# How do you like your J.S. Bach?



## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Recently having listened to Glenn Gould's 1981 recording on THIS recent remastered cd, I thought I'd bring up this topic.

Below is an extract (in italics, parts put in bold are my emphasis) from the over 20 minute radio interview Gould did with Tim Page about re-recording this work, which is on the cd as a bonus track.

What do you think regarding on what instruments you like J.S. Bach's music to be played? Or do you care more about the 'integrity' of the performance rather than the instruments involved, as Gould suggests? Vote in the poll and tell us what you think.

_You know, someone said to me the other day that now that the fortepiano is making such an extraordinary comeback, and people are playing Chopin-period Pleyels and so forth, that in no time at all there will be nothing for the contemporary piano to do except maybe the Rachmaninoff Third…

*…I think frankly that the whole issue of Bach on the piano is a red herring.* I love the harpsichord-as you know, I made a harpsichord record some years ago-and I'm very fond of the fortepiano for such things as Mozart concertos and so forth. I'm certainly not going to sit here and argue that the modern piano has some sort of intrinsic value just because it's modern, that new is better because it's new.

*But having said that, I must also say that the piano at its best offers a range of articulation that far surpasses any older instrument, that it actually can be made to serve the contrapuntal qualities of Bach, for example, the linear concepts of Bach,* in a way that the harpsichord, for all its beauty and charm and authenticity, you know, cannot.

*And as far as the question of whether it's appropriate to play this music on a piano is concerned: I think one has to remember that here was a man, Bach, who was himself one of the great transcribers of all time. *A man who took Marcello's Oboe Concerto, for example, and made it a solo harpsichord piece, who rewrote his own violin concertos for the keyboard, and vice-versa…his masterpiece, I think, the Art of the Fugue, works on the harpsichord, the organ, for strings…

*I think the evidence suggests that Bach didn't give a hoot about particular sonorities. But it also suggests that he cared a great deal, to a fanatical degree, even, about the integrity of his structures*…I think he would love to hear his Brandenburg Concertos as Wendy Carlos has realized them on the synthesizer!_

Source - http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/gould?before=1327716073


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## Abracadabra (Jun 6, 2012)

I like the way Hilary Hahn plays the Bach sonatas and partitas for solo violin. 

That's really about all I have to contribute. 

To me, whether things are being played on modern instruments or a period instruments has little to nothing to do with whether or not I like them. Who's playing them and how they are expressing them plays a far larger role. 

I can't really say which instruments I would prefer until I hear the same artist perform the same piece on both types of instruments. Only then could I say whether I prefer one type of instrument over another.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Whatever floats your boat. There are tonnes of recordings available on modern and period instruments, which is good, though increasingly it appears more are of the later.

As for me, I'm period instruments all the way if I'm spending money on recordings. I don't mind either modern or period when listening to it on radio (but I now seldom listen to the radio). And I prefer period instruments when it comes to concerts.

But really, it's whatever works for you. I would only recommend period instrument as an alternative if someone appears not to enjoy Bach's music and it was revealed that modern instrument/non-HIP was all (s)he was exposed to.


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## emiellucifuge (May 26, 2009)

Speaking purely about the orchestral works, I just feel that modern instruments make it sound very bloated and the contrapuntal lines dont come out clearly.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

HIP _only_ please. And preferably by the Bach Collegium Japan.


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## Arsakes (Feb 20, 2012)

Harpsichord >.......> All Electric instruments totally :lol:


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

No preference as a rule but I do prefer The Art of Fugue to be played on harpsichord above all else - I think the comparative 'dryness' of the older instrument somehow suits this particular work better.


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## Il_Penseroso (Nov 20, 2010)

For St. Mathew Passion or B minor Mass I prefer modern orchestra with a large chorus especially performed in a very big concert hall, I love the voice of echo through the orchestra. For preludes and fugues or partitas I prefer harpsichord.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Il_Penseroso said:


> For St. Mathew Passion or B minor Mass I prefer modern orchestra with a large chorus especially performed in a very big concert hall, I love the voice of echo through the orchestra. For preludes and fugues or partitas I prefer harpsichord.


A modern orchestra, eh? You need a psychiatrist.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Sid James said:


> *I think the evidence suggests that Bach didn't give a hoot about particular sonorities. But it also suggests that he cared a great deal, to a fanatical degree, even, about the integrity of his structures*…I think he would love to hear his Brandenburg Concertos as Wendy Carlos has realized them on the synthesizer![/I]


the art of the fugue does not have even an indication about the instrument, and i think that Gould is perfectly on point, so i don't care if the instrument is modern or not. And i like to hear Segovia playing Bach on guitar.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

norman bates said:


> the art of the fugue does not have even an indication about the instrument, and i think that Gould is perfectly on point, so i don't care if the instrument is modern or not. And i like to hear Segovia playing Bach on guitar.


I can tolerate Bach on guitar. I heard Julian Bream playing his heavily romanticised interpretation of two of the four lutes suites today and _some_ of it I actually liked. Playing was terrific, interpretation was crap.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

I don't really care - I like it very much both ways and all ways (HIP or romantic, or transposed for electric guitar, or for jazz band, or probably for kazoo orchestra). But I do have some sentimental attachment to Richter's recordings, so I picked the first option.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I have HIP and non-HIP performances and have good and bad in both. So as far as how I choose which recording of Bach to hear, it's not the instrument; it's the player.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Am mostly inclined to listening to the "modern orchestra" and the piano as regards J.S. Brook.

The conductor *Max Pommer*´s versions of the concerti and orchestral suites constitute some of the few exceptions. I usually grow tired of the HIP-versions and their consistently light-footed approach.


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

*How do you like your J.S. Bach?*

Played the way it outta be...you know, like this guy:


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## KRoad (Jun 1, 2012)

I don't mind modern or period instruments for J.S.B. instrumentals, but for choral works I prefer the modern, larger vocal ensembles to the smaller, traditional ones.


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

I hate purists...


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## Fugue (Apr 26, 2011)

Abracadabra said:


> I like the way Hilary Hahn plays the Bach sonatas and partitas for solo violin.
> 
> To me, whether things are being played on modern instruments or a period instruments has little to nothing to do with whether or not I like them. Who's playing them and how they are expressing them plays a far larger role..


Agree. Try the Rachel Podger versions if you can, although I like the Hahn recording the Podger offers that bit more verve and spirit.


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## KRoad (Jun 1, 2012)

Sid James said:


> I think he would love to hear his Brandenburg Concertos as Wendy Carlos has realized them on the synthesizer!
> 
> BTW: My first exposure to Bach as a kid back in 1968 - it _completely_ sold me on Bach - reassuring to know that Gould thinks B. would have approved.


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

I think you missed the option: "...and readed from the original XVIII century manuscript score...with candle light..."


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

No doubt on this one - Option 6


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

It doesn't matter much to me whether it's modern or period instruments, but I do want it to be played in period style. I hear way too many recordings of people playing Bach like it's Brahms.


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## Philip (Mar 22, 2011)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> HIP _only_ please. And preferably by the Bach Collegium Japan.


in what temperament?


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

I tend to seek out period performances of older music... but not exclusively. My favorite recordings of Bach's keyboard works are by Angela Hewitt, Andreas Schiff, Murray Perahia, and of course Glenn Gould... all on piano. But I also have interpretations of these works on clavichord, harpsichord, string quartet, recorders, organ, jazz quartet, etc... It all comes down to the quality of the performance.

Most of the choral works I have in HIP recordings (John Eliot Gardiner, Christopher Hogwood, Philippe Herreweghe, Masaaki Suzuki, Jordi Savall, etc...) but I also have a few beloved recordings by Bohm or Klemperer in the "old school" manner with big, Romantic-era orchestras. 

Differences of interpretation are the reason that I often have 2 or 3 (or more) interpretations of my favorite works. With Bach, its one of the reasons I have almost 300 CDs by this single composer.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Originally Posted by ComposerOfAvantGarde: 
HIP only please. And preferably by the Bach Collegium Japan.

Masaaki Suzuki is great. I stupidly missed out on the budget release of some 90 discs of the cantatas in box sets a year or two ago. I truly love the crystalline clarity of his sound. On the other hand, I also like Gardiner's more muscular and emotional sound... and he also had the advantage of better soloists until the more recent recordings. You should also give a listen to Philippe Herreweghe's recordings of the cantatas and other choral works. A lot of these recordings showcase Andreas Scholl at his finest... who cannot be beat.


