The WTF Bach Podcast

In this episode we delve into Bach’s second cantata cycle begun in 1724. The first two cantatas are briefly covered, (with two further cantatas to follow next episode) as well as the connection between the Lutheran church melodies and the significance of the year Bach began this ambitious project.

Pieces heard:

BWV 20, O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort (Click here to see the live video)

BWV 2, Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein

BWV 684, Chirst unser Herr zum Jordan Kamm

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I rarely just play on this podcast, but that’s how I’d like to package this little present for my listeners. Rather than spending days researching and writing, today I will play four fugues and introduce them only briefly. It’s some twenty minutes of music I hope you can enjoy during your holidays.

The quote I read to introduce this short concert is by Mortimer J. Adler.

Bach wrote this music before 1717 (at the latest.) These are fugues whose themes originated in the work of other composers. Bach borrows these themes and creates his own work. These fugues are not commonly played which make them all the more fun to listen to and study.

As always, thanks for listening, thanks for spreading the word and supporting this podcast. I’m looking forward to 2025 with you Bach enthusiasts.

Fugues I performed:

Fugue in C major, BWV 966 (on a theme by Adam Reinken)

Fugue in C major, BWV 946 (on a theme by Tomaso Albinoni)

Fugue in a minor, BWV 965 (on a theme by Adam Reinken)

Fugue in A major, BWV 949 (probably on a theme by Tomaso Albinoni)

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In today’s episode we have a look at one of Bach’s Arnstadt masterpieces, the fugue in c minor BWV 574 on a theme by Giovanni Maria Bononcini (The composers Giovanni Bononcini and Antonio Maria Bononcini were his sons.)

According to the Neue Bach Ausgabe, this fugue is the first double fugue in history.

Here is a picture of the title page in his brother’s hand with the erroneous attribution to Legrenzi:

You can download the music to the fugue here. (The MIDI version I created at the end of the episode is BWV574b.)

Today’s sponsor is Modartt. I am playing the organ using their wonderful software, Organteq. Read about the physical modeling here. Thanks to them, and thanks to all my listeners.

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EDIT June 2024. I have misunderstood the term ‘Applicatio’ in this episode. I now understand it to refer to the fingering and not the application of ornaments— despite the fact that many ornaments are ‘applied’ in the piece. ‘Applicatio’ as I now understand it sometimes referred to the hand position on a string instrument, or here, where to ‘apply’ the fingers. This video highlights the correction. -e.s.

Firstly, here is the image of what’s in question:

If you’ve ever wondered what all the ‘squiggles’ are about over certain notes in sheet music, this episode will you give you a good idea.

Here is the ‘Applicatio,’ the little piece which would have shown Bach’s son (and other future students) how to apply these ornaments- notice the fingering and the ‘J.N.J.’:

Just a quick episode today! Stay tuned for more writings and longer episodes soon.

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How did Bach understand the concept of Phi? 1.618…? Here are a few examples where Bach highlights the “Golden Section” in a piece through either a fugal technique, a shift in musical language, or something else. Send us your most remarkable golden section moments!

For the first episode where I mentioned the golden section and Bach, click here.

Pieces covered:

Fugue in C major, BWV 846

Invention in C major, BWV 770

Allegro from Sonata in a minor, BWV 1003

Confiteor and Et Expecto from Mass in b minor, BWV 232

Contrapuntus 10 from The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080

Phi as seen as a structural principle in BWVs 1001-1006, The Sei Solo Book One (Violin Sonatas and Partitas) will be written about soon!

Fugue in b minor, BWV 869

Performers featured:

Trevor Pinnock

Nathan Milstein

Sigiswald Kuijken (and La Petite Bande)

Ralph Kirkpatrick

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In this episode I delve into two very diverse chorale preludes: one from the so-called, “Great 18” and one from the individually transmitted.

Here is a link to Bach’s own autograph of the Leipzig chorales. Beautiful handwriting!

Marie-Claire Alain’s recording of BWV 655 (completely different to Koopman’s)

The “Organ Sonatas” I recorded with LH/RH hard panning On Spotify on Apple Music

P.S. This is the first episode released on the new substack website- please shout if you experience problems!

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I AM STARTING A SUBSTACK SOON SO JOIN THE FUN:

WTFBACH.SUBSTACK.COM

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Thanks for listening! In this episode we discuss the history of the Chorale- how it became called 'Chorale' and how it factors into Bach's music.

