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Track(s) taken from CDA67211/2

Duet in F major, BWV803

composer
from Clavier-Übung III, published in 1739

Christopher Herrick (organ)
Recording details: November 1996
Stadtkirche, Rheinfelden, Switzerland
Produced by Paul Spicer
Engineered by Paul Niederberger
Release date: June 1997
Total duration: 3 minutes 26 seconds
 

Other recordings available for download

Angela Hewitt (piano)
Mahan Esfahani (harpsichord)
Tatiana Nikolayeva (piano)
Lucy Carolan (harpsichord)
David Goode (organ)
Jeremy Filsell (organ)

Reviews

‘Just as, in my youth, I almost preferred to lick the scrapings from the bowls in which my mother had prepared cakes than to savout the finished product, so I am tempted almost to prefer these crumbs from the table of a great genius to those stupendous musical feats which are everybody's idea of the real J S Bach. Here is music every bit as worthy of close attention as anything Bach wrote for the organ. Herrick displays immaculate taste. This is playing of the very highest order … superlative artistry’ (Gramophone)

‘An attractive way of gathering up some of Bach's less obvious masterpieces, and they are all splendidly played, and recorded on a fine Swiss organ’ (The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs)

«Christopher Herrick possède une technique supérieure et un grand toucher. Il nous fait parcourir ces pages de jeunesse avec une fraîcheur, une bonne humeur, un lyrisme et une entrain communicatif» (Le Monde de la Musique, France)
Far removed from the world of the Italian Concerto and French Overture are the Four Duets, BWV802–805. They are curiously included in the third volume of Clavierübung, published by Bach himself in 1739. This is otherwise a collection of works for organ, and certainly their two voices (hence ‘Duets’) sound just as well on that instrument as on any other. They resemble the two-part Inventions, but are much more characteristic of Bach’s later style. Written in ascending keys, the first in E minor opens with a scale but then tacks on an awkward figure that can be very clumsy to play. It reminds me of the A minor Prelude from Book II of The Well-Tempered Clavier, with its chromaticisms and invertible counterpoint. The second in F major starts out happily enough, but then proceeds to a middle section almost entirely written in canon and with quite a wild subject. The third in G major is perhaps the most immediately attractive with its lovely pastoral rhythm in 12/8 time. Finishing in the key of A minor, the fourth duet is rather rugged and angular, with two chromatic sequences bringing some startling harmonic progressions. To the usual dedication ‘for music lovers to refresh their spirits’ Bach adds ‘and especially for connoisseurs of such work’. These four duets are definitely ‘musicians’ music’ which, despite their beauty, makes them relatively obscure.

from notes by Angela Hewitt © 2001

Other albums featuring this work

Bach: Angela Hewitt plays Bach
CDS44421/3516CDs Boxed set (at a special price)
Bach: Clavier-Übung III
Studio Master: SIGCD7442CDs Download onlyStudio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
Bach: Italian Concerto & French Overture
CDA67306
Bach: Italian Concerto & French Overture
SIGCD030Download only
Bach: Italian Concerto & French Overture
Studio Master: CDA68336Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
Bach: The Art of Fugue
CDA66631/22CDs
Bach: The Complete Organ Works
CDS44121/3616CDs Boxed set (at a special price) — Download only
Bach: The Complete Organ Works, Vol. 14
Studio Master: SIGCD8142CDs Download onlyStudio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
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