Customer Reviews

Bach: The Organ Works (Box Set)

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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The performance of Helmut Walcha on the Organ is breath-taking. However, this is NOT the complete Bach Organ Works. Here are the following that are missing:

Chorale Settings
BWV 1085 - O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig
BWV 1090 - Wir Christenleut
BWV 1091 - Das alte Jahr vergangen ist
BWV 1092 - Herr Gott, nun schleuß den Himmel auf
BWV 1093 - Herzliebster Jesu, was hast du verbrochen
BWV 1094 - O Jesu, wie ist dein Gestalt
BWV 1095 - O Lamm Gottes unschuldig
BWV 1096 - Christe, der du bist Tag und Licht (oder: Wir danken dir, Herr Jesu Christ)
BWV 1097 - Ehre sei dir, Christe, der du leidest Not
BWV 1098 - Wir glauben all an einen Gott
BWV 1099 - Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir
BWV 1100 - Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ
BWV 1101 - Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt
BWV 1102 - Du Friedefürst, Herr Jesu Christ
BWV 1103 - Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort
BWV 1104 - Wenn dich Unglück tut greifen an
BWV 1105 - Jesu, meine Freude
BWV 1106 - Gott ist mein Heil, mein Hilf und Trost
BWV 1107 - Jesu, meines Lebens Leben
BWV 1108 - Als Jesus Christus in der Nacht
BWV 1109 - Ach Gott, tu dich erbarmen
BWV 1110 - O Herre Gott, dein göttlich Wort
BWV 1111 - Nun lasset uns den Leib begrab'n
BWV 1112 - Christus, der ist mein Leben
BWV 1113 - Ich hab mein Sach Gott heimgestellt
BWV 1114 - Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut
BWV 1115 - Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr
BWV 1116 - Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan
BWV 1117 - Alle Menschen müssen sterben
BWV 1118 - Werde munter, mein Gemüte
BWV 1119 - Wie nach einer Wasserquelle
BWV 1120 - Christ, der du bist der helle Tag

Fantasia And Fugues
BWV 561 - Fantasia and Fugue
BWV 563 - Fantasia

Fantasias
BWV 570 - Fantasia
BWV 571 - Fantasia
BWV 573 - Fantasia

Fugues
BWV575
BWV576
BWV577
BWV580
BWV581

Other
BWV 598 - Pedal-Exercitium

Other Chorale Preludes
BWV 741 - Ach Gott, von Himmel sieh' darein
BWV 742 - Ach Herr, mich armen Sunder
BWV 743 - Ach, was ist doch unser Leben
BWV 744 - Auf meinen lieben Gott
BWV 745 - Aus der Tiefe rufe ich
BWV 746 - Christ ist erstanden
BWV 747 - Christus, der uns selig macht
BWV 748 - Gott der Vater wohn' uns bei
BWV 748a - Gott der Vater wohn' uns bei
BWV 749 - Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend'
BWV 750 - Herr Jesu Christ, mein's Lebens Licht
BWV 751 - In dulci jubilo
BWV 752 - Jesu, der du meine Seele
BWV 753 - Jesu, meine Freude
BWV 754 - Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier
BWV 755 - Nun freut euch, lieben Christen
BWV 756 - Nun ruhen alle Waelder
BWV 757 - O herre Gott, din goettlich's Wort
BWV 758 - O vater, allmaechtiger Gott
BWV 759 - Schmuecke dich, o liebe Seele
BWV 760 - Vater unser im Himmelreich
BWV 761 - Vater unser im Himmelreich
BWV 762 - Vater unser im Himmelreich
BWV 763 - Wie schoen leuchtet der Morgenstern
BWV 764 - Wie schoen leuchtet der Morgernstern
BWV 765 - Wur glauben all' an einen Gott

Partitas and Chorale Variations
BWV 766 - Christ, der du bist der helle Tag
BWV 767 - O Gott, du frommer Gott
BWV 768 - Sei gegruesset, Jesu guetig
BWV 770 - Ach, was soll ich Sunder machine
BWV 771 - Allein Gott in der Hoh sei Ehr

Short Prelude and Fugues
BWV 553 - Short Prelude and Fugue
BWV 554 - Short Prelude and Fugue
BWV 555 - Short Prelude and Fugue
BWV 556 - Short Prelude and Fugue
BWV 557 - Short Prelude and Fugue
BWV 558 - Short Prelude and Fugue
BWV 559 - Short Prelude and Fugue
BWV 560 - Short Prelude and Fugue

