Christopher Herrick - J S Bach: Organ Minatures

Monday 1st December 1997
Christopher Herrick - J S Bach: Organ Minatures

STYLE: Classical
RATING 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
OUR PRODUCT CODE: 17053-
LABEL: Hyperion 67211/2
FORMAT: CD Album
ITEMS: 2

Reviewed by John Irvine

Christopher Herrick has in this collection of miniatures gathered together many of Bach's "apprentice works" from his early years as an organist and young composer when he was assimilating and synthesizing elements from organ traditions epitomised by Buxtehude and Pachelbel. This is therefore a portrait of the composer learning his craft. Writing in 1760, F W Marpurg said, "Bach shook all sorts of paper intricacies out of his sleeve, any one of which would make a man sweat for days." These two discs take us on a fascinating journey, tracing the development of Bach's art and most particularly the traditional of fugal writing. Christopher Herrick now records exclusively for Hyperion and notched up many years as one of the organists at Westminster Abbey. The music of Bach is central to his career. The project to record the complete Bach organ works for Hyperion is now well beyond the half way mark. A master musician, Herrick demonstrates fine performances throughout this collection. A well recorded set of discs; there is a very nice balance between instruments and acoustic setting. The programme is unlikely to appeal to many, however, especially not the casual listener to classical music, or the listener raised on more popular Bach offerings such as the Brandenburg Concertos: this is perhaps a release best suited to the completists. While there is much of interest here for Bach scholars or organ scholars, there is little to measure up to the universal appeal of Toccata and Fugue. A perfect example of this type of disc. Nevertheless, the music is enjoyable and a perfect example of everything an organ recital disc should be, with plenty of variations in style and tonal colour to sustain interest. A double disc of Bach organ works might be too much for some to swallow, which is a shame - two separately available discs might have been more palatable to the average collector.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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