How we sing Bach | Netherlands Bach Society

Рет қаралды 52,043

Жыл бұрын

How do you sing Bach? Is there a right or best way? Five singers of the ensemble of the Netherlands Bach Society and conductor Bart van Reyn give their view on how to sing Bach in this short documentary for All of Bach, directed by Onno van Ameijde.
Recorded for the project All of Bach on 24 September 2020 at the Geertekerk, Utrecht, the Netherlands. If you want to help us complete All of Bach, please subscribe to our channel bit.ly/2vhCeFB and consider donating bit.ly/3J5uprM.
All of Bach is a project of the Netherlands Bach Society, 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 on www.bachvereniging.nl/en/allo.... For concert dates and tickets go to www.bachvereniging.nl/en/conc....
Netherlands Bach Society
Matthew Baker, bass
Donald Bentvelsen, bass
Marta Paklar, soprano
Michaela Riener, alto
Immo Schröder, tenor
Bart van Reyn, conductor

Пікірлер: 121

@AlessandroSistiMusic 3 ай бұрын

2:20 demo of three articulations: legato, intermediate (portato), staccato

@michaelinlondon Жыл бұрын

"You need a mountain bike, not a big car." Perfect. This is also another reason why opera companies should never perform "staged" adaptations of Bach (IMO). Bach is not Handel.

@mariafragkiadaki1360 Жыл бұрын

I do so agreee!!!! It is not opera; Händel (IMO) composed operas even in his sacred music! Anyway, if I ever visit the Netherlands, this society is one of the reasons that I would go! Thank you very very much!

@mwnyc3976 Жыл бұрын

Handel doesn't work with the vocal equivalent of big cars, either.

@sarahhearn-vonfoerster7401 Жыл бұрын

Very true...yet, there is much to be said for a Handel phrase, as well. So many volunteer choirs feel good just to sing the notes correctly. That is not Handel.

@espressonoob Жыл бұрын

@@sarahhearn-vonfoerster7401 not everyone can be world class, music is supposed to be fun for the community. leave professional work to professionals, let communities enjoy activities.

@luminousbulb Жыл бұрын

I'm sure Bach understood the difference between instruments and singers, I've read that he sang often himself. He just had high expectations, as any good teacher has

@Rok_Piletic Жыл бұрын

and master of organ -- where there is singing instrument

@herrickinman9303 Жыл бұрын

The general style of vocal composition changed throughout Bach's career. Vocal composition became increasingly instrumental. In his "Short But Most Necessary Draft for a Well-Appointed Church Music" to the Leipzig town council in 1730, Bach observed that ".. the state of music is quite different from what is was, since our artistry has increased very much, and the taste has changed astonishingly, and accordingly the former style of music no longer seems to please our ears ..."

@benjaminniemczyk Жыл бұрын

Superb. Every Bach choir, around the world, should watch this and learn from the masters! Bravi to all.

@fokkebaarda Жыл бұрын

Amazing episode, showing what we sort of know - limited vibrato, clear phrasing etc. - but in a way that is so demonstrative and clear. Really helpful and a little thought provoking. I like how everybody stresses that singing Bach is difficult because he didn't care much about trying to write vocally. And how one of the singers thanks Bach for making singing other composers' music even easier after mastering his music.

@grahaml6668 Жыл бұрын

As a "non-singer" who has wondered about things like this for a long time: Thank you so much!

@SEVENTHSON89 Жыл бұрын

Thank you for reminding me how beautiful are people who perform such a music!

@milkenjoyer14 Жыл бұрын

Bach's contemporary J.A. Scheibe famously criticized Bach's style of composition for forcing singers to sing keyboard-like phrases and he actually had a point. Very hard to make it work, but when it works, it is absolutely incredible.

@Rok_Piletic Жыл бұрын

organ like

@herrickinman9303 Жыл бұрын

That's not what was Scheibe was referring to.

@GGibert Жыл бұрын

Thank you..I am a beginner in a Choir with Saint John passion. And I told my teacher (also the conductor) that I can't breathe...I now know that it is because of Bach himself!

@Rehearsal3434 Жыл бұрын

Thank you, singers! NBS stands out from all other Bach interpretations , in a large part because of the vocals. 🥰

@legentilmuyombo4533 Жыл бұрын

The song at 3:29 that was angelic. I wanna listen to the whole song. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/nt-Gf8t22K7DoWw.html

@duncansh81 6 ай бұрын

I am not a singer and I don't play any instruments but I love Bach. This has been a real educational video for me. I never knew the variations and the technicality of baroque chorale music. Thank you, NBS!

@graziacavasino8884 Жыл бұрын

How splendid these singers and conductor are!

