This disc continues
the interesting series — now in its
sixth volume — of Bach transcriptions
for piano that Hyperion has been presenting
to the public. This began with volume
1 of Busoni’s transcriptions in 1992
with Nikolai Demidenko, continuing with
other transcribers through Friedman,
Percy Grainger, Samuil Feinberg, Catoire,
Siloti, Kabalevsky and Goedicke. As
evidenced by the pieces previously transcribed
in this series, the works of this volume
represent a section of Bach’s output
not nearly as frequently transcribed
— his cantatas.
Walter Rummel is not
a name widely known, though he was a
performer of repute beginning in the
mid- to late-1920s, He focused especially
on Germanic piano literature, but also
admitted pieces by Liszt, Ravel and
Villa-Lobos. He knew Debussy and premiered
a number of his works. He was born and
raised in Berlin — a grandson of telegraph
pioneer Samuel Morse - to pianist parents.
His mother was an amateur performer;
his father the then-well-known Franz
Rummel. He studied with Godowsky and,
though holding American citizenship,
had a career almost entirely in Europe.
Walter Rummel performed as soloist under
the baton of many names familiar to
us — Henry Wood, Felix Weingartner,
Reynaldo Hahn. His reputation declined
due to unfortunate judgment in the late
1930s and early 1940s, where he performed
in Germany and the countries it occupied
during the war. Eventually Germany gave
the ultimatum that they wouldn’t protect
him unless he gave up his American citizenship.
He did so in 1944. He continued to perform
into the 1950s, dying eventually of
spinal cancer in 1953. He also composed,
with his songs proving the most lasting
in popularity. Other works of his are
now considered lost, including a piano
concerto and a string quartet.
Usually it is the great
organ works that get the attention of
transcribers: the toccatas and fugues,
the trio sonatas, the monumental Passacaglia
and Fugue BWV582. In adapting - not
transcribing - the cantata pieces for
piano Rummel sets on the table a greater
amount of work for himself in that he
must deal with funnelling eight or more
simultaneous melodic lines into a version
that ten human fingers can play. Not
all of these pieces are as challenging
as that, but many present formidable
difficulties to the pianist. One such
example is the rapid-fire and heavily
chordal overture from Cantata 26 which
appears on disc one. In spite of the
difficulties in making this sound phrasal,
Plowright communicates the angst found
in the music and the text while still
making it sound pianistic; a truly virtuosic
three minutes.
It isn’t only the bravura
bits from the cantatas that are represented
here. The first disc opens with the
beautiful chorale from cantata 22 and
it is here in such tranquil pieces that
the quiet beauty of Bach’s writing shines
through the adaptation. Plowright’s
playing has definition and clarity while
maintaining a tone less sharp-edged
than what one would imagine if Glenn
Gould were playing these pieces. In
comparison, one sees similarity to Tatiana
Nikolaeva’s playing of the Well-tempered
Clavier. The wonderful adaptation of
the organ prelude BWV 731, "Liebster
Jesu, wir sind hier" is greatly
enjoyable in this recording, not suffering
the least from being performed on an
instrument without a flute stop.
The set also caters
for enthusiasts of Bach instrumental
music who happen not to be terribly
familiar with the many cantatas. We
have, on disc 2, the overture from Cantata
146, which is an earlier version of
the first movement of the much more
widely-known Concerto in d minor BWV
1052, here performed as a one-piano
version of the entire movement. Octave
doublings do occur, as well as some
nods to the virtuosic, which may offend
the more rigid purists out there, but
this transcription has energy, fire,
and, what’s more, a sensitive understanding
of what Bach’s music is about. Plowright
performs exceedingly well throughout.
Rubato abounds, especially in
what would be the cadenza section of
the piano concerto. However this isn’t
Lisztian Bach so much as some new perspective
that refracts the original orchestration
into something with less of a focus
on the performer and more of a focus
on Bach’s music.
Of the four series
of adaptations Rummel committed to paper,
most, as mentioned, focus on the cantatas.
The last series, of which only four
of the seven survive, leaned toward
the chorale preludes. Of the pieces
still extant, we have a fantastic transcription
of "Die Seele ruht in Jesu Haenden"
from cantata 127, which simply stops
the show. Arpeggiations with the sustain
pedal form the piano version of the
original strings. Plowright’s wonderful
voicing brings out the solo part in
a beautiful twelve minutes of heart-rending
devotion. The recording is what one
would expect from Hyperion, with close,
crisp miking that holds some ambience
but isn’t cold or sterile. Overall,
these adaptations straddle the line
between the Bach aesthetic and that
of Liszt so popular at the time. Octave
doublings abound and some ornamentation
isn’t Bachian, but one can’t fail to
feel the great sense of devotion that
Rummel communicates for the works he
has transcribed. That devotion carries
through to Plowright’s performances,
which are exceptional.
David Blomenberg
Jonathan Plowright (piano) 
for
details
