J.S. Bach on the Organ

[prémont]

No no NO!

Do THIS: buy the entire Bach organ caboodle, listen to the entire kit, then keep the stuff you like and sell the unworthy shambles at a grotesque price.

That would be > 35 sets, and our poor Marvin will become caught in a trap like you and me. A most enriching trap BTW. And which of the sets you own, Marc, have you actually planned to e-bay? None, I suppose.

P.S.: If the question is about AoF, I much prefer Alain´s (and also Foccroulle´s ) to Weinberger´s, preferably Alain I, which never made it to CD, of course.

[Marc]

That would be > 35 sets, and our poor Marvin will become caught in a trap like you and me.

Silly me. I forgot about that.

A most enriching trap BTW. And which of the sets you own, Marc, have you actually planned to e-bay? None, I suppose.

You read me too well.

P.S.: If the question is about AoF, I much prefer Alain´s (and also Foccroulle´s ) to Weinberger´s, preferably Alain I, which never made it to CD, of course.

Yes, but Marvin asked for HIP, and Weinberger is really HIP(PI) in the AoF, playing a vintage ramshackle piece of antique.

[prémont]

You read me too well.

Well, well. 

Yes, but Marvin asked for HIP, and Weinberger is really HIP(PI) in the AoF, playing a vintage ramshackle piece of antique.

Sometimes HIP is a burden. But if it must be HIP I agree with you about Foccroulle but I would also consider Tachezi.

[marvinbrown]

Well, well. 

Sometimes HIP is a burden. But if it must be HIP I agree with you about Foccroulle but I would also consider Tachezi.

  Well (: premont:)   I hope HIP proves NOT to be a burden as I have just received this:
 

  [asin]B004RUF022[/asin]

  I decided to take jlaurson's  and Marc's advice and opted for Alain 3 as my HIP set.  I'll supplement at a later date with Foccroulle's AOF.  I have fallen hard for Bach's Organ Works. I am now armed with Koopman, Hurford and Alain 3! I am very curious to hear how Alain 3 played on HI compares with Hurford.  Koopman and Hurford have proven to be radically different from one another. I can only hope that Alain 3 provides a new perspective on these works.

  marvin

[Marc]

  Well (: premont:)   I hope HIP proves NOT to be a burden as I have just received this:
 

  [asin]B004RUF022[/asin]

  I decided to take jlaurson's  and Marc's advice and opted for Alain 3 as my HIP set.  I'll supplement at a later date with Foccroulle's AOF.  I have fallen hard for Bach's Organ Works. I am now armed with Koopman, Hurford and Alain 3! I am very curious to hear how Alain 3 played on HI compares with Hurford.  Koopman and Hurford have proven to be radically different from one another. I can only hope that Alain 3 provides a new perspective on these works.

  marvin

Congrats!
It's a good set, and MC Alain isn't probably considered to be HIP-all-the-way. The chosen instruments are very HIP though. It was a dream of her coming true to play Bach's organ oeuvre on these oldies but goldies. I think you'll find that she's somewhere 'in between' Koopman and Hurford. Enjoy!

[jlaurson]

  I decided to take jlaurson's  and Marc's advice and opted for Alain 3 as my HIP set.  I'll supplement at a later date with Foccroulle's AOF.  I have fallen hard for Bach's Organ Works. I am now armed with Koopman, Hurford and Alain 3! I am very curious to hear how Alain 3 played on HI compares with Hurford.  Koopman and Hurford have proven to be radically different from one another. I can only hope that Alain 3 provides a new perspective on these works.

  marvin

Enjoy -- as I hope, and am reasonably certain, you will!!! Cheers for Bach.

[jlaurson]

Best Recordings of 2013



Best Recordings of 2013 (#6)

Karabits, Bach
http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2014/01/best-recordings-of-2013-6.html

[nachtalberich]

Hello, long time reader/lurker and first time poster.  Anyway, this is a great site and it's helped me pick-up lots of new music over the last year.

Anyway, I was reading this thread and Googling some of the various recordings when I ran across the complete Organ works for free.

They can be found at:  http://www.blockmrecords.org/bach/

The works are performed by James Kibbie, on a variety of organs as detailed on the site.  The total download is about 2 GB, so depending on your connection, it may take a while.

Enjoy!

[Karl Henning]

Weinberg, Beethoven

?

[jlaurson]

?

Oops.

[Marc]

Hello, long time reader/lurker and first time poster.  Anyway, this is a great site and it's helped me pick-up lots of new music over the last year.

Anyway, I was reading this thread and Googling some of the various recordings when I ran across the complete Organ works for free.

They can be found at:  http://www.blockmrecords.org/bach/

The works are performed by James Kibbie, on a variety of organs as detailed on the site.  The total download is about 2 GB, so depending on your connection, it may take a while.

Enjoy!

Welcome at GMG!

The Kibbie download has been mentioned before.
It's indeed a great initiative by the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance.
I personally consider this integral as a good start to dive into Bach's organ works (for free!).
But there are better performances/recordings available.

(And we're already blabbering about it for almost 7 years. )

[prémont]

The Kibbie download has been mentioned before.
It's indeed a great initiative by the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance.
I personally consider this integral as a good start to dive into Bach's organ works (for free!).
But there are better performances/recordings available.

