The WTF Bach Podcast

Rather than moving on to the compound fugues, we have a pleasant visit to the second of four canons from "The Art of Fugue" by J.S. Bach:Canon alla Decima in contrapunto alla Terza (Canon at the Tenth in counterpoint at the Third)Topics covered: Aldous Huxley said that Bach is a manifestation of God? How does this second canon differ from the previous canon? What is a 'Cadenza'? So, you can play a canon with a delay pedal, but to what extent? Check out a picture of Bach's 'gift canon' here: NEXT EPISODE IS LISTENER'S CHOICE: DM EVAN WHAT PIECES YOU WANT TO HEARFind a playlist of the music here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYAFollow Evan on Instagram for even more content about Bach: www.instagram.com/WTFBachSupport us:https://www.patreon.com/wtfbachhttps://www.paypal.me/wtfbachhttps://venmo.com/wtfbachhttps://cash.app/$wtfbach  Get full access to WTF Bach at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe

This is the last fugue of what we could call 'Chapter two' in The Art of Fugue: this is the third and final 'stretto fugue,' and the most complicated. Whereas in the previous episodes I mentioned in which direction subjects enter, inverted or not, or at which beat they overlap, in this episode, I disregard all of that in favor of trying to hear the three different speeds in multiple voices at once. I also ask the listener to imagine what this could sound like before the music is played. This is related to a technique called 'Audiation' which eventually will deserve special mention.--Find a playlist of the music here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYAThe Art of Fugue arranged for Instagram: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGUnOx6hfBEFollow Evan on Instagram for even more content about Bach: www.instagram.com/WTFBachSupport us:https://www.patreon.com/wtfbachhttps://www.paypal.me/wtfbachhttps://venmo.com/wtfbachhttps://cash.app/$wtfbach Suggestions? Want Evan to analyze a specific piece of Bach? Have other questions for Evan about music or anything at all?Write us:bach@wtfbach.com Get full access to WTF Bach at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe

Guest Interview: Robert Hill, HarpsichordistI had the privilege of speaking to Robert Hill, one of the foremost harpsichordists alive. Our discussion spans many different topics including harpsichord tuning and repair, clavichords, piano actions, lute-harpsichords, early Bach, old Bach, figured bass, inaudible sounds, metronomes, partimento, and anything else listed here: People / Topics Covered:Keith Hill (Instrument maker, Robert’s Brother)Jaap Schröder (Dutch violinist Hill heard in Michigan)Fernando Valenti (American Harpsichordist)Charles Burney (English Music Historian)Lute Harpsichord: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LautenwerckGustav Leonhardt John Dryden (the poet Leonhardt Quoted)The Goethe Haus, Weimar (paint color)Andreas Bach Book (french text only) https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Bach_BuchAndreas Staier Harpsichordist with whom Hill recorded BWV1080David Stanwood https://www.stanwoodpiano.com/ (Piano Technician)The Squiggle on the title page of the Well Tempered Clavier"Bach's face reconstructed""Bach's Seal"Partimento (Reduction Technique): --Randy Rainbow (comedian) Madame de Villedieu (authoress), novel of note: "Desordres d'Amour Follow Evan on Instagram for even more content about Bach: www.instagram.com/WTFBach--Find a playlist of this episode’s music here:https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1xyzZShf0RrAx75nvF1zUb?si=xRgHdqtNRtmogsUfvhlf7Q Support us: https://www.patreon.com/wtfbach https://www.paypal.me/wtfbach https://venmo.com/wtfbach https://cash.app/$wtfbach -- Suggestions? Want Evan to analyze a specific piece of Bach? Have other questions for Evan about music or anything at all?Write us:bach@wtfbach.com Get full access to WTF Bach at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe

The second ‘stretto’ fugue: “Contrapunctus 6, in the French Style” now gives us the theme flying at two different speeds in both directions. We see the theme overlapped, coming both inverted and ‘rectus’, and now at 1x AND 2x speeds! Where will Bach go from here?! Topics covered: What does it mean to play in the ‘French style?’ What does ‘diminution’ mean? Pianists mentioned: Zoltán Kocsis, Tatiana Nikolayeva, Pierre-Laurent Aimard,Harpsichordists (organists) mentioned: Helmut Walcha, Davitt Moroney, Robert Hill, Gustav Leonhardt, Isolde Ahlgrimm, Follow Evan on Instagram for even more content about Bach: www.instagram.com/WTFBach--Find a playlist of the music here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA Support us:https://www.patreon.com/wtfbachhttps://www.paypal.me/wtfbachhttps://venmo.com/wtfbachhttps://cash.app/$wtfbach--Suggestions? Want Evan to analyze a specific piece of Bach? Have other questions for Evan about music or anything at all?Write us:bach@wtfbach.com Get full access to WTF Bach at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe

Here we are on a new chapter! The stretto fugues have begun. We uncover the extensive use of stretto at various 'lengths:' 12 beats, 6 beats, 4 beats, 2 beats even down to a single beat. Entrances are now flying both upside down and right-side up without warning. Topics covered: Bach's cousin taught a 12-year old prince about fugues? 'Fleshing out' our Art of Fugue theme, Canons within fugues, The Art of Fugue orchestrated E.H. Gombrich's 'Little History of the World' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Little_History_of_the_WorldThe Art of Fugue arranged for Instagram: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGUnOx6hfBE--Find a playlist of the music here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYAFollow Evan on Instagram for even more content about Bach: www.instagram.com/WTFBachSupport us:https://www.patreon.com/wtfbachhttps://www.paypal.me/wtfbachhttps://venmo.com/wtfbachhttps://cash.app/$wtfbach Suggestions? Want Evan to analyze a specific piece of Bach? Have other questions for Evan about music or anything at all?Write us:bach@wtfbach.com Get full access to WTF Bach at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe

