Celebrating J.S. Bach

March is J.S. Bach month at The Gothic Catalog, and last Sunday on The Organ Loft, we celebrated with an all-Bach program. Today we'd like to share a little from Sunday's Organ Loft to continue J.S. Bach celebrations.

Sinfonia
Organ Concertos and Sinfonias by J.S. Bach
The Joe R. Engle Organ of Miller Chapel, Princeton Theological Seminary
Paul Fritts and Co. Opus 20
Princeton University Chapel Camerata
Joan Lippincott, organ

Gothic Records G-49130
List Price: $18.98
Purchase at our Price of: $14.98

The Joan Lippincott Bach collection on Gothic (8 discs!)

Joan Lippincott's Bach landmark recordings on Gothic Records! Nincediscs (7 single CDs, one double CD), at a special price.

The following items are included in this set:
Toccatas & Fugues by Bach/Lippincott ($18.98 value!)
Bach: Leipzig Chorales/Lippincott ($18.98 value!)
Bach Trio Sonatas/Lippincott ($18.98 value!)
Sinfonia: Organ Concertos and Sinfonias by J.S. Bach/Lippincott ($18.98 value!)
Preludes & Fugues/Lippincott ($18.98 value!)
Clavierübung III & Schübler Chorales/Lippincott (2 CDs!) ($26.98 value!)
J.S. Bach: Weimar Preludes and Fugues/Lippincott ($18.98 value!)
J.S. Bach: Concerto Transcriptions/Lippincott ($18.98 value!)

Gothic Records
List Price: $178.82
Purchase at our Price of: $74.98

The Organ Loft - Sinfonia! Joan Lippincott plays concertos by J.S. Bach

The Organ Loft - March 20, 2011
Sinfonia! Joan Lippincott plays concertos by J.S. Bach
Webcast and Broadcast Schedule

This week on the Organ Loft, we're featuring Joan Lippincott and recordings of Bach transcriptions. The featured work is the keyboard Concerto in D minor, whose movements were transcribed by Bach for organ with orchestra in various cantata movements.

Program
(All Music in this week's program was composed by J.S. Bach)

1. Presto from Sinfonia in D major¹
2. Concerto in D minor¹
3. Allegro from Sonata No. 5 in C major, BWV 529²
4. Concerto in D-minor¹

Recordings Used:

1. “Sinfonia” Joan Lippincott, organ with the Princeton Univ. Chapel Camerata GOTHIC 49130
2. “Bach: The Trio Sonatas” Joan Lippincott, organ GOTHIC 49116

Listen Online:

KING-FM Seattle's Classical Choice — Sundays at 10:00 PM

OREGON: KWAX-FM and the University of Oregon radio network — Sundays at 8:00 AM and 6:00 PM

Joan Lippincott - Bach

Joan Lippincott marked a few milestones recently. First, she celebrated her 75th Birthday, and second she celebrated 30 Years of recordings on Gothic Records.

Her "celebration" album was the J.S. Bach Concerto Transcriptions recording on the Paul Fritts Organ, Opus 20 at Princeton Theological Seminary. The recording features Lippincott's own dazzling transcription of the Bach/Vivaldi concerto for four harpsichords.

Gothic Records has celebrated the milestone by issuing The Joan Lippincott Bach Collection on Gothic featuring 8 CDs.



Make sure to check out our video from The Organ Loft episode "Celebrating Joan Lippincott":

Organ Sale - Huge Savings!

We already told you about our Organ Sale that's going on right now and runs through January 31st, but today we wanted to give you an example of the huge savings you'll get during this sale!

Toccata in D Minor & Other Favorites
Fenner Douglass
Flenthrop Organ

This CD contains tracks from two of Gothic's most popular LP recordings of Fenner Douglass on the (then) new Flentrop organ of Duke University Chapel. Many organ favorites are recorded including Bach's Toccata in D minor, Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, and others. Douglass plays with an energetic style that is in complete harmony with the original musical aesthetic. The organ is outstanding and it is situated in a large Gothic church with generous acoustics.

