Johann Sebastian BACH (1685 - 1750)
Italian Concertos - transcriptions for organ
Concerto in a minor (BWV 593) [12:20]
Concerto in a minor (BWV 596) [11:12]
Concerto in C (BWV 595) [4:59]
Concerto in d minor (BWV 974) [12:32]
Concerto in G (BWV 592) [8:31]
Fugue in d minor (BWV 539,2) [6:07]
Concerto in C (BWV 594) [19:08]
Matthias Havinga (organ)
rec. 14-15 September 2010, Lutheran Church, Kotka, Finland. DDD
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 94203 [74:56]
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
A very fine debut of this young Dutch organist.