata-like passages and brilliant scalar figurations, almost like a virtuoso concerto finale. • Section A (Da Capo): A note-for-note reprise of the entire opening exposition, a formal device more common in Baroque arias than in a strict fugue, which rounds out the movement with a sense of structural completeness. The sheer technical demands and intellectual rigor of the Prelude and Fugue in E minor make it a pinnacle of the organ repertoire, embodying Bach's belief that music should serve "the glorification of God, and the refreshment of the spirit".