Lifted from the 'what are you listening to' thread.

quote:

Originally posted by Tam:

quote:

Originally posted by pe-zulu:
The composer is supposed to be unknown. The guess of the learned people is, that they were written by J L Krebs. The reason for rejecting them as being authentic J S Bach are first and foremost stylistical. Like the discussion about the Toccata and Fuga d-minor BWV 565.
Do you own the Hurford cycle? What do you think of it?

Regards,

Dear pe-zulu,

Thanks for the information (I was sure I'd read somewhere they had been credited to one of the other Bachs).

I own the whole Hurford cycle and am rather fond of it, though it is virtually the only Bach organ work I do own (so comparison is rather tricky); I particularly like his readings of concertos and sonatas (the various preludes and fugues are also pretty fine). One of the reasons I bought it over other available sets was its completeness (containing various things such as the 8 short, which aren't Bach but are good to hear anyway). What I've heard of Walcha (limited to the Art of Fugue and one or two other exerts) I also like very much, and my next purchase in that direction will be one of his cycles.

Of course, Hurford uses (unless I'm much mistaken) entirely modern organs. Which I think is not the case with Walcha, which makes for another good reason for investigating his recordings.

regards, Tam

quote:

Originally posted by pe-zulu:
Dear Tam

In my opinion Hurford plays with great musicality and authority, and his choice of modern organs is tasteful. So I have enjoyed his cycle very much, not least the Triosonatas. Generally I think the best part of his cycle is the Chorales , but I find everything to be of the highest order. It is difficult to describe his very individual playing in detail, but striking to me is the great inner calm and the careful attention to details.

Regards,

Thinking about this, when I talked about the works I love the most on this set, I think they tend also to be the works I know the best. I was listening, again, to the magnificent concertos last night and I am also fond of the various preludes and fugues.

pe-zulu talks about the quality of the choral preludes. Personally I don't know these works nearly so well as the other works - I probably know the only the neumeister ones at all well (and those are splendid). However, every time I dip into something new in this set, I always seem to find something new and fine.

I suspect this comes down to the scale of the set. It was the first organ work I added to my collection and even though I've had it for some years now, I really think I've only scratched the surface in terms of exploring it. (Indeed, I was a little concerned that it would all be far too much - and in a way it is, though in a good way.)

One final note - his selection of organs works extremely well. These are modern organs but they are not of absurdly excessive scale and instead work wonderfully well.

regards, Tam

Dear Tam

When I wrote, that the best part of the Hurford cycle tends to be the Chorales, I didn´t refer to the compositions pr se, but to his playing, which I find very impressive even elsewhere, and I certainly mention him in the list of recommendations, I am trying to put together.

All the authentic compositions are music to live with, and most of the ascribed works are worth many listenings too. Among the Chorales the Neumeister Chorales are probably the most accessible, later it would seem natural to continue with the Orgelbüchlein Chorales (they are rather short tone pictures, illustrating the words and mood of the chorale-text with small characteristic repeated musical motives), and still later the 18 Chorales and the Clavierübung III.

Regards,

Dear pe-zulu,

I can't wait to see the list (though I suspect that my wallet can).

Thanks for the suggestions on the best route for exploring the Chorales, I shall try and have a listen to the Orgelbüchlein ones over the weekend (if I can tear myself away from my new Walcha harpsichord recordings, that is).

regards, Tam