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Can anyone tell me the quality of the performances and most importantly the quality of the sound. The fact that the performances are on historical instruments intrigues me. I have other fine sets but it is the organs that I am interested if the performances are somewhat inspiring. Thanks. UTLEY
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There are many, many Bach recordings on Baroque-era organs from Germany and the Netherlands. I have the Koopman complete Teldec set (which was quite inexpensive) and really like it--great playing, decent sound. I think a key issue is what tuning is used for the instrument(s)--not just pitch (A=440 or something lower?), but the intervals between the notes (temperament).
I'm not a musicologist, and I can't attest to the scholarship in this post, but here is one discussion of this complex issue:
http://www.albany.edu/piporg-l/meantone.html
BTW, the Koopman set uses modern temperament. I don't have perfect pitch, so I don't know whether the overall pitch is A=440 or A=something else.
Just thought I would give a small update...Koopman has forced me listen in a different way. Not so crazy about the organ in Amsterdam, the same that Leonhardt used. Matched them on prelude.. My favorite cd which has bewitched me is cd 2 with the chorales and mixed chorus..The Partitas are elegant and penetrating. I love his 'Claiverbung' and the Deutche Mass. There is a site which will allow you to hear many of Oliver Vernet recordings for free as he too is a great virtuoso....and it is ingteresting to see where agree and disagree. ut
Another set of Bach organ music is available for free download. It's played on various European organs by James Kibbie, Professor of Music at University of Michigan. These are pretty decent performances, but hardly as imaginative as Koopman's. Also, while the recorded sound is good, they are only mp3.
http://www.blockmrecords.org/bach/about.htm
http://www.blockmrecords.org/bach/download.htm
BTW, these are way better performances than the cheapie complete Vox series by Walter Kraft, available as mp3 via Amazon and best listened to NOT AT ALL.
I mentioned Vernet only because much of his playing is hypnotizing and elegant and the recordings are contemporary with Koopman's . Unfortunately, it is out of print. I need great sound to enjoy organ recordings and you are right Mp3's are far from that.
Thank you. I have just ordered the Koopman set. A wide selections of organs there too. Will probably order the BF set also. The choices that an organist can make allows for numerous permutations, depending utmost on the organ...Quite absorbing, combining mathematics and harmonics. Gets me to think a bit as long as I can still feel my way a long. The pitch problem is some what beyond me,
You'd easily hear the difference in temperament (intervals between the notes) if the organ was tuned differently than what has been used in Western music for the last couple of hundred years.
Check out this little demo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBt6APk21tU
Fascinating. Thanks for posting that. :-)
Just got the Koopman set. You are absolutely right and there are things in the preludes and fugues that I never heard before. It quite overwhelming (sound is magnificent) and the dissonant play with pace and time if dramatic and probing. Quite a thrill so far. Won't at this time compare this set to any other that I own...Just enjoying this too much.
Glad you liked the Koopman set! Before this complete set, he recorded three prior Bach discs issued on LP and then on CD, the Novalis label. I have one of these, and it's also quite enjoyable.
About two years ago, I heard Koopman play an inaugural recital here in Cleveland on a newly renovated tracker organ, mostly Bach--and it was a wonderful recital with an improvisatory flexibility to the playing that went beyond the Teldec set. One of the best organ recitals I've ever heard!
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