Bach's 6 triosonatas are considered to be one of the masterpieces of his writings for organ. They are also quite difficult to play. In each of the movmements of these sonatas Bach creates an intricate play between the three voices. In about half of the momvements the pedal part plays the roll of a sort of basso continuo, in the other half the pedal parts takes part in the exchange of motives, themes and melodies. The challenge is to play each of these three voices as if they were truly played by a seperate player and create the illusion for the listener to hear an ensemble playing, rather than one organist.
Last year I practised two of them, the first and the fifth trionata, and planned om learning them all. After my skating accident however, I wondered if I would ever be able to play them again. I feared my knee would become to stiff to play the pedals again on the level required to play these sonatas. The last two or three weeks the use of my left leg is gradually returning and pedal playing becomes easier. yet I still hesitated to take on one of Bach's triosonatas for fear of discovering I can't play them anymore.
Then I saw yesterdays @organduo's video where he practices for the first time on his new keyboards. And in this video he practices the first movement of the the first of these triosonates. He also posted that video here on hive.
To see and hear him practising this piece, made me want to try again myself. And so, with a bit of trepidation I choose the first movement of the fifth sonata and set down on the organ bench. That movement has always been my favorite and it is not as difficult as some of the other movements. It's still not an easy piece to play though. Throughout the movement the pedal part plays the role of a continuo, that includes a walking bass in quavers and long pedal points. It should be played lightly and precisely. The texture of a trio is very transparant and playing errors are easily spotted. It is said that if you've mastered all 6 of Bach's triosonatas, you can truly play the organ.
Would I be able to play it again? Well, you can see and hear the result in the video. To my relief I still manage okay in this part. It's not a particularly good performance and I make the mess of the last three bars. However, it gives me confidence that with practise, I can play these sonatas again. I can still play the organ!