This is an interview with pianist/composer/arranger Brad Mehldau. Our conversation on May 12, 2020 spanned many diverse topics from what he is reading at the moment, what he keeps on his piano, when and how he practices, the connection between bebop and Bach, his favorite video game and more.Bach's Table of Ornaments: http://www.pennuto.com/music/jsb_ornm.htmHear the music mentioned (in the order we mention it) here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5iP9EMbyCBoB6hEyK5waK4?si=ukZQ0wy2T62vjGImM_OkfwRead the literature from our discussion here:Book of Jeremiah: (New American Bible translation) http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0839/__PPE.HTMThe Upanishads: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UpanishadsDoctor Faustus by Thomas Mann: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Faustus_(novel)Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letters_to_a_Young_PoetGeorge Bernard Shaw music criticism: https://www.abebooks.com/Shaws-Music-Complete-Musical-Criticism-Bernard/30253564275/bdBrad's favorite video game: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millipede_(video_game)Musicians/Bands mentioned (Alphabetically):Bach, Bartók, Beethoven, Brahms, Jon Brion, Wendy Carlos, Chopin, John Coltrane, Critters Buggin', Nick Drake, Fauré, Gershwin, Glenn Gould, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Haydn, Fred Hersch, Wynton Kelly, Jacques Loussier, Jerome Lowenthal, Lightning Bolt, Mahler, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Willie Nelson, Phineas Newborn, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Charlie Parker, Murray Perahia, Oscar Peterson, András Schiff, Schubert, Schumann, Wayne Shorter, Nina Simone, Art Tatum, Tom Waits, Ween. --Follow Evan on Instagram for interactive content: www.instagram.com/WTFBachSupport us:https://www.patreon.com/wtfbachhttps://www.paypal.me/wtfbachhttps://venmo.com/wtfbachhttps://cash.app/$wtfbach Suggestions? Want to sponsor an episode?Write us:bach@wtfbach.com Get full access to WTF Bach at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe

Rather than moving on to the fifth fugue, we have a brief visit to the first of four canons from "The Art of Fugue" by J.S. Bach:Canon in Hypodiapason (Canon at the octave). Topics covered: What is an octave? Who is 'The Great One'? Why do musicians love Bach so? So... you can play a canon with a delay pedal?  Find a playlist of the music here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYAFollow Evan on Instagram for even more content about Bach: www.instagram.com/WTFBachSupport us:https://www.patreon.com/wtfbachhttps://www.paypal.me/wtfbachhttps://venmo.com/wtfbachhttps://cash.app/$wtfbach Suggestions? Want Evan to analyze a specific piece of Bach? Have other questions for Evan about music or anything at all?Write us:bach@wtfbach.com Get full access to WTF Bach at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe

This is the second bonus episode.In it, you will hear the first three fugues from “The Art of Fugue” in their 'early versions', meaning, the versions which Bach conceived before he sent them to be published. This is a rare moment to observe Bach making improvements or corrections on his own compositions. Noticing how Bach revises his own work is a pretty rare and- may I say?- exclusive look into the mind of the great genius. The 'Original Print', as I said, is found here: https://imslp.simssa.ca/files/imglnks/usimg/2/21/IMSLP23444-PMLP05843-Bach_Art_of_Fugue_1st_edition.pdf (DOWNLOAD IT! look at page 17 and 20, and 30! 30 has 'Bach's seal'... another podcast is in oder)An important topic covered is the 'source tradition' of The Art of Fugue, and how the two principle sources differ. We also discuss what an autograph is, and what it means to have a composition 'published' in Bach's day.I play the first three fugues in the original versions, expose the slight variants, and dissect these slight variants and how they came to become the printed version. I have not yet promoted this, but I will in my next 'regular' episode: I 'instagramed' the entire art of fugue, and wrote in the 'stories' important facts: just google: Art of Fugue Instagram -- obviously I am the only one. This could help ye who are zealous with visuals to get inside this great work. Therefore, follow me on IG!: @wtfbach-evan   Get full access to WTF Bach at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe

Dive into the intriguing world of Bach's fourth fugue, where humor meets complexity. Learn about a blind organist from Leipzig and the unique Latin terms tied to the music. Discover how a subject can thrive with just a two-note motif. The discussion also unpacks the elusive golden section, blending music with math. Personal anecdotes about the host's early piano journey add warmth, while a tantalizing performance of the fourth fugue leaves listeners hungry for more. Get ready for the upcoming twists in the fifth fugue!

We discuss the second and third fugues from "The Art of Fugue" by J.S. Bach.We hear them played on a clavichord and a piano, then both arranged electronically with some new insights. Topics covered: How quiet is a clavichord? So... what's the vibe in general of The Art of Fugue? Countersubjects, inverted entrances, and the subject beginning to change. Find a playlist of the music here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYASupport us:https://www.patreon.com/wtfbachhttps://www.paypal.me/wtfbachhttps://venmo.com/wtfbachhttps://cash.app/$wtfbach Suggestions? Want Evan to analyze a specific piece of Bach? Have other questions for Evan about music or anything at all?Write us:bach@wtfbach.com Get full access to WTF Bach at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe