Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor - Can I Still Play It - BWV 565?

Me, looking at pianists: Coordinating the two hands looks really hard. Organists: Hold my beer

My favourite YouTube channel. I spend a LOT of time on this platform, but I have never clicked a new video faster and more excitedly. Fraser, you rock!

In my recommended - like many others here - and happy that the yt algorithm works! Great stuff.

I have so much respect for organ players. The amount of skill required to play organ is insane.

I would vehemently disagree with people complaining that you talk “too much”. Your discussions make your videos unique! Had I been searching for a pure performance, there is a spoiling abundance of such videos.

Great video! I really enjoyed the insight you were able to bring to performing this piece, and the tips on playing the organ. I learned many things! Please don't be discouraged by the base-less negativity that can be found in the comments. I would be very sad if you slowed down your content production because of a few individuals whom misunderstand you. Thanks again, Cole

Brilliant and very informative. I love your improvisations, and your chatty style whilst imparting knowledge is great! Thank you very much!

I don't play organ but found this mesmerising as you explained all the elements of a fugue. Absolutely fascinating. You must be an amazing teacher.

You've been in Germany so long now that you actually sound a wee bit Welsh! Great vid!

You reminded me as a 9 year old starting to learn to play organ. My brothers also played a lot of Bach on the home electronic pipe organ when I was young, and I can still dream all of the notes and moods that are in this masterpiece. Thank for you inspiration!

Thank you for taking the time, effort and interest in making the video twice, German and English as there was so much information that we English speakers would lose, even with the sub-title captions (which make no sense). Your breakdown of this piece was very interesting, so much that most of us take for granted when listening to someone playing.

This was in my recommended, I clicked to see just the song and ended up watching the whole video

If you can play it slowly, then you can play it very fast. More Ling Ling workout. Practice 40 hours a day.

My mother was an organist. This is the piece she wanted at her funeral. So when that time came, I contacted the American Guild of Organists, and asked who had this in their hands at that time. Probably most if not all of them had played it - but this is not a piece many can just pick up and do well, if they haven't been practicing it and keeping it "in their hands". Three organists could have done it in a few days notice, and one could do it when the church was available for the funeral mass. It was played on a pipe organ (of course) and absolutely was the perfect send off. Thank you for playing this, I so love hearing it!

This person sounds half German half Scottish 😄

This channel is a great hidden gem of YouTube, wow! Chapeau! Ended up here by accident, but I won't leave anytime soon.

What's interesting about the G major piece, is that back in the days, according to some sources, there used to be ONE organ at the time of Bach which had the black pedals at lower height than usual (as in the days of Bach almost all organs had extremely high black pedals compared to the regular ones). It is believed that Bach might have written the G major fugue at this instrument, knowing that he was able to use the heel more conveniently than on other instruments. That also explains why perhaps the fugue theme was written the way we know it today, where you can more easily bind the three sixteenth notes than in any other Bach fugatic theme. Can't ever be sure, but it makes a lot of sense if you think about it 🙂

This month I will see and play an organ for the first time. I am so excited to start learning. I actually memorized the Toccata so I will try to play it on the spot, without any prior knowledge of organ playing. It will be a long journey though. I have to concil my time with the law college and I also need to get a job asap. Lastly, in my country organ music is almost completely forgotten. Lets see how things will unfold.

Your pedagogy is fantastic. I always had a lot of internal anxiety when making practicing classical pieces. Teachers who jump too fast on mistakes ruin the learning experience. Now that I'm getting back into playing and practicing these on my own, you showed me some great reminders. The most important ones, in my opinion, are to (a) properly diagnose errors and make adjustments right away, (b) try different combinations of LH/RH/Ped when practicing individual lines, and (c) it's not performance ready until it's performance ready!

I'M ALIVE NOW!😄 Absolutely invaluable lessons on an excruciatingly difficult piece. Thank you! Loved the theatre organ tift at the end. Nothing like a little ragtime on a monster...😄 Great stuff, sir!