I had always assumed the members of the Bach family didn't draw them themselves but rather had them drawn by their staff.

@joostwitte5546

2 ай бұрын

My calligraphy teacher agrees as it can be a tedious job and time consuming. Bach might therefore have outsourced it to pupils and students. But that's not what I read and notice when I try to reproduce.

@pokerandphilosophy8328

2 ай бұрын

@@joostwitte5546 But who might be better at drawing staff than the staff itself? I was joking of course. But I am a great admirer of J.S. Bach and I greatly enjoyed your video!

@joostwitte5546

2 ай бұрын

@@pokerandphilosophy8328 😂 That is very witty! I enjoyed listening to your Golfberg Aria recording!

@webrarian

Ай бұрын

@@joostwitte5546 Sir Edward Elgar had his wife do it for him. But that was 100 years later, and they only had the one child. Your practical scholarship is very, very impressive.

@DrSaav-my5ym

Ай бұрын

*ba bum tissk*

In 300 years, when people ask how today's musicians do lines, it will be an entirely different sort of video. I think most currently use a $20, frankly.

@joostwitte5546

22 күн бұрын

That is very witty!

Super interesting o: I love learning about such niche topics from people who obviously have very deep knowledge about things I didn't even know you could know.

@joostwitte5546

3 ай бұрын

Thanks for the comment, much appreciated!

I am deeply impressed at the great amount of attention you have paid to the Bach family's music notation skills. There are so many points of information you have packed into these 13 little minutes. Wonderful indeed! So Anna Magdalena had black hair. I wonder what color Sebastian's was. Thank you ever so much!

@joostwitte5546

3 ай бұрын

Based on the many hairs in BWV 906 I would say that Bach had salt and pepper colored hair. There is a score that looks a bit like a shower drain, BWV 71 folio 5 verso - but there the red hair color and thickness differ from what can be seen elsewhere. I suspect that the paper maker has lost something here. A relevant criterion for making a distinction is of course that the hairs must be stuck in the originally liquid ink. Thanks for the kind comments, it means a lot to me.

This is an amazing video. Learned a lot, never knew he smoked, loved your investigative work on his inkwell, his diet, love the fact that he kept that child's help. Wow want an insight into Bach. You brought him more to life just looking at the manuscripts than I have ever seen. Thank you for this.

@joostwitte5546

29 күн бұрын

I love wows. Bach's physical presence and his trail of thoughts can be experienced so lifelike in calligraphy. Thank you for your response.

@M_SC

25 күн бұрын

Everyone smoked

What a wonderful compendium of details for any musician or historian.

@joostwitte5546

Ай бұрын

This was one of my favorite topics to elaborate on because I could find so little about it in the literature.

Those are some really great insights into his music writing, his family relations and his habits. Thank you so much for sharing this. =)

@joostwitte5546

19 күн бұрын

Thank you for watching and appreciating!

My brain malfunctions whenever I see 16th note bars, and the more of them the longer I'm catatonic.

@joostwitte5546

27 күн бұрын

Yes, I can empathize with that

Another fantastic video from you Joost Witte. I love the information, once again thank you!

@joostwitte5546

Ай бұрын

Thanks Carl! It's a pleasure for me to make these videos.

Fascinating. Thank you

@joostwitte5546

3 ай бұрын

Also thanks!

Thank you for this channel. It is informative, skillful and inspiring all at the same time. If I may suggest something: consider offering online lessons and workshops in calligraphy, if that hold your interest. I bet many would sign up. I would!

@joostwitte5546

27 күн бұрын

Thank you Lars for your response, I will think about your idea, lessons are interesting, not least because I could also learn a lot from the interaction

What a delightful incredible work you do. thank you!

@joostwitte5546

Ай бұрын

Great to hear such appreciation!

Excellent and fascinating. Thank you for you work.

@joostwitte5546

26 күн бұрын

Thank you for your response, I really appreciate it

This is so wonderful! Thank you so much!

@joostwitte5546

26 күн бұрын

Nice to hear, thank you!

With all of the profound analysis by today's scholars of Bach's music - its spirituality, its depth, its passion, its architecture - and the modern means that we have at our disposal to create and edit and delete and print multiple copies - it makes it hard for us to conceive that Bach would have had to pay such close attention to the mundane and sometimes messy task of actually physically handwriting his music. We are fortunate that he was as good at it as he was. No matter how great a mind Bach had, we would have nothing from him if he didn't write it down. We live in a computer age - how often do you ever have to handwrite, and get it right on the first attempt? This seems similar to the medieval monks copying out the Bible, except that Bach had to create the music in his mind before writing it down. Did he ever write a rough draft before the final copy? He must have. Yet if he designed the layout of the page beforehand, he likely also conceived the design of the composition beforehand. Did he compose a fugue as he wrote it down, or did he create the whole fugue in his head and then put it on paper? According to his son, Bach did not compose at the keyboard. He likely had the same mental ability of someone with a photographic memory, so that a painter once having seen a landscape can later paint every detail. Or a math wiz that can perform complex equations in his head. Or a chess master who can play several games at once. Bach could probably manipulate any combination of musical notes in his head, and remember it, and later write it down with accuracy. He had the mind of an architect, engineer, physicist applied to music. Yet even Bach, as great a genius as he was, was not a disembodied spirit, or a Divine Mind, but a human being who still had employ ordinary means. It is this very juxtaposition of the ordinary conditions of Bach's outer life with his rich inner life revealed in his music, which seems to transcend all boundaries, that is a wonder.

