Search - Johann Sebastian Bach :: J.S. Bach: The Complete Organ Works

Superb all around bach cycle

drollere | Sebastopol, CA United States | 08/10/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"this is an aurally brilliant, artistically captivating and handsomely produced issue of bach's complete works for organ -- excluding works now considered spurious (the eight little preludes and fugues), and including works now considered spurious but who cares (toccata and fugue in dm). first, the sound. as is now customary with bach organ cycles, the works are recorded on a variety of instruments (for this project, 10 organs in germany, denmark and england). some are modern, some are historical, and some are refurbished historical, but all share a tone and acoustic environment that is bright across the entire range, sonorous without echo, and dynamically ethereal or powerful as called for. each organ's history and stops are lovingly documented (with a portrait photo) in the booklet. as for the artistry, preston opens the set with a spectacular and fluent rendering of the fiercely demanding trio sonatas (which he says he practised every day for three months to prepare for the recording), and sails onward from there to the final canonic variations on "vom himmel hoch." in each piece he chooses a range of stops within the palette bach would have assumed in his day, and incidentally chose each of the organs to represent his idea of the "bach sound" (rather than the less convincing "it's not that great an organ but bach played it once" criterion used in another boxed set). i found his choices of stops to be varied, poetic, and alert -- the trio sonatas, the keyboard concertos and the schubler and leipzig chorale sets are utterly delightful. as for style, preston emphasizes keyboard artistry rather than decibel impact -- the passacaglia and fugue in cm comes across powerfully but with all voices distinct and in convincing balance. personal tastes vary, but after purchasing this set i gave away my recording of the trio sonatas by marie-claire alain -- preston's version was far superior.i know little about sound recording, but the large team of producers and engineers credited for these 14 discs has done a remarkable job of producing a crisp and consistent listening experience. the organs do not seem to rattle around in their buildings like marbles in a steel bucket, and they do not intrude distracting keyboard or bellows noises, but seem to sit right between the speakers in full presence. the sheer sensual color of the organs is beautifully projected.the booklet includes an introductory essay by malcolm boyd (whose compact, up to date and authoritative book on bach makes a suitable companion to this set), complete track listings for each cd, and an index of pieces by title + BWV number and by BWV number alone, with the disc and track number where it appears...i am a happy camper!"