When I received this 4 CD boxed set for review, I must
admit that I was just a little bit apprehensive about listening to 4½
hours of excerpts from J. S. Bach`s massive musical output, particularly
as I am quite familiar with many other recordings that I possess of
these works. Just how wrong could I have been. What Naxos have done
here is quite impressive, and at a budget price. Jeremy Siepmann takes
us through the somewhat long and eventful life of possibly the most
important composer in the History of Western Civilisation. He is of
course Johann Sebastian Bach, born on March 21st 1685 in Eisenach, the
youngest son of Johann Ambrosius Bach and his wife Maria Elisabetha.
He was born into a Europe that was still recovering from the ravages
of the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). He sired twenty children, (within
three marriages) most of whom became influential composers in their
own right. He died in 1750 as a direct result of an operation carried
out by the English occultist John Taylor. At that time, Bach had been
working on the engraving of his last masterpiece "The Art Of Fugue".
He was 65 years of age. His body is buried in an unmarked grave in the
Cemetery of the Johanniskirche at Leipzig. An unmarked grave … unbelievable.
The real bonus with this Naxos set is the 116 page
book that accompanies this issue. What Naxos have done, is not to give
us the normal CD booklet of 20 to 30 pages with a brief outline as to
the content. With 116 pages Naxos give us a magnificent tome laid out
in nine shortish chapters with the following titles:-
CD Track listings Page
4
Biographies Page 7
1 - Historical Background: The Eighteenth Century Page
10
2 - Bach in His Time Page
18
3 - The Major Works and their Significance in Bach`s
Output Page 26
4 - A Graded Listening Plan Page
40
5 - Recommended Reading Page
49
6 - Personalities Page
52
7 - A Calendar of Bach`s Life Page
62
8 - Glossary Page 100
9 - Discography Page
110
(With the following) The spoken text can be found at:
http://www.naxos.com/lifeandworks/bach/spokentext
What more can one say about this? The recordings are
taken from the Naxos catalogue and are all of excellent quality. The
performances are all very fine and come from the following Naxos CDs:-
8.553859 "The Great Organ Works" BWV 565, BWV 578,
BWV 552, BWV 147, BWV 564, BWV 639,
BWV 582.
8.550651 Trio Sonatas Nos 1 -3 BWV 525 - 7
Prelude and Fugue BWV 543
8.554606 Harpsichord Concerti III BWV 1060 -
2, BWV 1065. (A. Vivaldi RV 580)
8.553796 - 97 The Well-Tempered Clavier - Book 1-
24 preludes and Fugues. (2 CDs)
8.554603 Violin Concertos BWV 1041 - 1043
and 1052
8.550194 Air on the G String BWV 1069 (+ Double
Concerto and Violin Concertos)
8.554608 Brandenburg Concertos Nos 4 & 5
Concerto for two recorders and harpsichord
BWV 1057
Concerto BWV 1044
8.550585-86 Mass in B Minor
8.550078 Goldberg Variations
8.553751 "Bist du bei mir" BWV
508 from Notenbuchlein fur Anna Magdalena Bach
8.550763 Cantata "Ich habe genug" BWV
82 (+Magnificat in D)
8.550642 Cantata "Ein feste Burg ist unser
Cott", BWV 80
Cantata "Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben"
BWV 147
8.550679 Inventions and Sinfonias (Complete)
Fragments from Notenbuchlein fur Anna Magdalena
Bach
8.550066 "J. S. Bach Keyboard Favorites"
8.550692 Capriccio sopra la lontananza del suo fratello
dillettissimo BWV 992 (+ Partitas Nos 1 and 2)
8.553823 Motets "Jesu, meine Freude",
"Komm, Jesu, komm", "Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied",
"Furchte dich nicht", "Der Geist
hilft unsrer Schwachheit auf Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden"
8. 550664-65 St John Passion
8.554607 Brandenburg Concertos Nos 1 - 3 and 6
8.554609 Overtures (Suites) Nos 1 - 4
8.550184 Organ Favorites - Pastorale BWV 590,
Preludes and Fugues BWV 532, 548 and 552,
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor BWV 565
8.554605 Harpsichord Concertos BWV 1054,
1058, 1063 and 1064
8.550641 Cantata "Schweigt stille, plaudert
nicht" (Coffee Cantata) BWV 211
Cantata "Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet"
(Peasant Cantata) BWV 212
8.550704 Die Kunst der Fuge (Contrapunctus XIII,
XVII - XIX)
Partita BWV 768
Passacaglia BWV 582
8.553286 Musikalisches Opfer BWV 1079
A formidable list of some of the most important compositions
ever conceived, and all by the same composer. You see, what Naxos
have done (unlike all the other record companies) is to supply the
newcomer to J.S. Bach with a comprehensive source for further research
and listening pleasure. I wholeheartedly applaud Naxos for their
care and attention to detail, and in their treating the purchaser of
this extensive set as an intelligent person, who, unlike the purchasers
of those Godawful "Essential/Etc." releases, intends to find
out more about the composer, their works, family lives and what events
were happening around them and the world at that time.
I have deliberately avoided going into detail about
the individual recorded excerpts, as there are over sixty of them, and
there is only so much space in this Universe. But I can most assuredly
and most highly recommend this set to everybody. When you consider that
this 4 CD set is sold at budget price, and is so lavishly presented,
you have to ask yourself: ‘Are they all completely mad at Naxos?’ This
would be a bargain even at full price. ENJOY!
Scott Montague
See also review by
Terry Barfoot
Written and Narrated by
Jeremy Siepmann.