Bach's last unfinished composition "The Art of Fugue" is a masterwork of the highest degree. This work is a multi-movement composition based on a single theme. In this masterpiece, Bach perfected the fugue as a genre and exhausted all possibilities that this theme can offer. Although the composer never wrote a treatise on the fugue, this cycle serves as a textbook for creating fugues. In fact, many theorists who lived after Bach based their treatises precisely on this masterpiece. I think you will enjoy watching the opening clip from a documentary about Bach's The Art of Fugue, filmed in Arizona, Tennessee and Leipzig, Germany. In this video, the ultimate Bach scholar Christoph Wolff introduces this composition and in the background you will hear the leading Bach performer George Ritchie‘s interpretation of the Contrapunctus I on the Richards, Fowkes & Co. organ, Op. 14, completed in 2006 at Pinnacle Presbyterian Church, Scottsdale, Arizona. It is amazing to hear with how much calmness and tranquility G.Ritchie performs this Contrapuntus. After listening to this piece, I thought that the incredible vocal quality of the Principal 8 on this organ was simply astonishing. This documentary is part of the package of 2 CDs and a 3¼-hour DVD entitled „Bach Art of Fugue“. The DVD contains two films about J. S. Bach: 1) In 90 minutes, "Desert Fugue" features a leading Bach scholar Christoph Wolff discussing Bach's ultimate intellectual and musical creation, The Art of Fugue. As well, "Desert Fugue" includes George Ritchie's comments on the work and an interview with American organbuilders Ralph Richards and Bruce Fowkes regarding their Opus 14 built in the style of organs played by Bach for most of his career in and near central Germany (with emphasis on Thuringian and Saxon builders Gottfried Silbermann, Zacharias Hildebrandt, and Gottfried Trost). Briefly, the DVD compares the sound of a Dutch/North German organ with the very different, almost orchestral, sound of a central German organ of Bach's day. 2) George Ritchie lectures on Bach's compositional techniques used in the Art of Fugue, with musical demonstrations. He discusses the entire work and each of the 14 contrapuncti in an hour and 51 minutes. The two CDs contain: 1) George Ritchie's performance of the entire Art of Fugue, BWV 1080, on the Richards, Fowkes & Co. organ, Op. 14, completed in 2006 at Pinnacle Presbyterian Church, Scottsdale, Arizona, and built in the style known to Bach in his central German homeland. 2) George Ritchie's performance of Contrapunctus 14, Fuga a 3 Soggetti, as completed by Helmut Walcha 3) The CDs also contain George Ritchie's performances of other late works of Bach: Ricercar a 6 from the Musical Offering, BWV 1079, played on the Bedient organ at Cornerstone Church, Lincoln, Nebraska. Vor deinen Thron tret' ich hiermit BWV 668 and Canonic Variations on Vom Himmel hoch, BWV 769a, played on the Taylor & Boody organ at Holy Cross College, Worcester, Mass.; 6 Schübler Chorales played on the Brombaugh organ at Southern Adventist University, Collegedale, Tenn. A booklet of this DVD/CD set "Bach Art of Fugue“ includes stoplists, organ photos, registrations, definitions of musical terms, notes on the all of the works, and other useful information. After watching these two films, I felt I was transported to the immortal world of J.S.Bach and wished that this feeling never end. By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe organ? If so, download my FREE video guide: "How to Master Any Organ Composition" in which I will show you my EXACT steps, techniques, and methods that I use to practice, learn and master any piece of organ music.