If you know someone who might be interested in organ music, this CD is a good place to start.
List Price: $18.98
Sale Price: $2.98

Four Masterworks for Organ
Frederick Swann

Frederick Swann is one of the best-known, and best-loved organists in America. He has been organist of The Riverside Church in New York City and The Crystal Cathedral in California, as well as President of the American Guild of Organists. In this recording he demonstrates the huge Crystal Cathedral organ with four landmark works by Mendelssoh, Bach, Franck and Wright.

List Price: $18.98
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The Joan Lippincott Bach Collection on Gothic (8 discs!)

The Joan Lippincott Bach Set on Gothic! Includes eight of her highly acclaimed Bach recordings.

List Price: $178.82
Sale Price: $74.98
That's a savings of $103.84!

Joan Lippincott 30th Anniversary Release - J.S. Bach Concerto Transcriptions

J.S. Bach: Concerto Transcriptions
Paul Fritts Organ at Princeton Theological Seminary
Joan Lippincott, organ

This recording celebrates 30 years of Joan Lippincott's Bach recordings on Gothic, and includes her own dazzling transcription of the Bach/Vivaldi concerto for four harpsichords.

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Concerto in G Major, BWV 592
1 (Allegro)
2 Grave
3 Presto

Concerto in A Minor, BWV 593
4 (Allegro)
5 Adagio
6 Allegro

Concerto in D Minor, BWV 596
7 (Allegro)
8 Grave - Fuga
9 Largo e spiccato
10 (Allegro)

Concerto in C Major, BWV 594
11 (Allegro)
12 Recitativo Adagio
13 Allegro

Concerto in C Major, BWV 595
14 (Allegro)

Concerto in A Minor, BWV 1065, transcribed by Joan Lippincott
15 (Allegro)
16 Largo
17 Allegro
18 Allabreve in D Major, BWV 589

---

Program Notes:

Johann Sebastian Bach’s stay in Weimar as Court Organist to Dukes Wilhelm Ernst and Ernst August has been described as the golden period of his organ writing. There is certainly truth to this, for his tenure in Weimar (1708-1717) directly followed his initial organist positions in Arnstadt (1703-1707) and Mühlhausen (1707-1708), during which he cut his teeth in organ playing and composition. In Arnstadt and Mühlhausen he produced “the first fruits of his efforts at organ composition,” as the writers of his obituary later put it. In Weimar, his organ writing reached maturity, and it was there that he wrote most of the works that established his reputation as the greatest organist and organ composer of all time: the Orgelbüchlein ("The Little Organ Book"), the first versions of the “Great Eighteen” Chorales, the bulk of his large preludes and fugues, and the concerto transcriptions heard on the present recording. The success of these pieces and the brilliance of Bach’s playing attracted students and brought invitations to test and inaugurate new organs in neighboring towns. Indeed, it was during this time that word began to spread throughout Germany about the organ virtuoso from Thuringia.

Bach was encouraged in these activities by his principal employer, Wilhelm Ernst, a great lover of organ music. Moreover, he had at his disposal an organ of sufficient (if not luxurious) resources located in the magnificent space of the Court Chapel. There were still other reasons that his talents flourished in Weimar, however. The first was the presence of his cousin Johann Gottfried Walther, organist of the City Church of St. Peter and St. Paul located just across town from the court complex. Walther was also an organist of considerable skill, and his settings of chorale melodies and his transcriptions of instrumental concertos clearly spurred friendly competition with Bach. Walther’s wide-ranging interests in music (he later published one of the most important German music dictionaries of the time, the Musical Lexicon of 1732) and his extensive library of German, French, and Italian music opened new vistas for the ever-curious Bach.

A second catalyst in Weimar was the presence of Prince Johann Ernst, the young nephew of Wilhelm Ernst. Ernst, a gifted violinist and keyboard player, studied composition with Walther and owned an extensive library of contemporary instrumental music. The Prince traveled frequently in Europe to hear new music and purchase copies for his collection, and it was on a trip to the low countries in the spring of 1713 that he brought back to the court a large quantity of printed music that seems to have included Antonio Vivaldi’s latest set of violin concertos, L’Estro armonico (“The Harmonic Whim”), op. 3, of 1711.