Pieces featured:

BWV 691 and BWV 93 (Chorale) at the same time

BWV 651

BWV 682

Performers were: Michel Chapuis, Kay Johannsen

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Here are the links to the cantata cycles mentioned at the end, thank you, Tucker! From the profile you can access different ensembles' complete cantata cycles as well as other great selections.

Tucker's Spotify Playlists

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Though this episode starts with quite the extended introduction, this is in fact

EPISODE THREE

In a four-part study into the 14 additional canons on the back of the Goldbergs, BWV1087.

Here in this video, we dismiss a popular Bach video, and examine which videos are in fact Möbius strips. 

Here is the disproven crab canon video.

Here are two studies which don't quite go far enough:

One. I love this channel, don't get me wrong- they just didn't quite examine the consequences of chromatic inversion.

Two. The American Mathematical Society publishes similarly.

Both studies miss the technical inversions that I have pointed out in this episode.

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And now the blurb from the other two episodes studying BWV 1087:

On the back of his own personal copy of the 'Goldberg Variations', Bach notated an additional fourteen canons. These were discovered only as late as 1974(!) and are among the most interesting compositional exercises we know from the composer. 

From eight bass notes (the first 8 notes of the 'Goldberg' Aria- the structure in a sense,) Bach creates, yes, fourteen other canons. In this episode, we discuss engraving and canons 5-9.

Here is what they look like as seen on the back of Bach's own copy:

and HERE is the link to engraving- you can see how Balthasar Schmid (I accidentally added an 'S' to his name in the episode) engraved Bach's BWV988.

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Finally! The influential Joshua Rifkin guests on the WTF Bach Podcast. 

Rifkin made Bach fame with his groundbreaking (and controversial!) theory that Bach’s vocal works (and other 17th & 18th century) composers’ works were sung with only one singer per part. He recorded the b minor mass, several cantatas, and other Bach works in this format. 

We spoke for almost three hours about ragtime, the Beatles, PDQ Bach (my distant uncle), even crossword puzzles, coffee and meditation. For this episode, though, I culled it quite severely to only that which deals with Bach’s music. 

It’s fascinating to hear him talk about his scholastic endeavors dealing with first-hand examination of source material. Do you agree with Rifkin? Do you like the sound of one singer per part?

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Q: What if those really slow interpretations of the cello suites from the 30s and 50s could be sped up?

A: Exactly.

https://www.jsbachcellosuites.com - check out this website! It's a great source on the history of the recordings of these pieces.

Thanks for all your feedback, donations, ideas, everything. Please follow @wtfbach on instagram for (almost) daily Bach content.

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Thanks for supporting us through 50 episodes! 

What makes Bach, BACH?!

As a special celebration, the 50th episode of The WTF Bach Podcast is a live lecture presented by Tonebase.

The topic is the ever looming one: why is Bach's importance so great? Studying the ideas behind a few of his instrumental collections, we see that Bach's ideas are always expanding outward, perhaps lending to his all-pervasive influence. 

Learn more about Tonebase.

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EPISODE TWO:

On the back of his own personal copy of the 'Goldberg Variations', Bach notated an additional fourteen canons. These were discovered only as late as 1974(!) and are among the most interesting compositional exercises we know from the composer. 

From eight bass notes (the first 8 notes of the 'Goldberg' Aria- the structure in a sense,) Bach creates, yes, fourteen other canons. In this episode, we discuss engraving and canons 5-9.

Here is what they look like as seen on the back of Bach's own copy:

and HERE is the link to engraving- you can see how Balthasar Schmid (I accidentally added an 'S' to his name in the episode) engraved Bach's BWV988.

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I was recently asked to explain chromaticism, so I thought I'd give it a try here.

Bach's fugue based on a theme by Tomaso Albinoni in B minor, BWVs 951, and 951a: the subject itself contains a chromatic descent (B, A#, A, G#, G, F#) and though Albinoni himself wrote it, it was Bach who brought the ideas behind such chromaticism to the next level. 

HERE is the recording which I was not able to credit. If you know whose recording this is, please write me, I'll fix it!

and HERE is the version (BWV 951, not BWV951a) which I played on the MIDI harpsichord, highlighting the chromatic lines on one of my favorite youtube channels. 

