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This delightful disc offers a selection from the wealth of piano transcriptions of Bach's music. The Bach revival that gathered momentum during the nineteenth century created a climate for many composer-pianists to interpret his works through their own piano transcriptions, whether of chorale preludes, organ works or other instrumental music.
Much of Bach's music was made domestically available via such arrangements and the tradition continued well into the twentieth century, even after Bach originals were well known. Indeed, the practice of such transcriptions was widely used by Bach himself, who freely adapted his own and others' music for different instrumental settings. One of today's finest Bach pianists, Angela Hewitt concentrates primarily on those arrangements of Bach that keep pianistic elaboration and virtuosity in proportion: whatever instrument his music is played on, Bach should still sound like Bach.
Eugen d'Albert's magnificent transcription of the C minor Passacaglia and Fugue for organ, BWV, is included, as are five beautiful transcriptions by Wilhelm Kempff, and a number of arrangements by English composers that were included in A Bach Book for Harriet Cohen a collection compiled for the pianist Harriet Cohen, who knew many English composers of the early twentieth century.
Angela Hewitt also includes three transcriptions of her own. A fascinating companion to Angela Hewitt's acclaimed Bach recordings for Hyperion, this ravishing disc will appeal to lovers of Bach as much as connoisseurs of the piano. Not only did this event act as a huge stimulus to other performances of pre-Classical music Brahms was also part of the revival, conducting a large amount of early choral music while in Detmold and Vienna , but it heavily influenced composition in the nineteenth century.
Franz Liszt, too, transcribed six of the big organ works to great effect. If there were objections, they would defend themselves saying that Bach and his contemporaries pinched music from each other all the time, and recycled works when it suited them. By bringing music of the past to the masses, they were doing the composers a service, even if it was in their own fashion.
Not all composers agreed, however. Such is the case with the five transcriptions by the German pianist, Wilhelm Kempff — which open this recording.
As his father was also a choral conductor, he got to know all the cantatas while still in his childhood, conducting many of them himself in later years. For him, the piano was both organ and orchestra, and could produce sonorities to match either. It was after Kempff had played the original obbligato organ part on the piano at a concert in Berlin conducted by another famous Bach pianist, Edwin Fischer, that he decided to replicate the sound of the orchestra in his own transcription for piano.
This it certainly does! It remained one of his favourite encores throughout his career. The only transcription in this recording that does not originate from a cantata or an organ work by Bach is the touching Siciliano in G minor.
It is in fact the second movement of the Sonata in E flat major for flute and harpsichord, BWV, whose theme is tender and haunting.
It removes from the heart the weight of sorrow and the fascination of evil thoughts. He wrote nearly a hundred of them, most of which are grouped in different collections. Jacob Adlung, a German organist of the time, described the three purposes for chorale preludes: first, to prepare the congregation for the key; second, to inform them of the tune; and third, to delight them through fluent ideas durch wohlfiessende Gedanken.
Without a doubt, Bach was most interested in the third possibility. The slow unfolding of the highly expressive cantus firmus is accompanied by beautiful counterpoint, frequently using two-note sighing figures. There are three chorale preludes with this title in the same collection — all very different from each other. In the cantata version, the chorale is sung by a tenor soloist, the other melody is played by the strings, with the continuo filling in a figured bass.
It is this latter version that Kempff is thinking of in his transcription. The words come from the second verse of the hymn by Philipp Nicolai The bride, Zion, reacts:. Transcriptions are often awkward to play because of their very nature, and this one demands that the counter-melody be played by the outer, weaker fingers of the right hand.
What Bach did achieve in this collection, however, was a new form of chorale prelude where the melody of the hymn was played, usually in the upper voice, sometimes but not always embellished, with the thematic motives of the accompanying voices somehow related to the emotional or theological content.
We know from a title-page that Bach added later on that they were also meant as teaching material with special emphasis on developing pedal technique. This is a hymn of supplication, and the only trio in the collection.
Of course the tune is beautiful, but it is the middle voice, whose constant semiquavers unhurriedly fill in the harmonies, and the throbbing, pulsating bass which add the shape and colour to match the words:. Certainly one of the most popular melodies in this recording, at least in English-speaking countries, is that of Sheep may safely graze.
The duke liked to imagine he was another Louis XIV, trying to emulate life at Versailles, and his birthday celebrations lasted several days.
He was an enthusiastic huntsman, so the libretto, written by Salomo Franck, uses the classical legend of the goddess Diana. This aria and recitative is sung by Pales, a mythical figure of dubious gender, but here representing the goddess of crops and pastures. The duke was no doubt pleased by the praise he received:. It is scored for soprano, two flutes, and continuo. So much for the original. The excellent transcription is by the American composer, Mary Howe — Born in Richmond, Virginia, she studied both piano and composition at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, and was for a short time in the s with Nadia Boulanger in Paris.
This piece is one of my favourite encores. Her famous lunchtime concerts broadcast live from The National Gallery in London were aimed to boost morale, and people still talk of them today. Jesu, joy quickly became her signature tune after she first heard the original at a rehearsal for a Bach Festival given in April Strings and continuo provide the accompaniment, with oboes joining the violins for the triplets.
The rise and fall in the dynamic level of the chorale mirrors the words:. The ability to translate spirituality into sound at the keyboard is certainly necessary here — otherwise such a famous tune sounds banal and hackneyed.
The text for the hymn is as follows:. As in all three of my transcriptions, I have stayed extremely close to the original, simply doubling the pedal part, and occasionally moving a voice to another octave if need be. The accompaniment constantly refers to the first four notes of the hymn tune. In his setting of Das alte Jahr vergangen ist , BWV, Bach opts for a mood far removed from that of most modern-day festivities.
For him the end of the year was a time for contemplation, evaluation, and thankfulness. The constant chromatic lines, both ascending and descending, and the rather bleak harmonies create a feeling of introspection.
Once more the original tune dating from is elaborately decorated. The opening verse of the hymn is that which seems to suit the music best:. Harriet Cohen — was an English pianist, especially known for two things: her interpretations of the music of Bach, and her devotion to the works of British composers of her time, many of which she premiered.
In the programme for the latter a joint concert with Lionel Tertis , there was a foreword by one of the contributors which read:. If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.
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CD-1 []: Bach: Goldberg variations Angela Hewitt. Recordings of Chamber Works. Bach: Gamba Sonatas; C. Bach: Sonata for Viola da gamba [H-1]. Bach: Flute Sonatas [H-1]. Recorded at Buy this album at: Amazon. Bach: The Keyboard Concertos - 1 [O-3]. Richard Tognetti. Australian Chamber Orchestra. Bach: The Keyboard Concertos - 2 [O-4].
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