Customer Reviews

Pieces For Organ

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For those of you who have been wondering this is the old

Columbia Masterworks recording known as "E.Power Biggs Plays

Bach In The Thomaskirche" How it made its way onto this label I

do not pretend to know. It is four of Bach's finest organ works

performed on an organ in the Church in Leipzig Germany that Bach

worked and worshiped at. Performed by one of the world's great

organists E.Power Biggs. It is a wonderful recording, but I can't

help but wonder why Sony didn't re-issue it? Oh Well my advice is

just buy the CD while you still can and enjoy it!

The Thomaskirche organ, built and installed in 1967 by the Alexander Schuke company, was recorded (originally for Columbia Masterworks as KM30648) so well that although the church's reverberation has a pronounced influence, the sounds of the organ itself are still heard with great clarity. The music's movement back and forth from one division (keyboard) of the organ to another is noticeable. One can also hear the timbres or the individual characteristics of several of the instrument's stops, even when used in combination with others, especially in the Passacaglia. E. Power Biggs shows a lot of variety with the registrations he's chosen, and they, along with his phrasings, enable the listener to easily hear and follow all of the themes and voices that make up each composition. His interpretations of these pieces, which are some of Bach's finest for the organ, are convincing ... and very musical. And the strong sense of rhythm that Biggs' playing incorporates will have your foot tapping right along with this CD. A fine recording (no matter which company has released it)!

Once, early in his career, Biggs was a fantastic organist. Unfortunately: his technique declined early; he was taken over by the HIP movement to a significant extent; and, most unfortunately, severely progressive rheumatoid arthritis started early in his career (worse, the treatment he received resulted in his death). Still, there are many Biggs recordings that are very good, and mostly impossible to find: Hindemith Concerti; Hindemith Sonatas; Handel Concerti; Rheinberger Concerti (made late in his life -- played better than any that are available). But his Bach -- unimaginative, labored, very close to boring.

John Turner