Tuesday 12 June 2012

Bach 1 - British Border Guards 0

This is what the Gatwick border guards might have succeeded in  preventing.

8 comments:

a musician said...

they did have to relinquish this though:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ9qWpa2rIg

hatfield girl said...

Well, if three of the player/soloists are imprisoned (I imagine they were playing one to a part) you can't put that back together in an hour or two. And the cadenza - and he's old now. And all those people were denied hearing him play it.

But to lose the Jauchzet would have been unbearable. Brandenburg 3 is offered more often. And we all feel (wrongly) we can sing along. Who would think they could sing along to Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen?

a musician said...

Well you're allowed to sing along to it in your head, but you wouldn't want to actually try singing it out loud - it's a bit of a challenge.

Lucky the British border guards didn't arrest the trumpet player.

(the Cadenza is in 5)

Nomad said...

Simply stunning. What a nice way to start the day.

a musician said...

Don't get me started. I swear Bach is an underrated composer.

hatfield girl said...

THE cadenza is in 5, but what is the bit at the end of the first movement in 3 called, where in some recordings the harpsichordist plays all alone and often quite elaborately? Richter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHHzop0ha6Y&feature=related

does it.

Weekend Yachtsman said...

HG, the non-existent middle movement of 3 is sometimes cited as a way to make the numbers work, because the last movement is all sorts of multiples of 3, or 9, or something, and somehow there's one missing.

Or something.

I can't remember the details, but Richard Eggar is interesting about it.

Personally, I can't have too much of 6; so dark and complex, and rather nicely it has no violins, which cuts the arrogant part of the orchestra down to to size rather well.

(Hope you're not a fiddler!)

a musician said...

The middle movement is not quite non-existant, rather it is made up of two chords (got me to get my score out and check!), upon which the performers should improvise.
What Richter does is a bit naughty (rather too extended and perhaps a too unrelated to the two chords in question?), but the idea is not uncorrect even by 'historically informed' standards.
There should be an improvised cadenza there, linking the two chords; it could be left to the violin - but Bach being Bach, it was more likely to have been the keyboard player doing his stuff. But what Richter plays on that extraordinary harpsichord is not actually anywhere to be seen in the score...