As always, thank you for your support, your feedback, your passion! -es

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On the back of his own personal copy of the 'Goldberg Variations', Bach notated an additional fourteen canons. These were discovered only as late as 1974(!) and are among the most interesting compositional exercises we know from the composer. 

From eight bass notes (the first 8 notes of the 'Goldberg' Aria- the structure in a sense,) Bach creates, yes, fourteen other canons. In this episode, we introduce the history, the idea behind the canons and the first four canons.

Here is what they look like as seen on the back of Bach's own copy:

and here are the Handel variations on the Chaccone of which I speak in this episode:

https://youtu.be/X_Lp9ZWWI-Q?t=73

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This episode was inspired by my recent discovery and purchase of an Encyclopedia Britannica. It's a fascinating collection of knowledge and I highly recommend finding some volumes and reading them. This is the Bach article appearing in the EB from as early as 1926 even until the 1960s, written by D.F. Tovey. 

We also listen to fugue BWV 959, very early, very wild, very W.T.F. in unequal temperament. 

More episodes on the way! Spread the love!

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LINKS:

The text of the Borges story I mentioned

Donald Francis Tovey (author of the article I read)

The archived scan of a 1926 Encyclopedia Britannica volume containing, "Bach, J.S.

Homepage of the EB: https://www.britannica.com

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More than simply, “in tune” or “out of tune” a temperament is a solution to the ancient problem of creating a circle out of a spiral. By the time Bach had his shake at this problem, the musical world had advanced far enough, setting the stage for his great mind to create a well-tempered solution that allowed him to compose in all 24 keys. Not all keys sound the same in the vast majority of temperaments, in fact, in only our modern equal-tempered one do we find all keys equal. Does our insistence on this system destroy the whole point of temperament? Or is it the most perfect arrangement of tones? 

Plus: 

-Actually listen to a pythagorean comma, the root of the problem...

-The circle of (pure) fifths

-Bach chorales in different temperaments

-The Art of Fugue, 6th fugue in a funky temperament

Try the frequencies experiment yourself! 

Pull up multiple windows on: https://onlinetonegenerator.com

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How much more famous can music be than that one Prelude in C?

The Prelude BWV 846, the first prelude in the Well-Tempered Clavier, is heard everywhere, but why? How? What purpose could such a piece have served in Bach's day?

We discuss two early, shorter versions of the prelude, and one erroneous version with an inauthentic bar (the 'Schwenke measure' - be on the look out if your copy has 36 bars and not 35!)

Answering, "How has this prelude influenced musicians even today?" we explore modern versions by John K. Stone, Elaine Comparone, my challenge to Brad Mehldau, and invert this prelude (and a few others) note for note to hear the 'photo negative'. 

Links:

'Jesu Joy' in a Japanese Forest (Cell Phone Ad)

John K. Stone's 'Fantasy on a Bach Prelude'

Elaine Comparone's version of the same prelude

As always: Thank you for listening!

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It started with an Instagram Post, but like all questions about Bach, to answer the question of Bach's 'longest' piece required posing further questions:  

Longest how? Minutes? In terms of Measures? In terms of the longest single piece on a concert? ...wait, what is a 'piece' anyhow? Does one of the passions count as a single piece? What about just the amount of notes? 

You may be surprised to hear the answers... or maybe you've know the answer in your heart of hearts all along.

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A brief analysis of Cantata 147, Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV147. Such a large piece of music, it gets it own episode. Will I continue to devote episodes to the cantatas? Read the bottom of the description. 

The work is famous for, if nothing else, the two chorales that we know as 'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring.' As it was suggested by a listener, this is part two of the previous listener's choice episode. 

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People or Music mentioned:

Rudolph Lutz

Joshua Rifkin

Robert Bridges (English poet laureate)

Wendy Carlos

Lady Lynda (Song by The Beach Boys)

Myra Hess

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WTF Bach and the Cantatas:

These are daunting pieces with very complicated histories, hence the delay in getting this episode to you. As is the case with all research, one has to be rather careful before making even the simplest of statements about a piece of Bach. The cantatas are largely orchestrated pieces as well, for many instruments, which makes a 'dissection' of such a piece much more difficult. Due to their numerous sections, they are often longer in length compared to a prelude and fugue or many other instrumental pieces. For many (if not most) people who enjoy Bach, their 'ignorance' of his music usually falls somewhere within the cantatas. 

