It's still Bach week here at The Gothic Catalog, and our celebration translates into major savings for you! Here are a couple of examples of how you can celebrate Bach's birthday:
FIRST AMERICAN CD RECORDING!
Washington Bach Consort
J. Reilly Lewis, music director
The success of Bach's B-minor Mass has obscured a number of his shorter masterpieces of the same genre. Written in the 1730s (when Bach was in his 40s), these masses—which consist only of a Kyrie and Gloria setting—could be performed in both Catholic and Lutheran liturgies. Sometimes misleadingly called "The Lutheran Masses," Bach used them to gain recognition from the Catholic court of Dresden, which bestowed upon him the title "Electoral Saxon and Royal Polish Court Compositeur." Later he was to take one of these masses and expand it into the full B-minor Mass so popular today. The Washington Bach Consort, directed by J. Reilly Lewis, is one of America's leading Bach ensembles, having recently performed the entire 5-year cycle of Bach cantatas. In this first volume of the complete Bach masses, they explore some of the B-minor Mass's lesser-known, but equally interesting, companions. Program notes by eminent Bach scholar Christoph Wolff.
Mass in F major, BWV 233
Kyrie-Christe, Du Lamm Gottes, in F major, BWV 233a
Mass in G minor, BWV 235
Kyrie-Christe, Du Lamm Gottes, in F major, BWV 233a
Mass in G minor, BWV 235
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performed on a diverse collection of period instruments
Dana Maiben, violin (Nicola Amati, 1658)
Wendy Rolfe, flute (Rod Cameron, after G.A. Rottenburgh)
Alice Robbins, 'cello and viola da gamba (Thomas Urquhart, and William Turner, respectively, after instruments from London c. 1680)
Christa Rakich, harpsichord (French double after Blanchet by Willard Martin)
Christa Rakich, organ (Brombaugh, Taylor/Boody, Fritts, Fisk, Richards/Fowkes, and Harrold)
Scored for organ (or pedal clavichord), the Bach trio sonatas can be played on a variety of instruments, as Christa Rakich demonstrates in this imaginative program. Six different organs, six different organ builders, and an assortment of period chamber music instruments are used on this double-CD set!
Audio sample here (CD1 track 4)
"Christa Rakich’s new recording of the Six Trio Sonatas of Bach is remarkable for its variety, ingenuity, elegance, and scholarship. Ms. Rakich has assembled a unique presentation of these notoriously difficult contrapuntal masterpieces. ...She is a serious, intellectual musician, cognizant of every detail in this intensely linear music. Whether in the three-part counterpoint of the sonatas, the massive textures of the preludes, the intricate four-part dialogue of the fugues, or her beautifully realized continuo in the two transcribed sonatas, Ms. Rakich exhibits a pristine technique. She sensitively conveys the unique character of each of the many themes as well as the special ambience of the various keys through which each movement progresses. Her registrations delight the ear with one beautiful combination on one superb instrument after another, and her embellishments and flourishes are always tasteful.
Ms. Rakich begins her program notes with a question: “Why another recording of Bach’s Trio Sonatas?” and she correctly acknowledges that “so many fine ones exist.” The varied instrumental color palette brought to this familiar repertoire by Ms. Rakich and her colleagues is itself a compelling reason to produce a new recording. Adding to that the precision, clarity, and vitality of the playing, there is every reason to welcome this outstanding recording to the Bach Discography." — The American Organist
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