Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach, François Couperin
Performer: Benjamin Alard
Number of Discs: 3
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Catalogue: HMM90246971
Release: 2023
Size: 4.53 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
CD 01
Bach: Sonata in D minor, BWV 964 (Johann Sebastian Bach)
01. I. Adagio
02. II. Fuga. Allegro
03. III. Andante
04. IV. Allegro
Bach: Partita for solo violin No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004
05. V. Chaconne (Arr. for Keyboard)
Bach: Prelude and Fugue in D minor, BWV 539 (Johann Sebastian Bach)
06. Prelude
07. Fugue0
08. Bach: Adagio in G Major, BWV 968
09. Bach: Pedal-Exercitium, BWV 598
Bach: Great Fantasia and Fugue in G Minor, BWV 542
10. Fantasia
CD 02
01. Bach: Invention in C Major, BWV 772
02. Bach: Sinfonia in C Major, BWV 787
03. Bach: Invention in F Major, BWV 779
04. Bach: Sinfonia in F Major, BWV 794
05. Bach: Invention in D Minor, BWV 775
06. Bach: Sinfonia in D Minor, BWV 790
07. Bach: Invention in G Major, BWV 781
08. Bach: Sinfonia in G Major, BWV 796
09. Bach: Invention in E Minor, BWV 778
10. Bach: Sinfonia in E Minor, BWV 793
11. Bach: Invention in A Major, BWV 783
12. Bach: Sinfonia in D Major, BWV 789
13. Bach: Invention in D Major, BWV 774
14. Bach: Invention in B Minor, BWV 786
15. Bach: Sinfonia in B Minor, BWV 801
16. Bach: L’Art de toucher le clavecin: Prelude in D Minor
Bach: French Suite No. 1 in D minor, BWV 812 (Johann Sebastian Bach)
17. I. Allemande
18. II. Courante
19. III. Sarabande
20. IV. Menuets I & II
21. V. Gigue
Bach: L’Art de toucher le clavecin
22. Prelude in G Minor
Couperin: French Suite No. 5 in G major, BWV 816
23. I. Allemande
24. II. Courante
25. III. Sarabande
26. IV. Gavotte
27. V. Bourrée
28. VI. Loure
29. VII. Gigue
Bach: L’Art de toucher le clavecin
30. Prelude in B Minor
Couperin: French Suite No. 3 in B minor, BWV 814
31. I. Allemande
32. II. Courante
33. III. Sarabande
34. IV. Anglaise
35. V. Menuet – Trio
36. VI. Gigue
CD 03
01. Bach: Sinfonia in E-Flat Major, BWV 791
02. Bach: Invention in E-Flat Major, BWV 776
03. Bach: Sinfonia in C Minor, BWV 788
04. Bach: Invention in C Minor, BWV 773
05. Bach: Sinfonia in F Minor, BWV 795
06. Bach: Invention in F Minor, BWV 780
07. Bach: Sinfonia in B-Flat Major, BWV 800
08. Bach: Invention in B-Flat Major, BWV 785
09. Bach: Sinfonia in G Minor, BWV 797
10. Bach: Invention in G Minor, BWV 782
11. Bach: Sinfonia in E Major, BWV 792
12. Bach: Invention in E Major, BWV 777
13. Bach: Sinfonia in A Minor, BWV 799
14. Bach: Invention in A Minor, BWV 784
15. Bach: Sinfonia in A Major, BWV 798
Bach: French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815a (Alternate Version)
16. I. Prelude
Bach: French Suite No. 4 in E-flat Major, BWV 815
17. I. Allemande
18. II. Courante
19. III. Sarabande
20. IV. Gavotte
21. V. Menuet
22. VI. Air
23. VII. Gigue
24. Bach: Prelude in C Minor, BWV 999
Bach: French Suite No. 2 in C minor, BWV 813
25. I. Allemande
26. II. Courante
27. III. Sarabande
28. IV. Air
29. V. Menuet
30. VI. Gigue
Couperin: L’Art de toucher le clavecin
31. Prelude in E Minor
Bach: French Suite No. 6 in E major, BWV 817
32. I. Allemande
33. II. Courante
34. III. Sarabande
35. IV. Gavotte
36. V. Polonaise
37. VI. Bourrée
38. VII. Menuet
39. VIII. Gigue
Eagerly pursuing his exploration of Bach’s corpus for solo keyboard, Benjamin Alard focuses here on works associated with the composer’s first wife, Maria Barbara, and her untimely death in 1720.
This instalment therefore includes both the Inventions and Sinfonias, a collection of teaching pieces brimming with freshness and invention, and the prodigious French Suites, one of the peaks of Bach’s years in Cöthen.
The new delivery of the complete works for keyboard of Johann Sebastian Bach (Volume 8), brought to us by harmonia mundi, and featuring Benjamin Alard on the harpsichord, clavichord, and organ, is centred around the composer’s work while he was with his first wife, Maria Barbara. Featuring 3 CDs, or 85 tracks in this digital version, it brings together a series of compositions for educational purposes. On the one hand the Inventions and Sinfonias, on which all apprentice pianists and harpsichordists have tried their hand, and, on the other hand, the six French Suites probably composed to perfect the musical skills of their eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann.
They are “French” only in virtue of the apocryphal title which was given to them after Bach’s death. We find no trace of this mentioned on the original manuscripts. Bach’s music also escapes strict classification, even if the influence of Couperin can be quite clearly perceived in this vast corpus, demonstrated by Benjamin Alard’s clever introduction of some Preludes by the French composer as an epigraph to the French Suites of Bach. Above all, these pieces are reminiscent of his own genius, with various influences intended to create a world belonging to the Cantor.
Faithful to his organological research, here Benjamin Alard uses a pedal clavichord like that built by the French organ maker, Emile Jobin. The colour of this discreet instrument is simply bewitching. A sort of fruitiness is exuded, the full depth and subtlety of which can be savoured, notably in the Pedal-Exercitium, BWV 598 and in the transcription for keyboard of the famous Chaconne – Second Partita, initially composed for the violin. We also like the golden tones of the Couchet harpsichord from 1645, “restored” (modified later) by Blanchet in around 1720. We find the entirety of Benjamin Alard’s skill in this new recording; his science which illuminates complicated polyphony, his clean energy, and his curiosity for fascinating worlds of sound.