This is all to say, on a personal note, that while creating this episode, I spent some five times longer than I normally would. I enjoyed doing this as everyone needs to brush up on the cantatas, still, as I always love hearing from you, send me a note: let me know if you want more episodes on the cantatas and I will find a way to make these episodes come quicker. As always, sincerely, -e

SPOILER ALERT! I split this episode into TWO! The NEXT episode will cover cantata BWV147 exclusively. 

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To begin your week! Three pieces you requested were:

Toccata in g minor BWV915

Allabreve in D major BWV589

Cantata BWV147 (NEXT EPISODE!)

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Please enjoy my brief analysis of these pieces which, in their own right, could take up many episodes each, and THANK YOU for suggesting I cover them. Please keep your suggestions coming! 

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Bach's Music Floating in Outer Space

Performers featured today were, in order:

Trevor Pinnock

Christine Schornsheim

Ton Koopman

Simon Preston

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It was brought to my attention that, yesterday, at the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, there was only one non-Biritsh piece of music included. It was of course penned by our beloved J.S. Bach, whose inclusion in the royal festivities made an impression on me.

The piece was this gorgeous fantasy for organ BWV 562, discussed in this episode. Enjoy!

The unfinished harpsichord fugue discussed by me 

Marie-Claire Alain's performance of BWV 562

Martin Lücker's performance of BWV 562

I know I said this last time but for real this time:

NEXT EPISODE IS LISTENER'S CHOICE- SEND ME YOUR SUGGESTIONS

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This week I chose to read experts from the 'New Bach Reader', a compilation book of documents from Bach's life or shortly thereafter. These documents are sometimes letters, receipts, or newspaper notices, but might be a dinner bill for an inn where Bach stayed, or his candid thoughts on singers. I highly recommend this book. Find it here.

NEXT EPISODE IS LISTENER'S CHOICE- SEND ME THE PIECE YOU WANT: Bach (at) WTFBACH (dot com)

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Last Episode WTF Bach explained how computers, using MIDI, could help us understand Bach in a unique way.

Here then, is a brief episode of four Bach MIDI files, played with very basic computer operations (quantized 16th notes, panning between speakers, mechanical slowing down and speeding up). 

It's likely you've never heard Bach in this way before. The question therefore is, 'Did you learn something?' 

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How can computers help us understand Bach? What is MIDI? 

In this episode we learn how MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) files, that is, a sort of sheet-music for computers, can help us explore Bach’s music in modern and novel ways. 

If you don’t read music or play an instrument, MIDI files might be your way into Bach’s mind. Even if you are a virtuoso Bachian, there will be something in MIDI technology that can help you uncover further details throughout Bach’s most fascinating constructions.

Dave (of Dave's J.S. Bach page) talks about the 'art of MIDI'

My album featuring 'panning' between two upper voices in Bach

Three links to Bach MIDI files:

1) https://www.midiworld.com/bach.htm

2) http://www.jsbach.net/midi/

3) https://www.kunstderfuge.com/bach.htm

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Two episodes ago we covered the first movement of the fifth Brandenburg concerto up to the famous harpsichord cadenza. In this episode we look at the two existing versions of the famous cadenza: an early version a mere 18 measures, and the the famous one, more than three times as long. 

Alfred Cortot

Glenn Gould’s video mentioned is here:

https://youtu.be/gvs4v_aswfk

Ton Koopman’s featured live performance is here:

https://youtu.be/eLJ24CnVRyQ

And the film in which Leonhardt himself plays Bach (The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach) is here:

https://youtu.be/MhZ71owC7Ps

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In this episode, we will look at:

The genesis of the Brandenburg concerti,

What Bach’s job was like when these compositions came about,

Who his employer was then,

How much music Bach was composing at that time,

Why a Baroque composer writes anything at all,

The difference between a modern composer and one in the Baroque.

Then finally, we will disprove another famous Bach myth:

‘Bach composed the last of the Brandenburg concerti to get fired’ 

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**PS: Any of my listeners want to start correcting some of the Wikipedia pages with Bach BS (Bad Scholarship) and linking the sources to these episodes? Write me (email below)

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I love my listener feedback! Keep it coming! Bach (at) WTFBACH (dot com)

This episode and the next two will cover the first movement of the fifth ‘Brandenburg’ concerto, BWV1050, a concerto for solo flute, violin and harpsichord. 

