This set presents the complete
Orgelbüchlein, not accommodated on one or two CDs, as
is usual, but spread over three discs, with longer pieces at
the beginning and end of each disc. This arrangement obviously
avoids any sense of fatigue in listening to all 46 chorales,
so it seems churlish to point out that all the music here could
just about have been fitted onto two CDs, since that would have
broken the pattern. The playing is large-scale but good of its
kind, the recording wide-ranging and clear. The discs come in
individual stiff cardboard sleeves together with a booklet of
notes, all housed in a cardboard slipcase the size of a single
CD jewel-case.
The title page of the Orgelbüchlein
or ‘Little Organ Book’ dates from Bach’s time at Cöthen but
it is generally agreed that these pieces were mostly written
at an earlier period, in Weimar, before 1717. Bach originally
left space for 165 such pieces but some pages bear the title
only; just 46 were completed. Their purpose is something of
a mystery: the dedication suggests that they were to be used
as models by less-experienced organists who wished to play an
organ prelude before the singing of the chorale in the Lutheran
services. A cycle of such chorales, intended to be sung in unison
by the congregation, existed in Bach’s day; probably the best
known are Luther’s Ein feste Burg which Bach used in
his Cantata No.80 and the Advent chorale Wachet auf!
(Cantata No.140). BWV645, the prelude on Wachet auf!
from Bach’s later collection known as the Schübler Chorales,
will be familiar as the organ piece which ends the King’s College
Cambridge Nine Lessons and Carols broadcast on Christmas
Eve.
The slim but informative
booklet offers a good deal of information about all the pieces;
those interested in discovering more about the Orgelbüchlein
– and about Bach’s music in general – should start with Malcolm
Boyd, The Master Musicians: Bach (London: Dent, 2nd
edition, 1990) pages 48-53. Parts of the booklet are printed
in Courier or a similar typewriter font, which is hard to read.
Whatever their original
purpose, Bach never intended the pieces in the Orgelbüchlein
to be played through in their entirety and recordings which
do so run the risk of sameness. The most recommendable of these
are Wolfgang Zerer’s on a single Hänssler CD (92.094) and Christopher
Herrick’s on Hyperion. The Herrick received a strong recommendation
here on the MusicWeb site from Terry Barfoot when he reviewed
the 16-CD complete collection (CDS44121/36)
but appears also to be still available on one CD (CDA66756),
usually offered at less than full price. Zerer plays the organ
of the Martinkerk, Groningen, essentially a 1984 restoration
of a 1730 organ, parts of which date back to 1450, whilst Herrick
plays the Metzler organ of St Martin, Rheinfelden. Both seem
to be ideal instruments for these works.
Nordstoga plays the main
organ of Oslo Cathedral. Despite the baroque casework, preserved
from the 1727 organ and illustrated in the booklet, this is a
modern three-manual instrument (Ryde and Berg 1998). The booklet
lists all the stops and the Afontibus website offers more information,
including the claim that “the expression
of the old baroque façade has had a certain influence on the aesthetics
of the new instrument, both in respect of craftmanship [sic] and
sound. The new organ has a solemn sound with transparent and fresh
harmonics reminicent [sic] of the organ ideals of the 18th century.”
(The booklet portrays the organ case in its old grey guise, the
website in its newly-restored green.) Neither the booklet nor
the website offers details of the registration actually employed
for each piece. Why cannot record companies follow the example
of Challenge Classics, whose Bach organ CDs offer full details
of the registration employed by Jacques van Oortmerssen?
In a recent review I found the sound on Volume 8 of Oortmerssen’s
Bach series (CC72153) bass-heavy, with too much use of 16’ and
32’ stops. Nordstoga sounds far less heavy, producing what many
will find an ideal middle-of-the-road style. Though normally
a lover of a more authentic style, I found the performances
here very enjoyable. The Great Manual has just one 16’ stop,
the Swell two and the Pedals two 32’ stops but I am not sure
that he uses any of these; if he does, the effect is not overdone.
Though Oslo Cathedral is, presumably, a large building, the
reverberation is not excessive as heard on these discs. Perhaps
the engineers have tamed any excessive reverberation; the recording
as a whole, as I have indicated, is bright, clear and wide-ranging,
with no hint of boom in the bass.
The preludes on the first CD cover the period from Advent to
New Year. I compared them with what has hitherto been my favourite
version of these, on a CD of Bach’s Christmas Chorales by Lionel
Rogg (Harmonia Mundi HMA190717 if still avalable).
Nordstoga came out well from the comparison, with tempi almost
an exact match; if anything, Nordstoga is usually a second or
two faster, as in his In dulci jubilo, BWV608 (not a
moment too fast at 1:19 against Rogg’s 1:34). Though Rogg’s
Silbermann organ at Arlesheim is a very different instrument,
and I still prefer its lighter, more tremulous sound, these
new performances will take their place alongside Rogg’s. The
New Year chorale, Das alte Jahr vergangen ist, BWV614,
which rounds off the chorales on the Afontibus CD, receives
a particularly successful performance (more of a welcome to
the new year at 2:05 than Rogg’s more wistful look back at the
old at 2:23).
The Fantasia and Fugue, BWV542, which opens the second
CD, provides an opportunity for comparison with Oortmerssen’s
version of the Fantasia alone. At 6:14 against Oortmerssen’s 5:52, one might expect Nordstoga to sound ponderous, but such
is not the case; with his lighter-sounding registration, less
reverberant acoustic and more immediate recording, he actually
sounds more lively. I compared Oortmerssen’s performance of this
piece unfavourably with Peter Hurford’s (444 410-2, 17 CDs, or
a Double Decca, 443 485-2). Between Nordstoga and Hurford honours
are about even in this piece.
Few will buy this set for the non-Orgelbüchlein pieces,
though they are mostly amongst Bach’s more popular organ works.
Two of them, BWV532 and BWV548 are also included on a Naxos disc of Bach Organ
Favourites (8.550184). The Flentrop organ of Oberlin College, which Rübsam plays
on that CD embodies a philosophy similar to that exemplified by
the Oslo organ – a modern instrument inspired by the organ-builders
of the past. In both works Nordstoga comes in significantly faster
than Rübsam without sounding at all hurried; Rübsam sounds a little
ponderous and his registration a little thick by comparison, though
perfectly acceptable within the terms of his own recital.
These CDs carry text for those players which can display it,
which proves something of a mixed blessing: the organist’s name
is given as K?re (å is not an ASCI character) and the opening
item on the second disc is displayed as Fantasie in g-moll
(the correct designation in German notation), then BWV516 (incorrectly).
The Fugue which follows is then incorrectly stated to be the
prelude which is actually the third item on the disc. By the
end of the disc we are somehow back to the correct information.
If you want the Orgelbüchlein on its own, then you would
be better served by Herrick or Zerer. If you like the additional
works on the Afontibus set in good, middle-of-the-road performances,
well recorded, you will hardly go wrong. Readers who do not
know the Orgelbüchlein are certainly recommended to try
one of these recordings; I may have made the preludes sound
academic, when they are anything but. Try BWV637, Durch Adams
Fall ist ganz verderbt (verderbt, not verdorben
as in modern German) where the falling sevenths in the pedals
depict Adam’s fall or the descending scales of BWV607, Von
Himmel kam der Engel schar, where the descent of the Christmas
angels is depicted.
I have not encountered the Afontibus label before – Nordstoga’s
earlier recordings are on the Simax label – and am not sure
at what price-level this set is intended to sell; if it is to
be reasonably priced, that is all the more reason to recommend
it.
Brian Wilson
