Customer Reviews

Bach Arrangements

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Do please welcome to your classical music collection these stirringly beautiful renditions of Bach piano transcriptions! All the pieces included in this marvelous CD are remarkable in the way they capture the spirit of the instruments for which they were intended. Canadian pianist and Bach specialist Angela Hewitt plays them with the requisite majesty, poetry, grace, lightness or gravity.

She opens with the grand "Sinfonia in D major" (an organ work), a fireworks-filled piece, softening with the gentle and poignant "Siciliano in G minor" (written for the flute), then turns grave with the sarabande-like "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland." The joy in "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" is revealed by Ms. Hewitt's sprightly playing, while the drama in the "Passacaglia in C minor" (the longest piece of the set) unfolds with an understated grandeur. The famous "Jesu, joy of man's desiring," with its elegant tempo and looped melody, has not been left out, and neither has Ms. Hewitt's favorite encore, the lovely "Sheep may safely graze."

Although well-known names make up the list of transcribers (Wilhelm Kempff, Myra Hess, Mary Howe, William Walton, Harold Bauer, just to mention a few), Ms. Hewitt herself contributes three of her own transcriptions from the "Orgelbuchlein" to the lot. Her sterling touch is exquisite, her playing translucent, sparkling and meticulously articulate without being petty, grand without being showy. The Steinway piano she plays upon deserves praise as well, with all its 88 deep, rounded tones a joy to listen to.

The seventeen pages of excellent notes (by Ms. Hewitt) offer a wealth of information that educates and amuses. Few album notes are as well-written as these, and with the help of a basic music dictionary, the average listener can only profit greatly from them.

Highly recommended with no reservations whatsoever.

Bach transcriptions seem to be making a bit of a comeback, but a couple of generations ago they were common fare, both in piano recitals and orchestral programs. Bach-Busoni was the most common 'hyphenized Bach' but lots of other people tried their hand at transcribing his music, up to and including the Swingle Singers. Here we have one of our finest Bach players, the elegant Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt, in a program of transcriptions and arrangements by a veritable who's-who of former greats--Wilhelm Kempff, William Walton, Harold Bauer, Eugen d'Albert, Myra Hess, John Ireland, Harriet Cohen. Those names conjure up an era preserved for us, thank God, by recordings. Ms Hewitt even contributes three of her own transcriptions from the Orgelbüchlein.

The playing is, of course, elegant, musical, even thrilling in places. Some old favorites are here--Dame Myra's 'Jesu, joy of man's desiring,' d'Albert's monumental 'Passacaglia in c minor, BWV 582.' But there are some transcriptions I'd never heard before--Lord Berners's 'In dulci jubilo,' Bauer's scrumptious 'Die Seele ruht in Jesu Händen.' Altogether a worthy program in the lifelike sound Hyperion always seems to provide for its stable of wonderful pianists. Indeed, I can't think of a single criticism I'd want to make.

Recommended.

Scott Morrison

The transcriptions on this album are romantic in origin, and played very much in that style. While not for the Baroque Style purist, the performances on this disc are really outstanding examples of both Ms. Hewitts musicianship, and the art of transcription. If you believe that transcription can bring new insight into the genius of a piece of music, your belief will be validated here. The transcription of "Die Seele ruht in Jesu Handen" from Cantata 127, which contains some truly stunning harmonies (all from the original Bach,) is of particularly moving beauty. While the engineering of the recording tends to point up the percussive nature of the piano, this doesn't really detract from the overall excellence of this recording.

Amassing now over a dozen CD's in her Bach cycle, Angela Hewitt puts her focus on several famous - and some not-so-famous - piano transcriptions of Bach. The overall flavor and tone of this set is a little different than her other Bach recordings. Not present in this music are the lively dance rhythms of the French courante, menuet or bourree found in the Suites or Partitas - or even much of the intellectual fugues from the "Well-Tempered Clavier" and others. Rather, there is a more introspective, gentle and often tangibly spiritual essence to the selections on this CD - largely due to many being transciptions from choral and church cantatas. In many of the more familiar pieces, there is a comforting and assuring atmosphere that Miss Hewitt communicate most sensitively - which when reading the German translation of the original works in the liner notes, would seem to be the intent of the Lutheran Kappelmeister Bach.

In her most-informative notes, Hewitt points out how "the ability to translate spirituality into sound at the keyboard is of certainly important to avoid famous tunes sounding banal or hacknayed." Her versions of the famous "Jesu" and "Sheep may safely graze" (as well as her own three lovely transcriptions) do seem to succeed in conveying a spiritual core to avoid sounding trite. In the great Bach pastoral work ("Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring"), Hewitt convincingly summons the nurturing personna of Dame Myra Hess who played her piano transcription of this choral work almost daily over BBC radio to comfort many in hardship during the great war. Maybe in a couple pieces, as some suggest, Ms. Hewitt draws out her tempos a bit, but I found this gave the piece a more introspective tone that I appreciated later upon further listening. Other works on a more grand scale (like the Passacaglia for organ) reveal Bach as a daunting church composer and sound reasonably authoritive on Hewitt's piano. Her best pieces here may be also her most personally involved ones - her own three transcriptions - which embody a most moving, introspective and heartwarming quality. I think these are a humble highlight of the set.

