Bach, J S: Chorale Prelude BWV638 'Es ist das Heil uns kommen her'

The art of transcription, the adaptation of a composition for an instrument other than that for which it was originally written, has always existed. One need only think of the countless Renaissance songs adapted for keyboard or of the transcriptions made by composers such as Liszt and Busoni, or, more recently, by Gould and Godowsky. And of course, there are the Vivaldi concertos that Bach arranged for organ. When making a transcription, it is often difficult to be completely true to the original composition. Indeed, as Liszt’s transcriptions of Schubert’s lieder so eloquently prove, some transcriptions go so far as to actually transform the composer’s ideas. The following examples, taken from this recording, illustrate the range of a transcription’s faithfulness.

Some of Bach’s most intense expressions of his faith and certainly the highest proof of his extraordinary mastery of musical forms and instrumental technique, his organ works undeniably stand at the pinnacle of human artistic endeavor. Organist of the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Benoît-du-Lac (Quebec, Canada), Dom André Laberge inaugurated in May 2000 its wonderful organ, built by Karl Wilhelm between July 1998 and July 1999.