J.S. Bach on the Organ

[jlaurson]

Impressive looking organ! And with the 'sacred pineapple'!!

[nut-job]

Listened to volume 11 of Weinberger's Bach organ works series.  Track list is below.  Preludes and Fugues, Duets, the Canzone and Alla Breve were excellent.  The Chorale preludes made little impression on me, as usual.  Sorry, Bulldog

# Prelude and Fugue, for organ in F minor, BWV 534 (BC J20)
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
with Gerhard Weinberger

# Kyrie, Gott Vater in Ewigkeit (II), chorale prelude for organ (Clavier-Übung III/4), BWV 672 (BC K4)
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
with Gerhard Weinberger

# Christe, aller Welt Trost (II), chorale prelude for organ (Clavier-Übung No. 5), BWV 673 (BC K5)
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
with Gerhard Weinberger

# Kyrie, Gott heiliger Geist (II), chorale prelude for organ (Clavier-Übung III/6), BWV 674 (BC K6)
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
with Gerhard Weinberger

# Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr (V), chorale prelude for organ (Clavier-Übung III/7), BWV 675 (BC K7)
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
with Gerhard Weinberger

# Fughetta super Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr, for organ (Clavier-Ubung III/9), BWV 677 (BC K9)
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
with Gerhard Weinberger

# Fughetta super Dies sind die heilgen zehn Gebot, for organ (Clavier-Übung III/11), BWV 679 (BC K11)
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
with Gerhard Weinberger

# Fughetta super Wir glauben all an einen Gott, for organ (Clavier-Übung III/13), BWV 681 (BC K13)
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
with Gerhard Weinberger

# Vater unser im Himmelreich (III), chorale prelude for organ (Clavier-Übung No. 145), BWV 683 (BC K15)
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
with Gerhard Weinberger

# Christ, unser Herr, zum Jordan kam (II), chorale prelude for organ (Clavier-Übung III/17), BWV 685 (BC K17)
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
with Gerhard Weinberger

# Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir (II), chorale prelude for organ á 4 (Clavier-Übung III/19), BWV 687 (BC K19)
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
with Gerhard Weinberger

# Fuga super Jesus Christus unser Heiland, fugue for organ (Clavier-Übung III/21), BWV 689 (BC K21)
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
with Gerhard Weinberger

# Alla breve, for organ in D major, BWV 589 (BC J64)
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
with Gerhard Weinberger

# Canzona, for organ in D minor, BWV 588 (BC J80)
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
with Gerhard Weinberger

# Duetto, for keyboard No. 1 in E minor (Clavier-Übung III No. 23), BWV 802 (BC J74)
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
with Gerhard Weinberger

# Duetto, for keyboard No. 2 in F major (Clavier-Übung III No. 24), BWV 803 (BC J75)
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
with Gerhard Weinberger

# Duetto, for keyboard No. 3 in G major (Clavier-Übung III No. 25), BWV 804 (BC J76)
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
with Gerhard Weinberger

# Duetto, for keyboard No. 4 in A minor (Clavier-Übung III No. 26), BWV 805 (BC J77)
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
with Gerhard Weinberger

# Toccata and Fugue, for organ in F major, BWV 540 (BC J39, 55, 73) Fuga in F
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
with Gerhard Weinberger

[Bulldog]

Listened to volume 11 of Weinberger's Bach organ works series.  Track list is below.  Preludes and Fugues, Duets, the Canzone and Alla Breve were excellent.  The Chorale preludes made little impression on me, as usual.  Sorry, Bulldog

I don't have any idea what you're sorry about.  Please clue me in?

I think I understand now.  You're the guy who isn't thrilled with Bach chorale preludes.  Hopefully, someday you will come across an organist who makes these works come alive for you.  In the meantime, enjoy the rest of Bach's music.

[Coopmv]

No, Premont, I didn't expect a North German baroque organ suddenly founded in Leipzig, just some explanations in order to justify the organ's features and the models taken into account. Today is totally unthinkable to face this kind of work without some historical research, especially when a so historical place is concerned.

On the other hand, as you point out, the huge Böhme's "seriousness" could be the problem. This boy doesn't "play" the game; he doesn't flow with music (and the different pathos of the liturgical year). I feel, for instance, lost the joyful sense of the little bells in BWV 603. But probably I'm being unfair with Böhme because he is a very respectable organist.

Here some pictures of the "Bach church"  :

Here is a Mass in B Minor concert recorded right at the St Thomas Church in Leipzig.