A great lesson in diplomacy.

[SonicMan46]

Well, my JPC order for the Olivier Vernet box fell through - claim was 'SOLD OUT'!  SO, now I'm on the lookout for another box to complement the Koopman that I own - Marie-Claire Alain seems like a good 'fit' for me (as a contrasting set, I mean) - now Amazon offers the 2 boxes below @ virtually the same price (1 CD total difference) - are these the same recordings, or did she do these works twice; and if the same, might one be a later remastering?  Thanks for any comments - Dave

 

[jlaurson]

Well, my JPC order for the Olivier Vernet box fell through - claim was 'SOLD OUT'!  SO, now I'm on the lookout for another box to complement the Koopman that I own - Marie-Claire Alain seems like a good 'fit' for me (as a contrasting set, I mean) - now Amazon offers the 2 boxes below @ virtually the same price (1 CD total difference) - are these the same recordings, or did she do these works twice; and if the same, might one be a later remastering?  Thanks for any comments - Dave

 

She did the works trice, two made it onto CD -- these are sets II and III, from left to right. The first (=second) on modern instruments, the latter (=third) on period instruments that were out of reach for her, during the cold war. See also: http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2013/09/a-survey-of-bach-organ-cycles.html

Both are terrific... III is more of a departure from Koopman, I find.

You will find plenty of more in-depth comments on both sets, positive almost all of them, in the past pages of this thread.

[Mandryka]

Well, my JPC order for the Olivier Vernet box fell through - claim was 'SOLD OUT'!  SO, now I'm on the lookout for another box to complement the Koopman that I own - Marie-Claire Alain seems like a good 'fit' for me (as a contrasting set, I mean) - now Amazon offers the 2 boxes below @ virtually the same price (1 CD total difference) - are these the same recordings, or did she do these works twice; and if the same, might one be a later remastering?  Thanks for any comments - Dave

 

My experience over the past few weeks listening to the Leipzig Chorales and chorales from CU 3 makes me think that you're better off with the second set unless you have a particular interest in hearing the organs she used in the third. Both seemed different from Koopman in interpretation, I'd be interested to know why Jens thinks the last set is more different (that's not meant to sound aggressive -- he could well be right. Maybe it's to do with the organ sound rather than interpretation.) 

What you have in the second set is sweep. It's as if she bites the whole of the music off in one go and gives it back to you in a single lyrical gesture. If you know about piano, she reminds me of Gieseking at his best -- in the Ravel Pavane or in the mono (first) Gaspard  for example. Some of this magic is gone in the third IMO, where the style may be a bit more articulated.

I found that bass voices -- the pedal -- were often clearer in the second set, though I'm not sure why (the recording/ the instrument?) Sometimes that made a big difference to the drama of the music.

It may be different for the toccatas, sonatas, big bad preludes and fugues etc. 

[SonicMan46]

Thanks Jens & Mandryka for your comments  - went back a dozen or so pages in the thread - seems to be a LOT of support for the Alain II & III - put in an order this afternoon on Amazon for Box II - should arrive in two days!  Dave

[Anhang]

Thanks Jens & Mandryka for your comments  - went back a dozen or so pages in the thread - seems to be a LOT of support for the Alain II & III - put in an order this afternoon on Amazon for Box II - should arrive in two days!  Dave

Alain II is wonderful.  I enjoy III as well, but I break out the headphones to listen to it.  It may be HIP, but it's also more reverberant and sounds more distantly recorded.  I don't know if it's the instrument, the venue acoustics, or the recording technique.  The headphones tend to mitigate these factors.

Would someone care to torment me by describing Alain I?  I've been hoping for years that Erato would release it on CD, or perhaps license the tapes to some enterprising label like Testament, but I guess it gets less and less likely.  I've never heard any of it, but often the first pass through has its own charms, like Brendel's Beethoven or Rubinstein's Chopin, so I continue to hope.

[jlaurson]

Would someone care to torment me by describing Alain I? .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCHK1ZgDzHs

[jochanaan]

I checked out some of Mme. Alain's recordings on YouTube.  I had probably heard recordings of her before, but I had forgotten just how great she is!  Flawless musicianship and a humble approach that reminded me a little of some of the old Albert Schweitzer recordings (although Schweitzer's tempos were much slower).  I was also impressed at her visual presence: no excess motion but not stiff either, just enough movement to get the notes played.  She was a great master.

[kishnevi]

I checked out some of Mme. Alain's recordings on YouTube.  I had probably heard recordings of her before, but I had forgotten just how great she is!  Flawless musicianship and a humble approach that reminded me a little of some of the old Albert Schweitzer recordings (although Schweitzer's tempos were much slower).  I was also impressed at her visual presence: no excess motion but not stiff either, just enough movement to get the notes played.  She was a great master.

If you don't want to get a full cycle from her, you can look for some recordings she did, 2 or 3 CDs worth,  for Erato either just after or just before "Alain II".  (If you dig through this thread,  I'm pretty sure you'll find details.) I have one of them (as well as Alain II), of which the main component is the Schubler Chorales.