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## Andreas (Apr 27, 2012)

The HIP movement is terrific, but I think authenticity just for authenticity's sake is an artistic dead end. It introduces an unpleasant form of dogmatism to music making. A dogmatism that is partly based not on convictions but on technical limitations of the past. I don't think that makes any sense.

Gould certainly proved that Bach can sound as clear and transparent on the piano as on a harpsichord. It's about how you play.

The standard modern orchestra is obviously too big for the pre-wagnerian repertoire. The woodwinds in particular are usually completely drowned out by the strings. But you don't have to go HIP all the way just because of that. Some conductors have found a great middle path, people like Marriner, Norrington (in Stuttgart) or Zinman. Some chamber orchestras also come to mind.

As far as Bach is concerned, transparency of sound is what's most important so that the contrapuntal splendor can fully flourish. Anything that dirties up this transparency - orchestras too large, excessive vibrato, the piano's sustain pedal - is counter-productive and should be avoided. But you can do that without going stricly HIP.

It is better to have a concept than an ideology. Gould, to me, certainly proved that point.


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## Praeludium (Oct 9, 2011)

Heck, I don't care, I just want great music. 

That said I often find many HIP performers are obliviously lacking something. Even if you play the correct way, you'll have hard time be a better musician then Argerich, Richter, Milstein and so on. 
So many of the great artists are playing Bach on a modern instrument, and nobody will ever convince me that I should stop listening to them or that "it's wrong" because they're playing on modern instrument.


But mainly, I care more about the artistry than about the correctness - even if musicological research can bring out very interesting things (see the Baroque guitar, particularly by the likes of Rolf Lislevand !).


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## IBMchicago (May 16, 2012)

Hewitt and Perahia on keyboard. Excellent.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Though we have the incredibly idiomatic suites for Solo 'Cello and Solo Violin, I've always felt Papa Bach was not very interested in instrumental color and that, to him as a composer, a keyboard was a keyboard.

BUT ~ it is known that J.S.'s favorite keyboard was the clavichord, an instrument so quiet it is really only satisfactory to the player and if in a small room. What the instrument allows is dynamics; loud, soft, 'touch sensitive,' and even a bit of vibrato on a note if one wishes to have it stand out in the polyphonic mix. 

That little fact of Bach personally favoring the clavichord blows all arguments of 'harpsichord only' for the Bach Keyboard works completely out of the water, and paves the way for piano performances 'with dynamics' as being completely legitimate.

I do very much like hearing older music on the period instruments, though, as much for texture, tone color but especially for the relative pitch of the 'A' of each period. We really are hearing music conceived of near a full half-tone lower when it is played to the contemporary A440.... and it makes a great deal of difference to the 'body' of the overall sound.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

PetrB said:


> We really are hearing music conceived of near a full half-tone lower when it is played to the contemporary A440.... and it makes a great deal of difference to the 'body' of the overall sound.


Absolutely. A great deal of work has gone into researching it, and it certainly affects how the work sounds. My collection of Bach Collegium Japan, Suzuki cantatas shows that even within one particular orchestra, the woodwind and horns would have different pitch than the strings, and the collective whole need also to "fit". Comparing the same piece on a modern orchetsra, even with very similar tempi and other playing styles, do make a difference - a difference for you as a listener to like or not. (I'm no musician).


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Andreas said:


> The HIP movement is terrific, but I think authenticity just for authenticity's sake is an artistic dead end. It introduces an unpleasant form of dogmatism to music making. A dogmatism that is partly based not on convictions but on technical limitations of the past. I don't think that makes any sense.


Indeed it does not make any sense. Thankfully, I have not noticed the great HIP conductors be as dogmatic as you have suggested in reality. Gardiner's cantata sets and Suzuki's cantata sets do sound quite different - there is indeed scope for interpretation. HIP has more to do with the overall parameters of a performance.


