Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
Performer: Piet Kee
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Chandos
Catalogue: CHAN0590
Release: 1996
Size: 281 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
Prelude & Fugue in C major, BWV545
01. Prelude
Organ Trio Sonata in C major, BWV529
02. II. Largo
Prelude & Fugue in C major, BWV545
03. Fugue
Trio Sonata No. 4 in E minor, BWV528
04. I. Adagio – Vivace
05. II. Andante
06. III. Un poco allegro
Fantasia & Fugue in A minor, BWV561
07. Fantasia
Chorale Preludes II, BWV645-650 ‘Schübler Chorales’
08. Kommst du nun, Jesu, BWV 650
09. Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 645
10. Wo soll ich fliehen hin / Auf meinen lieben Gott, BWV 646
11. Wer nur den lieben Gott lasst walten, BWV 647
12. Meine Seele erhebet den Herren, BWV 648
13. Ach bleib’ bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 649
Prelude & Fugue in E flat major, BWV552 ‘St Anne’
14. Prelude
15. Fugue I
16. Fugue II
17. Fugue III
This is playing of heart-warming humanity and spiritual equilibrium, combining deep thought with complete spontaneity. Kee’s control of the long, singing line goes hand in hand with a poetic command of Baroque instrumental articulation.
Dip anywhere into the Schübler Chorales or to either of the Trio Sonata slow movements and you can hear the separate melodic lines not only given individual character, shape and direction but also combined with ease and gentle authority. Tempos in extrovert movements are unusually moderate, Bach’s markings of Vivace and Allegro being taken by Kee as indications of mood rather than velocity, and yet the musical discourse is involving and full of wit, helped by registrations that are both simple and wise. The disc is crowned by a magnificent performance of the Prelude and Fugue in E-flat, one that fully exploits the vivid contrasts of theme and texture and yet binds the work into a structural unity without a hint of haste or stiffness.
Rightly, the recording presents this refined, robust organ as heard within its natural acoustic habitat and Kee has subtly absorbed the church’s acoustic into his interpretations.