Harmonische Freude
Johann Ludwig KREBS (1713-1780)
Fantasia on Wachtet auf, ruft uns die Stimme in C [2:34]
Praeambulum supra Jesu, meine Freude in d minor [3:34]
Jesu, meine Freude, chorale prelude in d minor [4:33]
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
Jesu, meine Freude, chorale prelude in d minor (BWV 713a)
[4:30]
Johann Ludwig KREBS
Jesu, meine Freude alio modo, chorale prelude in d minor
[1:20]
Gottfried August HOMILIUS (1714-1785)
Nun freut euch, lieben Christen gemein, chorale prelude in B flat
[2:52]
Sonata ā Oboe Solo col Basso in F [8:26]
Johann Ludwig KREBS
Nun freut euch, lieben Christen gmein, chorale prelude in G
[4:22]
Christian Gotthilf TAG (1735-1811)
Nun danket alle Gott, chorale prelude in G [3:35]
Johann Sebastian BACH
Trio sonata No. 3 in d minor (BWV 527) [15:31]
Georg Friedrich KAUFFMANN (1679-1735)
Ach Gott, vom Himmelsieh darein, chorale prelude in g minor
[3:01]
Johann Ludwig KREBS
Fantasia for oboe and organ in g minor [5:16]
Georg Friedrich KAUFFMANN
Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, chorale prelude in B flat
[1:39]
Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, chorale prelude in F
Austral Harmony (Jane Downer (oboe, oboe d'amore), Simon
Desbruslais (trumpet, natural trumpet), Peter Hagen (chamber organ))
rec. 2014, St Andrew's Church, Toddington, Gloucestershire, UK.
DDD
CHANDOS CHAN0809 [64:28]
One of the fruits of the Lutheran Reformation of the 16th century was the
emergence of the hymn in the vernacular, to be sung by the congregation or
by the faithful at home. Luther himself was the first who wrote such hymns,
sometimes only the text which was then set to music by a composer of his
time, sometimes also a melody. Others followed in his footsteps and this has
resulted in a large number of hymns which found their way into hymnbooks,
first in Germany, later across Europe. Hymns were incorporated in motets,
sacred concertos and cantatas and were a major source of inspiration for
composers of organ music. Chorale preludes and arrangements and sets of
variations on hymns by composers such as Pachelbel, Buxtehude and Bach are
part of the standard repertoire of organists.
The present disc includes music for organ with an obbligato part for a
wind instrument. This was a genre which was especially popular in the third
quarter of the 18th century. That was the time most composers represented in
the programme were active as organists in various churches. They were all
connected in one way or another to Johann Sebastian Bach. Johann Ludwig
Krebs was one of his most prominent pupils whose style is close to that of
his teacher, to such an extent that some pieces are attributed either to him
or to Bach. Another important pupil was Gottfried August Homilius who worked
most of his life in Dresden and whose output has started to be explored
since the beginning of this century.
The oldest composer in the programme is Georg Kauffmann. He was one of the
applicants for the job of
Thomaskantor in Leipzig after the death
of Johann Kuhnau in 1722. At the time he was organist at the court of
Saxe-Merseburg and was later promoted to court
Kapellmeister. The
pieces played here come from a collection of 98 chorale preludes and 66
basso continuo settings of chorales which was published on subscription
basis. That was quite unusual for organ music which was seldom published.
Also new was that the collection included six pieces in which the chorale
melody could be played on the oboe. These are the earliest compositions of
this kind in Germany. The latest composer on this disc is Christian Gotthilf
Tag. He was a pupil of Homilius in Dresden and worked from 1755 until his
death as
Kantor and schoolteacher in Hihenstein-Ernstthal. He was
held in high regard as
Kantor and organist. The chorale prelude
Nun danket alle Gott is scored for organ and horn or oboe.
The obbligato parts in such organ works were mostly intended for a wind
instrument: transverse flute, oboe, horn or trumpet. With the exclusion of
the flute these were instruments not played by amateurs but rather by
professional players. It is therefore unlikely that this kind of organ
preludes were written for domestic performance. This seems to be confirmed
by the organist and scholar Jakob Adlung who in his
Anleitung zu der
musikalischen Gelahrtheit (1758) stated: "Although one is mostly
in the habit of giving performances on the organ alone, it is also pleasant
if an oboe or other suitable instrument is secretly placed behind or near
the organ to perform the chorale with organ accompaniment, either with the
music or extemporaneously." This clearly refers to the use of a larger
organ, with the obbligato instrument acting as a kind of organ stop.
This is exactly the main reason that I am not really satisfied with this
disc. Peter Hagen plays a small organ which results in the oboe and
especially the trumpet being too dominant. They play a solo role here
instead of adding an extra voice to the organ parts. In a number of pieces
the trumpet plays the chorale melody and the oboe takes the upper part of
the organ, because the organist needs his two hands to play the remaining
two parts. The liner-notes are not very clear about the original scoring of
some pieces but at least some of them include a part for pedal which needs
to be played here by the left hand of the organist. The balance between the
various parts - organ and obbligato instrument - would have been much more
natural if a large organ with a pedalboard had been used.
The lack of balance also damages the
Trio sonata in d minor (BWV
527) by Bach. It is conceived for organ but is often played in other
scorings, such as recorder and organ or as an instrumental trio sonata, with
two treble instruments and basso continuo. That is perfectly legitimate as
long as the three parts are treated on equal footing. Here the right hand of
the organ is taken by the oboe and as a result is too dominant. In
particular the bass is seriously underexposed, as it is played on the manual
of the chamber organ.
There is nothing wrong with the playing of the three artists, although I
would have liked more dynamic shading in Jane Downer's performances,
for instance in Bach's trio sonata but also in Homilius'
Sonata in F. Simon Desbruslais plays a natural trumpet but turns to
the modern trumpet in the last two items by Kauffmann. The reason escapes me
and it is only mentioned in the booklet; no reason is given.
This is a nice disc which allows the listener to become acquainted with a
genre which is not that well-known. However, the performances are less than
ideal, especially in regard to the balance between the participating
instruments.
Johan van Veen
www.musica-dei-donum.org
twitter.com/johanvanveen
