10 years ago by
A Pianist
Although old, I'd like to take a shot at this too.
the playing is very nice, with some very nice moments, such as around 6:38.
You have much going for you. However, as Alan said, when you loose the left hand arch, to where the wrist is well above the arm and fingers, it looses the sound. Your good sound fades in and out, but it's still great for your age and an amateur.
I wonder if you really know what Bach's music is doing, saying. Have you taken time to go through it--theoretically, marking the fugue statements, melody, counter-melody, what's doing what where?
If you have, great. If not, I think it will help if you find what's what and decided before hand, how you want to play it in each section and very importantly, why.
Bach's music is full of light, air, even dance. And it is very structured -- how it did the structure and still kept the wonderful melodies and counterpoint going is a wonder.
Each section of subject should be very clear and clean. Try playing it without any pedal and making the legato, only with the hand. Make certain that even though legato, there is just a slight break between each note, so that nothing is lost or slurred together. That is not the Baroque style and especially Bach's. It needs to be very articulated--not staccato, but just a little light coming through, between notes. And I'd like to hear more of where the subject comes in, goes out, the counter-melody when it appears. These things are subtle, but make a great difference.
A listener will think, oh, I just heard that, now it's back, now it's gone and replaced by something else, and hear comes the fuge again. There's no loosing of the motives.
Your hands have nice shape. But when the arch is gone from the hand and goes to the wrist instead, it sounds different; and it doesn't look right either.
Bach is not easy--whether in his simple or complex pieces--it takes knowing before hand what you want, a guess at what he wanted, then trying to do it.
You might try it on one manual of the organ. You'll notice immediately how a legato is different from the piano. No pedal on the organ but it can still be legato, except the notes have that little bit of light between them.
As you bring in the subject, counter, etc., be careful that you play not only the tones, but the silence too. Sometimes, the space between the notes is what determines how clear the harmony is as well as lets the listener recognize each change.
It was a very good job. I wish I had a memory like yours. Now just work a bit more on the technique and Baroque style.
You might want to listen to Glenn Gould and his Goldberg variations. He did two recordings: one when he was young and the other, much later. Each is strikingly different.
The one that he did when young is very fast, showy, but it lacks heart and an understanding of what's going on. In the later version, the tempo is slower, by about 1/2. He still plays quickly, the ornaments are there, so he's not playing slower because he can't play it fast, but because he's playing so everything is clear and you can recognize the entrance of each subject. Then when the counter-point is going in 4 voices, each is clear. You can follow each line if wanted.
In the years between the two recordings, he learned what makes Bach, Bach. And how to articulate, so the through-composed Baroque music can be played such that each voice and what it is doing is never lost.
Keep up the good work. It really sound nice. But needs the Baroque heart in it, even though it's being played on the piano. Use the piano to give the music what it can get from that instrument. and analyze, analyze, analyze; mark up the score, circle important entrances, exits, draw arrows as one voice goes through another. Then when you know what's happening, with hearing it with your eyes, you can make it happen on the piano.
