J. S. Bach

[javadog]

As much as I admire what he wrote, and marvel at how anybody could write things so complex and melodic, so long ago… Oftentimes I find that I’m even more amazed by the people that can play it. Here are two examples, on very different instruments, I just cannot wrap my head around how a human can reach the point where they can play this so effortlessly:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLjprbeWMxQ

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PEHGxpRoZQM

If you ever get the chance to hear a large pipe organ played by someone of this caliber, do not miss it for anything.

[Superman]

I can play that stuff easily.

Kidding. Like you, I have a hard time comprehending certain musicians' skills. And on the other hand, I also know much of it is practice. Thousands of hours. Many hours each day.

And then there is the part that cannot be taught. The part some musicians have and others don't.

[Superman]

Ha! The first woman with whom I had, ahem, relations was a 26 year-old touring pipe organ player. That instrument, played well, is an out-of-body experience for anyone who is actually in the room. It can reach to the center of your body and soul, spiritually and physically. The pipes can be several feet in diameter.

[Crowbob]

She sounds like quite the organ player.

[javadog]

Yeah, Pipe organs are amazing and most people will never get to hear one live. My first experience with one was unloading all of the pieces to build one, it took a large group of people nearly forever to do. It took many semi trucks just to carry all the pipes. I cannot imagine actually building one, let alone playing it.

It’s kind of like watching your first top fuel dragster make a pass. It is something your body has never experienced before and will never forget.

This is another impressive piece that should never be missed, if the opportunity arises. It is not by Bach, but by Wagner. Ride of the Valkyries.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1bP-fFxAMOI

Compare that performance with orchestral performance of the same piece that you might be familiar with.

[javadog]

Bach influenced countless musicians, including most of the big names in rock ‘n’ roll. Take a listen about five minutes into that first organ piece and see if you can recognize where modern organists like Jon Lord got some of his ideas.

[Rick Lee]

I've sat in the Thomaskirche in Leipzig where Bach was the church organist while the current organist was practicing, actually several times. Never gets old.

[Gogar]

The piece in your second video is not technically too hard to play; I played it in college.
the mechanics of the organ are much more impressive. But to hear it done really well on the equipment it was designed for is fantastic.

[javadog]

My idea of technically difficult and yours are not even in the same hemisphere. Of course, you play keyboards for a living and I don’t play them at all.

I recognize the patterns he is playing with his hand, what gets me is the sheer number of notes and when he gets really busy with his hands while also giving his feet a good work out. I could not do that, if you gave me the rest of my life to practice.

I’m also short on memory power, I couldn’t begin to remember all of the notes in one piece, let alone 50 or 100 of them by artists like Bach or Beethoven.

I was a drummer once, years ago, and even that simple instrument taxed my capabilities. My hat is off to you guys that can play keyboards, or guitar, or the hard stuff.

I think the most complicated pipe organ in the world has in excess of 33,000 pipes. Mind blowing.

[Gogar]

I think it's really cool that he has helpers to change the sounds for him while he's taking care of the hands!

[MAS956]

We need a Gogar Tiny Desk series!

[otto_kretschmer]

I've always liked watching these animations

[zakthor]

Awesome, a bach thread. We can sit around and agree.

For me its the solo violin. Hes a polyphonic composer working with four strings. Theres some pieces he wrote for violin that have three notes at once. Turns out in those cases a note is virtual ‘play as if that note is there’..

https://youtu.be/UaMoPi9BOoQ

Not many people can play the music of that piece.

[Superman]

Originally Posted by Crowbob

She sounds like quite the organ player.

Originally Posted by Gogar

.... to hear it done really well on the equipment it was designed for is fantastic.

Oh stop it you guys.

Originally Posted by javadog

It’s kind of like watching your first top fuel dragster make a pass. It is something your body has never experienced before and will never forget..

Exactly. You can watch it on TV a thousand times, and still be unprepared for the real thing.

[red 928]

not the same guy?

[varmint]

The whole baroque period was astonishing. The least of them would be a giant today assuming we still have the capacity to appreciate such talent.

[flatbutt]

The amount of time spent practicing is astonishing. I used to study cello and I spent HOURS practicing just a few measures of Bachs cello suites. You play small bits over and over until you build a muscle memory. Of course the pipe organ also requires you to use your feet on pedals that you can't even see!

[David]

We stopped by the St Louis Cathedral in New Orleans this summer and one of the guides took us upstairs to look at the organ (my wife's very charming and cute so we tend to get special treatment where ever we go ).

We didn't get a chance to hear it play but what an impressive instrument! He said they have students from all over the world come train on it.

[David]

Oops, clicked reply before I uploaded the pics:

[javadog]

Here’s one in New Jersey that’s pretty complicated. There are not enough years left in my life for me to even understand the function of all of the keys and stops, let alone play it.

https://www.amusingplanet.com/2015/12/the-worlds-largest-pipe-organ-at.html?m=1