Bach, J S: Toccata & Fugue in F major, BWV540

Any collection of recordings by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) must include a good proportion of his compositions for the organ on which he must have been a master-performer and for which he provided a treasure trove of works. With organs requiring large acoustics they are usually to be found in churches, but such is the expense of maintaining them and the buildings in which they are housed that some are falling in to a state of disrepair or are being removed to be replaced by modern electrical or electronic instruments which, for all their good workmanship, completely fail to match the majesty of the original. Recordings, therefore, on a fine Hi-fi system are a fine alternative to travel long distances to sit on often uncomfortable pews in cold churches (however that is not to say that they should completely replace the chance of hearing an original in real life, like other forms of music a live performance has added dimensions, it is just that it is becoming harder to attend such performances). Lionel Rogg, in this first of several planned sets, brings together many of the more extended works which are set as either a Fantasia, Prelude or Toccata followed by a Fugue and include many favourites including the ever popular Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565.

Buxtehude and Bach deeply marked the Baroque world of which they were unquestionable heroes. This CD features Ivana Vallotti’s sublime performances of Buxtehude and Bach organ works, both striking for their exuberant creativity, wonderful contrasts, and palpable joy.

This is the first recording of the new Glatter-Götz/Rosales organ in Magdeburg Cathedral, inaugurated in 2011.

It is perfectly designed for perfoming works by the Baroque masters.

The instrument brings great acousitical clarity and a huge range of colour to these works.

The South German Organ Tradition was a considerable influence on Bach’s oeuvre. This recording portrays representative works of the South German composers Johann Jakob Froberger, Johann Caspar Kerll, Georg Muffat and Johann Pachelbel alongside compositions of Bach, thus outlining these interrelations. In addition, this SACD realises the historical performance practice of the Magnificat: works by Pachelbel and Bach are newly combined in a traditional performance of the Magnificat including sung and played verses, forming one musical unity.

Two different instruments with different tunings have been used for this recording: the two early works by Froberger and Kerll are performed on the historic choir organ by Blasius Bernauer (1776) in Laufenburg, Switzerland, and the remaining works are played on the new Metzler organ (2005) in Stuttgart- Obertürkheim.

On this CD Berben plays the complete keyboard toccatas. The early keyboard toccatas are some of the most mysterious and most fascinating of Bach’s works – they don’t exhibit any of the characteristics of Bach’s later, more mature compositions. As ever from this label, stunning quality.

Hyperion’s Bach Piano Transcriptions series reaches volume 8, and continues to surprise and delight with a disc containing many first recordings. The controversial figure of Eugen d’Albert was one of the greatest pianists of his day and, although largely forgotten now, a composer of genuinely international renown. A sometime student at the Royal College of Music, d’Albert rejected his British upbringing and nailed his colours to the mast of German music. Bach was an important part of his performing career—and like other great nineteeth-century pianists, d’Albert saw in the monumental scale of the organ works an opportunity to synthesize the works of the Master with the expanded capabilities of the modern piano.