Bach and the North German Tradition, Vol 1
Bach and the music that influenced him, played on a fine Bavarian organ
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Georg Böhm, Dietrich Buxtehude, Johann Sebastian Bach
Genre:
Instrumental
Label: Audite
Magazine Review Date: 2/2011
Media Format: Super Audio CD
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: AUDITE92 547

Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Praeludium |
Dietrich Buxtehude, Composer
Dietrich Buxtehude, Composer Martin Neu, Organ |
(10) Chorale Partite and Variations, Movement: Ach wie nichtig, ach wie flüchtig, WK ii 74 (hpd |
Georg Böhm, Composer
Georg Böhm, Composer Martin Neu, Organ |
Toccata and Fugue |
Dietrich Buxtehude, Composer
Dietrich Buxtehude, Composer Martin Neu, Organ |
Orgel-Büchlein, Movement: Christ ist erstanden, BWV627 (3 vers) |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Martin Neu, Organ |
Preludes and Fugues, Movement: Prelude and Fugue in D, BWV532 |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Martin Neu, Organ |
(18) Chorales, 'Leipzig Chorales', Movement: ~ |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Martin Neu, Organ |
Capriccio |
Georg Böhm, Composer
Georg Böhm, Composer Martin Neu, Organ |
(10) Chorale Partite and Variations, Movement: Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele, WK ii 115 (?hpd) |
Georg Böhm, Composer
Georg Böhm, Composer Martin Neu, Organ |
Passacaglia |
Dietrich Buxtehude, Composer
Dietrich Buxtehude, Composer Martin Neu, Organ |
Author: Malcolm Riley
Although Bach gets top billing (being alphabetically top of the class), the most pleasurable highlights are the three delightful pieces by Georg Böhm (1661-1733), who Bach got to know between 1700 and 1702 when he attended school in Lüneberg. As a musician of wide musical tastes – informed, no doubt, by a spell working in Hamburg’s opera house – Böhm is remembered best for establishing the chorale partita as a fully fledged musical form. Two examples are recorded here, mostly on the manuals alone, with sparing use of the pedals. Böhm’s encouragement of Bach manifested itself in a love of elegant dance forms (Lüneberg being celebrated for its love of all things in the French taste), flowing bass-lines and a willingness to experiment. Although it is usually played on the harpsichord, Böhm’s Capriccio in D sounds quite at ease on the organ. Bach’s early Prelude and Fugue in D is rattled off in a similarly strong, no-nonsense manner. Where Bach excelled, of course, was in the trio sonata. Martin Neu produces a perfectly poised chorale trio on Herr Jesus Christ. Buxtehude’s contributions emphasise how indebted Bach was in matters fugal. In Buxtehude’s Passacaglia the Ahrend organ’s tuning strains somewhat under full load as Neu climbs the steep summit to the crowning final tierce de Picardie. Although this new Bavarian organ has a modest specification on paper, such is the variety of its timbral beauty that the ear never tires. The documentation, recorded sound and playing are all of the first order.
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