@willemfeather2655 4 ай бұрын

I simply adore these people - and Bach!

@Fotinialive Жыл бұрын

🎼🎶 👋 Здравствуйте 🙂 Как это чудесно, увидеть репетиционные моменты, это очень правильно. Зрители должны понимать насколько непросто сделать номер, подготовить концерт.Ваш благородный труд приносит радость людям.Спасибо вам большое 💐

@alexgomez2 3 ай бұрын

Magnificent video! I love the example of the choir with and without vibrato. Amazing results.

@jewelrymaker141 Жыл бұрын

Makes us appreciate the singers all the more! 🥰

@jamf-r8719 Жыл бұрын

This was wonderful and so illuminating! I hope one day to hear NBS in person. For now, I am grateful for your videos.

@curtvaughan2836 7 ай бұрын

The lack of breathing opportunity is true not only for singers, but for wind players. As both a singer and a flute player, I can attest to this.

@musicavivaserbia Жыл бұрын

Thank you for this beautiful video!

@laser170323 Жыл бұрын

Wonderful! Important information I never heard explicitly stated before. It applies to instrumentalists as well.

@gfhit7520 Жыл бұрын

writing for the voice like an instrument is a criticism/attribute that you hear often also referred to Vivaldi -coincidentally (or maybe not) greatly admired by Bach, whereas Handel for example was a master at that. (that's not just for the voice by the way, Bach is very difficult to play with the flute for the same reason)

@faciality Жыл бұрын

nonstop top tier quality for years and years now thank you so much nbs

@jdaveyw Жыл бұрын

Much love and adoration for the NBS!

@JohnnyNorfolk Жыл бұрын

Thak you for posting this, so interesting and to see the people.

@7thdaybeliever Жыл бұрын

Very informative and illuminating to me as Herr Bach was certainly an instrumentalist so the vocals are quite challenging in getting the expression just right. This choir is certainly one of the best interpreting Bach!

@johnwidmann1674 Жыл бұрын

Of course, I am addicted to NBS videos. This video helped explain why, and how much work goes into the excellence that pervades every video produced by NBS. Thank you, all.

@gooseface2690 Жыл бұрын

Fascinating and brilliant!

@lenaN5k8Q9 Жыл бұрын

An absolutely wonderful video🍃thank's

@farahmohammed1963 Жыл бұрын

What a fabulous video shedding light on singing the music of this great Master!! Thank you!!💕🌷🌺

@swingingdaniel 8 ай бұрын

Excellent! Thank you for all these wonderfully helpful insight.

@G_Kanakarakis Жыл бұрын

Thank you for this!!!!

@zacharykeenan7723 Жыл бұрын

Thanks to a fantastic music theory teacher in my freshman year of high school (way back in 1991), having the class listen to and vigorously analyze Bach's music, Bach has been my musical mainstay for the last 33 years. Thanks Mr. Diggs! NBS really does a service to further enlighten lovers of Bach by taking us "behind the scenes" with these videos. It would be enough to simply enjoy their performances. To add this element where we get commentary from the conductor and various performers is such a treat. Hoping for more videos like this.🎶

@AngeloMartinsC Жыл бұрын

Amazing stuff! Thank you very much for your work and existence, I am always learning and enjoying your videos but this was excellent. Hugs from Brazil

@ron88303 2 ай бұрын

That was just incredible!

@xadmi Жыл бұрын

Excellent information!

@aimilios439 Жыл бұрын

Great, informative content!

@lukcervino8844 Жыл бұрын

Great explanations! Thanks for this detailed information, as a musician I appreciate it a lot.

@musicfanBRA Жыл бұрын

Very interesting, makes me appreciate even more these excellent singers, who hardly have time to breath doing those long lines.

@paoloquircio4967 Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for this beautiful explaination. The work you NBS are doing is really precious for average people like me, who love music, but don't know the technicalities. Thank you once again

@lindorsibande 8 ай бұрын

Thoroughly loved this video!!! Yoh!

@SYLVESTRIVS Жыл бұрын

Kind regards from Brazil. I loved their accents of English, thank you dutchiess ♡

3 ай бұрын

Very interesting recording and always a superb experience when singing Bach ! Thanks !

@Andrea_14_ 8 ай бұрын

Wonderful, wonderful wonderful!

@corner559 Жыл бұрын

Amazing and informative video!

@notaire2 Жыл бұрын

Viewing this video I understand the common language of Netherlands Bach Society is English, neither Dutch nor German. Anyway, they are all excellent and devoted singers. The conductor is also excellent and fervent. Thanks for the nice upload!

@mwnyc3976 Жыл бұрын

If the Netherlands Bach Society is going to draw from the best singers and instrumentalists in this music from throughout Europe (and, sometimes, other continents), English is most likely to be the language everyone has in common. (Also, the Dutch get years and years of English in school.) The singers in Vox Luminis told me that they rehearse in English as well.