The recording featured in this episode is Il Giardino Armonico (probably my favorite recording of all six Brandenburg Concerti). This is the YouTube link.

Thank you for your emails, your donations and your suggestions. Keep ‘em coming Bach (at) wtfbach (dot) com

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GUESS WHO'S BACK? BACK AGAIN? 

THE BACH STORE is in GERMANY March25-April8. Stream it here:

Twitch.tv/wtf_Bach

Let's kick off this season discussing the fugue for violin in G minor BWV1001, and its arrangement for Organ BWV539. There is also one for lute (perhaps lute harpsichord) BWV1000. 

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Links to music played in this episode:

Milstein 1957

Milstein 1975

Robert Hill arranges the Adagio

Helmut Walcha BWV539

Narisco Yepes, Lute

Reitze Smits BWV539

Email me at Bach at WTFBACH dot com

So! We've done it: Looked in depth at every fugue, every canon, solved the mysteries, busted the myths, sent the Bach heretics back to whence they came. And now? Let's just enjoy... 

Topics covered:

The golden sections in other Bach pieces and how this could help us find the golden section here, even in this fugal fragment. 

'God the Father' 'God the Spirit' 'God the Son' as three themes.

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THE LAST PAGE ! CLICK HERE to see the 'corrupt' staves on which it would have been impossible to complete such a dense fugue. **Note the staff three from the bottom**

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Koopman playing the B-flat minor, book two

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This is the final fugue of The Art of Fugue, the famous 'unfinished' fugue, number 14. We discuss how one could have understood this fugue to have been unfinished in earlier periods in musical history (it was finished) and what exactly is missing. 

THE LAST PAGE ! CLICK HERE to see the 'corrupt' staves on which it would have been impossible to complete such a dense fugue. **Note the staff three from the bottom**

Topics covered:

B+A+C+H = 14

B-A-C-H as a melody and fugue subject.

Where the missing, 4th theme, comes in this quadruple fugue. 

The final combination of all four themes and its 'note for note' inversion as mentioned in Bach's obituary of 1754.

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Guest Interview: Christoph Wolff, Former Head of the Bach Archive in Leipzig. 

I had the privilege of speaking to Christoph Wolff, certainly the most distinguished Bach scholar of the 20th century, even until today. From Jimi Hendrix to Rudolph Serkin, from the music Bach's composed which is lost, to the famous "Seal of 1722", this interview has it all folks. Take a listen!

Browse Mr. Wolff's Books Here:

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People / Topics Covered:

Albert Schweitzer (His Bach biography, Volume 1)

"Bach's Seal"

Bach's Handexemplar of the Goldberg Variations

Caldara's Magnificat 

Other composers Bach performed: Palestrina, Frescobaldi, Froberger, Buxtehude, Handel, Porpura, Pergolesi

Neue Bach Ausgabe

Saint Mark Passion

Bach's Obituary

The Zimmermann Coffee House

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This is the eighth bonus episode.

Was Bach dictating this? Blind? On his deathbed? 

Printed as the original conclusion to The Art of Fugue, "Wenn wir im höchsten Nöten sein" was not meant to be part of the work, but was meant to be compensation for the missing fugue. Even with this piece, there are myths surrounding it. Let's debunk.

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-evan

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Rather than moving on to the final fugue, we have a brief visit to the final canon of the four canons in "The Art of Fugue."

Canon per Augmentationem in Contrario Motu (Canon in augmentation and contrary motion [inversion]). 

This form of this canon is very similar in construction to the previous ones, though rather than increasing the interval of imitation, the following voice appears in inversion and moving twice as slowly! A very complicated procedure.

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Evan is every day on his instagram stories uploading the great works of J.S.B: Watch 

Check out Bach's 'gift canon' here: 

Find a playlist of the music here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

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This is the seventh bonus episode.

Among the errors in the assembly of the first printing of The Art of Fugue was the inclusion of an arrangement of fugue number 13 for two harpsichords. We look at the music, how it differs from the original 13th counterpoint (for one harpsichord) and how such an error could have been committed. It appears under the title, 'Alio Modo' ...another way. It contains a fourth, newly composed, non-imitative voice. And yes, since fugue 13 is a mirror fugue, Bach made two arrangements with two newly composed voices. 

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-evan

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Question: If a piece of music is perfect both on its head and also its feet, which one is the inversion?