Bach’s encounter with Vivaldi’s concertos, courtesy of Johann Ernst, was a life-changing experience. Vivaldi’s compelling instrumental idiom with its incisive themes, clear harmonic direction, strongly wrought forms, and motor rhythms offered Bach an attractive alternative to the North-German style that he had espoused in his early works, and it was not long before his organ compositions began to take on Vivaldian features. And in what appears to have been a friendly competition, Bach and Walther arranged a series of fashionable instrumental concertos by Vivaldi, Johann Ernst, and other progressive composers for organ and harpsichord, producing a body of transcriptions that testifies to an unusually exciting period of organ playing and composition in Weimar.

Johann Ernst died prematurely in 1715 at the age of nineteen, and it is possible that Bach and Walther intended their transcriptions as gifts to the Prince during his lifetime or as memorial tributes after his death. On the present recording organist Joan Lippincott performs Bach’s five surviving concerto transcriptions for organ, two of works by Johann Ernst and three of works by Vivaldi. She also adds for good measure her own transcription of Bach’s four-harpsichord arrangement of Vivaldi’s Concerto in B Minor for Four Violins, Strings, and Continuo as well as the Allabreve in D Major, BWV 589, Bach’s transcription-like homage to the Renaissance vocal motet.

The Concerto in G Major, BWV 592, is a transcription of Johann Ernst’s Concerto in G Major for Violin, Strings, and Continuo, a work that Bach also transcribed for solo harpsichord, BWV 592a. Ernst’s concerto survives as a set of handwritten instrumental parts, and a comparison of the original music and the organ arrangement shows that Bach tightened and improved the score as he transferred it to the organ. The music follows the traditional three-movement sequence of the Late Baroque Concerto: Fast—Slow—Fast. In the opening movement Bach assigns the solo violin episodes to the Rückpositiv, or secondary manual, and the tutti sections to the Oberwerk, or primary manual, and Pedal. At times he calls for double pedal, taking both viola and continuo parts with the feet in order to free the hands for the two violin lines. In the Grave middle movement a forte unison theme frames a melodic central section. And in the Presto finale, which like the first movement capitalizes on the alternation of a tutti ritornello theme and episodic segments, Bach adorns the music with 32nd-note scalar flourishes here and there to further animate the score.

The Concerto in A Minor, BWV 593, is a transcription of the Concerto in A Minor for Two Violins, Strings, and Continuo, RV 522, from Vivaldi’s L’Estro armonico. Bach arranged the concerto for two manuals and pedal, assigning the tutti sections to the Oberwerk and the solo violin sections to the Rückpositiv, much in the manner of the Johann Ernst transcriptions. He also enriched the texture everywhere, adding new counterpoint to Vivaldi’s lines. The ingenuity of Bach’s adaptation is present everywhere, from the inventive and carefully notated manual changes of the first and third movements to the inversion of Vivaldi’s motives in the middle movement to make the original parts more playable on a keyboard. In the final Allegro Bach utilizes double pedal once again, assigning the unison line of violins 3 and 4 of Vivaldi’s score to the right foot and the continuo part to the left foot. The two hands play the solo violin parts. The boldness of this passage must have greatly impressed Bach’s listeners, for there was nothing quite like it in the organ repertory before this work.

No less magnificent is the Concerto in D Minor, BWV 596, a transcription of Vivaldi’s Concerto in D Minor for Two Violins, Cello, Strings, and Continuo, RV 565, from L’Estro armonico, once again. Its formal design is somewhat different from that of the A-Minor Concerto: a 32-measure-long Allegro introduction leads to a 3-measure Grave bridge, which is followed by an extended and commanding fugue. This leads to a slow movement, Large e spicatto (slow and unslurred), and an Allegro finale. Bach once again shows remarkable invention in adapting Vivalid’s instrumental score to the keyboard. In the Allegro introduction, for instance, he notates the opening solo violin lines an octave lower than written on separate keyboards, Oberwerk and Brustpositiv, with a 4’ Principal stop on each. In this way he was able to include the critical top note d’’’, which was not available at 8’ pitch on his Weimar organ (the manuals extended only to c’’’). Under the two violin lines Bach adds a pulsating solo pedal point that does not exist in Vivaldi’s score. It serves to ground the harmony and increase the dramatic tension of the opening. Just as inventive is Bach’s call for a change of registration on the Oberwerk and Pedal during the course of the introduction—a procedure that could be carried out smoothly only with the aid of an assistant. While the fugue that follows is performed on one manual throughout with the full organ, the concluding Allegro calls for the type of rapid manual changes found in the A-Minor Concerto and the Johann Ernst transcriptions. So impressive was the D-Minor Concerto arrangement that Bach’s oldest son Wilhelm Friedemann claimed the music as his own on the original score. It was accepted as such until 1911, when a comparison with Vivaldi’s L’Estro armonico revealed the true source of the music.