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## Merve (Jun 7, 2012)

I listen to both but I usually prefer period instruments and especially the harpsichord. Dynamics, articulation, blah. I think the music simply sounds more appropriate on period instruments. I don't care at all about what Bach would have wanted. (I find that a silly question to begin with, why would such a great composer not want to use a new instrument? Especially considering, as mentioned, how he transcribed the same pieces for different instruments many times.) No matter what Bach would have thought, _I_ think that piano inevitably adds a level of romanticism that usually just isn't appropriate for Bach's keyboard music and the dryness of the harpsichord goes much better.

Yes it depends on who's playing but there are excellent players for both cases when it comes to Bach so I think the period question is appropriate.

That being said I think Gould is incredibly overrated and I personally find his interpretation of Bach terrible. On piano, I'll take Andras Schiff and David Fray (Whose personality has been compared to Gould so much, rightfully, but who plays completely differently. I don't care about his personality, I care about his playing.)


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Thanks for all your responses, enjoyed reading them all. I think that it shows the poll has its limitations, eg. a number of people said that their preference for what instrument is used depends what work is being played. That might have been another option, but anyway.

With regards to what Il Penseroso said here -



Il_Penseroso said:


> For St. Mathew Passion or B minor Mass I prefer modern orchestra with a large chorus especially performed in a very big concert hall, I love the voice of echo through the orchestra. For preludes and fugues or partitas I prefer harpsichord.


I think for a modern concert hall, which is much bigger than the venues Bach himself would have used, it makes sense to have a larger choir. I was reading an interview with Boulez about this issue. He said that, with some of Beethoven's symphonies for example, if you go the strict 'period style' route you can only have 3 horns, but you really need 6 if you have a large hall - otherwise the 3 horn players would be huffing and puffing their lungs out. Too hard work for them to project in that large hall.

So the issue of reverberation and echo in a large acoustic makes sense to me in this way. Its similar to what some said about the clavichord - an instrument meant for a small room. Factors like this have a part to play, not just 'authenticity' of sound - what Gould called sonority - and so forth.

I must add that a part of the interview that's not in my OP, towards the end where he mentions Wendy Carlos, he also says the Swingle Singers did a version of _The Art of Fugue _(the 9th fugue, I think) which he thinks Bach would like. But he says things like Stokowski's, Busoni's and Schoenberg's arrangments of Bach would have made Bach 'apalled.' I would guess that he's saying that those arrangers put in more of themselves into the pieces than Bach. Arranging is a related issue, but I think that knowing Wendy Carlos' interpretation, she stuck to the vision of J.S Bach, but it must be said that though I like Stokowski's arrangments, they sound more like say Mahler than Bach.

But I don't want to veer too much to the territory or arrangments and transcriptions, just think these are interesting things left out in the transcript I quoted.


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## Tero (Jun 2, 2012)

MAK, Musica Antiqua Köln


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## MaestroViolinist (May 22, 2012)

I don't mind what instrument his music is played on (since I haven't heard much Bach on old instruments). But I do mind *how* his music is played. Mind you, I do like the harpsichord.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

I put 'don't care', not that I have no standards, but meaning I don't care what instruments are used as long as its done tastefully. Over-all though I do have a preference for acoustic instruments over electric.


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## Arsakes (Feb 20, 2012)

It seems you have mistaken Modern with ordinary instruments. Modern instruments are mostly the digital Keyboard and electric Guitar.

Ordinary classic instrument set is Piano that replaced the renaissance/baroque Guitar and Harpsichord.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Arsakes said:


> It seems you have mistaken Modern with ordinary instruments. Modern instruments are mostly the digital Keyboard and electric Guitar.
> 
> Ordinary classic instrument set is Piano that replaced the renaissance/baroque Guitar and Harpsichord.


Segovia is the musician who transcribed Bach for guitar, and Segovia lived in the twentieth century.
And it must be added that the guitar used by Segovia was not the guitar used in the baroque era. So the classical guitar you know is definetely a modern instrument exactly like the electric guitar, and Bach didn't used it.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

norman bates said:


> Segovia is the musician who transcribed Bach for guitar, and Segovia lived in the twentieth century.
> And it must be added that the guitar used by Segovia was not the guitar used in the baroque era. So the classical guitar you know is definetely a modern instrument exactly like the electric guitar, and Bach didn't used it.


