Arrangements

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Composer : Johann Sebastian Bach
Performer : Angela Hewitt

Product Details

Binding : Audio CD
EAN : 0034571173092
Label : Hyperion
Number of Discs : 1
Product Group : Music
Release Date : 2001-09-04
Running Time : 70minutes
UPC : 034571173092

ASIN : B00005N8CU

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Editorial Reviews

From Amazon.co.uk

Since Bach constantly reworked his own music, it's always been seen as fair game that others should do so too. Angela Hewitt's disc of Bach arrangements thus stands in a noble tradition, as well as carrying it boldly on into the future. But if three of these 17 short pieces are Hewitt's own recompositions, others are welcome discoveries from the near-forgotten past. None of Busoni's majestic arrangements is here, but instead we find fascinating pieces by a plethora of English composers including Lord Berbers, Herbert Howells and William Walton. Hewitt's own liner notes are a mine of information--some of it being comic, much of it highly illuminating--as well as providing a guide to her own keyboard philosophy. And her playing is as superb as we now expect: in D'Albert's version of Bach's stupendous Passacaglia in C Minor, she somehow manages to make the piano sound like a large organ echoing through a church. In other modes she can be plangent, frisky, hesitant or imbued with the most gorgeous cantabile: she seems to have a hotline to the religious fervour Bach wanted to evince. This disc may be built up out of a collection of favourite encores, but in sum it's a feast. --Michael Church

Customer Reviews

Bach as our Parents Heard Him (2003-08-17)

Bach transcriptions seem to be making a bit of a comeback, but a couple of generations ago they were common fare, both in piano recitals and orchestral programs. Bach-Busoni was the most common 'hyphenized Bach' but lots of other people tried their hand at transcribing his music, up to and including the Swingle Singers. Here we have one of our finest Bach players, the elegant Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt, in a program of transcriptions and arrangements by a veritable who's-who of former greats--Wilhelm Kempff, William Walton, Harold Bauer, Eugen d'Albert, Myra Hess, John Ireland, Harriet Cohen. Those names conjure up an era preserved for us, thank God, by recordings. Ms Hewitt even contributes three of her own transcriptions from the Orgelbüchlein.

The playing is, of course, elegant, musical, even thrilling in places. Some old favorites are here--Dame Myra's 'Jesu, joy of man's desiring,' d'Albert's monumental 'Passacaglia in c minor, BWV 582.' But there are some transcriptions I'd never heard before--Lord Berners's 'In dulci jubilo,' Bauer's scrumptious 'Die Seele ruht in Jesu Händen.' Altogether a worthy program in the lifelike sound Hyperion always seems to provide for its stable of wonderful pianists. Indeed, I can't think of a single criticism I'd want to make.

Recommended.

Scott Morrison

Proof of the validity of transcription (2002-02-06)

The transcriptions on this album are romantic in origin, and played very much in that style. While not for the Baroque Style purist, the performances on this disc are really outstanding examples of both Ms. Hewitts musicianship, and the art of transcription. If you believe that transcription can bring new insight into the genius of a piece of music, your belief will be validated here. The transcription of "Die Seele ruht in Jesu Handen" from Cantata 127, which contains some truly stunning harmonies (all from the original Bach,) is of particularly moving beauty. While the engineering of the recording tends to point up the percussive nature of the piano, this doesn't really detract from the overall excellence of this recording.

Stirringly Beautiful... (2002-02-05)

Do please welcome to your classical music collection these stirringly beautiful renditions of Bach piano transcriptions! All the pieces included in this marvelous CD are remarkable in the way they capture the spirit of the instruments for which they were intended. Canadian pianist and Bach specialist Angela Hewitt plays them with the requisite majesty, poetry, grace, lightness or gravity.

She opens with the grand "Sinfonia in D major" (an organ work), a fireworks-filled piece, softening with the gentle and poignant "Siciliano in G minor" (written for the flute), then turns grave with the sarabande-like "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland." The joy in "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" is revealed by Ms. Hewitt's sprightly playing, while the drama in the "Passacaglia in C minor" (the longest piece of the set) unfolds with an understated grandeur. The famous "Jesu, joy of man's desiring," with its elegant tempo and looped melody, has not been left out, and neither has Ms. Hewitt's favorite encore, the lovely "Sheep may safely graze."

Although well-known names make up the list of transcribers (Wilhelm Kempff, Myra Hess, Mary Howe, William Walton, Harold Bauer, just to mention a few), Ms. Hewitt herself contributes three of her own transcriptions from the "Orgelbuchlein" to the lot. Her sterling touch is exquisite, her playing translucent, sparkling and meticulously articulate without being petty, grand without being showy. The Steinway piano she plays upon deserves praise as well, with all its 88 deep, rounded tones a joy to listen to. The seventeen pages of excellent notes (by Ms. Hewitt) offer a wealth of information that educates and amuses. Few album notes are as well-written as these, and with the help of a basic music dictionary, the average listener can only profit greatly from them.

Highly recommended with no reservations whatsoever.

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