Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach, François Couperin, Johann Friedrich Fasch, Prince Johann Ernst von Sachsen-Weimar, Antonio Vivaldi
Performer: David Ponsford, David Hill
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Nimbus
Catalogue: NI6454
Release: 2025
Size: 449 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Sachsen-Weimar: Concerto in C Major, BWV 595: Allegro (Arr. for two harpsichords by David Ponsford)
Vivaldi: Concerto in A Minor, BWV 593 (Arr. for two harpsichords by David Ponsford)
02. I. Allegro
03. II. Grave
04. III. Presto
05. Bach: Trio in D Minor, BWV 583 (Arr. for two harpsichords by David Ponsford)
Bach: Viola da Gamba Sonata No. 1 in G major, BWV1027 (Arr. for two harpsichords by David Ponsford)
06. I. Adagio
07. II. Allegro
08. III. Andante
09. IV. Allegro
Fasch: Trio in C Minor, BWV 585 (Arr. for two harpsichords by David Ponsford)
10. I. Adagio
11. II. Allegro
Sachsen-Weimar: Concerto in G Major, BWV 592 (Arr. for two harpsichords by David Ponsford)
12. I. Allegro
13. II. Grave
14. III. Allegro
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto, No. 6 in B-Flat Major, BWV 1051 (Arr. for two harpsichords by David Ponsford)
15. I. Allegro
16. II. Adagio ma non tanto
17. III. Allegro
18. Couperin: Aria, BWV 587 (Arr. for two harpsichords by David Ponsford)
Vivaldi: Concerto in D Minor, BWV 596 (Arr. for two harpsichords by David Ponsford)
19. I. Allegro – Grave – Fuge
20. II. Largo e spiccato
21. III. Allegro
All the concertos, trios and sonatas on this recording are in some way associated with J. S. Bach, being composed, arranged, transcribed or copied by the composer. All are in the BWV catalogue; most have positive links with Bach’s first important appointment as Court Organist and Chamber Musician at the Ducal Court in Weimar (1708-1714).
The value of such arrangements is that they allow a wider perception into a composer’s compositional processes, and which have the potential for presenting new insights and different characteristics to particular pieces of music, which might not be evident in the originals. Hence these arrangements extend a practice that was normal in the early eighteenth century, and in this recording, they are played on instruments with which Bach would have been entirely familiar. What revelations they reveal!
‘The Two Davids’, as they have sometime been called, began playing together in 2020 when they recorded Bach’s Six Organ Trio Sonatas (NI 6403) on two harpsichords. This recording elicited the following review in Choir & Organ: ‘The recording conveys a compelling sense of dialogue and sociability between two virtuoso musicians, equally at one with the material, and the alternation between instruments makes great sense of Bach’s antiphony and repeats.’ Since then they have played at the St Albans and Cambridge Festivals, as well as for music societies in various parts of the country, including The Athenaeum Club in London.