The Concerto in C Major, BWV 594, after Vivaldi’s Concerto in D Major for Violin, Strings, and Continuo, RV 208, known as the “Great Mogul,” is less frequently performed than the A-Minor and D-Minor Concerto arrangements. This is due in large part to the single-line effects that work well only in a space with reverberant acoustics. In addition, Bach appears to have chosen as his model an early manuscript version of the concerto, RV 208a, that includes extended single-line cadenzas in movements 1 and 3 (the cadenza for movement 3, which occurs just before the short closing tutti, is 93 measures long!) and a middle movement that differs from that of Vivaldi’s printed score in opus 7 of 1720. The cadenzas may represent an addition by Bach’s friend and colleague Johann Georg Pisendel, concertmaster of the Dresden Court orchestra.

Despite these eccentricities, Bach’s organ arrangement creates a great effect, capturing and heightening, through adroit manual changes, the exotic nature of Vivaldi’s score. The opening and closing movements are animated ritornello forms. The middle movement, marked “Recitativo Adagio,” consists of a rhythmically free, florid cantilena melody against simple accompanimental chords.

The Concerto in C Major, BWV 595, is a transcription of the first movement of a lost instrumental concerto by Prince Johann Ernst. The concerto is also mirrored in full three-movement form in Bach’s harpsichord arrangement, BWV 984. The most prominent feature of the organ transcription is Bach’s generous use of manual change to highlight the dynamic contrast between tutti and solo passages. Indeed, during the course of the piece’s eighty-one measures Bach asks the player to switch keyboards sixty times—more than in any of his other organ works. The result is an exhilarating, if technically challenging, organ arrangement.

Some twenty years after crafting the Weimar organ transcriptions Bach returned to Vivaldi’s L’Estro armonico collection, arranging the Concerto in B Minor for Four Violins, Strings, and Continuo, RV 580, as the Concerto in A Minor for Four Harpsichords and Strings, BWV 1065. Bach most probably created this harpsichord extravaganza for himself and his three oldest sons, Wilhelm Friedemann, Carl Philipp Emanual, and Johann Gottfried Bernhard, who were all gifted keyboard players. The work would have been performed before an audience of coffee-drinking, tobacco-smoking patrons at Zimmermann’s Coffee House in Leipzig, as part of Bach’s weekly concerts with the University Collegium Musicum. On the present recording, Joan Lippincott plays her own organ transcription of Bach’s collegium arrangement, aptly demonstrating the versatility of this extraordinary music.

In the opening movement tutti segments of the four harpsichords and strings alternate with solo segments pairing the harpsichords in different combinations. In the middle Adagio, short segments of music in dotted rhythm frame a middle section based on arpeggios in the harpsichords. In the spirited finale tutti passges alternate with solo episodes once again, this time within the context of a dynamic dance in 6/8 meter.

Joan Lippincott concludes her recording with the Allabreve in D Major, BWV 589, Bach’s homage to the Renaissance vocal style of Palestrina. The allabreve meter, the conjunct white-note theme, the numerous suspensions, and the seamless forward motion all point to Renaissance rather than Baroque writing. Also typical of early vocal music is the tightening of the imitative entries, or stretto, towards the end. There is nothing else quite like the Allabreve in Bach’s oeuvre. As a vocal motet written for the organ, it is a unicum, and it is possible that Bach composed it during the last two decades of his life, when he was intensely involved with the study of Latin-texted church music from the Renaissance Era.

The Allabreve, like the concerto transcriptions, once again shows Bach as the supreme master of organ arrangements, be they of popular instrumental concertos or of a cappella church music.

—George B. Stauffer

What the Press say about Joan Lippincott

As you should know by now, we are celebrating the phenomenal Joan Lippincott this week! So today, we wanted to let you know what critics have to say about this legendary organist.

