Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
                                 (Organ works)


No. of tracks..................18
Total time..................61'56
Performed by........Simon Preston
Publisher......Deutsche Gramophon
Reviewed by.........Paul Draaisma

CD includes:

           trk 1-2    Toccata and Fugue in D minor          (BWV 565)
           trk 3-5    Fantasia in G major                   (BWV 572)
           trk 6-10   Canonic Variations on 
                      "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her"    (BWV 769)
           trk 11-12  Prelude and Fugue in D major          (BWV 532)
           trk 13-16  Pastorale in F major                  (BWV 590)
           trk 17-18  Prelude and fugue in E flat major     (BWV 552)

           ----------------------------------------------------------


Reviewing classical music isn't very easy since a) there isn't much to say and
b) what there is to say I don't understand much of. So, to my aid I have a 
little booklet from which I'll get some input which I then will try to 
intertwine with my own views.

I don't mind rock, pop, synth AMIGA music, a.s.o. in fact I like it very much,
but every once in a while it's nice to pull out a CD and listen to the work of
one of the Great Composers - Johann Sebastian Bach. 

The CD I will review is one that features some of his most frequently heard 
works, namely those composed for organ. The instrument interested him chiefly 
in the first part of his career, and indeed many of his organ works show a 
youthful vigour. Bach received a thorough training within his family circle
and at the North German Organ School, and he developed early as an organ 
composer. 
A name seldom mentioned, if ever, is Dietrich Buxtehude. While Bach was 
employed as an organist in Arnstadt (1705-06) he heard him play the organ at 
the Marienkriche in Lübeck. He was deeply influenced by the experience, and 
the style he found there was clearly more flamboyant than that to which his
employers in Arnstadt were accustomed. Soon after his return, complaints were
addressed to him because he was upsetting the congregation by introducing 
curious embellishments and strange notes into the hymns. He soon left for a
post in Müllhausen (1707), and then moved to a court position in Weimar (1708)

OK, the music...

Toccata and Fugue in D minor:
Bach's best-known organ work. What can I say? It's magnificent! The use of
juxtaposed short, dramatic gestures with impressive pedal notes and 
arpeggiated chords is simply breathtaking. There is just one little ripple and
that is the question - did Bach really compose this?
Suggestions have been advanced which cast a doubt upon Bach's authorship of
this work, on account of it's poor sources, the unusually simple techniques it
employs and the regularity of the fugal subject. It may have originated as a
violin piece in A minor (not necessarily by Bach himself), which was later 
transcribed for organ, perhaps by someone of the succeeding generation.

Fantasia in G major:
It starts off with light rapid arpeggiated chords and is then overtaken by the
five-part contrapuntal rest of the piece. This contrapuntal music is 
enormously powerful and gives a celestial atmospheric feeling (you feel
very small when you listen to it). 
Not much more to say about it... 

Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her":
This is one of his last works. It was published in 1748. It was "composed" at
a time when he became increasingly interested in the mathematical aspects of
his art. In 1747 he joined a society devoted to this field of study, the
Society of the Musical Sciences, founded by the polymath Lorenz Christoph 
Mizler (a former student of Bach). The presentation of the Canonic Variations
on Luther's Christmas hymn "Vom Himmel hoch, da komm' ich her" to the society,
was Bach's entry submission. 
As a parenthesis I should mention that the melody wasn't originally composed 
by Luther, but by Ludwig Senfl (1489-1543) and was called Mit Lust.

Prelude and Fugue in D major:
It displays many of the same formal structures as BWV 565. It begins showily
with rising pedal scales combined with fanfare-like motives. The sectionalized
nature of this work, with it's emphasis on display, suggests that Bach wrote
it early in his career, perhaps in Arnstadt or Müllhausen.
The piece was probably written around the same time as the three-part G
major Fantasia. 

Pastorale in F major:
This piece consists of four apparently different movements. Whether the
movements originally belonged together or not is unknown but the whole is
unlike other suites by Bach in it's variety of key and contrasting styles.

Prelude and Fugue in E flat major:
The second piece (BWV 769 is the other) on this recording which was published
during Bach's lifetime. The Prelude and Fugue were originally printed in 1739
at opposite ends of the third Clavier Übung, a collection of chorale-based 
pieces which employed melodies used within the Lutheran liturgy as a vehicle 
expressing the beliefs of the Reformed Church. 
The Prelude combines elements of a modified French overture style (stately
dotted rhythms and suspensions) within the ritornello structure of the
Italian concerto. (<--It's a good thing that I have that booklet!) 



Since I love organ music I love this CD, but, in my opinion it's not perfect.
Three pieces, BWV 565, BWV 572 and BWV 532, have characteristics and stand out
compared to other organ music, but the other three pieces sound just like
"ordinary" organ music. There are ofcourse a reasons for this. In the 
beginning of his career Bach worked as an organist and he was influenced by 
the pieces played in churches at the time. Also there is the error of the 
listener (me) to be considered. I think that most organ music sounds the same
just as I'd say that all techno sounds the same even though it doesn't (or
does it?).
Anyway, BWV 769 (Canonic Variations...) SHOULD sound like ordinary organ music
I think, since it's from the beginning was a hymn which Bach made a "cover" 
on.

Summary:
Well, if you like organ music then this as a CD that you definitely ought to
buy, if you haven't got it already. Should it be that you're only interested
in the more known and melodic pieces like "Toccata and Fugue" then you'd
probably be better off with a CD like "Best of Bach" or something like that.

Next time: Joculatores Upsalienses - early music at Wik (Medieval music)
                                                 (If Bjørn wants it that is)
                                                                  
                                                       
                                                     Paul D