critique Leopold Augustus Bach

[Spike]

Havn't posted anything here in a while, so here's something. Working on a sequence, the life and death of Leopold Augustus Bach. The players here are Sebastian (JS Bach, 33); his wife, Maria Barbara; (34) Maria Barbara's elder sister, part of the household, Friedelena (43); his daughter Catherina (10); the three sons, Friedemann (9), Gottfried (5), and Carl (4); Duke Earnst August of Weimar (30) and Dutchess Wilhelmene, (23); and Leopold, Prince of Anhault Köthen (25). And i needed a midwife, Frau . . . and the first name that came to mind was.. . . Blüchermann. (Blame Mel Brooks, lol.) anyway: four pages.

EDIT: Have re-uploaded this several times, tweaking and tweaking, and this final version (actually, "final version" 16 now) is different from the previous ones in a small but I think important way. I had wanted this birth scene to be quick and light-hearted, but hadn't really acknowledged the seriousness of giving bifth at this time, 1718, always potentially life-threatening for both mother and child. And so, in addition to the little bit of comedy around Sebastian's "schedule" a bit of fear, just a hint. Friedelena, instead of ending her line with "it is time." Says, instead, "It will go well. I know it.," deepening a little, I think, both of their characters, he primarily concerned for Barbara, and she for both parents.

https://www.keepandshare.com/doc30/116290/bb16-pdf-53k?da=y

 

[Spike]

By the way, for anyone interested, the music in this scene, Friedemann at the Harpsichord. Here, Glenn Gould at the piano.

 

[Nate North]

I like these recordings a lot, I just have a hard time getting enthusiastic about them these days, Not because they are spectacular, Which they are, But because these Glenn Gould recordings got played on auto repeat until the vinyl wore out and my house from 1980 to 1995. Dad was once a virtuoso classical pianist, And we just listened to a lot of Glenn Gould.

I was more of a Stravinsky/Mussorgsky type person, But I always liked these Gould recordings.

How come nobody ever mentions Morton Gould?

 

[Spike]

In the film, it would be on harpsichaord, and only for a few seconds. But I like Glenn's tempo and articulation here. For the scene, the Partita, I thought, would be a bit inappropriately, maybe comically, fast and busy, esp. if played as Gould plays it. And the Prelude, again, slightly comical, almost a parody of waiting.

 

[Spike]

In the script, there's some Handel and Vivaldi, since each makes a cameo appearance. Otherwise it's, of course, all Bach, and most of that "live," performed (as it is here) as part of the scene.