@gustavocortesmunizaga814 Жыл бұрын

Wonderful !

@brunosipavicius7867 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing this information

@69EBubu Жыл бұрын

Very pedagogical. The Bach motets are indeed for the choral singers the equivalent of 8000's for mountaineers. Thanks NBS for all the wonderful videos you offer us !

@mohammedfrancis Жыл бұрын

Beyond very interesting. Thanks for the share.

@dr.utekarasch-stingl8443 Жыл бұрын

Make the music shine. That is it. Thank you

@timothymalone7067 8 ай бұрын

Thank you!

@mirriwinni Жыл бұрын

@5:07 excellent explanation about controlling vibrato.

@mike_kantaria Жыл бұрын

Thank you very much for your education!

@aanhetlicht Жыл бұрын

Very entertaining, thanks!

@cstiska Жыл бұрын

Precioso!

@dawnmurphy5652 3 ай бұрын

I'm happy to be singing Bach this summer. Really great tip about controlling vibrato! Thanks so much

@ArtisticDirector-kl3xh Жыл бұрын

What an excellent and precise explanation of the phrasing and articulation goals of singing (and playing) Bach. I’ve shared your link with my choir, just preparing for perform the Johannes-Passion with period instruments, the first such performance in the state of Colorado. Hartelijk bedank en de beste wensen aan de NBS.

@bach Жыл бұрын

thank you & good luck with your performance of the St. John Passion

@javierperez6774 Жыл бұрын

Excelente!!

@garydmcgath Жыл бұрын

This is fascinating. I don't think I've ever sung Bach chorally, other than simple chorales. It gives me a new appreciation of what it takes to sing his work.

@PhillippeDeMonte Жыл бұрын

...and even "simple" chorale harmonisations by Bach will surprise you with unexpected chords and rythmic shifts in the various voices🙂

@cwhux Жыл бұрын

bravi - fantastic

@HigayonMinistry Жыл бұрын

Amazing! Our choir also practice and perform Bach Choral Music... it is very difficult... But we think Bach Music is incredible, it is music of all music... Incomparable music.. We love it so much, and we wil commit to practice and perfome it, event though not easy

@messier87614 Жыл бұрын

I'd love to see this channel's take on BWV 38

@wutziliu Жыл бұрын

Me too :)

@isaiahbaggett5014 8 ай бұрын

Bach is exceptionally challenging to vocalists because of the instrumental nature of the lines. I remember singing my first motet in my early 20s. I opened the choral score and immediately went to the conductor confused. I thought it was for organ..."know it's for you" - I just had a shocked look on my face; 16th notes going on and on for measures...0_o!

@kencory2476 3 ай бұрын

Miles Davis taught us a lot about how to control vibrato too.

@johanngottliebgoldberg1055 Жыл бұрын

Very nice video! Will this rendition of the motet be released on All of Bach? I would love to hear a version with such a small amount of singers!

@bach Жыл бұрын

No, we only recorded during a rehearsal of the ensemble. There has been an earlier All of Bach-recording of this motet, BWV 230: www.bachvereniging.nl/en/bwv/bwv-230

@JSB2500 Жыл бұрын

Wonderful conductor IMO (Bart van Reyn).

@Th3GreenBeret Жыл бұрын

Does the Bach Netherland society organize some masterclasses? I would be interested in a conducting course

@bach Жыл бұрын

We do not offer master classes at the moment. When we do offer this, we will announce it on our website and social media channels.

@TheAntibozo Жыл бұрын

♥

@FrancescoDiMauro Жыл бұрын

Astounding amount of dedication to convey this amazing music, thank you very much! You should get way more recognition, but alas... Quick question, what is that gorgeous music at 1:50?

@bach Жыл бұрын

That's from the slow movement Denn seine Gnade in BWV 230, motet Lobet den Herrn

@JohnHyden-mg4mq 4 ай бұрын

Bach often writes instrumentally for vocalists, and at times, vocally for instrumentalists...

@TheStrade Жыл бұрын

Well done, Bart! Still ike the instrumental version best, but it's me, I guess, the violinist. Schitterend! Groeten!

@leapeters6546 Жыл бұрын

wundervoll demonstriert wie und wo der Unterschied bei Bach ist

@AndresFelipePalacios Жыл бұрын

❤️

@shayna110 6 ай бұрын

It seems as if Bach demanded vocalists to be musically agile like musicians which breathing is not really a concern/consideration. Genius.

@krisjustin3884 7 ай бұрын

Enjoy NBS and the Croatian Baroque Ensemble (CBE).