Toccata and Fugues
BWV 566 - Toccata and Fugue

Trios
BWV 583 - Trio
BWV 584 - Trio
BWV 585 - Trio
BWV 586 - Trio

Various
BWV591

Chorale Preludes - The Kirnberger Collection
BWV 690 - Wer nur den lieben Gott lasst walten
BWV 691 - Wer nun den lieben Gott lasst walten
BWV 691a - Wer nun den lieben Gott lasst walten
BWV 692 - Ach Gott und Herr
BWV 692a - Ach Gott und Herr
BWV 693 - Ach Gott und Herr
BWV 694 - Wo soll ich fliehen hin
BWV 695 - Christ lag in Todes Banden
BWV 695a - Christ lag in Todes Banden
BWV 696 - Christum wir sollen loben schon (Fughetta)
BWV 697 - Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ (Fughetta)
BWV 698 - Herr Christ, der eineg Gottes Sohn (Fughetta)
BWV 699 - Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (Fughetta)
BWV 701 - Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her (Fughetta)
BWV 702 - Das Jesulein soll doch mein Trost (Fughetta)
BWV 703 - Gottes Sohn ist kommen (Fughetta)
BWV 704 - Lob sei dem allmaechtigen Gott (Fughetta)
BWV 705 - Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt
BWV 706 - Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier
BWV 707 - Ich hab' mein' Sach' Gott heimgestellt
BWV 708 - Ich hab' mein' Sach' Gott heimgestellt
BWV 708a - Ich hab' mein' Sach' Gott heimgestellt
BWV 709 - Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend
BWV 710 - Wir Christenleut habn jetzund Freud
BWV 711 - Allein Gott in der Hoeh' sei Ehr
BWV 712 - In dich hab' ich gehoffet, Herr
BWV 713 - Jesu meine Freude (Fantasia)
BWV 713a - Jesu meine Freude (Fantasia)


Chorale Preludes - Various
BWV 714 - Ach Gott und Herr
BWV 715 - Allein Gott in der Hoh sei Ehr
BWV 716 - Fuga super Allein Gott in der Hoeh sei Ehr
BWV 717 - Allein Gott in der Hoh sei Ehr'
BWV 718 - Christ lag in Todes banden
BWV 719 - Der Tag, der ist so freudenreich
BWV 720 - Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott
BWV 721 - Erbarm dich mein, o Herre Gott
BWV 722 - Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ
BWV 723 - Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ
BWV 724 - Gott, durch dein Guete (Gottes Sohn ist kommen)
BWV 725 - Herr Gott, dich loben wir
BWV 726 - Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend
BWV 727 - Herzlich tut mich verlangen
BWV 728 - Jesus, meine Zuversicht
BWV 729 - In dulci jubilo
BWV 730 - Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier
BWV 731 - Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier
BWV 732 - Lobt Gott, ihr Christen, allzugleich
BWV 733 - Magnificat
BWV 734 - Nun freut euch, lieben Christen/Es ist gewisslich an der Zeit
BWV 735 - Valet will ich dir geben
BWV 736 - Valet will ich dir geben
BWV 737 - Vater unser im Himmelreich
BWV 738 - Von Himmel hoch, da komm' ich her
BWV 738a - Von Himmel hoch, da komm' ich her
BWV 739 - Wie schoen leuchter der Morgenstern
BWV 740 - Wir glauben all' an einen Gott, Vater

For more information on the catalogue of Bachs work visit:
http://www.jsbach.org/organworks.html

It is hard to express in words what an incredible achievement this is. The immense feats of memory alone, demanding far greater efforts than sighted performers face, command our respect. So does the consistent quality of Walcha's playing.

Bach's almost mathematical absorbtion with fugue lies at the centre of his genius. He was an organist first and foremost, an organist all his life. Like Bach, Walcha is an obsessive controller who uses music to shape his world. He treats each piece as a treasure to be cherished and burnished, and this makes him the greatest Bach organist since Schweitzer. We are told that Bach would travel miles to hear great organists perform, and Helmut Walcha is just such an organist as those.

The magnificent instrument used here is celestial in tone. To those for whom Bach fugues conjure up images of Christopher Lee playing Dracula, or dull Sundays in church, here is one of the great achievements of Western civilization, a glittering pinnacle of Baroque art, performed by a great modern spirit, in one handy box. You can't have Michaelangelo ceilings in your home, or Bernini bronzes in your living room, but by golly, you can put this on your stereo.

Helmut Walcha expresses the Bach I love! Straight ahead, with no needless gimmickery, Walcha leads you: observing the strictest contrapunctal discipline renders delightful textures and transcendent polyphonies. The beauty of these pieces makes me cry.

The recording space puts you in the organist's seat; together with Walcha's registrations, the results are the best I have heard, both performance-wise and recording-wise.

I am anxiously awaiting the CD release of Walcha's "The Well Tempered Clavier" on ARCHIV.

My familiarity with Walcha's Bach recordings goes back to my student days when I acquired several of the popular works on Archiv LPs (with the plain gray fold-out covers). I own this set in its's 1990s mid-price compilation on Archiv CDs. Walcha's interpretations of the organ works have been my gold standard since those early hearings. The style of playing, which incorporates varied registrations in the course of the pieces for structural and interpretive impact, is somewhat at odds with current "historically informed" use of the plenum through the big pieces. Also absent is the bending of tempo and ornamentation that figure in a number of more recent accounts of this music. Walcha employs ornamentation of the line but also allows the music to speak for itself without a lot of intervention. The grandeur of these masterpieces is always in evidence. Listen, for example, to the brooding intensity of the F minor Prelude and Fugue in which Walcha employs a somewhat more deliberate tempo than current norms to stunning effect.

