Quote of the day

Bach’s son, C P E Bach, in his treatise about playing keyboard instruments, remarked that ‘certain purposeful violations of the beat are often exceptionally beautiful’. The idea that Baroque music has to be metronomic is a false one. Of course the rhythmic pulse must be forever present, and you must never pull the music about just for the sake of it. Any rubato must be applied to illuminate something in the structure, to bring our attention to a beautiful change of harmony, to point out something to the listener that otherwise would be passed over too abruptly. In that way, structure, poetry and sound are all related and come together as a whole.

A funny thing happened when I performed the complete cycle in Portland, Oregon, during my tour: a piano teacher was overheard remarking on how different my ‘new’ performance was from the older recording, and although she admired it hugely, thought that it might be ‘safer’ for her students to listen to the first version. I can understand the thinking behind that: it is risky putting ‘expression’ in Bach. But I prefer the risks, and I think Bach himself would have played it anything but safe!

Angela Hewitt, 2009, about her new recording of the Well Tempered Clavier