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The chorale prelude “Ich ruf zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ”, BWV 639 by Bach is among the best loved chorale preludes of this composer. The gentle character, beautiful harmonies, delicate ornaments, and sensible text make it a perfect piece for a quiet occasion for your service playing or a wonderful meditative piece for your recital. Although it is written in a trio texture with pedal part, the slow tempo makes it accessible for organists who have limited technical abilities. In this article, I will show you how to learn and play this intimate composition on the organ. Learning Process Since this chorale prelude can be conveniently divided into 7 fragments according to chorale lines, it is best to practice it by playing one fragment at a time. The length of each fragment is determined by the fermata sign. As you practice each fragment, in the beginning play each of the three parts separately carefully observing that your fingering, pedaling, and articulation are correct. I have written an article previously about these points which you may read here. The left hand part will require more practice because it is written in a constantly moving broken chord texture. After you can play each of the parts with precision and accuracy at least three times in a row, practice combinations of two voices. Only after you master these combinations, play the entire fragment with all three parts. Try to resist the temptation to go to the next fragment before you master the previous one. Tempo Practice at a tempo which allows you to play without mistakes. It could be very slow. However, as your performance gradually becomes better and better, try to play at the concert tempo which also should not be fast. The most important thing to remember about choosing the right tempo is this: pick such a tempo in which you can comfortably count all four beats in a measure and feel the alternation of strong and weak beats. Make larger breaks before the stronger beats which will allow you to emphasize the meter. Registration Although for practicing purposes this piece can easily be played using one manual, to perform it in public you will need two manuals with different sound colors. A gentle solo reed, such as the oboe (with or without the flute 8’) works well for the right hand part. Another option would be to play it on a cornet, or some other flute combination with mutations. Even a principal with a vocal quality may sound very good. A gentle tremulant might add to the expressive power of this composition. Play the accompanying parts using flutes with 16’ in the pedals. If you want more information on registering your organ pieces, a great resource for organ registration practice in the Baroque period is "the Registration of Baroque Organ Music" by Barbara Owen, which I highly recommend. If you practice “Ich ruf zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ” according to my suggestion, you will gradually achieve the level when you can perform it with precision and clarity. For best results, make sure you play each chorale phrase at least three times correctly in a row. After each individual fragment can be played correctly, you can combine a couple of phrases at a time and make your fragments longer. Similarly to practicing other compositions by Bach, you must have the patience and inner motivation which leads to success. However, if you succeed in mastering this chorale prelude, it will be a perfect piece for your service playing or recital and your audience will love you for it. Therefore, it is well worth the effort. You can get my practice guide on mastering "Ich ruf zu Dir" by Bach here. It comes with complete fingering, pedaling, articulation, registration, tempo suggestion, and detailed step-by-step practice plan which makes it perfect for study without an instructor. By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe organ? If so, download my FREE video guide: "How to Master Any Organ Composition" in which I will show you my EXACT steps, techniques, and methods that I use to practice, learn and master any piece of organ music. Similarly to its sister Menuet in G Major from the Notebook of Anna Magdalena Bach, the Menuet in G minor, BWV Anh. 115 always fascinates the keyboard players of all levels of ability. Equally accessible to beginners and the seasoned performers, this wonderful little gem is full of enormous artistic power, formal balance, and classical tonal plan. In this video, I would like to share with you the steps necessary to play, practice, and master the Menuet in G Minor on the organ. You can download my fully edited organ arrangement of this piece for instructional purposes with complete fingering, articulation, tempo, registration and detailed step-by-step practice plan here. It is perfect for practicing without an instructor.
By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe organ? If so, download my FREE video guide: "How to Master Any Organ Composition" in which I will show you my EXACT steps, techniques, and methods that I use to practice, learn and master any piece of organ music. For a long time many of my students have been asking me if I could record a video teaching them how to play Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring by Bach on the organ. It took me some time and effort but it was worth doing it. I love this piece and play it very often. People love to hear it especially for weddings, communion and some other quiet occasions. Anyhow, I hope you will find these instructions useful: If you want to learn this piece in 10 days while working only 30 minutes a day, you can download my fully edited instructional 3-part arrangement of this composition from here. It comes with complete fingering, pedaling, articulation, tempo and registration suggestions and detailed step-by-step practice plan.