My only complaint is the omission of the 1961 recording of the great E flat Major Prelude and Fugue in favor of the 1970s version. While the interpretaions are consistent, I prefer the sound of the Franz Casper Schnitger organ at Alkmaar to the Johann Andreas Silbermann at Strassburg. As others have pointed out, Walcha did not record the complete works, but what we do have is one of the great recorded legacies. We are fortunate indeed to have it.

This set of many Bach's Organ works by Helmut Walcha is, in my opinion, the greatest recording of these immortal treasures. There are almost all of Bach's Preludes and Fugues for organ, as well as many fantasias, miscallenous works and his chorals for this instrument. Walcha plays with utmost respect to the original scores, his playing is clear and powerful. Many other organists have allowed themselves quite a bit of experiment with these pieces (likes of Ton Koopman are over the top), but in the end, i've always came back to Walcha's renditions. If you want to treat yourself with some of the greatest music ever written, then get this rare set! Bach's organ music can be challenging at first, especially the fugues, and many of my friends have complained that they hear nothing else than noise in these pieces. I suppose you have to have listened this kind of music for quite some time, before you can wholly appreciate these unique pieces. But once you have, you find a world full of riches and wonder, world which only Bach can bring you. And this is a world i wouldn't change for any riches in the world.

This album is especially impressive because the organist is completely blind! Somehow he was able to memorize all the organ works with complete accuracy and play them brilliantly! More impressively is that he was even able to compose his own brilliant ending to Bach's last fugue of the Art of Fugue, Contrapunctus 14, which was to be the pentacle of all Bach's contrapuntal compositions, but was left unfinished shortly after introduction of the b-a-c-h fugal subject!

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Having grown up with E. Power Biggs as a Bach organ interpreter--and I still enjoy his realizations very much--I have to give my props to Helmut Walcha. As, I think, another reviewer has said, Walcha has a very balanced approach: his timing is very steady: he gives the music time to breathe. His registrations for the organs he plays are very eclectic; indeed, he kept his registrations a professional secret. Anyway, he does a very good job.

Bach is here presented very Classically--as opposed to Romantically. He's very lucid. Walcha lets the music speak for itself without excessive dynamics or extreme expressions of any kind. If you want Bach organ works, these are those.
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I never thought I would like Bach's organ works as they can be dense and daunting. However, if you can get onto Bach's wavelength, he can transport you to an electric cosmos of beauty and enlightenment. I was given a collection of Bach organ LPs by Helmut Walcha some time ago. My friend said that Germans regard Walcha as the premier interpreter of this music. He certainly knows how to play the organ and this music soars in his hands. This music is more varied than most people imagine. Some is extremely simple and delicate while some crushes your brain! I have always loved Archive recordings and these did not disappoint!

Helmut Walcha was named my TIME as "the" Bach interpreter for organ. I think that is true more than ever today with all the influences of the French Romantic school, the slam-dunk American style and the avant garde crowd. The recording has a German sound, quintessentially Teutonic in both style and approach. While Bach sounds different and even magnificient on an Aristide Cavaillé-Coll organ it does not sound authentic - or as we perceive authenticity.

The fact that the artist is blind(!) means that unlike other folks who can use the music as aids, he must rely on his phenomenal memory. This is truly the stuff of genius. The sonatas are brilliant and I have never heard a better B Minor Prelude & Fugue. I only with that his stupendous "Kunst der Fuge" could have been transferred from record to CD.

I purchased simultaneously both this set of "Bach complete organ works" and Bach: The Organ Works. I heard the latter first, and found my expectations far exceeded. It is simply exceptional, and entirely satisfying to me. I can't say enough good things about it.

Walcha's is a very interesting contrast. This set is of great historical importance, without doubt, and worth owning for that reason alone. I find the playing very pleasing and rock solid, relative to rhythmic sense, phrasing, and general interpretation. Overall, it "feels" more like a tradition interpretation than does Preston, which is understandable. That's in no way a problem, though. The contrast is instructive. There are indeed multiple ways to walk up a mountain.

Some of the recordings sound less aurally sharp than I'd have liked, but that's a minor point, and no problem at all once the music gets going. For the most part the recorded sound is very satisfying, and it's hard to believe, for example, that these recordings, made between 1959 and 1971, include some of the earliest stereo recordings ever made. The organs sound gorgeous. THIS surely is baroque organ as it ought to sound.

The packaging is very good - sturdy, full and detailed documentation of the organs, the player, the recordings themselves, and so on. All in all this is a wonderful set to have, listen to, study, and be grateful for.