Bach: Transcriptions

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Music reviews of Bach: Transcriptions

Music Review: 20th century look at Bach
Rating: 4 Stars

For instance, it's hard not to crack a smile at the rather bombastic overkill that the Fantasia and Fugue in C Minor (BWV537) undergoes in the hands of Edward Elgar. Strangely, though, his transcription works better than Respighi's version of the Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor (BWV582) which is even more technicolor but doesn't seem to have a consistent orchestrational mindset. The Schoenberg version of the "St. Anne" Prelude and Fugue also suffers from too much cleverness, but it is a rousing experience.

The best transcriptions seem to be those which don't try to inflate the music too music. Max Reger's string version of a chorale prelude is very touching. Similarly, although Arthur Honegger tilts his orchestration towards brighter, brassier colors, the music sings without being buried as it is in some of the "larger" orchestrations. I also very much enjoyed what Joachim Raff, the one 19th century representative, does with the Chaconne in D minor. Although there are big moments, it is the colorful use of the winds which make this transcription special.

Leonard Slatkin plays it all straight, which is fine, since it allows us to appreciate the orchestration--the whole point of the disc. If you like this, search out the old Philadelphia Orch./Ormandy disc of Bach transcriptions which offers a more homogeneous set of orchestrations which highlight the orchestra's rich strings. That disc is, perhaps, more touching than this one because the orchestrations augment Bach without getting in the way as some on this disc do. Still, this CD is an entertaining and interesting experiment.

Description of Bach: Transcriptions

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