Bach Meets the Beatles

[corte1]

Back in Bach's time, he would take popular themes of the day and perform keyboard improvisations on these themes. If the Beatles existed back in Bach's time, there is no doubt that he would have improvised on their melodic material as well. So what would a Beatles tune sound like if Bach was at the keyboard? This idea was the basis for my recomposition of the Beatles tune "I Want to Hold Your Hand" for solo piano - in the keyboard style of Bach.Comments are welcome. It uses VSL's Vienna Imperial (although Soundcloud degrades the quality a bit).

I Want to Hold Your Hand

[Guy Bacos]

Excellent! 

[Cyril Blanc]

It very good, but I cannot reconize "I want to hold your hand"

[PaulR]

@corte1 said:

 in the keyboard style of Bach.Comments are welcome. 

This is interesting in a lot of ways Al. No cigar this time though. While it sounds fun and is fun there are problems

with 'in the style of Bach'. I may be wrong but it sounds like you've almost attempted counterpoint but then it doesn't really happen. Contrapuntally

it's too rigid in places regarding the left hand. The left hand needed to flow a lot more ( and in spots it does ) for the piece to make more sense

harmonically and would then let the Beatles melody come through in an obvious way. It sounds like you didn't play this but put it in with a mouse

although if you played it in then that'spretty goog playing. 

It's more a faux Baroque style than in Bach's style.

All in all it's good fun and a lot better than most things I hear on the net these days, especially things that have horns and a beat.

[corte1]

Thanks for everyone's comments.

PaulR - I wish I could get into a discussion about counterpoint and contrapuntal playing, but I'm just an amatuer composer with no formal training in composition or theory. So, I'll just assume your points have validity. You are correct about the playback. While I would have rather played this into Cubase live, my piano playing skills are just not that good. Instead, the piece was composed in Sibelius, exported as a midi file into Cubase, and edited from there. While I tried to add some variations in tempo, you can tell it's being played by a computer!

And thanks to you Guy - your material is always a source of inspiration and it was your helpful tips on my very first mockup that got me moving in the right direction.

[PaulR]

@corte1 said:

So, I'll just assume your points have validity. 

You're a brave man!

[Dar32]

Bach worked and re-worked his compositions until they flowed & worked correctly. Love this level of Excellence. 

[veetguitar]

Would love to hear it, but the link seems to be dead.