Marie-Claire Alain has contributed so generously to the discography of organ music that it would be invidious to point to a single disc as her most important. Against several complete recordings of Bach and innumerable recordings of late nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century French repertoire this humble disc of music by four relatively little-known eighteenth-century composers might seem of little more than curiosity value, yet here she has elevated Bach’s four musical sons to a plateau on which they have rarely before been allowed to stand.
Whether it’s the dramatic gestures of C. P. E.’s stirring Fantasia e fuga and his magnificent Fugue in E flat, the innocent charm of W. F.’s Fugues, J. C.’s quasi-operatic Fugue on B-A-C-H (with its strikingly forward-looking tonal adventurousness) or J. C. F’s humble little Fugue based on his full signature (Hans-Christoph-Friedrich-Buckenburger-B-A-C-H) Alain reveals the very essence of the music, registering it with impeccable taste and, through her innate musicianship, convincing us that these are pieces which deserve not only to be heard, but which can stand alongside the monumental edifices which were J. S’s legacy.
At least two of Bach’s sons knew the delightful organ on which Alain plays. C. P. E. composed his six sonatas and W. F. his eight fugues for Princess Anna Amalia who used to play on this very organ before it was rehoused in Berlin. The recording is beautifully clear and intimate. But best of all is Alain’s intuitive and wondrously communicative playing. An important and valuable addition to the catalogue, and a disc to treasure.'