@davidalbro2009 Жыл бұрын

5:48 I'm all for straight tone singing, but I don't think the harmonies sound blurred at all. It just sounds richer to me.

@die_schlechtere_Milch Жыл бұрын

What they say about colaratura is helpful for any interpreters of Bach, not just singers. Maybe also especially for keyboard instrumentalists who have to get clear understanding about how all these voices should be played, so that the relations between the voices become audible for someone who has not studied the score but who only listens to the music. I think that there is always some kind of danger in understanding anything well, especially after studying it, which lies in assuming that others, who might not have studied the subject or given the subject any kind of thought, will also understand what oneself has come to understand only through careful study. This is true for theoretical subjects like mathematics or philosophy, but even more so for music, which should primarily not be understood theoretically but rather ... musically.

@LudmillaTSF Жыл бұрын

I haaate to sing the Lobet 💓 congrats everybody

@wolsch3435 Жыл бұрын

It is true that Bach demands the utmost from the singers, but not the impossible! Bach was married to a professional singer, she will have told him what is feasible and what is not.

@mwnyc3976 Жыл бұрын

And if you listen to the solo cantatas he wrote specifically for her (for example, Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen, O holder Tag), you can tell that Anna Magdalena was very, very skilled.

@wolsch3435 Жыл бұрын

@@mwnyc3976Yes, she was a skilled singer, but are you sure that the soprano or alto solo parts of the church cantatas were written for her ? If I learned that correctly, in Bach's time women weren't allowed to sing in church. When she left Köthen, Anna Magdalena lost her job and was no longer in the service of a princely or municipal orchestra. But she probably sang in the Cafe' Zimmermann in Leipzig from time to time when she performed there with her husband and sons.

@mwnyc3976 Жыл бұрын

@@wolsch3435 Certainly, women weren't supposed to sing in church cantatas in Leipzig. "O holder Tag", like "Weichet nur," is a wedding cantata -- meaning for the reception, not the ceremony. It had always been assumed that Bach had some spectacularly gifted teenage soprano to sing "Jauchzet Gott," but some years ago a scholar found a receipt of payment to Anna Magdalena for singing it. (I can't remember what the occasion was.)

@stewart335 Жыл бұрын

Can anyone tell me what they’re singing from the 1.45 mark?

@mute47 Жыл бұрын

Lobet den Herrn, BWV 230, slower middle movement "Denn Seine Gnade"

@NeoDragonov Жыл бұрын

Would anyone know what the piece at 0:41 is ?

@mute47 Жыл бұрын

Lobet den Herrn BWV 230

@elcioel. Жыл бұрын

🇧🇷🥰🇩🇪

@mbntr2363 Жыл бұрын

does anyone know what pieces were sung?

@xadmi Жыл бұрын

Motet

@bach Жыл бұрын

Motet Lobet den Herrn, BWV 230

@mbntr2363 Жыл бұрын

@@bach Thank you!

@die_schlechtere_Milch Жыл бұрын

I hope that this is not inappropriate - I want to share that I always fall in love with the musicians of the Netherlands Bach Society. Clearly, they are great teamplayers, but, sadly, it is not too uncommon that musical virtuosity and skill are indirectly proportional to virtue and humbleness, which form the basis for achieving a common goal. Seemingly not so with these lovable and beautiful people. Also, caring deeply for Bach's music and message adds 15 points of attractiveness on a scale of ten. Additionally, being musically gifted adds another 2 points. This is objective science btw. It is psychologically impossible to see them sing and play in concert, realize how much they live through the music, and not wish them all the best for their lifes and their close ones.

@megenberg8 5 ай бұрын

excellence.... it's all in that German engineering, brought to us by Maestro Bach.

@BsktImp Жыл бұрын

Bach (from the grave): "Zippel Fagottist!" 😂

@vedqiibyol Жыл бұрын

Funny, in some cases on an instrument, we say that the writing is more vocal! xD

@herrickinman9303 Жыл бұрын

The singer who said, "Of course at times we have thought about how the 18th-century or 17th-century singers must have sounded," seems not to know what century Bach composed in.

@giftenjoyer3664 Жыл бұрын

Those are the centuries that he composed in.

@giftenjoyer3664 Жыл бұрын

@@herrickinman9303 So most accurate is to say at the beginning of the 18th-century, since no vocal music being relevant to the topic of the video was produced by Bach in the 17th century. Got it.

@jaikee9477 Жыл бұрын

I guess once you learned how to sing Bach, everything else is a piece of cake.

@dabeamer42 Жыл бұрын

Ah, would that I had the kind of vocal control these singers speak of. I understand exactly what they're talking about, but the ability just isn't there anymore. I guess I'm just getting a bit old.