Bach's Toccata & Fugue - Recommendation?

Helmut Walcha is a good bet...

My DG issue of Toccata und Fuge by Helmut Walcha on CD is no longer on Amazon, so I’ve posted the picture of what is available these days, I don’t think the sound quality will be of concern over the different issue but I’m not totally sure, however, Helmut Walcha is a star on the organ, i can vouch for him.

Also, don’t be put off buying his T&F's on vinyl, lot’s of it around for not much money.

The Art of Fugue pictured above is a double CD that is an exceptional recording coupled with Walcha’s wonderful fluid and rhymic style, so highly recommended imho.

The AofF work finishes [or ends unfinished I should say] within 9 minutes into disc 2, after which the included works are:

Prelude and Fugue in C major BWV 547

Trio Sonata no.1 in E flat major BWV 525

Toccata, Anagio and Fugue BWV 564

Trio Sonata no.6 in G major BWV 530

And finally

Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV 565 which is the infamous haunting organ musik that most people instantly recognise.

All these recordings are on the Great Organ [by Frans Caspar Schnitger] of St.Laurenskerk in Alkmaar, Netherlands, and performed in September 1956.

But please wait until, George comes along, he may recommend a few alternatives [Marie-Claire Alain comes to mind] ...i’m rather interested to know too : )

Debs

This is a very difficult one... there a hundreds of different recordings of this work.

For authentic performances you need to look for recordings on North German or Dutch instruments or modern ones built in that style. Then you will find a whole range recorded on British organs.... these in most cases are not well suited to Bach's music with their diapason stops. You will also find recordings from other countries... Bach on a French organ sounds interesting.

So rather than recommend specific recordings I would point you in the direction of some good interpreters of Bach on the organ. Helmut Walcha has already been mentioned and he would probably be my number one choice also. Lionel Rogg is another fine interpreter of Bach's organ music as is Peter Hurford. Others to sample would be Simon Preston, Gillian Weir and Christopher Herrick.

At least these days it is easy to sample snatches of these before buying.

Thanks Debs and Michael.

steve

Look out for the 1947 mono recording [technically and artistically finer then the stereo set from Walcha, played on an organ Bach played on as young man in Lubeck - obviously in north Germany, which has a sonic presence that few recordings have managed since [though it be cut into wax - there is no surface noise], which has the deft fleetness of approach that cannot easily be matched on a newer instrument, or in the hands [and feet!] of a lesser artist. It has more swing than any piano could bring, and goes as fast as could be managed on a harpsichord, but the majesty of a full symphony orchestra with a clarity neither could ever manage in a recording.

DG had it out on 78, 45, LP and CD over the years.

Remarkably devastating. None would doubt that it was by Bach with a performance like this!

ATB from George

This pre-owned CD i resently purchased via Amazon.uk for £3.20 arrived today.

I’m enjoying this, took me a little while to acclimatise to the different tonal sound structure of the organ used. Marie-Claire Alain seems to have a delayed then quick sense of timing with the upper registers, I’m finding this also takes some getting used to, but works out pleasing somehow.

The recording is really excellent, (p) 1981, more focused than the Walcha recordings, although I do prefer HW's style of more easy going interpretation.

[ADD] total time 69:50

Well worth a few quid : )

Debs

Debs.... my first ever CD purchase back in 1984!

As I mentioned earlier in the thread.... it is interesting to hear Bach with a French accent! With performances of the Toccata, Adagio and Fugue BWV 564, the Passacaglia and Fugue BWV578, the Fugue in G Minor BWV 578, the Toccata and Fugue BWV 566 and the wonderful Six Schübler Chorales BWV 645-650.. this is a fine addition to any collection of organ music. I have over 270 CD's of classical organ music in my collection and 50 or so LP's.... it is my passion! 

Michael, can you expand a little on the differences bewteen the different organs( now now mrs).

What for instance are diapason stops? Try and keep it simple please.

E-Mail (in profile) or even another thread to stop a high-jack.

Howard

This is a vast topic. In simple terms every country or region of       the world has its own flavour of organs as do periods in time       through the centuries. Tastes are changing all the time.
      

British organs built up to the 1950's have a rather thick, heavy       sound... (diapasons are flutes)... Victorians loved this sound. The pedal organ was mainly used to provide a bass foundation rather than to play solos and was quite small. Since the 1950's many British organs have adopted a more continental style incorporating sounds from Germany and France. 
      