Back then, the Bach that was mostly played on the guitar now was probably played on the * t**heorbo*, or even the *lute-harpsichord. *


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Back then, the Bach that was mostly played on the guitar now was probably played on the * t**heorbo*, or even the *lute-harpsichord. *


well, actually there are transcription of the cello suites, the ciaccona from the violin partita, the art of the fugue etc. I mean, there's no a real corrispondence with an old instrument in particular.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

norman bates said:


> well, actually there are transcription of the cello suites, the ciaccona from the violin partita, the art of the fugue etc. I mean, there's no a real corrispondence with an old instrument in particular.


Whoa whoa, I thought we were talkin bout the lute suites here? I know there are transcriptions of those pieces too, but the lute suites are almost exclusively played on guitar, except for the occasional theorbo recording.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Whoa whoa, I thought we were talkin bout the lute suites here? I know there are transcriptions of those pieces too, but the lute suites are almost exclusively played on guitar, except for the occasional theorbo recording.


yes but there are pieces for violin, keyboard and other instruments that are transcribed for guitar. So whoever is playing bach on guitar, he's not playing a period instrument.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

norman bates said:


> yes but there are pieces for violin, keyboard and other instruments that are transcribed for guitar. So whoever is playing bach on guitar, he's not playing a period instrument.


Everyone knows _that. _And as I myself am a guitarist I think that I'm quite familiar with Bach transcriptions for that instrument.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Everyone knows that.


i don't know, arsakes seems to have another idea and i was answering to that. And by the way, if you know that why did you choose the option for the period instruments?


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

norman bates said:


> i don't know, arsakes seems to have another idea and i was answering to that. And by the way, if you know that why did you choose the option for the period instruments?


Because I *almost* exclusively like Bach's music on period instruments. Classical guitar being an exception.


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## Arsakes (Feb 20, 2012)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Because I *almost* exclusively like Bach's music on period instruments. Classical guitar being an exception.


I didn't know about 'Lute' was used by Bach.

My point is there must be 3 classes of instruments or more. Renaissance, Classic, Modern (or even more detailed). The modern category is consisted of instruments that are created from midst 20th century.


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## NightHawk (Nov 3, 2011)

Pretty much no harpsichord except when used as continuo. As a solo instrument I cannot sustain listening to the instrument for long, maybe I haven't heard the right player, though I never cared for Domenico Scarlatti harpsichord sonatas until I heard them played on a modern grand by Ivo Pogorelich.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Arsakes said:


> I didn't know about 'Lute' was used by Bach.
> 
> My point is there must be 3 classes of instruments or more. Renaissance, Classic, Modern (or even more detailed). The modern category is consisted of instruments that are created from midst 20th century.


I don't think instruments belong to particular periods. They just evolve over time. Even an oboe of 1710 could be remarkably different to an oboe of 1780.


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## Martin70 (Jun 13, 2018)

If Bach where alive I think he would be more concerned with the reason his music was being performed, not the instruments, period/modern.

I am just thankful to have the problem of choosing what Bach piece and then what performer to grace my daily listening. It can take some time and I occasionally dash here and listen to the first piece recommended, as long as it is a reasoned recommendation. I feel sorry for purists on both sides; Bach's canon can deal with experimentation, risks and extreme choices, but above all, it needs to be played.


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

I voted for period instruments, but like to play Bach on my modern classical guitar...


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Depends on the piece in question. E.g. I enjoy the works for solo keyboard on piano, but the concertos need to be on harpsichord.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

It is famous (or a cliché?) that much of Bach works brilliantly whatever instrument is used for it. The 48 sound wonderful on the accordion, for example, and anyway we mostly all know that Bach's harpsichord music can be as good or better on a piano. But when it comes to ensemble music - the Brandenburgs, the orchestral suites, the concertos - I cannot think of many performances on modern instruments that work for me. Not that HIP works reliably. A lot of HIP Bach sounds generic and the same. Often it is too unrelentingly fast. In the early days of HIP you got some wonderful and wonderfully inventive performances. OK, these were days when the playing of some old instruments sometimes lacked finesse but this seems a small price to pay for what we got. And more recently there have been a growing number of really imaginative and interesting HIP performances of Bach (Freiburger Barockorchester, Jordi Savall, often Reinhard Goebel are examples) and many noted soloists who are not Baroque specialists have taken to using original instruments when they play Baroque music.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

