HOW TO PLAY BACH'S MUSIC

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     If you browse the net, you'll find a huge quantity of information about the Composer: here you'll find only what's really worth, the reason why the net is plenty of words about him. Moreover, I have discovered that some of his most important classical pieces do not exist in MIDI format. Therefore, I am trying to fill this gap. Why MIDI? Because there is no difference between playing a piano, a violin or a MIDI sequence.

     I have personally sequenced these pieces and I can assure that 25 years of experience on Bach's music are here very well summarised: am I extravagant? Just to make an example, please listen to the most famous musicians that allegedly play any composer's music: well, may be only the great violinist David Oistrakh was in a safe place, while playing Bach; it is true: the best pianists, violinists and players in general have miserably fallen down from the Heaven when they approached the Composer. Instead, unknown players have often played him very well...

     The reason? Probably to play Bach well, you need the naturalness and immaculacy of a kid; his music is like a child: a human being that physically is an incredibly complicate machine, but his soul, deep inside, is clear, transparent, perfect. As God: someone said children are so lovely, right and fresh because before being born, they lived besides God. Therefore I can only imagine Bach actually playing in a hall reserved to him in God's warm home. Can you imagine a well-paid player, a musician considered one of the best in the world, having the right attitude to play his music?

     What discerns a good performance of Bach? Nobody can demonstrate it: to do that, we'd have to go back in the time, invite the Great Master to come and illuminate us with his genius, and hope he will accept a travel in the time! However, we'd run the risk that, as he discovers the use of computers and he realises what a MIDI file can do, he sits down composing at the PC and none can ever take his mind off things! Indeed, MIDIs are an "easy" way to play Bach, as his music doesn't need a lot of change of volume, tempo and instruments to be performed as it has been composed, and consequently to sound like a great performance... It only needs to know some basic rules of music, sequencing skills, a little bit of patience, a good sound card, and of course (and this is the "difficult" aspect) a lot of knowledge on how to play Bach.

     As a result of that, it could be easy to remember that in his instrumental music there is space for unbelievable rhythmical games: changes and big contrasts from legato to staccato, right use of embellishments, slow movements sweet and graceful, fast movements made up of rhythm. But this is only technique: what at the end is really worth, it is having Bach inside; living with his music in your brain and your heart; realising that Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann and so on, are everlasting shining stars, while Bach is a galaxy or, more properly, the entire Universe; that you'll never ever get tired with his music, even if you listen to it 100, 10,000, a million times.

     Strictly talking again about technical skills, Bach's disciples and the (limited) group of his real fan of the time, reported that he played any instrument with an unbelievable rhythmical zest! His expressivity, more than coming from the change of sound level (piano and forte: a very hard job, even if possible, on a harpsichord...), welled up from all the technique described above, plus his innate ability of slightly slowing down the tempo for instants at certain points of the performance, without affecting the overall development of the melody.

     This is essential to any good performances of his pieces; unfortunately many greatest players often forget this simple description, in such a way that they sound to play Chopin more than Bach (no staccato, exaggerated modification of the tempo, excessive or improper use of legato, embellishments and so on).

     Hence, please enjoy these pieces, pure and clear as their father did them, and played the way he wanted to. Don't wonder why I am sure they are played the right way; it's easy: they simply are!   :-)   For your peace of mind, suppose I often dream of Bach playing an harpsichord or a violin and telling me, with that funny Eisenach accent: "Schau', wie einfach es ist!"

     Have you got doubts? Questions? Would you like to meet the author of this web site or simply to discuss any of its topics? Then, please come and visit us in TUTTOLOGY forum!