Bach: The Complete Karg-Elert Organ Transcriptions
During his lifetime the Leipzig-born Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877-1933) was a well-known harmonium player and pianist. It was his organ music that made him internationally famous as a composer, especially in Britain and the USA. Today, too, his own organ music is frequently recorded and heard in recitals, but his many organ transcriptions are less familiar. After Wagner, Bach was the composer whose music Karg-Elert transcribed most often, carefully choosing the pieces best suited to the dynamic and colouristic possibilities of the late Romantic organ.
Sverker Jullander, organ
Listen To This Recording:
- Capriccio (Toccata in G major, BWV916, 1st section)
- I. [Fantasia]
- II. [Fugue]
- Symphonie Pastorale (Sinfonia from 2nd cantata of Christmas Oratorio, BWV248)
- I. Introduction und Doppelfughette
- II. Adagio, quasi recitativo
- III. Toccata – Fuge
- [Chorale]
- [Fugue]
- Echo (from Partita in B minor, BWV831)
- I. Introduzione
- II. Fuga
- III. Interludium
- IV. Finale (Doppelfuge)
- Adagio (Air célèbre) (‘Air’ from Suite in D major, BWV1068)
Fantasie und Doppelfuge in A minor, BWV904
Toccata in E minor, BWV914
Choral-Improvisation und Fuge (from the motet Singet dem Herrn, BWV225)
Toccata in D minor, BWV913
MusicWeb International :
‘Karg-Elert’s time and effort, not to mention his musical intelligence – evidenced, for example, by his choice of registrations to reproduce Bach’s original orchestral colours – have been far from wasted in making these transcriptions that Bach himself would likely have admired. […]
Recording quality is pretty good. The 57-stop, four-manual organ itself is modern, originally built in 1909, altered in the Forties, and then restored to its original design in 2002. Its sound is robustly Germanic, its dynamic range impressive.
The booklet has excellent detail, right down to the footnotes, and is well written. This CD is a generously packed tribute from one great organ composer to another, performed with distinction by Jullander.’
—Byzantion, MusicWeb International