Last year I listened to Leppard's 1960s-70s recordings of Bach suites and Brandenburg concertos and was very pleasantly surprised. Sure, the 2nd concerto (and maybe also the 1st but I don't like that one anyway) with recorder and trumpet is very hard to balance even with old instruments and for the b minor flute suite I prefer small scale, so even some HIP are not for me. But the suites with trumpets and my favorite Brandenburgs #3 and #5, were really very good, I would not be unhappy if I had only these recordings (whereas I don't care for the rather famous Britten recordings of the Brandenburgs).

I also think that the violin and the solo keyboard concerti work quite well on modern instruments and to the "big" keyboard works I listen more frequently to modern piano. There are also too many good/great choral recordings with modern instruments for me to ignore, so I voted for the 2nd option.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

I prefer period instruments for the cantatas, Brandenburgs, orchestral suites, and violin concerti and modern instruments for all keyboard works (some harpsichord sounds are more tolerable than others to my ears but overall I just can't listen to the instrument for long). For the large choral works and solo suites I have no preference. But I enjoy performances from all across the spectrum as long as they are creative and expressive. For example, I see no problem with the lush, gorgeous Brandenburgs of Casals and Britten as opposed to the peppy, spicy elan of Alessandrini and the Academie für Altemusik Berlin - they all show different facets of Bach's personality.


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

Period or modern instruments don't matter as long as they are not trying to get everything over with as quickly as possible to make a lunch date. My preferences:

-- George Malcolm on harpsichord.

-- Collegium Aureum for orchestral music including Brandenburg concertos. Among more modern performers the Boston Baroque under Perlman and Jordi Savall are good but not as good.

-- Various pianists for the partitas (Dubravka Tomsic No. 1, Gould No. 4, Kristina Svanberg No. 3, Elena Kuschnerova No. 6.) Among more modern piano recordings I like best the ones done by Rudolf Buchbinder.

-- On harpsichord Igor Kipnis is magnificent in the Partitas and equally unforgettable in the Harpsichord Concertos.

-- Pablo Casals conducting the orchestral suites played "Jewish," as he used to tell his players. Boston Baroque is pretty good on period instruments with no repeats.

-- Hermuth Rilling for cantatas though more a general than specific recommendation -- love his BWV 71, 51, 56 and 192. Of modern recordings the Japanese under Suzuki are OK.

-- Easter Oratorio under Felix Prohaska.

-- Double and tripe concertos with woodwinds directed by Antonio Janigro.

-- David Willcocks for the St. Matthew Passion.

-- Colin Tilney (on two instruments) on Well-Tempered Clavier and his harpsichord Toccatas ... but his new recording of the Partitas is a failure that drains them of their life.

-- Bruce Hurford, Anton Heiller and Kevin Bowyer organ music.

-- Switched On Bach and Brandenburgs both musically and for sound.


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## 59540 (May 16, 2021)

Modern and period instruments equally. I don't like (for example) the Bach choral recordings of Klemperer or Karajan. There are some HIP recordings I don't like either, for other reasons obviously. Piano vs harpsichord: prefer the piano but I also enjoy listening to harpsichord performances since that's what Bach knew. Also it seems there are more differences between individual harpsichords than modern grand pianos.


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## Livly_Station (Jan 8, 2014)

Fried and with chips


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

It really depends on the performance. I have a slight tendency to prefer HIP, particularly for the sacred vocal works, but may hear and enjoy non-HIP anyway. For example, my favorite St. Matthew is HIP (Herreweghe) and my favorite Mass in B minor is non-HIP (Richter); In the WTC, I really like both Gilbert with his harsichord and Schiff with his piano. Liking my Bach is less about the instrument(s) used and more about the interpretative choices.


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## Ice Berg (Aug 29, 2021)

I really like the sound of a lot of the period instruments, but I can't object to a good modern harpsichord or piano performance. Given the choice I'd go with the period setting probably six or seven times out of ten.


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