By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe organ? If so, download my FREE video guide: "How to Master Any Organ Composition" in which I will show you my EXACT steps, techniques, and methods that I use to practice, learn and master any piece of organ music. The Fugue in G minor, BWV 578 is one of the best known fugues by Bach. Although usually called “Little” we should not underestimate its artistic quality. Because of its length, medium tempo, clear texture, and fairly easy pedal part, this piece might be accessible to organists with modest organ playing skills. It is written early in composer’s career, most likely while he was an organist in Arnstadt around 1707. In this article, I will show you how to master this wonderful composition.
The first thing you should do before practicing it is to analyze the structure and tonal plan of this fugue. Since it is a fugue, it has rather strict requirements which Baroque composers usually followed. The fugue is a piece of imitative polyphony in which the composer reveals the possibilities a theme has to offer. You may be wandering why this fugue is in the key of G minor but only has one flat next to the clef. You see, this is a remnant of the old modal system that Bach still occasionally used. The mode which is built around note of G and has one flat is called “Dorian”. This means we can say this fugue has features of the Dorian mode. Now look at the theme or subject at the beginning of the fugue. It is 5 measures long. Now try to count the other appearances of the theme in the fugue and label them on your score with a pencil. Look at each voice. Remember that the theme can be not only in the home key of G minor, but in other related keys as well. Write down the names of the keys on the score. This will be the tonal plan of this fugue. In addition, look especially at the melodic line which appears in the soprano voice after the theme enters in the alto. This is a countersubject. Sometimes composers used different countersubjects with every appearance of the theme. This is not the case with this fugue. Interestingly, this countersubject is constant and Bach uses it with every subject (sometimes a little bit altered). So the subject and countersubject are the two main building materials of this fugue. Look what happens between subject entrances. These places without a subject are called episodes. The material for them is taken from the theme or the countersubject. Episodes are meant to help modulate from one key to another. One of the easiest ways to achieve that is through sequences. A sequence is melodic or harmonic idea that is repeated in ascending or descending manner and either stays in the same key or modulates to another key. For example, in measures 22-23 we see a descending sequence. Try to count other sequences in this fugue. Now that you know the basic formal and tonal structure of this composition, you could start practicing it on the organ. I have written earlier about my method I use that will help you to master any organ piece. You could take the same steps while playing this fugue, too. Subdivide the piece into smaller fragments. These could be of the same length as that of the theme or you could subdivide it according to lines. Always start and finish playing the fragment on the down beat. That way the fragments will be connected with each other. Write in fingering and pedaling in Fragment 1. Make sure you avoid finger substitutions, placing a thumb on a sharp key (except where there is no other option) and use toes only pedaling. This type of fingering and pedaling helps to achieve the desired articulation for any piece of the Baroque period – the articulate legato or as the contemporary sources called it - the ordinary touch. This type of articulation means that there should be small breaks between each note. However, the notes should not be too detached. It should be executed in a singing (cantabile) manner. Additionally, feel the alternation of the strong and week beats in each measure. Articulate a little bit more before beats 1 and 3 in each measure. Because each voice is very independent, it is best to practice each voice of that fragment separately, then in two-voice combinations, later in three-voice combinations, and finally, all four voices together. Practice slowly and use pedal preparation. Repeat each combination several times until you can play it precisely and without mistakes at least three times in a row. Then take another combination and do the same thing. When you master fragment 1, take fragment 2 and start over. When you master all separate fragments, start combining them and play in longer episodes. This type of practicing takes some willpower but in the end you will progress much faster. Note that there are various instances of ornamentation in this fugue. All trills and mordents here should be played from the upper note. In measures 19 and 43 you will see a trill sign over a long note. These trills should be long and played over the entire length of that note, starting from the upper note. The registration of this piece could be anything from a single 8’ principal up to a full 16’ based principal chorus with pedal reads. Always include a stop of 16’ in the pedals. Upon learning this fugue, you may find it so beautiful that it would be worthwhile even to memorize it. Refer to my earlier post about memorization. I recommend the New Bach Edition for playing this piece which is solid and quite reliable. By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe organ? If so, download my FREE video guide: "How to Master Any Organ Composition" in which I will show you my EXACT steps, techniques, and methods that I use to practice, learn and master any piece of organ music.
