Monday, October 12, 2009

Jesus remains my joy

From Steve Audio, one of the blogs in my blogroll, a hymn. It's Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, or Jesus bleibet meine freude in the original language.

As the blog points out, one of the salient points of Bach's music is the insistent beat. On a guitar, a player has to find room for the melody, the harmony and the pounding beat, all with a couple of hands on a small instrument. As he hints, the very accomplished Christopher Parkening can play the hymn beautifully but doesn't quite express the way the parts are put together. As with most guitar players, there's a certain running up and down steps vibe to his playing. This young woman, Koari Muraji, keeps the whole piece in her head as she plays, so the expression is a genuine sampling of the underlying intelligence behind the piece.

Not my usual fare but lovely to hear.

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