How on earth do you play Bach!?!?!?!?!?

[theholygideons]

I don't think I've ever had a teacher who properly taught me how to play Bach. I understand that one shouldn't use any pedal to ensure clarity of voices, but are there any scenarios in which one could use pedal in a fugue, excluding the moments that facilitate sustaining notes that can't be reached with one hand. Also, would you use pedal for the prelude in C major? It seems like a natural place to use pedal.

I've heard that all voices in the fugue should be independent and equal. Does that mean all voices should be of the same relative volume, as opposed to one dominating over another as is the case in homophonic writing?

I'm thinking of playing bach's e flat minor prelude and fugue. Any insights?

[iansinclair]

Well this should start a somewhat contentious thread!

In reading my comments, keep in mind (firmly!) that I am an organist, first, and only lately (since I retired) a pianist -- and that I learned Bach on the organ, not on the piano.

On using the sustain pedal.  Of course, Bach didn't have one.  But does that mean that one shouldn't ever every use it?  A related question -- might he have used it had he had one?  Probably; he used pretty much every other resource of his instruments that he could find.  So -- should it be used?  I would expect so, but only very sparingly and only on certain pieces (that C Major prelude, if it's the same one I'm thinking of, is a potential example -- although the feel of it with and without pedal is quite different.  Which is right?  I won't even go there).  My own feeling is that in more thoroughly contrapuntal music -- which is most of it -- probably only when one is absolutely desperate about a particular fingering.

In contrapuntal music all voices are independent.  They may or may not, however, all be equal at any given moment.  Unfortunately, Bach did not leave much in the way of notes on how to interpret most of his music, so it is -- again -- more a matter of informed judgement than hard and fast rules, never mind recreating what he and his contemporaries might have done.  I usually did have all the voices equal at any given time in, say, most of the preludes and fugues -- but they would not have stayed the same throughout a piece; I would very commonly change registrations (it is possible to overdo this, though).  Usually some thought and examination of the structure will suggest where each voice should change (commonly not all at the same place!).  On chorales, however, I almost always gave the chorale tune itself a distinct registration -- not necessarily the same relative volume, but a distinct tone colour (say, for example, and 8/4 diapason for the chorale against perhaps an 8/2 flute for the other voices)(or whatever happened to appeal -- and be available on the instrument at hand).

On the piano, one doesn't have the option to change registration.  Therefore, if at any given moment one wants to highlight a particular voice -- say the fugue subject, for example, or a cantus firmus -- one must do it entirely either by volume, which usually isn't that satisfactory, or preferably by slight (or sometimes not so slight) variations in legato/detache or other "tricks" (a very effective, if subtle, approach, for example, would be to play the fugue subject -- wherever it happens to come -- with a perfect legato, and the counter subject with, perhaps, a distinct detache, and other voices somewhere between the two)(note that if you do this, it can be double effective if you keep the treatment of the subject the same, whether it is normal, retrograde, inverted, or whatever -- a subtle hint to the listener, in case they aren't paying attention!).

Have fun!

[theholygideons]

Ahh.. thanks for the tips. I'll keep in mind the differences in character between the subject and counter-subject. Which reminds me, what's the overarching structure of a fugue? if there are only good online resources that would be helpful.

[quantum]

The direction to "never pedal in Bach" is somewhat of a generalization given when a student may first be introduced to the music of the composer.  Unfortunately it is often taken literally.  The gist of the idea being to highlight the polyphonic nature of Bach's writing, and attempt to differentiate this from primarily homophonic music they have been applying pedaling to up to this point.  For many students J.S. Bach is probably the first composer they play in this style of music. 

Yes, it is true that the absence of pedal contributes to the clarity of voices in polyphonic music.  However, clarity of voices is not the only element of musical interest in polyphonic composition.  Once one understands how to hear independent voices, one can begin to break away from the rule of not applying pedal.  It would probably serve better to say we use the pedal differently when playing polyphonic music as compared to its application in homophnic writing. 


As an extension of Ian's discussion on registration above.  To see how piano composers tackled the problem of not having any stops to register, have a look at fugues specifically written for piano by late romantic and 20th century composers. 

[lelle]

Ahh.. thanks for the tips. I'll keep in mind the differences in character between the subject and counter-subject. Which reminds me, what's the overarching structure of a fugue? if there are only good online resources that would be helpful.

The fugue is a rather free form. What every fugue usually does have though is an exposition, where the main subject is introduced one voice at a time and usually on the tonic or dominant, until all voices have been introduced. After that it's more free, often new entrances of the theme are separated by episodes. The subject can be explored in inverted form, or in stretto (a new entrance of the subject starts before the old one finishes) or other techniques, and these developments might be done in different sections of the piece.

This site is a great resource: https://www2.nau.edu/tas3/wtc/wtc.html
If you click on any of the links in the index to the left you'll get a recording of the fugue with a synchronized score and animated analysis as the piece plays.

[starlady]

I have been taught a somewhat different take on the voicing.  According to my teacher,  "All voices are equal" in contrapuntal music means that every voice gets the chance to sing the theme, to be the dominant voice (in contrast to, say, romantic music where the voice is either melody, accompaniment or bass).   It does NOT mean that the volume is kept constant.  Every entrance of the theme, in every voice,  should be brought out clearly.   Remember the preludes and fugues were first played on the clavichord, not the harpsichord, and the clavichord has very delicate and expressive dynamics.

--s.

[j_menz]

On pedalling:

My advice is to start without it, especially if you haven't played much polyphonic music before.  It is rare in the WTC for notes no to be holdable, though there are some tricks you need to use to do so - such as changing fingers on a held note.  It is important to develop these skills, and an early reliance on the pedal will hinder that.

After that, it is a matter of taste. If you are playing auditions or competitions, the general expectation there is very conservative, so best not use it. Outside of that, let your taste determine it, but listen to plenty of recordings of others so that that taste is an informed one.

Contra the "no pedal" purists, a look at the piano transcriptions of Bach's organ works for piano by Liszt, Busoni etc may be instructive.

On the Equality of Voices:

Each voice is the equal of the other voices in importance.  Unlike non-polyphonic music where there is a tune and an accompaniment, where the accompaniment is subordinate.

That does not mean they need be (at any one point) equal in volume - they follow their own dynamic logic, so the dynamics of one is governed by what you would do with it if it were on it's own.  You may need to make subtle changes to allow for the fact that what is going on with the other voices at that time influence how that voice is heard.

Also, the independence is not absolute. Voices interact. One may be a repeat of another, or an answer to it. You need to respect that logic.

[indianajo]

   Remember the preludes and fugues were first played on the clavichord, not the harpsichord, and the clavichord has very delicate and expressive dynamics.
--s.

Oooh, that's interesting! I have actually seen and stood near a harpsichord as it was played, and I always felt Sorry for JSB being stuck with one of those at home when he couldn't get enough pipe organ time to express himself.  I've never even seen a live clavichord, and they had volume!?  Maybe my heavily accented and vary-volume versions of 2 part Inventions aren't so barbaric, after all. 

[starlady]

Absolutely right, Indianajo: Bach knew more and better keyboards than just harpsichords.  The standard story is that Bach's SOLO, non-pedalled keyboard music was written for the clavichord.  Which is why it's the WTC not the WTH, duh... Spread the word!!

There are few clips of clavichords on youtube. They sound lovely but can't be heard at distances greater than about 6 feet, which is why they aren't seen often in public performance.  For a lecture-demonstration about clavichords everyone had to crowd into the very front row of the hall,  and even so could barely hear. --s.