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Bach: harpsichord vs. piano

  • Harpsichord

    Votes: 96 44.7%
  • Piano

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Bach: Harpsichord or Piano

72K views 410 replies 126 participants last post by  Mandryka 
#1 ·
What do you like for Bach? The harpsichord as the composer originally intended or the piano?
 
#157 ·
Piano, harpsichord, meh, Bach even sounds good on

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I remember reading a newspaper article by the late Douglas Adams who, as he wrote, was listening to some midi files of (I think) The Well-Tempered Clavier on his laptop. He reflected that Bach's music sounds wonderful no matter which instrument(s) are playing it. I'd go along with that; among my favourite Bach recordings is that of the Art of Fugue played by the New Century Saxophone Quartet, and it's wonderful.
 
#9 · (Edited)
I really do not care other than I like and want both.

A fine performance is a fine performance, and all the innate dynamics the various ranges inherent to the harpsichord (Which are very much a part of 'how to play Bach') can be transliterated in a performance on a piano -- without at all trying to achieve or mimic 'harpsichord.'

Any pianist playing earlier literature written for earlier period pianos runs into the same thing re: innate dynamic through the various ranges of the instrument and how the composers worked with that, and that too can be rendered on a modern piano.
 
#15 ·
The strange thing is Bach's keyboard music sounds as though it was composed for the piano, the cross-over is amazing. The concertos still seem better on the harpsichord but works like the WTC seem to have a greater emotional depth on the piano. I always fine the Chromatic Fantasy & Fugue only works best on the harpsichord, and never fails to astound.
 
#17 · (Edited)
There are so many good piano and harpsichord records of the Goldbergs and WTC that it's hard to choose. In the AoF, the partitas and the suites I'm less certain, my feeling is that harpsichordists have so far made the most imaginative recordings (especially in AoF the English Suites) but I may be wrong. I definitely prefer recordings of the acompanied viol and violin sonatas with harpsichord. Same for the concertos. I've never heard Musical Offering with a piano.
 
#18 ·
I like both but for certain works such as the '48', AoF and Goldbergs I favour harpsichord. However, I'm thinking of getting Richter's '48' on RCA - any fans here?
 
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#20 ·
I found Richter's recording has certain rawness about it and he certainly isn't short on commitment, but out of many, many versions (excepting Edwin Fisher's unique historic account) I have found the most satisfying to be Evgeni Koroliov - I got the 4 CD set on Tacet.
 
#25 ·
Yes. Bach's music sounds best on the instruments he created it for. Nothing quite like a great harpsichord performance of the WTC, Goldberg Variations, Keyboard Partitas, French and English Suites and Toccatas.

I've heard a lot of Bach on the piano and can't name any that I would prefer over Trevor Pinnock or Gustav Leonhardt.
 
G
#26 ·
Hell, Bach's music sounds great on just about any instrument. For the Goldbergs, I have recordings on harpsichord (several - Suzuki, Pinnock, Gilbert), piano (Gould, Perahia, Koroliov), organ (Guillou), and viol ensemble (Fretwork). I have also heard it on harp. While I don't enjoy all equally, all made a credible showing of themselves. One of my favorite recordings of the Art of Fugue is by a saxophone quartet. I enjoy the Hanssler Edition of the "48" played on a variety of keyboard instruments, including organ. I enjoy listening to these works on the original instrument for which they were composed, but I also like seeing just how versatile Bach's works can be. Yet another testimony to me of the man's genius.
 
#29 ·
My preference is for the harpsichord, but I have hundreds of piano discs of Bach's solo keyboard music that I listen to regularly. At the top of the list are Gould, Koroliov, Woodward, Tureck and a few others.

For me, the harpsichord just sounds like the perfect instrument for Bach's solo keyboard music. It also helps that I never tire of listening to the harpsichord. When I listen to Bach on piano for a few hours, I feel the need for a cleansing. "Sharp" is unfortunately not a quality I find on the piano.

Concerning chamber music such as the Sonatas for Keyboard and Violin, it's harpsichord all the way. The piano ruins it for me.
 
#32 · (Edited)
For me, I don't really really care if Bach is played on a piano or harpsichord. But for some pieces, like the Goldberg Concertos, French Suites, Fugues, etc, I perfer to listen to them played on a piano but for the Italian Concerto, Keyboard Concertos and some lesser known pieces, I prefer harpsichord.

For any other Baroque composer (Handel, Scarlatti), I will almost always pick a harpsichord recording over a piano recording.
 
#33 ·
I love HIP recordings, but honestly I have far more great recordings of Bach's music on piano: Gould, Schiff, Perahia, Hewitt, Edwin Fischer, Rosalyn Tureck, Sviatoslav Richter, etc... As DrMike suggested, Bach sounds great on a vast array of instruments. I have the Goldberg Variations and the Art of Fugue performed on harp, string quartet, recorder ensemble, chamber orchestra, organ, clavichord, etc... Personally I have no use for purists and dogma when it comes to music.
 
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#34 ·
I think the harpsichord has a more articulate, forward sound than the piano. This works better with contrapuntal works, allowing the performer to concentrate on the structural line. The piano introduces problems of dynamics and coloring that can complicate things. No to mention how the single keyboard can make performance much more difficult for certain pieces that were written with a double-keyboard harpsichord in mind. I always prefer the harpsichord with ANY baroque composer.

I'm a little biased, though. I've always loved the rich and virtuosic nature of the harpsichord's technique. I know that a piano can also produce oodles of virtuosity. but the harpsichord has a special virtuosic sound when played right. While the piano has a sound that is like a beam of light being adjusted by a shade, the harpsichord is like a pure beam without adjustment; this sharp and penetrating feel that gives the baroque it's trademark sound.

In short, it just sounds awesome.:)
 
#37 ·
For the concerti, harpsichord no doubt. They sound like they were written for the harpsichord and they work much better with it, in my opinion.

For the solo music, I could go either way. Some of it does seem to sound a little better with the piano; I'm not a "purist", I don't need period instruments all the time, and sometimes I do prefer to hear his solo keyboard music on a piano rather than a harpsichord.
 
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