[Coopmv]

Listened to volume 11 of Weinberger's Bach organ works series.  Track list is below.  Preludes and Fugues, Duets, the Canzone and Alla Breve were excellent.  The Chorale preludes made little impression on me, as usual.  Sorry, Bulldog

At the moment, I am still undecided if I should spring for the Gerhard Weinberger's set.  I am definitely going for the third recording by Marie-Claire Alain if I can find the set at the right price, which happens from time to time ...

[nut-job]

At the moment, I am still undecided if I should spring for the Gerhard Weinberger's set.  I am definitely going for the third recording by Marie-Claire Alain if I can find the set at the right price, which happens from time to time ...

I have Weinberger's set on order.  I'm selling my Alain set on ebay.  Auction is in progress.

[71 dB]

I have been enjoying Preludes & Fugues (Rübsam/Naxos 8.550652) which I bought used and got last Thursday.

The backside of the CD case lists Preludes and Fugues as separate tracks but they aren't on the CD. Also, BWV542 is listed as Prelude & Fugue instead of Fantasia & Fugue. Anyway, the music kicks ass and that's what counts.  0:)

[Coopmv]

I have Weinberger's set on order.  I'm selling my Alain set on ebay.  Auction is in progress.

I can get the Weinberger's set at a great price but do not want to end up having a box set that ultimately may prove unsatisfactory.  I have yet to find any uniformly positive opinions of him ...

[jlaurson]

I can get the Weinberger's set at a great price but do not want to end up having a box set that ultimately may prove unsatisfactory.  I have yet to find any uniformly positive opinions of him ...

I can't help you, either, because I don't think it _is_ a set that one could say "uniformly positive" things about. (I don't know a complete set, yet, about which one could, though.) That said, I think it's certainly not a set that will prove unsatisfactory. (In some excitement, I put it on my "Best of 2008 List for WETA, actually... in case it sounds like I don't actually like it.)

#9 – (Reissue) – Bach, Complete Organ Works, Gerhard Weinberger – cpo 777363-2

For some reason, I've not come across (or particularly noted) many re-issues that weren't extravagant box sets. So here's the first of a few, in this case the complete organ works of Bach. Gerhard Weinberger has been recording this canon since 1997, and he finished earlier this year with a (world premiere) recording of the recently rediscovered Chorale Fantasia BWV 1128 and Die Kunst der Fuge. This is the most complete set of Bach's organ works yet, including more Bach (and works once thought to be by Bach) than my Wolfgang Stockmeier set on Art & Music. I wasn't very fond of the last two releases: on volume 20 the Carl Christian Hofmann Organ (St.Marien Mecterstädt, 1770) is tuned in a way that cannot please my ears and Die Kunst der Fuge I have heard more to my liking, elsewhere. [I am referring to Isoir, there] But hearing the 19 preceding volumes, only some of which I had already owned, I was delighted throughout.

Weinberger doesn't aim for bombast (near-impossible, on the historic instruments from Saxony and Thuringia, anyway), and he is not the most impressive in some of the 'biggest hits' works. (Karl Richter's 3 CD set is still a mandatory addition to any Bach organ collection, no matter who the interpreter). But apart from minor quibbles, it is a magnificent complete set.
---WETA

I would add to that: Weinberger is not the set to _excite_ you. It doesn't "impress" right out of the stalls. But it did sway me with its seriousness, scrupulous playing and registration... and the very consistently high quality. I've just received Marie-Claire Alain II and am just about through the Rogg II set (neither of them complete, compared to Weinberger), which were my two most recent Bach Organ Works sets...

I may have something to say about Weinberger in comparison that you might be able to relate to, better. One thing I absolutely love--although it has nothing to do with the quality of the set, per se--is that they put the "famous" Toccata & Fugue where it belongs, namely on the discs with the apocryphal works. Right-on, but still gutsy.

[Coopmv]

I can't help you, either, because I don't think it _is_ a set that one could say "uniformly positive" things about. (I don't know a complete set, yet, about which one could, though.) That said, I think it's certainly not a set that will prove unsatisfactory. (In some excitement, I put it on my "Best of 2008 List for WETA, actually... in case it sounds like I don't actually like it.)
I would add to that: Weinberger is not the set to _excite_ you. It doesn't "impress" right out of the stalls. But it did sway me with its seriousness, scrupulous playing and registration... and the very consistently high quality. I've just received Marie-Claire Alain II and am just about through the Rogg II set (neither of them complete, compared to Weinberger), which were my two most recent Bach Organ Works sets...