In the previous fugue, fugue twelve, we saw Bach took four voices, a turned everything upside down: 1234 became 4321 and what went up came crashing down. Now, fugue 13 is again a 'mirror' fugue... or is it?

This thirteenth fugue is in three voices and uses a technique almost identical to it's sister fugue, number 12, but is still more complicated. 

Topics Covered: Which comes first in number 13, the rectus or the inversus? 

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DUE TO PROBLEMS WITH INSTAGRAM (they think Bach's music is 'Branded Content' - yikes. Public domain y'all) I AM MOVING STREAMS TO TWITCH.TV/WTF_BACH PLEASE FOLLOW ME THERE

Find a selected playlist of the music found and discussed in this podcast here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

... have you seen: http://bachchurch.com ???

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This is an interview with mandolinist/composer/singer Chris Thile. Our conversation on May 14, 2021 spanned many diverse topics from how he felt about growing up in a religious community, to his favorite barrel aged spirits. 

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Musicians/Bands mentioned (Alphabetically):

Bach, Beethoven, Bela Fleck, Bill Monroe, Edgar Meyer, Glenn Gould, Mike Marshall, Mozart, Nickle Creek, Radiohead, Richard Green, Russel Sherman, Vivaldi, Yo-Yo Ma

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Music/Books/Booze mentioned:

Russel Sherman, 'Piano Pieces' 

Saint Anne's Reel: https://thesession.org/tunes/103

What does a mandolin look like?

Tolkien, 'The Lord of the Rings'

Smith & Cross rum

Plymouth Gin

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Check out Chris' new album here: http://smarturl.it/laysongs

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Question: If a piece of music is perfect both on its head and also its feet, which one is the inversion?

A few important things I neglected to mention in the 11th counterpoint, but where to go after that 11th fugue anyhow? Into the mirror…

Look into *CLICK* the mirror! 

Bach, not satisfied with creating a triple fugue whose subjects were the same three subjects of the previous triple fugue- inverted- now pens a four-voice fugue where the entire texture will be inverted to create a new composition altogether. It's like writing two fugues at once. This can be done with any piece of music, but only Bach could make such a complicated composition sound like beautiful and convincing music both right-side-up and upside-down.  

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Follow Evan on Instagram for even more Bachian content: www.instagram.com/WTFBach

Find a selected playlist of the music found and discussed in this podcast here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

... have you seen: http://bachchurch.com ???

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Rather than moving on to the twelfth fugue, we have a brief visit to the third of four canons from "The Art of Fugue" by J.S. Bach:

Canon alla Duodecima in Contrapunto alla Quina (Canon at the twelfth in counterpoint at the fifth). 

This canon is very similar in construction to the previous canon, though at the larger interval of the 12th. 

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Evan is now mid-49 days of toccatas every day on his instagram stories: Watch 

Check out Bach's 'gift canon' here: 

Find a playlist of the music here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

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I don't know if you are already hip to it, or if you're just catching on, but it seems like releasing music as 'NFTs' could be in our futures. I wanted to have the first NFT version of The Art of Fugue. Check the auction out here:

https://mintable.app/music/item/JS-Bach-The-Art-of-Fugue--Electronic--The-First-Ever-Bachs-Music-as-NFT--Presented-by-WTF-Bach/f9CWCc0ho7bbad8

The closing of our chapter on compound fugues, contrapunctus eleven, a powerful, complicated, and long fugue. Two expositions of the first theme? One in inversion? And wait, this is a triple fugue where all themes come in inversion and… also not in inversion? Holy B***! 

Topics covered:

The original order of the fugues found in P 200 (the autograph score).

The 11th fugue as a possible early finale to The Art of Fugue. 

Glenn Gould’s version of this fugue. 

Could there be an ‘anti-golden section’ in this one?

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Follow Evan on Instagram for even more Bachian content: www.instagram.com/WTFBach

Find a selected playlist of the music found and discussed in this podcast here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

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Two fugues in original print are essentially the same: these are both this 10th contrapunctus. This fugue is a double fugue with counterpoint at the tenth (alla decima) 

Topics covered: What does it mean when music is in a 'key' what keys did Bach often write in, and does it mean anything special that The Art of Fugue is in the key of d minor? 

