Sinfonia from Cantata No. 29 (BWV 29) by J.S. Bach; synthetic orchestral rendition by Hari Bayani

Sinfonia – opening movement from Cantata No. 29 (BWV 29)
“Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir” (We thank Thee, God, we thank Thee)
Composed in 1731; based on the Preludio from Violin Partita No. 3 in E major (BWV 1006)

MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) synthetic orchestral interpretation by Hari Bayani
May 10-11, 2020 / October 19, 2021
Edited and produced on Finale Allegro (2014), GarageBand and iMovie

0:00 Introductory credits
0:17 Sinfonia from Cantata No. 29

I originally created this music file for use in my church’s online worship services. I went this route of creating a synthetic orchestral version, so as to avoid using existing recordings and having to potentially deal with legal issues surrounding copyright. It was also a creative exercise for me to see how “lifelike” a performance I could make from a computer.

There are infinitely easier ways to input the musical score into a computer program to create an audio file – I went the old-school route and literally retyped Bach’s score, note for note, into my composition software program – in this case, the 2014 version of Finale Allegro. In several cases, I had to either amend Bach’s original articulations or add new ones, so that they would translate better into the final audio file. Once I was satisfied with the initial recording, I produced an audio file from Finale, then input that audio file into GarageBand, added reverb, produced a final audio file, then added the visual images with the final audio file in iMovie – a laborious process indeed! My goal was NOT to create an electronic version in the vein of the late Wendy Carlos and her fantastic MOOG synthesizer renditions of some of J.S. Bach’s works – in my case, I wanted to replicate a human orchestra as much as possible.

Considering my current outdated, limited technology, my recording is not perfect, of course. There are subtle nuances in phrasing and tempi that are simply impossible to do on the computer. Plus, the “church organ” MIDI sound on my app sounds “kinda funky” for lack of a better term. A human orchestra will NEVER go out of style! Despite those limitations, I feel that I interpreted this beloved Bach work in a pleasing way, based on existing recordings and interpretations that I love and admire. Being an Early Music buff, I felt it was important to interpret the ornaments from Bach’s time as historically accurate as possible. I also feel that too many performers play his music (and other composers too) at breakneck speed (indicative of our modern-day, frenetic age), so I slowed the tempo to something that I feel more closely represents the late Baroque aesthetic of Bach’s day.

I was first introduced to the Sinfonia as a child from a Romantic solo organ interpretation by my favorite organist, Diane Bish, whose TV program, “The Joy of Music” I would watch religiously almost every week, sometimes blasting the television to ear-blasting proportions (and at night too!) so that I could pretend that I was in the same room with Ms. Bish. Listening to her rendition as an adult, I do find it now somewhat a little on the brisk side, but her brilliance, exuberant, joyful charisma and impeccable artistry are absolutely undeniable. https://youtu.be/1Csynke0maE

I based my current interpretation mostly on the glorious historically informed rendition by the Netherlands Bach Society – their performance gives me goosebumps: https://youtu.be/Ih51HIyTW0Q

Images all downloaded from Wikipedia and IMSLP (International Music Score Library Project):

1. First page of the Sinfonia from Bach’s 1731 manuscript of Cantata No. 29
2. Portrait of Johann Sebastian Bach (1748) by Elias Gottlob Haussmann
3. Photos of the Thomaskirche (St. Thomas Church) in Leipzig, Germany, the last place where Bach worked for the last 27 years of his life, from 1723 until his death in 1750, and where Cantata No. 29 was first premiered in 1731

Видео Sinfonia from Cantata No. 29 (BWV 29) by J.S. Bach; synthetic orchestral rendition by Hari Bayani канала Hari the Renaissance Man