In the Passacaglia in C minor, performed by Reitze Smits for All of Bach, Bach’s genius is as clear as day. As a variation work, it surpasses anything Bach could have heard in his younger years. The ostinato, the repetitive bass line that forms the foundation of a passacaglia, is made up of eight bars, rather than the usual four. The work consists of twenty variations, rather than the usual five or six. And on top of its initial function, the bass line is then split up and treated as two separate themes that, accompanied by a third theme, form the material for an ingenious fugue.
Recorded for the project All of Bach on November 29th 2013 at Lutheran Church, The Hague. If you want to help us complete All of Bach, please subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/2vhCeFB and consider donating http://bit.ly/2uZuMj5.
This recording was made with support of Andrew S. Lim, United States.
For the interview with organist Reitze Smits on the Passacaglia in C minor go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekjHssVeaoo
For more information on BWV 582 and this production go to http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-582/
All of Bach is a project of the Netherlands Bach Society / Nederlandse Bachvereniging, 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 http://allofbach.com/en/. For concert dates and further information go to https://www.bachvereniging.nl/nederlandse-bachvereniging.
Reitze Smits, organist
Organ: Johann Heinrich Hartmann Bätz, 1762