Topic: Tips on Bach-Busoni "Nun freut euch, lieben Christen gmein" (BWV 734) (Read 2230 times)

dabbler · on: December 07, 2006, 05:36:09 PM

I already had another question related to this piece a while ago ("emphasizing middle voices"; thanks again to all who helped with their comments), but I'm still struggling, and I love it so much that I dare to ask another question.

I just listened to Martin Stadtfeld's (young German pianist) and the thirty seconds (thanks Amazon) of Perahia's interpretation, and I was blown away how much faster they both play it than I can do at the moment -- and despite their amazing speed the choral melody still sings so nicely in both of their interpretations, and the bass jumps around in joyful excitement and the soprano figurations sound so enthusiastic (well, at least that's what I feel).

But when hearing these two interpretations, I became doubtful of whether Stadtfeld and Perahia might even play from a different edition (I have a German Breitkopf & Haertel). This is because the single thing which gives me most problems (and also the tempo-limiting factor for me) are the passages when the choral melody is played in octaves, so that the right hand has to play both the 1/16-figurations _and_ the choral melody (e.g. measures 18ff etc). In both recordings I could not hear these octaves played, it sounded just the same as the passages where the melody is not played in octaves (well, bad head phones or amazons bad streaming quality, or my incapability could also be reasons for this, but I listened several times to both and really could not hear a difference...).

So here are my questions:
* What do you think of the Bach-Busoni choral preludes, and this one in particular? Do you also like them? (another fav of mine is "Ich ruf zu Dir Herr Jesu Christ" BWV 639.
* Could it be that there a different versions from Busoni himself (in particular with/without octaves). I fear not, he must have been some kind of pianistic octopus anyway....
* In case you've heard the interpretations of Stadtfeld or Perahia, can you hear them play the octaves? Actually, in slower speed I think they can give a nice effect of "register change" similar to an organ, but I also think that for this piece speed is more important than this effect, and the figuration definitely has to come with great ease (Busoni himself writes "heiter" (joyful) and "molto scorrevole", and both may be hampered a lot by playing the choral melody as well). So, in short, I think it would be an acceptable compromise to ignore the octaves, after all it's already a transcription --- and in the two recordings I cannot hear them at all, so my guess is that they have taken this compromise.
* But if they really do play the octaves and it was only my problem that I couldn't hear the difference, don't you think they should stand out much more in both interpretations? I thought it should really feel like a clearly audible register change in the organ...
* And if you think they must be played, do you have any tips on how to get up to speed with the right hand in these sections?
* Any tips on good fingering? Do you try to get a perfect finger legato for the choral melody, or do you think some sacrifice (or using pedal to bind) would be ok (so that there can be more ease for the figuration)? I use sliding fingers from one key to the other in some cases, anybody else too?
* Or, alternatively, should I give up on this piece? I'm just an amateur (but an enthusiastic one). Maybe this is some kind of "test piece" and I started working on it without knowing it....

Sorry for the long post. But if you've read through, I'd be very happy about any comments or suggestions!

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