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PODCAST

The WTF Bach Podcast

Hear the music of J.S. Bach with new understanding! For music lovers, to professional musicians. Let Evan Shinners, (aka W.T.F. Bach) guide your mind through a contrapuntal journey. Go to: wtfbach.substack.com for the full experience. wtfbach.substack.com

music music commentary

All Episodes

54:35

Bach and the Golden Ratio.

The WTF Bach Podcast ·

2023/11/08

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 846Invention in C major, BWV 770Allegro from Sonata in a minor, BWV 1003Confiteor and Et Expecto from Mass in b minor, BWV

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52:53

Bach's Most Joyful Piece? (Chorale Preludes x2)

The WTF Bach Podcast ·

2023/10/25

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

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55:47

Introducing: The Chorale! Chorale Preludes, Four-Part...

The WTF Bach Podcast ·

2023/10/01

--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 timeBWV 651BWV 682Performers were: Michel Chapuis, Kay Johannsen--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

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27:22

The Crab Canon Isn’t a Möbius Strip. (BWV 1087 Canons...

The WTF Bach Podcast ·

2023/07/26

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

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44:46

Special Guest: Joshua Rifkin. One Voice Per Part

The WTF Bach Podcast ·

2023/07/11

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,

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41:22

Casals, Rostropovich... più allegro (Cello Suites!)

The WTF Bach Podcast ·

2023/06/22

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. We thank YOU for supporting

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60:31

50th Episode! A LIVE Lecture Sponsored by Tonebase

The WTF Bach Podcast ·

2023/06/08

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. Support

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20:29

The (Other) Goldberg Canons BWV 1087 (Part 2)

The WTF Bach Podcast ·

2023/05/02

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

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27:04

What is Chromaticism? (Albinoni Fugues)

The WTF Bach Podcast ·

2023/04/19

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,

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20:10

The (Other) Goldberg Canons BWV 1087 (Part 1)

The WTF Bach Podcast ·

2023/03/14

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

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31:58

An Encyclopedia and a Fugue

The WTF Bach Podcast ·

2023/02/25

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!--LINKS:The text of the Borges story I mentionedDonald

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39:27

What’s a Pythagorean Comma? (Introduction to...

The WTF Bach Podcast ·

2022/12/18

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

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43:16

The Prelude in C, BWV846: New versions, Inverted...

The WTF Bach Podcast ·

2022/11/20

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

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24:58

What is Bach’s Longest Piece? (And his Shortest?)

The WTF Bach Podcast ·

2022/11/06

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.Follow Evan on

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59:44

Cantata 147 (Listener’s Choice Part Two)

The WTF Bach Podcast ·

2022/10/23

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. --People or Music mentioned:Rudolph LutzJoshua RifkinRobert Bridges (English poet

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46:36

Listener’s Choice, Part One of Two: You asked, I talked.

The WTF Bach Podcast ·

2022/10/10

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 BWV915Allabreve in D major BWV589Cantata BWV147 (NEXT EPISODE!)--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! --Bach's Music Floating in Outer SpacePerformers featured today were, in

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27:46

What Was the Only Non-British Music at the Queen’s...

The WTF Bach Podcast ·

2022/09/20

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 562Martin Lücker's performance of BWV 562 I know I said this

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21:17

What Did Bach Have for Dinner May 3, 1716? (And Other...

The WTF Bach Podcast ·

2022/09/04

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) Thank you to each of you who donate to these

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18:06

Four Chances to Hear Bach Differently (MIDI and...

The WTF Bach Podcast ·

2022/08/07

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?' --Don't forget to donate to this

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24:18

How can computers illuminate Bach? (MIDI and Musical...

The WTF Bach Podcast ·

2022/07/24

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

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116 results

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