Bach,J.S. / Fischer - Clavier Ubung Teil III - SUPER-AUDIO CD [Super Audio CD (SACD)]

Details 1. Ouverture 2. Allemande 3. 1st Courante 4. Aria 5. Sarabande 6. Menuett 7. Gigue 8. Praeludium 9. Allemande 10. Corrente 11. Sarabande 12. Menuett I - II 13. Gigue 14. Sinfonia 15. Allemande 16. 1st Courante 17. Sarabande 18. Rondeaux 19. Capriccio 1. Fantasia 2. Allemande 3. Corrente 4. Sarabande 5. Burlesca 6. Scherzo 7. Gigue 8. Praeambulum 9. Allemande 10. Corrente 11. Sarabande 12. Tempo Di Menuetto 13. Passepied 14. Gigue 15. Toccata 16. Allemande 17. Corrente 18. Air 19. Sarabande 20. Tempo Di Gavotta 21. Gigue

A busy schedule as music director of the Bach Collegium Japan and sought-after guest conductor doesn't stop Masaaki Suzuki from returning to his first loves, the organ and the harpsichord. With the present he adds yet another chapter to his series of Bach's works for solo harpsichord. After acclaimed recordings of the Well-tempered Clavier, the Goldberg variations, the French Suites and other works the turn has come to the English Suites. Composed while Bach was in his thirties it precedes other sets such as the French Suites and the Toccatas, and in his liner notes, Bach scholar Yo Tomita draws attention to 'the stylistic traits of a youthful and ambitious composer wanting to make his mark through the use of counterpoint and virtuosity'. Despite it's title, the collection has very little to do with England, at least musically the six suites are instead rooted in the French tradition, and show certain striking similarities to the composer Charles Dieupart's Six Suittes pour le Clavessin from 1701. (Bach made a copy of Dieupart's set sometime between 1709 and 1716.) It was only in the 19th century that the suites became known as the 'English', based on a never substantiated claim that the set was commissioned by an English nobleman.

Raaf Hekkema writes of his new InchSince I started teaching at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, I have become more conscious of my self-chosen mission to create a place for the saxophone within the classical music tradition. One way to do this is to forge a stronger bond between the players and the classical tradition, in the knowledge that the saxophone repertoire too is indebted to the great composers of the past. The most influential of them all is, without a doubt, Johann Sebastian Bach. The path to this recording was long, windy and fascinating. It started with the awareness that the cello suites provide exceptional playing material for saxophonists. But I long felt that for playing Bach on the saxophone, only the light-sounding soprano saxophone would do- which was, I believed, incompatible with the instrument for which the suites were written. During preparations for my previous recording of Bach's partitas for violin, I discovered that the alto sax- fitted with an old-style mouthpiece- could reproduce the refined articulation of the violin. Vintage mouthpieces represent the sound ideal of days gone by. Then came the idea to play the suites on six different saxophones, each of which holds a unique place in the history of the instrument. After that, much time went into working out a usable assignment of transpositions and an appropriate choice of instruments, the resulting sound character being the deciding factor.