Organ Bach Sielbermann

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bachs interest in the organ would seem to be fairly limited, at least judging by the number of pieces he composed for the instrument. The reasons for this attitude could be personal and professional, but could also reflect the changing affections and the new sensibility of the period, since during his lifetime the organ underwent a phase of relative decline. Indeed, following the acme reached by Johann Sebastian Bach, the instrument sank into a phase of neglect in Germany during the second half of the 1700s.

Thoroughly trained by his father Johann Sebastian, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach became renowned as a virtuoso harpsichordist and organist. His surviving organ music includes the seven choral preludes and ten fugues on this disc, which range from relatively simple settings to elaborate displays of counterpoint. Born in Rio de Janeiro and based in the USA, Julia Brown, who has made several acclaimed recordings of keyboard music by Buxtehude and Scheidemann for Naxos, has been praised as ‘a first-class artist and superb technician … an exceptionally sensitive stylist’.

The father of the Baroque period, Johann Sebastian Bach is one of the greatest composers of all time. His works, covering a wide range of instruments and voice types, continue to flourish to this day, forming a core part of musical learning. This special disc brings together the Trio Sonatas BWV525–530, works that originally appeared in a manuscript of works for organ. In this form, the pieces naturally became part of Bach’s teaching – a notable contribution to his oldest son Wilhelm Friedemann’s virtuoso organ technique.

The Japanese organist, Minako Tsukatani, started playing the organ while studying at the University of Fine Arts and Music of Tokyo, musicology department. She studied pipe organ under Naoko Imai, Makiko Hayashima, Jacques van Oortmerssen and the late Jean Boyer, and improvisation under Jos van der Kooy. After graduating from the University of Fine Arts and Music of Tokyo in 1995, Tsukatani continued her studies at the Conservatory of Amsterdam, majoring in historical organ and organ construction theory.

This recording brings together all the arrangements for harpsichord by Bach of instrumental concertos by his Italian contemporary Antonio Vivaldi, adding those of one concerto each by the brothers Alessandro and Benedetto Marcello. They are performed by Sophie Yates who has made a series of solo CDs for Chandos, many of which have won international awards. She has been described by Gramophone as ‘hugely talented’ and by BBC Music as playing ‘with exceptional poise’.

This set gathers the Bach recordings released by Michel Chapuis for the French label Valois (now Naive) between 1966 and 1970. These highly regarded recordings were reissued by Naive in 1999 and soon became unavailable again. Faultless registration, dramatic flair, dazzling technique and pinpoint clarity in counterpoint make these recordings a cornerstone of any Bach and organ discography. The booklet includes a detailed index by BWV numbers and another by alphabetical order of titles.

Almost two centuries passed between the creation of the first and last pieces on the cd programme at hand, which was recorded by Bram Beekman on the De Rijckere organ in the Oostkerk (East Church) in the Dutch town of Middelburg. Almost 200 years in the wideranging history of the organ separate both the D minor Toccatas by the German organ masters Johan Sebastian Bach and Max Reger…

The marvellous Ton Koopman plays Bach's complete works for organ in wonderful performances full of power, passion, and grace! These digital recordings were made in 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, and 1999.