CDA67468 - Disc 1 Track 4 - Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr, BWV663

Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr, BWV663

composer

1708/17; revised into Leipzig Chorales collection, the '18' circa 1744/7

arranger

Samuel Feinberg (1890-1962)

Recordings

Bach: Piano Transcriptions, Vol. 4 – Samuel Feinberg
Martin Roscoe (piano)

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CDA67468 2CDs for the price of 1

Bach: Wachet auf!
Christopher Herrick (organ)

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Bach: The Complete Organ Works
Christopher Herrick (organ)

Play all extracts from this album CDS44121/36 16CDs Boxed set (at a special price) — 16CDs Deleted

Details

Christopher Herrick (organ)

Track 13 on CDA67071/2 CD1 [6'22] 2CDs Archive Service Only Copyright holder as reported by MCPS: Public Domain

Martin Roscoe (piano)

Track 4 on CDA67468 CD1 [5'48] 2CDs for the price of 1 Copyright holder as reported by MCPS: Samouil Feinberg

Christopher Herrick (organ)

Track 13 on CDS44121/36 CD10 [6'22] 16CDs Boxed set (at a special price) — 16CDs Deleted Copyright holder as reported by MCPS: Public Domain

Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr, BWV663

EnglishFrançaisDeutsch

In the great cycle of thirteen Chorale Preludes that he worked on gradually through the 1920s and 1930s, Feinberg showed that he was fully aware of the underlying musical ‘programme’ of each piece, and this affected the musical ‘spacing’ that he envisaged in each case. The presentation of the cantus firmus is carefully considered and he always imagined different registrations – even if it was usual not to change registration during a performance of the original on the organ. Feinberg proves to be very attentive to Bach’s occasional indications – for instance in BWV650 in G major, where the cantus firmus is marked Pedal 4 Fuss, indicating in practice that it would sound an octave higher than the normal pedal line.

Two of the chorales offer us the chance to compare Feinberg’s transcriptions with those of Busoni: BWV665 in E minor, and BWV659 in G minor. In the latter piece we find a large number of different choices in the two versions. The tempo is Adagio in Busoni’s transcription, followed by numerous character indications, and Largo in Feinberg’s, and this qualified only by the word espressivo. As for dynamics, Busoni marks the whole piece piano (with the suggestion to play una corda except during the cantus firmus passages), while Feinberg suggests a basic pianissimo dynamic with numerous small crescendi and decrescendi. In terms of musical ‘breathing’, Busoni insists that there should be no rallentando at the entry of the cantus firmus; Feinberg suggests one not there but instead at the end of each sequence. As for phrasing and articulation, Busoni suggests very little: a simple legato, albeit with indications of pedal; Feinberg insists on a constant legatissimo with numerous phrase markings but no pedal. The two transcribers thus seem to have envisaged widely divergent scenarios. Despite this, however, there are other aspects in which the composers are much closer together.

from notes by Christophe Sirodeau © 2004
English: Andrew Barnett

Track-specific metadata

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Details for CDA67468 disc 1 track 4

Artists

Martin Roscoe (piano)

ISRC

GB-AJY-04-46804

Duration

5'48

Recording date

3 December 2003

Recording venue

All Saints' Church, East Finchley, London, United Kingdom

Recording producer

Jeremy Hayes

Recording engineer

Tony Faulkner

Hyperion usage

Bach: Piano Transcriptions, Vol. 4 – Samuel Feinberg (CDA67468)
Disc 1 Track 4
Release date: September 2004
2CDs for the price of 1

Hyperion Records