Follow Evan on Instagram for even more Bachian content: www.instagram.com/WTFBach

Find a playlist of the music here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

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Back to four voices! Bach begins yet again another fugue with a unique theme. The fugue will become a double fugue with our well known ‘Art of Fugue’ theme. The counterpoint then begins to appear in two ways: either on the same note or at different notes which are related to the perfect 5th, or 12th, as the title of this fugue (Alla Duodecima) suggests. Not only is this double counterpoint, but double counterpoint at ...double the intervalic possibilities...?

Bach Vision Test (Vulfpeck): https://youtu.be/vJfiOuDdetg

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Find a playlist of the music here.

The Art of Fugue arranged for Instagram: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGUnOx6hfBE

Follow Evan on Instagram for even more content about Bach: www.instagram.com/WTFBach

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This is an interview with Jack Stratton of Vulfpeck. I loved our conversation during the summer of 2020. See some of the topics covered below and stay tuned for the next episode which will feature his arrangement of the ninth contrapunctus from The Art of Fugue. It was great to speak to a non-classical musician so eager about classical music and so involved with Bach. 

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Sleepify (Silent album by Vulfpeck)

Vulfpeck Arranges the ninth contrapunctus from The Art of Fugue:

Version 1: https://youtu.be/YcxQdRIY11o

Version 2: https://youtu.be/vJfiOuDdetg

Fugue State (song by Vulfpeck)

Musicians/Bands mentioned (Alphabetically):

Bach, The Beatles, Beethoven, Naftule Brandwein, Cream, ELO, Glenn Gould, Michael Jackson, John Lennon, Liszt, Louis Marchand, Reinhold Mack, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Nirvana, Oscar Peterson, Queen,  Bernard Purdy, Albert Schweitzer, Nate Smith, Steely Dan, Dave Tarras, Michael Winograd,

Jack’s non-musical influences (Alphabetically):

Caldwell Esselstyn, Larry David, Dean Ornish

Other things mentioned (Chronologically):

A Musical Offering, Silberman Pianofortes, Encore Records (Ann Arbor), The Blind Pig (Ann Arbor), Alan Watts, S.J. Perleman The Ill Mannered Clavichord, The Well Tempered Clavier, 

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Back to it! Opening a new chapter in The Art of Fugue, this new chapter is one based on compound fugues, that is, our beloved ‘Art of Fugue Subject’ will now began to be combined with other new and unique themes. 

Instead of going from a ‘simple’ to a double fugue, Bach drops a voice (all previous fugues were in 4 voices) and composes immediately a triple fugue for three voices. Like perfectly symmetrical juggling, this fugue is filled with beauty and amazing structural points. 

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Find a playlist of the music here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

The Art of Fugue arranged for Instagram: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGUnOx6hfBE

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This is the fifth bonus episode.

Well folks, I had a hard time getting this out there. As I sat down to debunk "Evening in the Palace of Reason" by James Gaines, I found myself overcome with the sense of being a bully:

This book, published by none other than Harper Collins (and probably more read than any book by a notable Bach scholar), initially had me enraged with its conclusions about the character of Bach and the reasons for composing such a noble work as 'A Musical Offering' BWV 1079. 

As I sat down to dismiss it however, I found that each sentence about Bach or the music was full of holes, so shrouded in pseudo-intellect, that I found myself overwhelmed with the task of cleaning up a mess far larger than the one about which I was enthusiastic.

Still, while feeling a bit like I was 'taking shots at a toothless tiger', I offer you "The Truth About 'A Musical Offering' " and hopefully the clearest guide for all interested parties on how to identify phony Bach scholarship, pseudo wisdom, and modern narrative.  

--

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-evan

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This is the fourth bonus episode.

Two episodes ago, I began with a quote from Aldous Huxley. That quote came from an article written in 1985. The article focused on Bach's relationship to words and various writer's relationships with Bach. The whole article is fascinating and, well, I read it to you. 

A piece of what I consider 'good scholarship', it takes stabs at what Bach playing would be like today, in 2020, but sets the standard for the next episode, in which we will be de-bunking poor Bach scholarship.

Here is the link to the article:

https://www.nytimes.com/1985/03/24/books/bach-at-300-words-notes-and-numbers.html

And here is the link to the obituary of the James A. Winn, who wrote it (d.2019)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2019/03/27/james-winn-writer-english-professor-and-flautist/ZFGI9AJa9pvRcU13TyuOmJ/story.html

Follow me on instagram: Each day I am posting the cello complete suites on a portable clavichord: @wtfbach

As always, thanks for listening,

-evan

This is the third bonus episode.

