Bach Transmogrified!?

The April 27, 1969 performance of the New York Philharmonic at Philharmonic Hall in Lincoln Center with musical director, Leonard Bernstein was focused on renditions of three of Bach’s compositions. “Bach's music just naturally seems to lend itself to treatments or transmogrification,” said Bernstein in his introduction to the evening’s event.

The first performance was the Little Fuge in G Minor played by organist Michael Korn, a virtuoso at only 21 years old. “When instruments are played well they are so inspiring, even if they are not your favorite.” (Me) The second performance of Bach’s Little Fuge in G Minor was by the orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski. Seeing him on the stage with Bernstein and the Philharmonic literally seemed like something you could only imagined. Stokowski is such a renowned conductor that you don’t expect to ever see him, only to hear about his greatness. But there he was, next to Bernstein, the two maestros together.

The piece opened with oboes, then added other woodwinds. As it progressed, various sections were added. Violins were next, then cellos, all repeating the fugue and building to a glorious crescendo. The conductor received a standing ovation by the appreciative orchestra and audience. Remember the Moog Synthesizer? The third version of Bach’s Fugue was played on this -instrument? It was rolled onto the stage, looking like a pile of speakers, and greeted by Bernstein, “Hello Hal.” It performed the fugue in a “voice” that might be what R2D2 would sound like if he wanted to sing Bach. The Moog Synthesizer was included in this presentation of Bach’s music because an album was recorded of Bach’s music using the synthesizer. It was called “Switched-On Bach.” Watching the audience, there were many young, delighted faces. They appeared amused by the synthesized version of Bach that they were probably being taught by a more serious music instructor.

The Praeludium from Bach’s E Major Partita was a violin solo performed by the Philharmonic concert master, David Natan. A praeludium is a short piece which is played before a longer piece. The transmogrified version was by Lucas Foss, whom Bernstein introduced as a “most talented composer”. Foss’s version of Bach is considered avant-garde. Bernstein calls the composition “violence” and a “comment on our century”. You don’t need to be musically educated to understand why. As Foss is conducting the orchestra he will give the signal for a particular section to stop. The section, say, the strings, will stop stringing, but not fingering. The faint sound of their fingers playing the tune can still be heard. Does anyone think this is not different? Then, he will signal another instrument group to play, say, the cellos. He will, after a while, signal them to stop and the strings to begin again, and because they have still been fingering along, they can just begin to play at the same point. According to Bernstein, and this is correct, the sound we hear is in “waves.”

Foss’s composition is titled “Phorion”, all notes have been “stolen or borrowed”, from Bach. This also makes sense, since, along with a few other incorporated techniques, the final effect is not what we expect to hear when we listen to a Bach composition, but Bernstein encourages us to listen with an “open mind.”

Bernstein called the opening movement of the fifth Brandenburg Concerto in D major, the next performance an un-transmogrified piece. But then he added that, in a way, it actually is transmogrified because there are still a few alterations. The piece is not played as it would have been in Bach’s day, and there are instrument substitutions. The composition which is scored for a small string orchestra was played by three soloists, David Nadine on flute, Julius Baker on violin, and Bernstein on the piano.

The New York Rock and Roll Ensemble, a group of five, were the final interpreters of Bach. The groups unusual performance, A Rock Variation and Fantasy, was an expression of their training partly in a conservatory and partly of a hard rock influence. As their singer sang with a contemporary lyric and sound, their flutist sounded as we would expect Bach to sound and was accompanied by the keyboard in harpsichord mode. If you would like to hear their unique sound, they have recorded several albums.

That was the conclusion of this week’s presentation. There will be another Young People’s Concert at the Cibola Arts Council on Friday, May 10 at 4 p.m.