I may have something to say about Weinberger in comparison that you might be able to relate to, better. One thing I absolutely love--although it has nothing to do with the quality of the set, per se--is that they put the "famous" Toccata & Fugue where it belongs, namely on the discs with the apocryphal works. Right-on, but still gutsy.

If I remember correctly, this set, as released by CPO, has 22 CD's.  The few extra works cannot take up that many extra discs.  I think most sets have anywhere from 10 to 14 CD's.  Is it due to the specific placements of the works in this set?

[jlaurson]

If I remember correctly, this set, as released by CPO, has 22 CD's.  The few extra works cannot take up that many extra discs.  I think most sets have anywhere from 10 to 14 CD's.  Is it due to the specific placements of the works in this set?

Any even remotely complete set can't fit on less than 15 discs... and from then it depends on how you count.
Weinberger includes all arrangements, all alternative versions, and all spurious/apocryphal works.

BWV 131a, 525-596, 599-751, 754-758, 762, 765-770, 790, 802-805, 957, 1027a, 1079/5, 1080, 1085, 1090-1121, 1128 (incl. resp. alternative versions)
Apoc.: BWV 42, 49, 50, 52, 55, 58, 59, 62a, 63, 64, 67, 68, 77, 78, 90
Deest: 20 works w/o BWV.
22 CDs, 21 different organs.

Most of the CDs with over 70 minutes of music, totaling 24 hours and 40 minutes.

[Coopmv]

Any even remotely complete set can't fit on less than 15 discs... and from then it depends on how you count.
Weinberger includes all arrangements, all alternative versions, and all spurious/apocryphal works.

BWV 131a, 525-596, 599-751, 754-758, 762, 765-770, 790, 802-805, 957, 1027a, 1079/5, 1080, 1085, 1090-1121, 1128 (incl. resp. alternative versions)
Apoc.: BWV 42, 49, 50, 52, 55, 58, 59, 62a, 63, 64, 67, 68, 77, 78, 90
Deest: 20 works w/o BWV.
22 CDs, 21 different organs.

Most of the CDs with over 70 minutes of music, totaling 24 hours and 40 minutes.

I have 2 sets of Bach Organ Works by Helmut Walcha, one on Document and the other on Archive.  The Document set has 10 CD's (probably incomplete) but every disc is 70+ min.  The DG Archive set has 12 CD's.  The Werner Jacob's set on EMI has 16 CD's while the Peter Hurford's 5 volumes total 15 CD's.  I also have the complete organ works by Hans Fagius in that mammoth 155-CD set released by Brilliant, 5-6 singles each by Marie-Claire Alain, Simon Preston, Wolfgang Rubsam and the 18-LP set on EMI by Lionel Rogg.  I would love to have a full set by Rogg released on EMI.  The full sets by Weinberger and Alain's third recording certainly can be included in my collection down the road ...

[Bulldog]

I can get the Weinberger's set at a great price but do not want to end up having a box set that ultimately may prove unsatisfactory.  I have yet to find any uniformly positive opinions of him ...

Forget about the "uniform" business.  There isn't a performer on the planet who could be uniformly excellent throughout a 22 disc cycle.  If you must have complete sets, Weinberger is about as good as it gets for a modern box.

[Coopmv]

Here is my Lionel Rogg's Complete Bach Organ Works on 18-LP EMI set in pristine condition - played only once.

[Que]

Here is my Lionel Rogg's Complete Bach Organ Works on 18-LP EMI set in pristine condition - played only once.

Rogg didn't impress me either. 

For completes I'm considering the new Koopman and Weinberger.

Q

[Coopmv]

Rogg didn't impress me either. 

For completes I'm considering the new Koopman and Weinberger.

Q

How about the GREAT Gustav Leonhardt?  Didn't he record the Complete Bach Organ Works once?

[Antoine Marchand]

How about the GREAT Gustav Leonhardt?  Didn't he record the Complete Bach Organ Works once?

NEVER.

[prémont]

How about the GREAT Gustav Leonhardt?  Didn't he record the Complete Bach Organ Works once?

He has recorded what amounts to 3 - 4 CDs of organ music by Bach. Some of this music is without pedal part.

Released by Seon and DHM.

I think the reason why he did not record more Bach is, that his pedal technique does not match his manual technique. Altogether he has not recorded much organ music with difficult pedal parts.

[Antoine Marchand]

Has anyone heard these recordings with Piet Kee?

[Coopmv]

Has anyone heard these recordings with Piet Kee?

I have a few recordings by Piet Kee but they are for works of Buxtehude and Sweelinck.