Channel: Netherlands Bach Society

Category: Music

Tags: musical offeringnetherlands bach societyklassieke muziekchamber musicfrederick the greatleo van doeselaarshunske satobachcanon a 2 per tonossilbermanncanonjohann sebastian bachconcertgebouw amsterdammodulatiej s bachbachverenigingdroste effectroyal thememusikalisches opferviolinfriedrich iifrederik de grotekingkanonnederlandse bachverenigingbwv 1079modulationsfortepianoall of bachclassical musicdroste

Description: The Musikalisches Opfer is a special collection of chamber music within the work of Johann Sebastian Bach, written for Frederick the Great of Prussia. Musikalisches Opfer means ‘a musical offering’, and that is precisely how the collection originated. In May 1747, Bach was introduced to Frederick, who had heard that Bach was a great improviser and asked him on the spot to improvise a fugue on a given theme. According to the sources, Bach made a brilliant job of it and showed such enthusiasm about the ‘royal theme’ that he promised to have the fugue engraved ‘on copper’ and printed. No sooner said than done. Two months later, Bach published a series of compositions: a trio sonata, a three-part and a six-part ricercar and ten canons, all inspired by the king’s theme. The canons in the Musikalisches Opfer are a sort of visual music. Bach wrote them like puzzles, which the player must first solve in order to play them correctly. In these recordings, we wanted to give a literal picture of this ‘visual music’. So for example, wherever a part is doubled, the player will be in view twice. And where a part is mirrored, then the player appears in a mirror too. All sorts of things are happening in this canon. At first sight, you may not immediately see and hear the basic theme given to Bach by Frederick the Great. Yet it is there, in the upper part, ornamented by Bach. The actual canon is in the lower part. Bach notated it in two clefs, indicating where the second part should enter. As the same part appears here twice, albeit in a different way, we have performed it with two identical players. That all seems reasonably simple up to now, but there’s something else as well. Bach adapted the original theme and the counterpart in such a way that the piece goes up a step (tone) with each repetition. In the specially printed copy of the Musikalisches Opfer that Bach presented to Frederick the Great, this piece bears the inscription: ‘Ascendenteque Modulatione Ascendat Gloria Regis’ (literally translated as ‘as the modulation rises, so may the King’s glory’). So Bach was expressing the wish that Frederick’s fame would grow with every rising tone of the music. This ascent is represented here by the Droste effect. Recorded for the project All of Bach on July 8th 2020 at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam. If you want to help us complete All of Bach, please subscribe to our channel bit.ly/2vhCeFB and consider donating bit.ly/2uZuMj5. We thank MWH4impact foundation for their generous support of this recording. MWH4impact aims to achieve social and cultural impact and joins the Netherlands Bach Society in their mission Bach for All. This version of the Musikalisches Opfer demonstrates the impact of innovation on our musical experience. It’s a work of art that matches the goals of MWH4impact. For the complete playlist of the Musikalisches Opfer BWV 1079 go to bit.ly/2Zq09pk For more information on BWV 1079 and this production go to allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-1079-8 All of Bach is a project of the Netherlands Bach Society / Nederlandse Bachvereniging, offering high-quality film recordings of the works by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed by the Netherlands Bach Society and its guest musicians. Visit our free online treasury for more videos and background material bachvereniging.nl/en/allofbach. For concert dates and further information go to bachvereniging.nl/nederlandse-bachvereniging. Shunske Sato, violin Leo van Doeselaar, fortepiano Fortepiano (instrument): Thomas and Barbara Wolf, 1997/1998 after Gottfried Silbermann, 1746