Concert Quotes:

“Most important perhaps, is her way with rhythm … the mighty Toccata in F had an irresistible and wonderfully humanizing swing about it.” - The New York Times

“Bach’s Canonic Variations on Vom Himmel Hoch displayed an uncommon level of technique, registrational imagination and musical understanding. Bach’s D-minor Toccata and Fugue … she played with the dazzling solidity and simplicity of the laws of the universe.” - Boston Globe

“A large audience gathered last night at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. … Ms. Lippincott rewarded them with a varied program, given with a mixture of consistently high musicianship and disciplined playing.” - The Evening Star

“Almost everything about Joan Lippincott`s organ recital proved first class ... The organist displayed a strong architectonic flair in both programming and performance, a penchant for detail and more than ample technical facility to realize her interpretative goals.” - The Los Angeles Times

2000 Bach Festival, First Congregational Church – “… a balanced wonder of rigorous freedom and grace – the great Bachian paradox of metaphysical abstractions given exuberant musical life.” - The Los Angeles Times

“She is an exacting musician, intense, positive, and forthright.” - Seattle Post-Intelligencer

“Ms. Lippincott’s dazzling recital was … the kind of performance a man is prompted to admiringly call ‘virile.’ The highlight of the afternoon was the performance of the Alain Trois Danses. Ms. Lippincott’s recital was an auspicious opening to the convention.” - Music

“Those who attended the recital can certainly verify why critics have acclaimed Ms. Lippincott as one of America’s outstanding organ virtuosos. The final number was the Prelude and Fugue on BACH of Liszt. It was a tour-de-force and superbly played.”
Worship and Music Notes

“She applied herself with exhilarating effect. … Her stirring performance of the Grande Pièce Symphonique brought the large audience to its feet.” - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Lippincott gave the great Toccata in F an extremely fluid touch and the lines sang. I heard new things in the music because of her way of playing it.” - Grand Rapids Press

Recording Review Quotes:

“…a recording of absolute musical success. Joan Lippincott never overwhelms with the sound of the organ, and the Camerata is a splendid musical group. This recording could convert even a person who thinks he does not care for Bach’s music, should such a benighted soul exist anywhere on the planet.” — The Diapason

"Joan Lippincott performs some familiar preludes and fugues by Bach on the Paul Fritts Organ at Notre Dame University. The organ is said to resemble the sort of organ on which Bach would have performed. Ms. Lippincott’s registration, while adhering to the notion that the preludes and fugues were to be played “full plenum” (full organ), are varied and tasteful and rarely overwhelm the music. Her interpretations are those of a seasoned player, and, even if one doesn’t agree with them, they are difficult to disrespect." - The Living Church

View the Joan Lippincott collection on the Gothic Catalog

Joan Lippincott and the Art of Fugue

We are still celebrating the magnificent career and recordings of Joan Lippincott on Gothic Records, and we have a wonderful video to share with you as part of the celebration! This video is from the New Jersey Network Public Television station and presents Joan Lippincott performing one of Bach's most famous pieces — The Art of Fugue. We hope you enjoy this as much as we did. Make sure to visit our site to pick up any of Joan's fantastic albums that you don't already own.

In Case You Missed the Joan Lippincott Organ Loft Feature

In case you missed Sunday's broadcast of The Organ Loft, here is a sample of what you missed:

The Organ Loft - Celebrating Joan Lippincott

This week on The Organ Loft, we will be featuring the phenomenal organist Joan Lippincott and celebrating her 30 years of distinguished recordings on Gothic Records!



Click play to listen to a preview of the Sunday program!

Click for the Webcast and Broadcast Schedules

Joan Lippincott has been acclaimed as one of America’s outstanding organ virtuosos. She performs extensively in the United States under Karen McFarlane Artists and has toured throughout Europe and Canada. She has been a featured recitalist at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City, at the Spoleto USA Festival, at The American Bach Society Biennial, at the Dublin (Ireland) International Organ Festival, and at conventions of the American Guild of Organists, the Organ Historical Society, and the Music Teachers National Association. She has performed on most of the prominent organs in churches and universities throughout the United States, including Yale, Harvard, Duke, Stanford, Columbia, and Princeton. She has traveled widely in Europe, studying, playing, and performing in recital on historic and contemporary organs in Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, and France.

A graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music and Westminster Choir College, where she was a student of Alexander McCurdy, she also studied at Union Theological Seminary and Princeton Theological Seminary. She is on the Advisory Board of The American Bach Society, an honorary member of Sigma Alpha Iota, and has received the Alumni Merit Award, the Distinguished Merit Award, and an Honorary Doctorate from Westminster Choir College.

Mozart and the Organ/Lippincott
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The Fisk organ of Old West Church in Boston is an ideal match for the lyrical sounds of Mozart. Certain stops from older organs were incorporated into the instrument giving it an antique sound that is unique in Fisk's works.

Joan Lippincott plays some of Mozart's best known works, and a few that rarely heard on organ. Includes notes of Mozart and the organ.

Lippincott/Philadelphia Brass
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The virtuoso brass ensemble, Philadelphia Brass join organist Joan Lippincott at the large Mander organ of Princeton University Chapel in this grand recording, animated by a large acoustical space.

Toccatas & Fugues by Bach/Lippincott
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The large Flentrop organ of Duke University Chapel is the venue for the latest in Lippincott's Bach organwork series. Those works entitled "Toccata" are among Bach's most famous and best loved works. Notes by Bach scholar George Stauffer, and a description with complete stoplist of the Flentrop organ are included in the booklet.

Bach: Leipzig Chorales/Lippincott
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When Bach died in 1750, he left behind an incomplete manuscript that was perhaps being prepared for future publication. The intent of the collection, or the organizational scheme are difficult to discern, but Bach may have been planning something on the same scale as Clavierübung III (the "German Organ Mass"). Whatever the intent, these enlargements and revisions of earlier chorale preludes contain some of Bach's most sublime musical moments.

Bach Trio Sonatas/Lippincott
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Not all great organ music is big and bombastic—as these sonatas prove! Requiring flawless technique on the part of the player, these three-movement chamber works are delightful pieces on the surface; deeper analysis reveals marvelously constructed compositions that could only spring from the mind of J.S. Bach.

Lippincott plays the perfectly-suited Taylor and Boody organ at St Thomas Church, NY. Extensive notes by Bach scholar, George Stauffer.

Sinfonia: Organ Concertos and Sinfonias by J.S. Bach/Lippincott
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Bach concertos for organ and orchestra? Joan Lippincott makes a compelling and logical case for constructing organ concertos from the "organ sinfonias" of Bach's cantatas. Booklet includes essay on these organ solo+orchestra pieces by noted Bach scholar, George Stauffer.

Bach: Preludes & Fugues/Lippincott
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Of the many musical forms that J.S. Bach cultivated during his lifetime, none has enjoyed more lasting influence than the prelude and fugue. In this recording, Joan Lippincott provides us with a beautifully rounded survey of Bach's mature preludes and fugues, from the Pièce d'Orgue, BWV 572, one of his boldest independent preludes, to the Prelude and Fugue in E Minor ("Wedge"), BWV 548, one of his most ambitious compostions for the organ. To round out the recording, Lippincott also includes the Canonic Variations on Vom Himmel hoch, a very late work, written at the same time Art of Fugue and the Musical Offering

Bach: Clavierübung III & Schübler Chorales/Lippincott (2 CDs!)
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Joan Lippincott continues her Bach series with two of the most substantial collections published during Bach's lifetime. The Clavierübung III follows Book I (Italian Concerto) and Book II (Goldberg Variations) and precedes Book IV (Art of Fugue), and altogether represents Bach’s highest achievements in the art of writing for the keyboard. Clavierubung III, sometimes called “The Organ Mass” begins with settings of the Kyrie and Gloria, but is structured after the German Lutheran catechism. Included in this recording are both the large chorales, the alternative chorales for manuals only and the four duetti. Bach’s collection of cantata movement transcriptions for organ published by Schübler in 1742 includes the famous “Wachet Auf!”, and rounds out this two-CD collection.

Program notes by noted Bach scholar, George Stauffer.

The Fenner Douglass Organ/Joan Lippincott
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Joan Lippincott plays "The Bach Legacy," a program based on music by Bach and those inspired by him, on this new Taylor and Boody organ of Bower Chapel in Naples, Florida. Named for organist and scholar Fenner Douglass in November 2006, this three-manual organ is perfectly voiced for the beautiful acoustics of the chapel, and Lippincott’s registrations demonstrate some of the organ’s most compelling sounds.

