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The knowledge of the
early keyboard works of Johann Sebastian
Bach has come to a considerable extent
from a manuscript which is archived in
the Staatsbibliothek in Berlin. It is
called the 'Möller manuscript', after
its former owner, Johann Gottfried Möller
(1774 - 1833). It contains 12 pieces by
the young Bach, written in the early years
of the 18th century, as well as music
by some of the most famous German composers
of the time like Georg Böhm, Nicolaus
Bruhns, Dietrich Buxtehude, Jan Adam Reinken
and Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow. In addition
there are transcriptions of orchestral
music by, for example, the 17th century
French master Jean-Baptiste Lully.
The manuscript has been
compiled by Johann Christoph Bach (1671-1721),
Johann Sebastian's eldest brother, who
took him in his home after their father
died, and was his first keyboard teacher.
It is thought, however,
that Johann Sebastian had a considerable
influence on the way the collection was
put together. Therefore the manuscript
gives insight into the kind of music which
Bach was interested in and influenced
his composing.
Some of the pieces in
the manuscript are not known from any
other source, like the short 'Gigue belle'
by Werner Fabricius. But also for some
of Bach's own works the manuscript is
the only source, and in some cases it
is the only reliable source of pieces
which are otherwise only extant in copies
of much later date.
This disc brings a varied
choice from the manuscript. Four early
works by Bach are surrounded by mostly
German keyboard music. It is understandable
that Georg Böhm is present with two
works, since we know that he was hugely
admired by Bach. It is through Böhm
that he became acquainted with the French
style, here represented by a transcription
of a piece by Lully.
Zachow is mainly known
for being the organ teacher of George
Frideric Handel, but there seems not to
have been any direct relationship with
Bach.
And then there is Reinken
whose music Bach was attracted to. At
the time the Möller manuscript was
put together Bach made arrangements for
harpsichord (BWV 965 and 966) of two sonatas
from Reinken's 'Hortus Musicus', a collection
of sonatas for two violins, viola da gamba
and bc, which dates from 1687. In 1720
he met Reinken personally during a visit
in Hamburg.
Hardly anything is known
about Christian Ritter, not even the exact
years of his birth and death. He is thought
to have been born in Halle, and lived
and worked there as well as in Dresden,
Stockholm and Hamburg. Today he is mainly
known because of one organ work - the
Sonatina in d minor - and the cantata
O amantissime sponse Jesu. We should therefore
be especially grateful for the fact that
a harpsichord suite by Ritter is included
here.
One of the oldest pieces
in the collection is the Gigue belle by
Werner Fabricius. He was a pupil of Selle
and Scheidemann in Hamburg. He attended
the university of Leipzig and acted as
organist in the Nicolaikirche and director
of music at the Paulinerkirche.
Carole Cerasi is playing
two different harpsichords here, both
copies of historical German instruments:
the one by Carl Conrad Fleischer (1720),
the other by Christian Zell (1728). Both
are excellent instruments, although the
Zell seems to me a little too heavy for
music which dates from around 1700.
By and large I am very
pleased with the way Carole Cerasi plays
this repertoire. I especially enjoyed
the slower movements, for example the
allemand from Zachow's Suite in b minor,
which is played in an almost improvisatory
manner with a nice slight rubato. In the
saraband of that suite the tension is
well built up. And the 'Allemande in discessum
Caroli XI Regis Speciae' (a farewell piece
like Bach’s Capriccio with which this
disc ends) from Ritter's Suite in c minor
is very expressive.
Carole Cerasi's style
of playing is quite imaginative and sometimes
bold, which has a very positive effect
in Fabricius' exuberant gigue. But sometimes
I feel she rushes on. I would like to
hear some breathing spaces now and then,
for example between the phrases in the
first section of Bach's Toccata in D.
And I also think there is too little contrast
between the sections of that piece.
The last item on this
disc, the Capriccio in B flat, is another
example which doesn't completely satisfy
me. The third section has the marking
of 'adagissimo'; it is a piece which is
dominated by the 'suspiratio', a rhetorical
figure used to express deep sorrow. This
doesn't come through as strongly as it
should.
These remarks don't diminish
my enjoyment of this recording, which
is very fine and which I would recommend
strongly. It is a shame the booklet almost
completely concentrates on Bach and doesn't
give much information on the other composers
and their music on this disc.
Johan van Veen
see also review
by Kirk McElhearn
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Carole Cerasi, harpsichord
