Bach - Passacaglia in C minor BWV 582 - Smits | Netherlands Bach Society

In the Passacaglia in C minor, performed here 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.

This recording was made with support of Andrew S. Lim, United States.

Reitze Smits, organ
Instrument: Johann Heinrich Hartmann Bätz, 1762

[hunterhalo]

I walked into St. Thomas cathedral in NYC while friends were at a basketball game. I didn't know what was going on. I sat down, listened to this whole thing, nobody clapped, it was a musical prayer. Honestly changed my life, why else would I be commenting here. I wish you all the MOST.

[mercy]

Cried first time I listen this years ago,
cried again today lol.
only bach and mahler can move me this way. amen bruh

[nickb]

The thing about Bach, no matter how many times you listen to the piece, you will always hear something new. Like Shakespeare, in that everywhere you look there is more substance and meaning. Heifetz said of the Chaconne, “I have been studying and performing this piece for 50 years and I still do not understand it all”. That is true for many of Bach’s pieces.

[denisnicholson]

Amazing that Bach only wrote one Passacaglia and its the only one he had to write. What a masterpiece.

[silvr]

I think Bach is the greatest musician of all time.

[boschevartist]

Listening to these 12 minutes of music is like hearing the sound of water sliding over silvery stones in a narrow river, or the song of a bird waking up in the morning, or the afternoon light brushing the bricks of a London street. But unlike all of these, it was not nature that made it possible, but a man—an utterly sensitive human being. Thank you, J.S.B.

[lordlufas]

Bach is the Greatest Musician of All Time.

[ofsabir]

I just realized that if there would be just one channel that I am allowed to watch in youtube, this would be it!
I don't know how to thank you for keeping Bach's legacy alive...

[aimilios]

Young and ambitious Bach... This piece has to be my favorite ever. It really bends the term Baroque. I've listened to it hundreds of times, from pedal cempallo, piano, organ, orchestra and legends as Stokowski, Richter, Fox and my dearest Biggs, and with wildly different highlights and registrations and conservation... But every single time, my whole body shivers. The slowly progressing passacaglia that gives you an interesting breath before taking it away with three pedal points and the bass so known it works as one... And then pause. You can't take in air, because you are waiting. After that is the fugue. A complex but familiar from before theme that gets stretched and stretched until it comes on bass and on soprano, letting you know the end is near. You don't want it but your heart and breath need it. It must be over, or it will ruin everything. And it's the most majestic not overly pompous finale ever. The Neapolitan, the pause, the suspension and the pedal, the flat second, all in perfect timing for a full C major that resonates with your heart. The shivers peak and slowly disappear; I never cry with music but this piece cracks me up. Every time. Whenever I listen to it on purpose, or it's on the background, or I remember it, it's in the center of my attention. It's the reason I love music so much, the piece that tought me the most beautiful things can be and are created by man...
In the modern Era that everyone can find everything from classics to alternatives, from professionals to amateurs, from irrelevant music about this matter to Bach, a performer has every opportunity to create a great performance. And it's done here. Thank you very much for your performance, Mr Smits. And the NBS. Thanks for letting me experience the piece for the first time again... I may seem overreacting, but I'm not, and of course anyone can skip all this. But it can happen with every piece of Bach, every piece of music, every piece of art, every piece of human thought and strivingness for beauty. And it can happen to anyone. Thanks again, and keep up the good work...

All of this is coming from a listener of the piece (still relevant with music, though). Can't imagine from the performer's perspective...

[krisjustin]

Listening to Bach is like hearing the voices of heaven.

[LoKimLinProject]

this might be the greatest piece of music ever written.

[MelancoliaI]

Bach is a force of nature. Bach is the Fifth Season.

[t.r.]

J.S. Bach is for me the best in history... Nobody can come even close to this man....

[pelaugfi]

Reitze Smiths is a one-in-a-lifetime organist and Bach interpreter. This rendition is a miracle -listen, learn and be humble. It’s a terrible loss that he don’t record for NBS anymore .

[sorenstirling]

This to me is Bach's ultimate masterpiece - the whole species could do worse than to be remembered by this one piece of music

[VallaMusic]

omg - i heard this piece over 40 years ago - did not know what it was called - could never manage to find it again - until now today !!! my favorite organ work finally found !!!

[joselopes]

This Passacaglia only could be composed by a musical genius. The sentiment and the harmony are sublime. The interpretation is outstanding. Viva Bach!!!

[mbashirov]

I am at loss for words... How can a mortal being compose this magnificent of a piece?

[French-Dutch-English-blooded]

Bach's most soulful piece (that I've heard) and probably the greatest piece of music ever (specifically Passacaglia).

[astro-phoenix]

Bach is one of, if not the greatest musical minds to ever live