The Hyperion sound is clear and full bodied while the substantial CD notes offer valuable history of the transciptions and Ms. Hewitt's perspectives on how she approached them. Significant coverage is given to the past legends of the piano like Kempff, Hess, Howells, d'Albert that will be appreciated especially by pianists. In short, a unique, spiritual and lovely set of recordings in Angela Hewitt's ever-growing quiver of Bach recordings. Compositions - 5 stars; Performance - 5 stars; Sound - 4 stars.

Angela Hewitt is superb playing these transcriptions of a variety of Bach's works.

The disc starts with five excellent choices of transcriptions by Wilhelm Kempf. The first is simply splendid, namely the Sinfonia in D major. Perhaps this is the most convincing of all the works in terms of the piano being the right instrument for the music. "Wachet auf" is also peformed very well.

Next are two lovely pieces, the Mary Howe transcription of "Sheep may safely graze," and the Myra Hess transcription of "Jesu, joy of man's desiring." These are my favorites on the entire disc.

Another beautiful piece that Hewitt plays very gracefully is Harriet Cohen's transcripition of "Sanctify us by Thy goodness."

Hewitt is spectacular in the toughest piece, the Eugen d'Albert transcription of the famous Passacaglia in C minor. This piece sounds really good on the piano, but I have to admit that I miss the pedal notes.

I highly recommend this beautiful set of Bach arrangements.

This is a CD you'll always enjoy revisiting. Miss Hewitt shares the deep wonders of J.S. Bach, in a powerful and moving way. I especially like the way the recording ends -- the pentultimate Passacaglia in C minor knocks you over, and the finale Alle Menschen mussen sterben gently, yet deliberately, restores the listener. Translate the German title to better understand the root of Bach's compelling theme.

First, I should say I am no Bach purist and I love to hear his music performed on the piano or by symphony orchestras. However this cd is not the unalloyed pleasure which some reviewers here would have you believe. The piano sound lacks warmth and Hewitt drags out the phrases sometimes too much for my personal taste; but there is much to enjoy on this disc and its good qualities vastly outweigh the slight mannerisms
The sinfonia to bwv29 (which Bach himself later arranged for solo violin) is a superb opener. Hewitt's playing is heroic and dynamic and the bright piano tone is here an advantage. The following sicilliano is decently enough played though I find her phrasing slightly too halting. This is the case too with Nun Komm, an arrangement of one of Bach's greatest chorale preludes. Hewitt falls short in these two pieces (and 'Ich Ruf zu dir') of the magic obtained by Dinu Lipatti in his classic recording.
In the famous 'sleeper's wake', Hewitt produces some rather choppy phrases; worse, she builds melodramatically to an anachronistically 'big' climax. The wonderful 'ich ruf' is, by constrast, played with a sensitivity close to Lipatti's. She ends it rather abruptly however.
'Sheep may safety graze' for all its fame, is hardly one of Bach's better pieces. Hewitt's performace matches the gentleness of this early work, though the piano seems somehwat overly bright, this may be partly due to the arrangement. The glorious 'Jesu joy of man's desiring' receives a fine interpretation, which I found moving.
There follow a couple of arrangements of Chorale preludes by Hewitt herself. The first is the lyrical bwv 641. It is beautifully played, though again with her slightly hesitant phrasing, but the arrangement is questionable since the piece would seem to require a more sustaining intrument than the piano. The next work, bwv 614 has long been a great favourite of mine. Bach makes much use of chromaticism to convert the New Year chorale tune into a meditation on the death of the old year. Again the phrasing is 'bitty' but this is a moving performance.
Listening to Bach's early 'In Dulce Jublio', one can understand why he was berated for introducing strange tones into chorales and confusing the congregation. Hewitt's performance is very gfine indeed, but I cannot see the point of this arrangement since the piece itself is forgettable. BWV 727 is another rendition by Bach of the 'passion chorale'. Hewitt plays it hesitantly in a misguided search for expressiveness and its essentially lyrical character is somewhat lost. The fourth schubler chorale is rattled off at high speed, though with a delicate touch; there would seem to be more gravitas to this music than Hewitt suggests.
BWV 622 is one of the longest of the little organ book preludes. After a beautiful opening, she loses her way somewhat in the second part. The arrangement of Bwv 22 (which is a setting of a hymn tune which flowing sountermelody much in the manner of 'jesu joy) is given a good rhythmic performace.
Hewitt's performance of the arrangemant of the glorious aria from bwv 127 is, to my ears, the highlight of the cd. Truly wonderful music, wonderfully played, though she does her trick as in 'sleeper's wake' of overdramatising the climax.
The passacaglia and fugue is by far the weightiest work on the disc. This herculean work allows Hewitt to display her muscular side. This plays the opening of the fugue especially superbly which will be no surprise to those who have heard her performances of the 48, but again the climax is slightly marred by over-emphatic playing. I have less taste for the passacaglia than many, but Hewitt's playing brings it to life as well as could be imagined on the piano which is perhaps not the mots suitable instrument
The disc ends with a sensitive account of bwv 643. It seems a strange choice to end, since the piece itself, though pleasing enough, is not of Bach's finer inspirations. It does however bring the cd to a conclusion with a sense of repose.

After a little period of adjustment, these arrangements 'grow on you', because they are so very well performed. Bach, a great arranger himself, would have smiled a lot listening to what's been done with his stuff.