An die Musik: Hélène Papadopoulos – J.S. Bach's Clavier-Übung
In person: $25 ($10 student) | Stream: $15
- Hélène Papadopoulos, piano
Johann Sebastian Bach — Keyboard Partita No. 4 in D major, BWV 828
Johann Sebastian Bach — Keyboard Partita No. 2 in C minor, BWV 826
We have been responding to Bach's music for more than 300 years. The deep spiritual and emotional content of this music, the composer's endless creativity and his aesthetic and technical artistry resonate more than ever with the intricacy of the modern world. Bach's music reminds us of how great art works can transport us to another realm where we can reflect and exhilarate our mind and spirit.
The monumental Clavier-Übung ("Keyboard Practice") cycle is one of the most intense, grandiose, and demanding collections of keyboard music in the history of music.
"Altogether, the four volumes explore and supersede all possible genres of keyboard music of the first half of the 18th Century, propelling keyboard playing technique to new high standards and establishing formidable new compositional benchmarks.
"The more I play Bach, the more I need to play Bach. I consider that, as a performer, it is my responsibility to try to perceive and fulfill the demands of this music. For me, this implies an unconditional involvement with the composer's work, both through the study of the music and through scholarship learning. I have understood that engaging in Bach’s musical legacy in its whole helps me penetrate his vision. When I study one of his works, it always casts new light upon the others, endlessly revealing new aspects that I had not seen before. For this reason, I present to the public all-Bach recitals, each devoted to a particular collection.
"By being confronted with the work in its entirety and by contrasting the various pieces that illuminate each other, the performers and the listeners are capable of discovering and grasping the different facets of Bach’s genius, his unique sense of form, his design of structures of utmost complexity, his exploration of distinctives sonorities, and the freedom and profundity of his ideas within an established compositional frame.
"Throughout his creative life, Bach continuously searched for ways to raise music to the highest-level development, his work being always oriented towards the Glory of God and to the recreation of the mind. Such absolute music calls for uncompromising demands from both the performer and the listener. But the reward, when opening one’s mind and spirit fully to the music, is to be transported into a world where all emotional, intellectual and spiritual sensations are excruciated, in a sphere of peaceful introspection and refreshment."
– Hélène Papadopoulos, Berkeley, University of California, February 2022
Attending online: The link will be revealed to live stream participants 15 minutes before the show and will remain active for one week.
Attending in person: Proof of COVID-19 vaccination required at door. In-person attendees receive a link to the recording to view for one week.
Donations welcome.