Bach - Prelude and Fugue in A major & A minor, BWV 864 - 865 (WTC Book I)

[andhow04]

these are two of the hardest to learn, in my opinion, from Book I.

the Fugue to A major is very complex although it sounds light and airy; none of the individual lines really make sense on their own, it's like a puzzle where the three voices complete each other's lines. for that reason it is exceptionally hard to memorize. the subject starts with an isolated single pitch, very striking, and in Czeryn's edition, he marked that with a sforzando and staccato, with the eighth note rising fourths following to be played softly and legato. unfortunately many people still do this absurd phrasing. speaking of those rising fourths, it was a Baroque convention remembered by Beethoven in his Sonata op.110, a piece full of antique remembrances.

the Fugue in a minor is also extremely complex because it is in the category of Fugues where Bach tried to exploit every contrapuntal possibility of the subject (the other ones are d# minor Book I and Bb minor Book II). he systematically goes through an exposition of the subject, then an exposition of the subject in stretto; then the subject in inversion, and the inverted subject in stretto; then after a long pedal point on the dominant he presents various combinations of stretti, including the original and inversion, and in three or four voices. very hard to play, as it is also quite muscular, like the earlier fugues for the keyboard toccatas.

a word about the video itself, my friends had a 6K camera, but only one of them, so we filmed each P&F three times, from three angles. however i only used one audio track from one of the angles, and was able to sync it with very little adjustment!

enjyo

A major

A minor

[lelle]

I really enjoyed your conception of both Preludes & Fugues. I have always loved the a minor one with its brilliant counterpoint (PS. I think you mixed up the order of the expositions in your description ) But I have recently warmed to the A major fugue as well (always liked the sunny prelude). It has a pretty cool kind of kaleidoscopic thing going on, doesn't it?

Sadly the YouTube video only went up to 1080p for me, but I really like the image quality, you can tell it was done with a much better camera. The footage has a sort of warm, richer feel to it.

[brogers70]

Those were great. I particularly liked the lyrical approach to the A major fugue. And you have very calm, efficient hands even in the most tangled passages. Hope you will post more of these.

[andhow04]

I really enjoyed your conception of both Preludes & Fugues. I have always loved the a minor one with its brilliant counterpoint (PS. I think you mixed up the order of the expositions in your description ) But I have recently warmed to the A major fugue as well (always liked the sunny prelude). It has a pretty cool kind of kaleidoscopic thing going on, doesn't it?

Sadly the YouTube video only went up to 1080p for me, but I really like the image quality, you can tell it was done with a much better camera. The footage has a sort of warm, richer feel to it.

oh dear, haha, yes i was describing the procedure for Bb minor Book II which i am working on now. how silly. i will leave it unedited as. a testament to my stupidity !

i actually love to hate A major, it is quite hard to memorize and organize, but in the end the effect is very charming ii think.

thanks for listening !

[johnlewisgrant]

I agree completely: in many ways the 2 p&f combinations, both from Book 1, are among the MOST DIFFICULT of the lot.  Angela Hewitt has said--for the reasons you've given--that the A Major fugue is THE most difficult, both to memorize and, as well, to play coherently.  My own view is that the A Major and A minor from Book 1--completely different challenges--are equally horrendously difficult. 

The word "difficult" merits some comment: often it's used in piano performance to refer to "mechanical" difficulty: for example, the octave-playing in the last movement of Brahm's PC 2, which he marks "pp" but which seems impossible to play at pace that way.  Arguably, the word "difficult" in piano performance refers with as much force to the CONCEPTUAL difficulties raised by a number of Bach fugues, perhaps in fact almost ALL of Bach's fugues.  Proof of this pudding is the fact that so many recordings and live performances of the Well-tempered fail (at least to my ears) to satisfy; whereas as there are (for example) many performances to be heard of Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart piano music that, although not perfect, are still enjoyable. 

Nope:  something about BACH--and his keyboard music in particular--that makes it VERY, VERY difficult.  Not "technically," in the mechanical sense of that thorny word, but "conceptually".   

Having said that, you've picked two VERY difficult fugues (and their accompanying preludes) and done an excellent job.  Frankly, I don't care much whether or not the sheet music is used or whether these are "memorized."  I heard Hewitt playing the entire set live a number of years ago in TO, and mistakes were made; some of the mistakes were very, very serious.  I'm happy to see the music in front of the pianist for this rep!  Less scary for the listener.

[andhow04]

Thanks for the insightful and affirmative response… way too often “difficulty“ is seen only in the realm of the physical, but yes definitely what tracks me to this music is the conceptual aspect. It’s hard to explain and probably hard to teach. The A major in particular can be maddening to wrap your head around even if it looks easy on the fingers.at least for A minor, there is a physical/muscular element where you can play many passages in a more vertical manner, in a way that is impossible with A major.

I have never performed all of book one in public, but I have done the first half twice. Sorry and a little surprised to hear about Hewitt but one bad day and the whole thing can go to hell if you are attempting from memory. One of the reasons I recorded these two was that I had never actually played them in public and wanted to see how it would go. Whenever my friends return with the camera I will do the pair of B flats from book two. Another daunting pair. Thanks.

I agree completely: in many ways the 2 p&f combinations, both from Book 1, are among the MOST DIFFICULT of the lot.  Angela Hewitt has said--for the reasons you've given--that the A Major fugue is THE most difficult, both to memorize and, as well, to play coherently.  My own view is that the A Major and A minor from Book 1--completely different challenges--are equally horrendously difficult. 

The word "difficult" merits some comment: often it's used in piano performance to refer to "mechanical" difficulty: for example, the octave-playing in the last movement of Brahm's PC 2, which he marks "pp" but which seems impossible to play at pace that way.  Arguably, the word "difficult" in piano performance refers with as much force to the CONCEPTUAL difficulties raised by a number of Bach fugues, perhaps in fact almost ALL of Bach's fugues.  Proof of this pudding is the fact that so many recordings and live performances of the Well-tempered fail (at least to my ears) to satisfy; whereas as there are (for example) many performances to be heard of Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart piano music that, although not perfect, are still enjoyable. 

Nope:  something about BACH--and his keyboard music in particular--that makes it VERY, VERY difficult.  Not "technically," in the mechanical sense of that thorny word, but "conceptually".   

Having said that, you've picked two VERY difficult fugues (and their accompanying preludes) and done an excellent job.  Frankly, I don't care much whether or not the sheet music is used or whether these are "memorized."  I heard Hewitt playing the entire set live a number of years ago in TO, and mistakes were made; some of the mistakes were very, very serious.  I'm happy to see the music in front of the pianist for this rep!  Less scary for the listener.