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Why a Bach cantata ensemble needs a conductor

(Originally posted on April 18, 2010) In December 2001, I was in Brussels visiting my good oboist friend Katy. Thanks to her, I was able to sneak into the Flemish side of the conservatory and observe some of Mr. Sigiswald Kuijken’s baroque violin lessons. In between those lessons he taught (all in different languages), he came to me and asked a few questions. When he asked me what my goal was, I told him that I wanted to organize my own Bach ensemble and direct Bach cantatas regularly. “Well, then you must be a violinist, and that explains why you are here,” and he went on, “who do you study […]

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Period Instruments and Bach

Bach, Early Music, Essays / Koji Otsuki

(Originally posted in February 2010) Sometimes people ask me if I like any Bach performances on the modern instruments. Somehow they expect me to say ‘no,’ but my answer is actually ‘yes,’ with an asterisk. Those people who expected me to say ‘no’ might have heard me lightly criticize modern performances on some occasions.. I don’t deny I do that sometimes. But when I did that, I must have had no expectation as to what I was going to hear. When I hear the metal string sound from the high-tension turbo-charged modern violin with a continuous vibrato playing Bach, out of the blue, I may get a bit displeased. But

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Why Bach?

1件のコメント / Bach, Blog / Koji Otsuki

(Originally posted in January 2010) Sometimes people ask me why I’m so into Bach. They don’t just ask me that when I first tell them I love Bach; they ask me after they realize, following some one-on-one chat with me, that I have made some sacrifices for Bach study, and that Bach literally changed my life. When they realize that my “I love Bach” is a bit different from your “I love Beethoven (and such),” they ask me why I’m so obsessed with the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. The reasons are manifold. And perhaps most of them are something we all share — the same reasons why you love

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Do you like Bach?

About myself, Bach, Blog, Music / Koji Otsuki

(Originally posted in January 2010) Sometimes this happens to be the first question I ask upon meeting someone new. I ask this to a stranger hoping that I don’t have to engage in a small talk which I’m utterly bad at. And I ask myself: what are the odds they say no to that question…? I really don’t get to meet people from outside the music field anyway. They all should have something to say about Bach. What a nice way to skip the small talk and get straight to the substantial conversation! You do not find many musicians who are into fishing or football. No, not soccer, I mean

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