BACH. Attributions.
Eight Little Preludes and Fugues BWV 553-560
Fifteen Chorale Preludes
Fugue in G minor BWV 581
Partita Allein Gott in der Hoh sei Ehr BWV 771
Christopher Herrick on the
organ of Pfarrkirche St Michael. Kaisten, Switzerland.
Hyperion CDA 67263 (DDD)
[76.45]
Crotchet
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This disc is infuriating.
The super preludes and fugues are not played as a straight set but annoyingly
interspersed with chorale preludes. This sort of thing has, regrettably,
become a fashion. Could we imagine the movements of a Beethoven symphony
being interspersed with movements from his string quartets. Christopher Herrick
is a fine organist and the performances and sound is good but what a gaffe
to arrange the programme like this. I have yet to find anyone who can offer
any real justification for this approach.
I love these preludes and fugues from the days when I was twelve and playing
them on the super Father Willis organ at All Saints Church, Ryde. I think
Herrick is too slow on the prelude in D minor and there is not enough space
in the E minor prelude but, by now I have waded through six chorale preludes
which should have put together later on the disc. He plays the chorale preludes
beautifully, sometimes almost romantically, with an excellent registration
and style. The Metzler organ is a good instrument.
I would politely ask Hyperion and others to note the points I have made about
track sequence. The performances are good but the presentation is infuriating.
David Wright