Many organists who fall in love with Bach’s organ music at some point may have heard about his extraordinary skills in improvisation, stories how he improvised a complex six-part fugue in front of Frederic the Great, King of Prussia or elaborate chorale fantasia which lasted almost half an hour for Jan Adam Reincken, the organist of St. Catherine church in Hamburg.
Upon remembering such accounts, I used to think that it was impossible to achieve such mastery for regular organists. However, my opinion started to change when I first heard organists like William Porter and Edoardo Belotti improvise at Gothenburg International Organ Academy (Sweden) back in 2000. These were the people who thought that everything that was composed theoretically could be improvised as well. They were especially interested in reconstructing the improvisation techniques of the 17th century. At the same Gothenburg International Organ Academy, I met Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra who taught improvisation in the style of Johann Sebastian Bach. Her deepest passion was to discover and reconstruct Bach’s improvisation pedagogy. Her discoveries were supposed to be published in the form of a book in 2001. I had a privilege of studying improvisation and organ performance under P.Ruiter-Feenstra at Eastern Michigan University for my Master’s degree. However, we had to wait for the appearance of her book about ten years. This book, „Bach and the Art of Improvisation“, (Ann Arbor, MI: CHI Press, 2011) “represents a lifetime of experience and experimentation, teaching and researching, performing and improvising”, as Joel Speerstra writes in the Foreword of this book. In this article, I will give a short review Volume One of the book „Bach and the Art of Improvisation“ by Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra (please note that Volume Two is forthcoming). Volume I is devoted to Chorale-based improvisation and consists of 7 chapters – Chapter 1: “Improvisation as Extemporaneous Composition”, Chapter 2: “Tenacity, Touch, and Fingering”, Chapter 3: “Thoroughbass and Cadences”, Chapter 4: “Chorales and Harmonization”, Chapter 5: “Counterpoint and Chorale Partitas”, Chapter 6: “Bach as Teenager: the Neumeister Collection”, and Chapter 7: “Bach at Forty-Something: Dance Suites”. Volume II will focus on improvisation of Free works and Continuo. The approach that P.Ruiter-Feenstra uses in her book is rather unique among other books on improvisation. It is not only a textbook with exercises but much more than that. The students who will be studying this book will acquire a comprehensive knowledge about various 18th century performance practice aspects, such as articulation, fingering, and pedaling etc. In Chapter 1: “Improvisation as Extemporaneous Composition”, P.Ruiter-Feenstra sets the stage for the entire book and presents what we know about Bach and learning, contexts and definition of 18th century improvisation. In addition, she writes about improvisation pedagogy of Bach’s time in this chapter. Remarkable is her approach to existing compositions, as models for improvisation and her method of improvisation pedagogy what she calls the cycle of Construction-Deconstruction-Reconstruction. In Chapter 2: “Tenacity, Touch, and Fingering”, the author introduces Bach’s mindset towards the process of learning and invention. In addition, she informs the reader about the basics of early keyboard technique, articulation, fingering, and pedaling and gives numerous exercises. She also writes about the importance of the clavichord technique for any keyboard instrument of the day: spinet, harpsichord, regal, positive, and organ. Here P.Ruiter-Fenstra gives an account of the experiment with two groups of students when teaching improvisation. Group A was taught early fingering first before commencing improvisation studies. On the other hand, Group B practiced improvisation right from the start and skipped the fingering section. The results were surprising: at first students of Group B were better than students from the other group on improvisation, but within 10 days Group A was improvising with more confidence, fluency, and sophistication that Group B. This experiment clearly shows the need to combine the studies of historical performance practice with practical improvisation. In fact, the author believes, that applying early fingering principles helps the students to achieve the fluency in improvisation. In Chapter 3: “Thoroughbass and Cadences”, P.Ruiter-Feentra introduces the principles of Bach’s thoroughbass playing as described in his “Precepts and Principles for Playing the Thoroughbass or Accompanying in Four Parts” and other sources. From