The Uncommon Bach: Variants, Rarities and Transcription
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This out-of-print recording has recently become available once again. State of the art recording technology, superb acoustics, a landmark organ and two American titans of Bach organ performance (Joan Lippincott and George Ritchie) tackle an unusual repertoire. You may think you know these works, but these versions are different – sometimes significantly different– from the versions most often recorded. A delightful recording that is well done in every aspect.

J.S. Bach: Weimar Preludes and Fugues/Lippincott
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Bach's prelude and fugue compositions reached an extraordinary peak of sophistication and virtuosity during his tenure as court organist in Weimar (1708-1717). Joan Lippincott plays the Paul Fritts organ in a highly reverberant room that is not unlike the court chapel in Weimar.

J.S. Bach: Concerto Transcriptions/Lippincott
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This unusual recording celebrates 30 years of Joan Lippincott's Bach recordings on Gothic, and includes her own dazzling transcription of the Bach/Vivaldi concerto for four harpsichords.

Favorite Hymns and Anthems/Westminster Choir College
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If you love to sing along with the great classical hymns of the church, this CD is for you! "Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones", "Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah," "For All the Saints," "Holy, Holy, Holy" and many others. Also included are some of the choir's favorite anthems, including the Vaughn Williams setting of Old Hundreth ("The Doxology").

The Joan Lippincott Bach collection on Gothic!
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The Complete Joan Lippincott on Gothic! Includes all ten albums.

Find the Broadcasts online from:

KING-FM Seattle's Classical Choice — Sundays at 10:00 PM

And

OREGON: KWAX-FM and the University of Oregon radio network — Sundays at 8:00 AM and 6:00 PM

Bach Celebration Week Sale

This is the last day that we will be reminding you of the Bach Celebration Week savings that you should be participating in! So, make sure to head over to http://gothic-catalog.com today!

J.S. Bach: St John Passion (1725 version)
Derek Chester, Evangelist
Douglas Williams, Jesus
Ilya Poletaev, organ
William Perdue, violoncello
Abigail Haynes and Mellissa Hughes, soprano
Ian L. Howell and Sylvia Aiko Rider, alto
Steven Caldicott Wilson, tenor
Joshua Copeland, bass
Yale Collegium Players (Robert Mealy, director)
Yale Schola Cantorum
Simon Carrington, director

The rarely performed 1725 version of Bach’s St. John Passion is presented by Yale University’s premier early-music ensembles. Simon Carrington, who initiated his illustrious musical career as cofounder of the King’s Singers, directs this live performance.

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Buy Now to Save!

Bach Influences: Kimberly Marshall two-CD special
Kimberly Marshall's "Bach and the Italian Influence" plus "Bach and the French Influence" for a special price!

Bach and the Italian Inflence
Fisk-Nanney Organ
Stanford Memorial Church
Kimberly Marshall, organist

"Bach and the Italian Influence" explores the Italian influences on Bach, and is presented by organ scholar and international performing artist, Kimberly Marshall.

The Stanford Fisk is unique in that it incorporates two different tuning temperaments (well-tempered and meantone), both of which are heard on this recording.

Toccata and Fugue in F-Major, BWV 540/ J.S. Bach
Concerto in d-minor, BWV 596 (based on the Concerto in d-minor, Opus 3, no. 11 by Vivaldi)/ J.S. Bach
Toccata avanti la Messa della Madonna/ Frescobaldi
Canzona dopo l'Epistola/ Frescobaldi
Recercar dopo il Credo/ Frescobaldi
Bergamasca/ Frescobaldi
Canzona in d-minor, BWV 588/ J.S. Bach
Fugue in b-minor on a theme of Corelli, BWV 592/ J.S. Bach
Concerto in G-Major, BWV 592 (based on the Concerto in G-Major by Prince Johann Ernst von Sachsen-Weimar)/ J.S. Bach
Toccata and Fugue in d-minor ("Dorian"), BWV 538/ J.S. Bach

Bach and the French Influence
Fisk-Nanney Organ
Stanford Memorial Church
Kimberly Marshall, organist

Noted organist and scholar, Kimberly Marshall, explores the relationship between French classical composers and Johann Sebastian Bach. The Stanford Fisk incorporates two different tuning temperaments (well-tempered and meantone), both of which are heard on this recording.

