Johann Sebastian Bach: Orgelwerke auf CD

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Innovation, a virtuosic achievement of artistic and technical goals, as well as a profound rootedness in his national tradition — all of these present a dialectical unity, characteristic of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685— 1750). That is in essence the element which, though distancing Bach from us in time, in reality only brings us closer to him; it is what particularly endows the art of the greatest of all the Germans with an all-embracing character.

Among the domains of Bach's musical legacy in which his foundation on tradition is the most apparent, is the organ music, particularly the Chorale Preludes. The Protestant Chorale — the German spiritual song — is usually connected with the greatest philosopher, ideologue and leader of the German Reformation, the translator of the Bible into German, Martin Luther (1483 — 1546). His main aim was to bring Divine service closer to the human being by all the available means, including that of the performance of fragments of the service (the chorales) by the parish members themselves.

The sources of the Protestant chorales are multifold — they include Medieval spiritual songs (for Christmas and Easter), translations of Latin hymns, Biblical paraphrases, original songs (including those by Luther himself) etc. However, it was Martin Luther himself who played a decisive role in making the chorale into the musical basis of church service, having integrated it into an all-year cycle of prayers. In its classical form (from the middle to the end of the 16th century) the Protestant chorale presents church melodies set to strongly rhythmical poetical texts with repeating lines and verses.

Among the musical particularities of the chorale is the four-voice texture, developed through the course of time (the soprano, presenting the chorale's melody, as well as the alto, tenor and bass), as well as certain fixed musical forms. Among the latter is the so-called bar', consisting of two “verses” (Stollen) and “refrain” (Abgesang). The second verse repeats the first one literally (in such a case, it is not written out) or varies it; the material of the verse (verses) could also be used in the refrain. In the literal of altered form the bar' could be found in many chorale arrangements and preludes by Bach and by his predecessors.

The Protestant Chorale presents a universal intonational source, which is the foundation of Bach's musical art. It could be found in cantatas, oratorios, Passions (musical-dramatic compositions based on the Gospel, recounting the sufferings and death of Jesus). The Chorale Preludes present a direct type of development and reflection of the chorale in the legacy of organ music.

The grandiosely constructed mansion of Bach's organ art stems from the musical legacy of his predecessors. For instance, the great master of theology, philosopher, musician, doctor, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, author of the classic monograph book about Bach Albert Schweitzer (1875 — 1965) stresses three types of the Chorale Prelude. For Johann Pachelbel (1653 —1706) the most characteristic the interpretation of the chorale prelude is that of a fugue. “The entire chorale prelude consists of separate fugues; their themes in their succession form the chorale melody” (here and later below are quotations from the book by Albert Schweitzer in the translation by Yakov Druskin). For Georg Böhm (1661— 1733) the most characteristic feature is that of “dissolution of the chorale melody in a fancy coloration”. Finally, the chorale preludes of the great organist Dietrich Buxtehude (1637— 1710) (for the sake of hearing his music it has been told that Bach walked about 100 kilometers by foot!) present themselves as fantasias, ranging from relatively simple ones to complexly fancy ones. “In the simple preludes the melody, endowed with ornamentation only in a few places, modestly goes along its path, accompanied by interesting and always imaginatively developed harmonies … In the large chorale preludes he rends the melody into separate fragments, which scurry by in front of the listener in a whirlwind of brilliantly enlivened fantasy”.

The noted types of chorale preludes (in their pure and hybrid forms) are characteristic of Bach as well. All of them could be found in the present compilation of recordings. For instance, in the monumental Prelude in D minor («Erschienen ist der herrliche Tag», BWV. 629) the theme of the chorale is presented in a form of canon (in the bass and treble voices); the Prelude in G major («Allein Gott in der Höh’ sei Ehr’», BWV. 711) presents a classic example of a composition in which the chorale melody is presented in each verse “over” the main lively theme.

In the organ preludes (so frequently in Bach's musical output) one becomes convinced that tradition has never been a constraint for him. At that the meaning of Bach's innovation in the large organ compositions and in the Chorale Preludes is in many ways different. Large contrapuntal cycles, consisting of an improvisational movement (which could be called differently — as a prelude, a fantasy or a toccata) and a fugue tend to have immensity of form, an elaborate tonal, thematic and textural development of material as well as technical luster. Researchers tend to take special notice of Bach's virtuosic utilization of the pedal keyboard (I. e. the keyboard, played with the feet). However, in the Chorale Preludes Bach's grandiosity is most of all discernible in the simple compositions, containing the melody going continuously in the upper voice. “The pre-Bach masters … had harmonized only the melody, but not the text; hence, in their Chorale Preludes they limit themselves to setti ng up only musical challenges for themselves … No matter how inspired their fantasy may be, they never stem from the poetic images of the text … [Bach] with his intuition of a genius understood that a genuine chorale melody should allow the poetry, which gives the melody its name, to speak out, and to prepare the listeners for acquiescing not only the melody but the text”.

Bach compiled the Chorale Preludes he wished to save into five volumes. The most famous of them is the “Little Organ Book” (Оrgelbüchlein), which pertains to the Weimar period of his music (composed between 1708 and 1714) as well as the Chorales, published in 1739 as the Third Part of the “Clavier Exercises” (Clavier-Übung-III) . Incidentally the dates of many of the Chorale Preludes is problematic: Bach frequently went back and revised his old compositions; it is well-known that, for instance, just before his death he made a revision of the so-called “18 Leipzig Chorales”.

