ALBUMS ON PRESALE TODAY! BUY THE ALBUMS HERE! Volume One: Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/pl/album/j-s-bach-complete-keyboard-works-vol-1-five-early-suites/1742017750 Amazon Music: https://amazon.com/music/player/albums/B0D2384W2F?marketplaceId=ATVPDKIKX0DER&musicTerritory=US&ref=dm_sh_RKDX0CTSrSQOjYLoHcLjwnaal Volume Two: Apple Music: https:/…

Thanks for all your support during The Bach Store! If you’re in NYC on Friday, come to Le Poisson Rouge at 158 Bleecker Street at 7pm. Be sure to mark your calendars: April 24th, 2024, my new albums will be on PRE-sale. It marks the beginning of my most ambitious project to date: a very thorough, if possible, ‘complete’ set of the keyboard works of…

You read correctly: The Bach Store is back. In Erfurt, Thuringia, the state from where the Bachs hail. I will play for five hours, March 14-28, 12.00-18.00 GMT +1 (7AM-1PM EST.) You can (hopefully) stream the whole run on my youtube. Subscribe HERE. Or go to: www.youtube.com/@wtfbach Here is the latest video I mentioned in the podcast. Bach Store M…

This week I’ll be performing some flute chamber music in Santa Barbara, California. I realize I’ve never specifically mentioned Bach’s wonderful flute repertoire on this podcast. We tackle here what I find is the most complex composition in the repertoire: the first movement of the b minor sonata, BWV 1030. Pieces heard: BWV 1030.1 Source P. 1008, …

This is the final episode introducing Bach’s cantata cycle of 1724. In the first four cantatas of the cycle, we heard how Bach used Lutheran hymnal melodies as cantus firmi in different voice parts in each opening movement (sopranos, followed by altos, followed by tenors, followed by basses.) Here, the next two cantatas see less predictable treatme…

Last episode we introduced Bach’s second cantata cycle from 1724. We saw in the first cantatas of the cycle, Bach used a church melody as the cantus firmus first in the sopranos, then the altos. This episode we will explore the next two cantatas where Bach sets the cantus firmus in the tenors in BWV 7, and the basses in BWV 135. About the melody yo…

Peter Schickele was one of my idols. He died on Tuesday, January 16. His creation, P.D.Q. Bach, helped bring much needed self-effacing humor to the world of classical music. Links below to help you get into his (and Victor Borge’s— another giant of classical music parody—) life and work: Peter Schickele’s Obituary, NY Times Beethoven’s 5th announce…

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 (Cl…

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 i…

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 br…

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 th…

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. Piec…

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 h…

-- I AM STARTING A SUBSTACK SOON SO JOIN THE FUN: WTFBACH.SUBSTACK.COM -- 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 -- H…

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…

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 spo…

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 (alm…

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 e…

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,) Ba…

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. …

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, y…

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 ea…

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 k…

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 measu…

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 …

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 liste…

SPOILER ALERT! I split this episode into TWO! The NEXT episode will cover cantata BWV147 exclusively. -- To begin your week! Three pieces you requested were: Toccata in g minor BWV915 Allabreve in D major BWV589 Cantata BWV147 (NEXT EPISODE!) -- Please enjoy my brief analysis of these pieces which, in their own right, could take up many episodes ea…

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. Enj…

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 EPIS…

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.…

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 ar…

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://yo…

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 dispr…

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 donati…

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. Donate to this podcast: https://www.patreon.com/wtfbach http…

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…

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 compl…

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 …

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. -- Follow me on…

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 i…

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 th…

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 voic…

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. -- Musicians/Bands mentioned (Alphabetically): Bach, Beethoven, Bela Fleck, Bill Monroe, Edgar Meyer, Glenn Gould, Mike Marsh…

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 th…

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. -- Evan i…

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-W…

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 …

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? Follo…

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) sugg…

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…