Prelude in E-flat major, BWV 552/J.S. Bach
Fantasy in c minor, BWV 562/ J. S. Bach
Fugue à 5/ Nicolas de Grigny
Trio in F Major, BWV 587/ J.S. Bach
Excerpts from Messe des Paroisses/ François Couperin
Fantasy and Fugue in c minor, BWV 537/ J. S. Bach
Excerpts from Livre Premier/ Louis Marchand
Pièce d'orgue, BWV 572/ J. S. Bach

Buy Both Discs together for one Special Price:
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Bach: Clavierübung III & Schübler Chorales
Joan Lippincott, organ

Joan Lippincott continues her Bach series with two of the most substantial collections published during Bach's lifetime. The Clavierübung III follows Book I (Italian Concerto) and Book II (Goldberg Variations) and precedes Book IV (Art of Fugue), and altogether represents Bach’s highest achievements in the art of writing for the keyboard. Clavierubung III, sometimes called “The Organ Mass” begins with settings of the Kyrie and Gloria, but is structured after the German Lutheran catechism. Included in this recording are both the large chorales, the alternative chorales for manuals only and the four duetti. Bach’s collection of cantata movement transcriptions for organ published by Schübler in 1742 includes the famous “Wachet Auf!”, and rounds out this two-CD collection.

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Bach's Birthday Celebration!

It's Bach's birthday and we're celebrating at The Gothic Catalog with a few of our favorite Bach recordings!

So to really celebrate we are passing on some ridiculous savings to you! For example:


The Complete Joan Lippincott Collection of Bach on Gothic Records
Eight discs, total, at a special price.

This set includes:

1. Toccatas & Fugues by Bach/Lippincott
2. Bach: Leipzig Chorales/Lippincott
3. Bach Trio Sonatas/Lippincott
4. Sinfonia: Organ Concertos and Sinfonias by J.S. Bach/Lippincott
5. Preludes & Fugues/Lippincott
6. Bach: Clavierübung III & Schübler Chorales/Lippincott (2 CDs!)
7. J.S. Bach: Weimar Preludes and Fugues/Lippincott

List Price: $197.80
Our Price: $49.98
You save $147.82!
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Featured Product - Joan Lippincott

Sinfonia
Organ Concertos and Sinfonias by J.S. Bach
The Joe R. Engle Organ of Miller Chapel, Princeton Theological Seminary
Paul Fritts and Co. Opus 20
Princeton University Chapel Camerata
Joan Lippincott, organ



Bach concertos for organ and orchestra?  Joan Lippincott makes a compelling and logical case for constructing organ concertos from the "organ sinfonias" of Bach's cantatas.  Booklet includes essay on these organ solo+orchestra pieces by noted Bach scholar, George Stauffer.

Joan Lippincott is also involved in our new recording project with the Eastman organ.

Recording Projects

We are currently working on two very exciting new organ recordings!

On the first album we're working on, we've got a star-studded lineup. We'll have Hans Davidsson, William Porter, and David Higgs all on one album! The second album will feature the extremely talented Joan Lippincott playing Bach's Art of Fugue.

So what organ inspired us for these two amazing projects? The new Eastman Italian Baroque, Craighead-Saunders Organ. It is a copy of an 18th century instrument in Vilnius built by Italian, Casparini, whose work was well-known by J.S. Bach! In other words, it is currently the MOST AUTHENTIC Bach Organ in the U.S.!

The Craighead-Saunders Organ was built for Christ Church as a research project by a joint venture of American and international organ builders. The Episcopal Diocese of Rochester is the main partner and co-sponsor of the project, which involves collaboration with the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture and Göteborg Organ Art Center in Sweden. The organ, which is named after two legendary Eastman organ professors David Craighead and Russell Saunders, was installed in Christ Church with the simultaneous restoration of the original organ in Vilnius, Lithuania.

The original organ, found in the Church of the Dominicans (Holy Ghost Church) in Vilnius, was fortunately well preserved in a region afflicted by years of war and conflict. It is the only remaining example of a large organ created by Adam Gottlob Casparini and considered to be one of the most valuable musical artifacts of its time in Europe today.