this point onwards, the author’s improvisation pedagogy is based on the principles of thoroughbass. This chapter presents us also the concept of cadences with numerous examples and their applications on most popular chorales of the day. In Chapter 4: “Chorales and Harmonization”, the author shows what kind of system Bach used to harmonize the chorales. For example, instead of using the term “modulation” for excursions into different keys, P.Ruiter-Feenstra introduces the term “Mode shift” which she believes was an original procedure that Bach’s contemporaries, like Johann Gottfried Walther and Niedt used. The modulation in the Baroque period meant a completely different idea – “the manner in which a singer or instrumentalist brings out a melody”, as the author states. This is a major difference between our traditional understanding of harmony and 18th century composition and improvisation pedagogy. Based on this system, there are numerous chorales given to practice and harmonize. It is important to point out that this chapter also deals with the concept of affect, and different harmonizations of the same chorale tune according to the meaning of text. By the way, the Doctrine of Affect in the Baroque period was a theory stating that different modes, melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic ideas or figures could evoke different feelings or moods. In Chapter 5: “Counterpoint and Chorale Partitas”, the author discusses the role of counterpoint in creating chorale partitas as presented by Johann Joseph Fux. However, she admits that Bach’s system and the one that Fux used was not without differences. Nevertheless, Bach new and owned counterpoint treatise by Fux and his method of Species Counterpoint is still valid for improvising chorale partitas. In addition, the author also looks at Bach’s Two-Part Inventions from the counterpoint perspective and they serve as models for improvised inventions. Another feature which I find especially valuable is the overview and a catalogue of rhetorical figures. These melodic, rhythmic, harmonic, formal, and affective figures all have their precise names in Latin or other languages. Especially practical are tables of the two four-note and three note figures with specific names for each one. Upon memorizing and mastering these figures an improviser will acquire a great tool that he or she can use not only for chorale partitas but for improvisation of other forms as well. Chapter 6: “Bach as Teenager: the Neumeister Collection” deals with Bach’s early compositional style and gives models and techniques from this collection to improvise chorale preludes in the same manner. At the end of this chapter, the author discusses the principal stylistic features and principles of Bach’s later, and compositionally and technically more advanced chorale preludes. Such compositions are presented in the Orgelbuchlein, Schubler, and Clavierubung III collections. They too, serve here as models for improvisation. In Chapter 7: “Bach at Forty-Something: Dance Suites”, P.Ruiter-Feenstra discusses the main types of dances that were part of the traditional dance suite. She even gives an example of the French drawing of the choreography with a dance melody. When we think about dance suites we usually have free works in mind. However, the author, citing examples and models from contemporary sources introduces the idea that dances could be improvised even on a chorale melody. Therefore, she gives precise directions and steps to improvise the main dances of the period: allemande, courante, sarabande, minuet, and gigue. The models for these dances are taken from Bach’s English and French suites, and works by Buxtehude, Bohm, Duben, and Niedt. In conclusion, I believe the book “Bach and the Art of Improvisation” is indispensable for every serious student of historically-based improvisation. Not only organists, but also pianists, harpsichordists, and other keyboardists will have the benefit in studying the principles given in this book. After studying such comprehensive information, techniques, and exercises in Volume One, the true fans of improvisation will eagerly wait for the appearance of Volume Two which will focus on improvisation of interludes and cadenzas, preludes, fantasias, continuo playing, concerto improvisation, thoroughbass fughettes, and finally, improvisation of fugues. By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe organ? If so, download my FREE video guide: "How to Master Any Organ Composition" in which I will show you my EXACT steps, techniques, and methods that I use to practice, learn and master any piece of organ music. |
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