The catalogue of Bach's oeuvre includes five transcriptions
for organ of concertos by Antonio Vivaldi, Alessandro Marcello
and Prince Johann Ernst von Sachsen-Weimar. Another concerto
(BWV 597) is considered spurious and is usually omitted from
recordings. Bach made these transcriptions during his time as
court organist in Weimar. It is very likely that the orchestra
had various Italian concertos in its repertoire as the Duke
of Sachsen-Weimar, Bach's employer, was a great lover of Italian
music. Moreover, his half-brother, Prince Johann Ernst, went
to study in Utrecht in the Netherlands, and purchased many collections
of Italian concertos which were printed in Amsterdam. He sent
them to Weimar or brought them along when he returned from the
Netherlands.
The whole idea of transcribing instrumental concertos for keyboard
could have found its origin in Johann Ernst's visits to Amsterdam.
Here the blind organist of the Nieuwe Kerk, Jan Jacob de Graaf,
used to play the newest Italian concertos. The German composer
and theorist Johann Mattheson reported about his playing: "He
knew all the latest three- and four-part Italian concertos,
sonatas and such by memory, and was able to perform them in
my presence with great clarity and splendour". It is quite possible
that Johann Ernst was so enthusiastic about this practice that
he encouraged Bach to make transcriptions of such concertos
as well. Interestingly, Johann Gottfried Walther, Bach's cousin
and Weimar's town organist, did the same. He was also the music
teacher of the Prince. It has been suggested that Bach's transcriptions
could be his way of becoming more acquainted with the Italian
style. That is certainly possible but then the question is why
Bach also arranged two concertos by Johann Ernst, whose pieces
were in fact just 'imitations' of the Italian style.
These concertos are more than mere transcriptions. They could
probably better be called 'arrangements'. One of Bach's adaptations
was necessary: notes which crossed his organ's compass had to
be transposed downwards. In some cases he went even further
and rewrote complete passages. Bach also changed note values
and rhythms, and made changes in harmony. Moreover he added
notes or even complete voices, often in the interest of counterpoint,
as well as ornaments. What is rather surprising, though, is
that he kept those passages intact which are very idiomatic
for the violin, but are rather uncomfortable for the organ,
such as the frequent repetition of the same note. That is in
particular striking in the most brilliant piece, the Concerto
in C (BWV 594), an arrangement of Vivaldi's violin concerto
Il grosso Mogul.
Bach not only arranged music by others, he also transcribed
his own music. The Fugue in d minor (BWV 539) is an example,
although it is by no means certain that Bach himself made the
transcription. The original is the fugue from the Sonata
No. 1 in g minor (BWV 1001) for violin solo. The downward
transposition means that the highest note is c''', which was
probably the compass of many organs at the time, such as the
instrument which Bach played in Weimar. In the Schmieder catalogue
of Bach's works (BWV) it is preceded by a prelude, but that
wasn't originally intended. The fugue is receiving here an outstanding
performance by Matthias Havinga, who underlines the rhythm through
a very precise articulation and stressing the 'good' notes.
The concertos are also well played. Havinga manages to keep
the character of the originals intact, including the contrast
between 'solo' and 'tutti'. A matter of interest is the registration.
As most concertos are for strings, should the organist avoid
using reed stops? That probably goes a bit too far. After all,
these are organ pieces, and that is a good argument to use the
full range of colours of the organ. On the other hand I have
the impression that the character of these concertos comes off
best when reed stops are largely avoided. In this recording
the bass of the Concerto in G (BWV 592) seems a little
too present. I am also not sure whether it was a good idea to
use reed stops in Il Grosso Mogul. In the fast movements
of this concerto I would have preferred a slightly faster tempo,
but it is quite possible that the acoustic of the church would
make that rather inconvenient. The Concerto in d minor (BWV
974) is a transcription of the famous oboe concerto by Alessandro
Marcello. It was originally set for harpsichord, but can also
be played at the organ. In his registration Havinga conveys
the original scoring quite well, with a nice realisation of
the solo part.
The organ is a modern instrument built in 1998 by Martti Porthan
organ builders. It is clearly inspired by the organs of the
18th century and is well suited to the repertoire on this disc.
In this same church Matthias Havinga, born in the Netherlands
in 1983, won first prize in the International Organ Competition
in 2009. The booklet doesn't mention the fact that this disc
is the direct result of him winning the competition. It is his
debut, and a very fine one it is. Havinga provides engaging
and compelling performances.
N.B. For this review I have made use of an article by Vincent
C.K. Cheung, 'Bach the Transcriber: His Organ Concertos after
Vivaldi'. The web version can be found here.
Johan van Veen
http://www.musica-dei-donum.org
https://twitter.com/johanvanveen
Matthias Havinga (organ)
