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Track(s) taken from CDA67876

Praeludium in E minor, BuxWV142

composer

Christopher Herrick (organ)
Recording details: January 2011
Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Produced by Paul Spicer & Simon Eadon
Engineered by Dave Rowell & Simon Eadon
Release date: September 2011
Total duration: 8 minutes 26 seconds

Cover artwork: Interior of a Gothic Church (1787). Johann Ludwig Ernst Morgenstern (1738-1819)
Schlossmuseum, Scholl Friedenstein, Gotha, Germany / Bridgeman Images
 

Reviews

‘Christopher Herrick's performances in this series have breathed musical life into the rich repertoire of organ music by Buxtehude and this release is no exception. The expressive and thoughtful interpretations of the repertoire presented on this disc make it a worthwhile addition to any collection’ (International Record Review)

‘Christopher Herrick clocks up another memorable recording. His terrifically nimble-fingered and fleet-footed playing betrays no sign of someone soon to be entering his eighth decade! There is surely nothing to be said against another complete set of Buxtehude's organ works when the music is this good or performed this well. The technical sound quality and chapel acoustics are very good, and the Trinity College organ —Metzler-built, like those in Herrick's celebrated complete Bach organ cycle, and dating back only as far as 1976, though incorporating seven ranks from Trinity predecessors from 1694 and 1708—sounds superb. Not particularly authentic but Buxtehude himself would almost certainly have enjoyed its breadth and power. As usual with Hyperion, the trilingual CD booklet gives excellent information on the music, track by track, not to mention a full description of the organ, including registrations for each of the pieces’ (MusicWeb International)
In the great Praeludium in E minor, BuxWV142, the introduction, which develops the single line of notes heard at the outset, is more consistent in texture and less improvisatory than Buxtehude’s free sections tend to be. Finely wrought, too, is the first fugue, whose subject lends itself admirably not only to the use of alternate feet on the pedalboard but also to stretto. It leads without the interpolation of free material to the magnificent second fugue, in which another well-shaped subject (a drop of a fifth, a rise of an octave, and a chromatic descent) is given a lengthy treatment which includes the introduction of an all-quaver countersubject and the use of inversion and other learned devices. There is then a free passage leading to the exhilarating ‘jig’ fugue with which the work concludes—and which anticipates the jig fugue attributed to J S Bach (BWV577).

from notes by Relf Clark © 2011

Dans le grand Praeludium en mi mineur BuxWV142 l’introduction, qui développe la ligne de notes entendue au début, est de texture plus constante, de caractère moins improvisé que ce que tendent à être les sections libres de Buxtehude. Finement ciselée, elle aussi, la première fugue a un sujet qui se prête admirablement et à l’usage des pieds alternés sur le pédalier et au stretto. Elle mène, sans interpolation de matériau libre, à la magnifique seconde fugue, où un autre sujet bien tourné (une chute d’une quinte, une montée d’une octave et une descente chromatique) reçoit un long traitement incluant l’introduction d’un contre-sujet tout en croches et l’utilisation du renversement, entre autres procédés savants. S’ensuit un passage libre débouchant sur la grisante fugue «gigue» conclusive—laquelle anticipe la fugue gigue attribuée à J. S. Bach (BWV577).

extrait des notes rédigées par Relf Clark © 2011
Français: Hypérion

Die Einleitung, in der die Tonfolge vom Anfang weiterentwickelt wird, stimmt mehr mit der Textur überein und ist weniger improvisatorisch angelegt als es bei Buxtehudes freien Passagen sonst der Fall ist. Die erste Fuge ist ebenfalls sorgfältig ausgearbeitet und ihr Thema bietet sich sehr gut sowohl für den Einsatz alternierender Füße auf der Pedalklaviatur als auch für Engführungen an. Daran schließt sich sofort, ohne ein freies Zwischenspiel, die großartige zweite Fuge an, in der ein weiteres wohlkonstruiertes Thema (eine absteigende Quinte, aufwärtsgerichtete Oktave und ein chromatischer Abstieg) sorgfältig durchgeführt wird, wobei ein aus Achteln bestehendes Kontrasubjekt eingeführt wird und Umkehrungen sowie andere gelehrte Stilmittel zum Einsatz kommen. Darauf folgt ein freies Zwischenspiel zu der reizvollen „Gigue“-Fuge, mit der das Werk schließt—und die eine Gigue-Fuge vorwegnimmt, die J.S. Bach zugeschrieben wird (BWV577).

aus dem Begleittext von Relf Clark © 2011
Deutsch: Viola Scheffel

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