According to Albert Schweitzer's fair observation, the “Little Organ book” “is one of the greatest achievements of music in general, … a glossary of [Bach's] musical language”. By “musical language” the researcher, not least of all, has in mind the musical symbology, the correspondence of poetical and musical “formulas”, which is one of the most important aspects of Bach's musical legacy. For the listeners an understanding of the symbolism of Bach's Chorale Preludes presents a "key" to the composer's entire musical output, especially to his church music (cantatas, oratorios, passions); for the performer it presents a practical indispensability: “Without knowing the meaning of a motive, it is not possible to perform a work of Bach in the correct tempo, with the right accents and phrasing”. Here is just one example: in the Prelude in D minor («Das alte Jahr fergangen ist», BWV. 614), a “melancholy musical meditation on a New Year theme”, the chorale theme is answered by the “motive of grief” (the chromatic scale), which frequently occurs in Bach's music.

"The Little Organ Book" is comprised of Preludes to Chorales, performed in church services throughout the calendar year. For instance, the Prelude in C minor (BWV. 610) is based on a Christmas chorale, while the Prelude in A major (BWV. 601) — on a Advent chorale, the Prelude in D minor (BWV. 629) is based on an Easter Chorale, etc. Out of the Thirteen Chorale Preludes presented on this compact disc, eight (BWV.: 641, 633, 639, 614, 610, 601, 631, 629) are part of the "Little Organ Book".

In addition to the Chorale Preludes, the present program includes two monumental masterpieces by Bach — the Toccata and Fugue in D minor (BWV. 565), and the Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor (BWV. 582).

The Toccata and Fugue in D minor is virtually the first example, not only in Bach's musical legacy (the composition was written in Weimar around 1707) but in the music of the whole world, of a cyclical form, consisting of an improvisational movement and a fugue. In this composition the “tempestuous spirit is subservient to the rules of form”. The dramaturgy of the overall composition presents a reflection of the dialectics of unity and contrast: the thematic material of the toccata becomes an organic part of the very theme of the fugue, and then appears at its climax, bringing the whole composition to a close.

The Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor was probably composed around 1716 — 1717 for the famous competition in Dresden between Bach and the French organist Louis Marchand, which never took place. It was said that Marchand had heard Bach's performance before the planned competition. Greatly impressed, he withdrew from it and hastily left the city; Bach had to play alone.

The passacaglia (from the Spanish pasar — to pass; and calle— street) is an old form of a dance and, simultaneously, one of the most popular contrapuntal forms of variations on a ground bass during the Renaissance and Baroque periods. In Bach's Passacaglia the historical aspect is stressed in the theme itself: its first half (four measures) was taken from the Organ Mass of the French composer André Raison (ca. 1650 — 1719). The composition appeared under the influence of Buxtehude, who had given great attention to this form. However Bach “brings into it one aspect which was unfathomable for the Lübeck master — namely, a dramatic life”.

Leonid Roizman (1915 / 1916 — 1989). “The art of writing equals to the art of curtailing” was the famous phrase by Anton Chekhov, which can be very well applied to the organ performances of Honored Artisans of Russia, Doctor of Arts, Professor Leonid Roizman. His aim was a balanced, noble and uplifting conversation with people. He was able to apply the organ for this goal; he was able to choose among the inexhaustible sound, coloristic and timbral possibilities of the instrument those sounds that were appropriate and indispensable.

A pupil of pianist Alexander Goldenweiser and organist Alexander Goedicke (a graduate of the piano and organ departments of Moscow Conservatory, correspondingly, from 1938 to 1941), Roizman had taught specialized piano, organ and harpsichord at that institution since 1932. However, it was particularly the organ which became the central focus of his musical activities.

The great majority of the organists in Russia who now perform on the organ and teach it had studied with Roizman. Among his students of different years are Natalia Gureyeva, Oleg Yanchenko, Eteri Mgaloblishvili, Vladimir Tebenikhin, Alexei Parshin, Alexei Shmitov, Alexander Fiseisky, Liubov Shishkhanova, Alexei Semyonov and Rubin Abdullin. Numerous other organists are Roizman's pedagogical “grandchildren” (the pupils of their pupils).

One cannot overestimate the input of Leonid Roizman into the art of organ performance in the former USSR. The result of his activities as the chairman of the Permanent Committee of Organ Construction (1958 — 1969) and since 1969 as the Deputy of the Council of Organ Construction of the Ministry for Culture of the USSR was the supplying with organs for dozens of cities and concert halls. Roizman was concerned with the broadening of the organ repertoire (he main his own arrangements of composers' works and encouraged the country's composers to write organ music). Numerous volumes of organ and clavier music, compiled by Roizman are examples of the highest quality of textological source-finding work. Among the musician's research work is the monographical book “The Organ in the History of Russian Musical Culture”, as well as editions of clavier works by Bach, Handel, not to mention piano sonatas by Haydn and piano concertos by Haydn, Mozart and Weber, etc., series of books, titled “Old Masters” and “Soviet Organ Music”. Roizman was a member of the international board of editors of the New Complete Works of J. S. Bach which is now being published in Germany.

Unfortunately, the art of organist Leonid Roizman in the present-day musical scene is not given enough of its due attention! Nonetheless, his recordings are remarkable for their flawlessness of taste, stylistic precision (moreover, a living type rather than a “museum” quality!), a coherence and harmonious quality in the whole and in parts. and, certainly, all the aforementioned qualities are manifested in the performance of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.