You know how at the end of every episode, Gaby says, "Want to have evan analyze a specific piece of Bach... just for you?"

Boom: Listener's choice volume one.

Three pieces you requested were:

Prelude and Fugue in E minor, BWV855 (Book one)

Prelude and Fugue in C-sharp minor, BWV849 (Book one)

Capriccio on the Departure of the Beloved Brother, BWV992

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Forgive my delay in getting this to all of you: I have a noble undertaking regarding a popular Bach book which is doing nothing but leading you further from the truth about the master! But have no fear, in a few weeks I will unleash an attack and clear up this confusion: meanwhile please enjoy my brief analysis of these three pieces which, in their own right, could take up many episodes each.

Also: Lament Aria: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lament_bass

Follow me on IG! Right now I am instagramming inner movements of the cello suites on a portable clavichord: @wtfbach

As always, thanks for listening,

-evan

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:

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 HEAR

Find a playlist of the music here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

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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.

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Find a playlist of the music here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

The Art of Fugue arranged for Instagram: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGUnOx6hfBE

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Guest Interview: Robert Hill, Harpsichordist

I 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/Lautenwerck

Gustav 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_Buch

Andreas Staier Harpsichordist with whom Hill recorded BWV1080

David 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): 

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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

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Find a playlist of this episode’s music here:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1xyzZShf0RrAx75nvF1zUb?si=xRgHdqtNRtmogsUfvhlf7Q

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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

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Find a playlist of the music here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

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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_World

The Art of Fugue arranged for Instagram: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGUnOx6hfBE

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Find a playlist of the music here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

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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.htm

Hear the music mentioned (in the order we mention it) here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5iP9EMbyCBoB6hEyK5waK4?si=ukZQ0wy2T62vjGImM_Okfw

Read the literature from our discussion here:

Book of Jeremiah: (New American Bible translation) http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0839/__PPE.HTM

The Upanishads: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upanishads

Doctor 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_Poet

George Bernard Shaw music criticism: https://www.abebooks.com/Shaws-Music-Complete-Musical-Criticism-Bernard/30253564275/bd

Brad'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. 

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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=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

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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

The final piece in the first 'quartet' of fugues from "The Art of Fugue" by J.S. Bach: Contrapunctus 4. With this episode we have covered all of the 'simple fugues' in this sprawling work. 

Topics covered: A blind organist from Leipzig... Helmut who? The official Latin terms for the first two entering voices. A fugue made entirely of a subject and a two-note motif? What on earth is a golden section and how does one go about finding one? 

Find a playlist of the music here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

Follow Evan on Instagram for even more content about Bach: www.instagram.com/WTFBach

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Suggestions? Want Evan to analyze a specific piece of Bach? Have other questions for Evan about music or anything at all?

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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=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

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:

[email protected]

This is the first bonus episode.

In it, you will hear the first contrapunctus from “The Art of Fugue” (which, by now, you can tell your friends is called, ‘Die Kunst der Fuge’ in German) in eleven different ways.

Eleven is an important number in ‘Die Kunst der Fuge', and this first counterpoint- or fugue- or contrapunctus has eleven entrances.

If you hear the entirety of this bonus episode, you will have mastered the first counterpoint and could recognize it even if you heard an ice-cream truck playing it passing you at 70 MPH. That would be the day.

Also, if you haven't followed:

wtfbach on instragram

We discuss the first fugue from "The Art of Fugue" by J.S. Bach. We hear it played first on a harpsichord, then on a piano with 'voice-over analysis' then by a computer with the voices panned hard left/right.

Topics covered: How does a harpsichord work?, Must one bring out, or even hear every entrance of the subject?, What about authenticity vs. modern approaches to Bach?, Was Evan really called Slim-E? 

Find a playlist of the music here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

And the 16 year-old Evan Shinners' fugue is found here: https://soundcloud.com/emigrationposse/14-fuga

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:

[email protected]

The introduction to baroque composer J.S. Bach. Also, what is a fugue? What is counterpoint? We answer these questions and prepare ourselves for a journey into Bach's great work, 'The Art of Fugue.'

-- 

Find a playlist of the music in this podcast here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

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:

[email protected]