The Hidden Treasures of the Museum of Fine Arts, to the last theme of Bach's Goldberg Variations

YouTube ^ | July 8, 2019

[mairdie]

A selection of items belonging to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, that are not currently on view. They may be in storage, out on loan, being restored, or being prepared for a future exhibit. Painters and one sculptor are listed at the end of the video. Consider it an art challenge to recognize the artist and their associated paintings. Putting the artists name into the MFA collections' website will give you a feel for an artist's style. Done to Trevor Pinnock's last theme of Bach's Goldberg Variations.

[mairdie]

Washington Allston, Victor David Brenner, Frederic Edwin Church, Thomas Cole, Lucas Cranach, the Younger, Asher Brown Durand, Erastus Salisbury Field, Eugene Fontenay, John F. Francis, El Greco, John La Farge, Fitz Henry Lane, George Hayward, Martin Johnson Heade, Winslow Homer, William Morris Hunt, George Inness, John Frederick Kensett, Claude Monet, Peter Paul Rubens, Gilbert Stuart, Kitagawa Utamaro, Elihu Vedder, Ichiyotei Yoshitaki

[mairdie]

PING to art pieces belonging to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, that are not on view.

[lee martell]

Lovely harpsichord. That reminds me of J.S. Bach’s more familiar Das Wohltemperierte Klavier (The Well Tempered Clavier) Book 1.

There are many French counterparts to this technique using this instrument. The one I’m most familiar with would be
Jean Philippe Rameau. I have a CD from him;
Pieces de Clavecin, Book 1, Nouvelles Suites.
A clean, simple and elegant sound. It makes one slow down for a while.

[Sirius Lee]

The Goldberg’s are seriously, SiriusLee, difficult to perform in one sitting. Not the playing the notes so much - you can pretty much sight read each variation, - but doing so in a way as to shape a cohesive arc. (think 1955 vs more organic 1981 recordings by Glen Gould) Art of Fugue likewise.

[Sirius Lee]

Gave it a thumbs up in any case.

[mairdie]

THANK YOU! Very much appreciated.

[mairdie]

Have any advice for me? The next video is planned as 6 of the variations under images, maybe organized, of what is on view.

05 - Variation 04 a 1 Clav
10 - Variation 09 Canone alla Terza a 1 Clav
13 - Variation 12 Canone alla Quarta a 1 Clav
14 - Variation 13 a 2 Clav
20 - Variation 19 a 1 Clav
31 - Variation 30 Quadibet a 1 Clav

It comes to 11 1/2 min, which does seem a bit long.

[GnuThere]

Very nice - I especially liked the landscapes.

[mairdie]

Thomas Cole, Round Top in the Catskill Mountains, 1827

George Inness, Sunset Landscape, Medfield, 1861

Frederic Edwin Church, Study for The Parthenon, 1869-70

Fitz Henry Lane, Fishing, 1850

John Frederick Kensett, Smith's Point, Beverly MA, 1867

[YogicCowboy]

Thanks.

[YogicCowboy]

Well Temperament is the precursor to Equal Tuning.

The development of Common Practice music required modulating to other keys, especially the dominant. Well tuning allows some modulation, but preserves the distinct tonal colors for each of the 7 Major and 7 Minor keys.

Equal Temperament (20th Century convention) destroys those differences; all keys are equally out of tune (off key), to allow unlimited modulation. Playing Bach on a keyboard with modern tuning does not sound the way Bach (or any other 18th or 19th Century composer) intended.

Most elite choirs sing a cappella, because the human mind gravitates toward exact (just) tuning, while modern instruments, especially keyboards, pull the voices off key, ruining the ringing overtones possible in choral music from the ideal blend of vocal parts.

[lee martell]

I didn’t know any of that information about being “on key”.
Thanks for explaining. I am reminded that the human voice is also an instrument of music, as is, without embellishment.

[GnuThere]

Oh - I had wondered about that Parthenon one - the strokes reminded me of Cezanne but I knew he had never painted that.

[mairdie]

So now we know where the Hudson River school artists learned to paint.

[GnuThere]

I didn’t realize until I recently started getting their travel emails that Smithsonian has an art tour up the Hudson and back to NYC. Also another tour of art along the Maine coast, which sounds great.

[mairdie]

Fascinating. I know nothing about either, but I’ll look into them. We don’t get out much. Hate to board the pups.

[GnuThere]

Yes, I used to have that situation - always felt guilty.

[TEXOKIE]

Oh thank you mairdie! I’m taking some time out from the unfolding onslaught of news these days.

I REALLY loved hearing the Bach, and seeing those lovely things.

I think out of the entire excellent display, the most poignant one, which moved me the most, was the picture of the black man by a half-buried bigger-than-life statue of a pharaoh in a desert setting. The man has his head near the lips of the Pharaoh. [It can be found at 1:43.]

I don’t know why it struck me so strongly, but as much art does, this image conveys a lot of possible different meanings and scenarios - all of them which I’ve looked at are fraught with emotion.

Thanks so much for your work. Please continue to make these lovely jewel like clips!

[mairdie]

And now you completely understand fanfic!

That’s what it’s all about. Something you see inspires you, and your imagination builds one of a million stories. Fanfic shares the stories, but the story is just as good that you leave curled up happily in your mind.

“in 4500 years, a man will rise up and change the world. Wait for him. He’ll have blond hair and the best tan ever.”

[TEXOKIE]

“in 4500 years, a man will rise up and change the world. Wait for him. He’ll have blond hair and the best tan ever.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

ROFL! I love that interp!