Search - Johann Sebastian Bach, Bernardo Pasquini, Christoph Graupner :: Bach: The Works for Organ, Vol. 17

A Wonderful Finish to the Cycle of Bach Organ Works

A. Craig | Grand Junction,CO | 03/29/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the last Volume of Kevin Bowyer's Recordings of the



Organ Works of Johann Sebastian Bach for Nimbus Records. Somehow



he has managed over Seventeen Volumes to consistanly maintain



a high standard for performing these works. Always using good



taste in his choices of registers and what pieces to put together



in the Volumes. Nimbus Records has as always provided the best



possible sound for these recordings. In this final Volume



Mr. Bowyer brings us one of the finest performances of "The Art



of Fugue" on the organ that has been heard since Helmut Walcha's



impressive recording. Many other works associated with the



keyboard are heard on the organ to good effect some people will



feel that Mr. Bowyer has done a lot of borrowing of "keyboard"



works to fill out the set, but I feel that Bach would not mind if



some of them were performed on an organ. I hope that someday soon



Nimbus Records will be able to release the entire 17 Volume



series as a boxed set. Granted it will be 29 CD's but then they



are all worth it. I do not think this set of recordings will see



an equal anytime soon."

Tremendous achievement

Joseph R. Mullany | Waynesville, North Carolina | 08/11/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"The capstone to this heroic undertaking is one of the best, a Art of Fugue second to none. a marvelous Goldberg Variations, the three discs are a feast of music.

This whole project, a rarity in a world where it is not likely to see such effort, such effort not being guaranteed to make a profit, begins with a search for the perfect instrument, in a fine acoustical setting, with a genuine artist at the wheel, annd the whole thing engineered with care and most importantly, continuity. A series of recording made over a period of years risks being recorded in a spotty way.

Here, each disc sounds just as any other disc in the series which is to say, superb.

Bach wrote for the instrument of his time which we have come to know as the North German Baroque, of unequual temperament and with a strictly mechanical keyboard. Thus, these recordings give us authentic Bach in every way. Of Kevin Bowyers artistry nothing I can add here will make it gleam more.

So, here is the Master; each disc is a separate program with no attempt to make it sequential, a wonderful way to fill out each program. The first cut is the Toccata and fugue in D so, if you are like me, a trifle weary of it's inclusion on every organ collection since the dawn of organ recording, you can proceed to savor literally tons of great slabs of sound, bass to shake the walls, but with the most incredible winds, transparency with what the liner notes refer to as "gravity", a useful term that describes the organ, a Marcussen in St Johns Church in

Odense, Denmark. Bach esteemed the organs of Arp Schnitger and I think he would feel the same about this unpretentious three manual masterpiece in Odense.

This series marks the end of my personal collecting of Bach organ works, a task dating back to the 78's by artists like Biggs and Albert Schweitzer. At 78 years of age I think I have gotten as much mileage out of my ears as possible and to finish this way, with this release makes me feel a great debt to Nimbus for going the extra distance to make it all possible. They ran into financial trouble but had the integrity and dedication to follow through, a rarity in the recording industry today.

This set carries a hefty price tag. So does the Hope diamond and for the same reason, it is priceless."

An Observation On Bowyer's Bach...

Derek James Tomalty | 02/26/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is not a full review...just an observation: Having listened so far to Kevin Bowyer's Bach only once, the fact that he champions modern organ creations rings true to my ears! Perhaps Bowyer's genius as an organist is his rare ability to make the composition of his 'subject' so entirely clear? In effect, he gets into Bach's head and heart? He is a creative organist whose playing demonstrates the work's very soul! I'm not surprised in the least that he is skilled interpreting the modern repetoire as well? Yes, Bowyer may not be as spiritual as Karl Richter or Gustav Leonhardt, but he gets into a piece and displays all its in and outs...This is a rare gift. I've always wanted to compose a piece for organ! Now, I just have to learn to read music...Bowyer helps fuel my creative dreams."