German and Dutch organs have a very bright and clear sound where       you can here every pipe... with very large pedal organs.. making these superb for Bach and contrapuntal music.
      

French organs have a more orchestral sound ... delicate beautiful       flutes, clear solo stops.. but most of all very loud and growling reed stops.....it is these that really characterise the French sound.
 

Spanish organs like the French have a wonderful reedy sound and most characteristically they incorporate horizontal trumpet pipes which add a wounderful blaze of sound. Many modern instruments in other countries including Britain now have these.

     
If you want to learn more Google will help you and there are many clips on You Tube for you to hear the different types of organ.
      

To respect the original poster of this thread, this post does have relevance to the Toccata and Fugue and its recorded performance on organs from all around the world and this is the fascination for me... I may have 20 or 30 different recordings of the work but each one is unique... in interpretation and sound.

Thanks. Michael.

Michael,

How do you rate E. Power Biggs?

Kuma, he was a fine performer and is best remembered for the way he sought authenticity. That is to say performing appropriate music on the particular organ being used. 

Whilst this approach is highly commendable on historic instruments, many would argue that a little compromise is sometimes called for own these matters and the vast majority of modern instruments are able to portray music from most schools of organ music from baroque through the romantic period of the 19th century to the modern day.

Just an addendum to the post referring to the Marie -Claire Alain Bach disc, although certainly a French performer, I am certain this the organ used is not French. There are no indications on the disc as to where it was recorded, but I suspect it was recorded in Scandinavia, Holland or Germany.

Thanks for your reply Michael.

I'm rather fond of his Toccata and Fugue which to my ears sort of corny but the tune calls for that spooky Phantom drama!

It's a hoot playing an old mono record outputting a thunderous bass. 

Spot on Kuma, E. Power Biggs, Virgil Fox and more recently Carlo Curley who sadly passed away suddenly on 11th August 2012 brought an element of "The Showman" to the organ loft.... exciting performances indeed...  which raised eyebrows!

A funny E Power Biggs story concerning his recording with [members of] the LPO and  Adrian Boult for US Columbia at an English stately home. After several set-backs [with faulty electric to the organ blower and rapid re-tuning of the instrument], the resident M'lord commented to Mrs Power Biggs that she had better make sure that the organ grinder was back on time to start.

She replied that he was not the organ grinder, but, "only the monkey!"

Thanks to Michael Kennedy for that little story from his book, 

Adrian Boult, a Biography.

ATB from George

A good story George, thanks for sharing that.

Virgil Fox=Librace of Pipe Organ?

Absolutely... though I don't think he had silver candlesticks on the organ console!

There is a young American organist called Cameron Carpenter... check out his Bach "Evolutionary" Toccata & Fugue in D Minor on Telarc records and DVD. He played at the 2012 Proms on 2 occasions and went down well.... his playing and interpretations are very exciting, but quite outrageous.... great fun!

Michael,

I've cheked out a few YouTube of Carpenter. You are right he's pretty flashy.

Call me old fashioned but i still prefer a simple piano/voice version of Schubert's Erlkonig.

Just one more question. 

Do you have a recommendation for a good Reubke's 94. Psalm recording/performance?

Excuse my putting my nose in on this one Kuma and Michael.  The 94th Psalm is one of my favourite pieces of music.  And not even Naim equipment can match a performance at my local - York Minster.

I have collected quite a number of recordings of this piece over the years.  The problem with vinyl versions is that even the cleanest pressings have difficulty managing the dynamic range required, although I have several - Perhaps Simon Preston's now old recording is one of the best.  One problem with recommending a best recording is that there seem to be so many variations in approach - one of the joys is comparing.

But a good all round version I have, recorded at York Minster (which has a most beautiful and exciting organ) is by John Scott Whitely.  It is a bit pricey on Amazon, but there are other outlets including the Minster shop: Label: York Ambisonic ASIN: B000005902

Try also Dame "Gillian Weir plays at The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston. Priory CD 751, the Organ Master Series Volume 1".

Probably my favourite organist, at least for Bach, is Marie-Claire Alain.  I cannot find a version by her.  Not all organists like this piece of music;  not all can play it (although I am sure Marie-Claire could).

I look forward to Michael's recommendations.

don, sunny but frosty downtown York.

We are off track from the original post so apologies.

The best recording I have of the Reubke is by Catherine Crozier at Grace Cathedral,San Francisco, on Delos DE 3090.

Thank you Don & Michael.

Now, back to the regular programming...