Kenneth Anderson

Kenneth Gilbert's vital rhythmic sense and love of refinement are qualities which can be strongly felt throughout this set.

The Art of Fugue or 'complete practical fugal work', as C. P. E. Bach described his father's giant contrapuntal achievement, is well represented in the current recording catalogue. The approaches to it vary considerably with performances on solo keyboard—harpsichord and organ—and mixed ensembles with markedly different shades of instrument colour. Varied too, is the sequence in which the performers play the fugal parts which comprise the whole. Some complete the final fugue, some do not; some find a place for all the pieces included in the posthumous original edition of 1751, others have given reasons for omitting those which seem not to play a directly relevant part in Bach's scheme. Kenneth Gilbert leads us down another fascinating path his performance on a solo harpsichord follows not the 1751 printed edition but Bach's own autograph material differing from the other both in content and layout.

This is a superb recording of the Two-Part and Sinfonias (Three-Part Inventions) of Johann Sebastian Bach. Kenneth Gilbert is a wonderful interpreter of Bach's keyboard music and in this recording plays an instrument made in 1671 by Jan Couchet that was subsequently enlarged in 1778. The Two-Part Inventions and Sinfonias consist of 15 parts; they were written as technical exercises and as composition demonstration pieces originally for his son Wilhelm Friedemann. The various pieces were probably written separately and were gathered together by Bach in major/minor key sequence and published in 1723. The recording is clear and well balanced. Kenneth Gilbert plays beautifully; the music is lively without being ostentatious.

Everyone who has sat at a piano stool at a tender age will find old friends amongst the pieces comprising this delightful anthology. Kenneth Gilbert has arranged his programme in four parts. First he plays the eight Preludes, BWV924-31, of the Clavier-Buchlein which Bach compiled in 1720 for his eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann, then aged ten; he follows these with the Six Little Preludes, BWV933-8, and five further Preludes, BWV939-43. A sixth in C minor, BWV999, is also included but was evidently intended for lute.