@joostwitte5546

20 күн бұрын

Hello Mark, thanks for your thoughts, it is fascinating to imagine what must have been going on in Bach's head and how he went about composing. The fact that he was also just a human seems to increase the miracle, but also brings him closer in some way.

I seem to remember a music history teacher talking about Stravinsky inventing a rolling staff pen. I wonder if they still make them

@joostwitte5546

27 күн бұрын

Right! He called it the Stravigor, it is available antiquarian, but there are also cheap modern versions.

Fascinating! Thank you!

@joostwitte5546

Ай бұрын

Thank you for your kind response and watching!

This was very interesting. Thank you!

@joostwitte5546

3 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching, and making the command!

Brilliant. Thanks!

@joostwitte5546

25 күн бұрын

Thank you, it was fun making this video.

Welp I know what my sis is getting for Christmas this year

@joostwitte5546

26 күн бұрын

Great!

Superlative work!

@joostwitte5546

Ай бұрын

Thanks for the compliment, great to hear.

Again, a fascinating and intimate portrait of JSB's composing habits. Do any of his scores have stains of wine on them, or other beverages (coffee, tea, beer, liquor, etc.)?

@joostwitte5546

3 ай бұрын

According to the eminent scholar Christoph Wolff, Bach preferred Brandy when composing, but I have not been able to find a source for this. I have not been able to find any comments about the many food stains in the scores. My research is based on studying the digital scans, qualifying the spots is difficult, this is only really possible with the physical scores in hand and the right professional knowledge. I have a suspicion in some places, fat is clearly recognizable because it makes paper transparent, which could possibly be based on soup or stew. Saliva droplets also give very characteristic marks, it changes the aging process of the discoloration of the paper. Some stains are downright gross.

Thank you!

@joostwitte5546

3 ай бұрын

You are very welcome!

Perfect!

@joostwitte5546

3 ай бұрын

Dank je wel voor het kijken en alle support!

So much I did not know about this

@joostwitte5546

29 күн бұрын

The calligraphy is so educational to look at precisely!

fascinating...

@joostwitte5546

24 күн бұрын

Thanks!

O sacred head now wounded...

@joostwitte5546

19 күн бұрын

The video: How Bach expressed words in music - features this beautiful chorale and the different way in which Bach set it to tone.

Großartig!

@joostwitte5546

19 күн бұрын

Das freut mich zu hören!

Boy I wouldn’t want to see what staff lines reveal about me, I can imagine and it isn’t good.

@M_SC

25 күн бұрын

Wow though, what an intriguing video! Thank you

@joostwitte5546

25 күн бұрын

Thank you for your response, and have confidence in your ability to master calligraphy, it is mainly a technique that you can learn.

When did it become more common to buy pre-printed staff paper?

@joostwitte5546

27 күн бұрын

That would have been in the course of the 19th century, an era beyond my view. So I don't know, but I would like to know more about it.

I'm curious. You use an interesting rastrum in this video. Where did you acquire it? I have a modern rastrum nib, but the ink seems to run out too quickly to draw staff lines across the page in a landscape layout. I'm just wondering because the one you use seems to have a reservoir area on it, which would be very helpful.

@joostwitte5546

11 күн бұрын

I use an Automatic Pen - 5 line Music Nib - the nib is made of hand-finished non-rust nickel silver. After first using the historically correct brass rastrum, I switched to this pen because it is considerably easier to use and gives better results. It took a while before I really got used to it, but now I wouldn't want to be without it. I bought mine from Mary Koperdraad: www.kalligrafie.nl/c-4318478/pennen/

@rorrimirror

11 күн бұрын

@joostwitte5546 Thank you! This was very helpful. I didn't find them on that site, but now that I know what it is called, I managed to find some on a different site. Can't wait to try it out!

Subscribed.

@joostwitte5546

Ай бұрын

Thanks Tyler, your nice remark set me to work for the next video.

wauw!

@joostwitte5546

27 күн бұрын

Wauw voelt als het grootste compliment!

where can I buy a rustrum?

@joostwitte5546

Ай бұрын

Online search words : automatic music pen will lead to steel rastrum calligraphy shops. Brass music staff pen is also working. Price differences between shops are remarkable for the same pens. Succes when trying out!

@AlexLifeson1985

Ай бұрын

@@joostwitte5546 thank you

@tobiasseyb6592

Ай бұрын

I glued 5 D1 ballpoint refills together. This makes an almost perfect and long lasting rastrum. (Use tape to fix them in shape, then glue with stable adhesive)

@prototropo

29 күн бұрын

@@tobiasseyb6592 Really? That sounds incredibly unwieldy, given the plasticity of those refills, and their thinness. I suppose you use good glue, but I cannot picture it in my head.

@tobiasseyb6592

29 күн бұрын

D1 ballpoint refills are made of metal and straight cylindrical. Of course a good hardening adhesive like 2 component is also recommended.

I did not know Bach used to smoke. What did he smoke? Weed? I can't picture Bach smoking weed, but I don't doubt it.

@joostwitte5546

Ай бұрын

Bach smoked tobacco in a pipe, the tobacco came from plantations in America. There may be a few tobacco crumbs on the scores, I'm not sure as they could also be ink marks.

@VaryaEQ

22 күн бұрын

Just about everyone smoked back then. Pipes were seen as classy, and all "gentlemen" used them.