Innumerable transcriptions of Bach’s music were made in the 19th and 20th centuries, and many of them bear the signatures of both well-known and lesser-known composers. Among the former are Bruno G. Seidhofler’s notable piano 4-hands version of The Art of Fugue (1937) and the splen- did transcription of the Orgel-Büchlein by Bernhard Friedrich Richter (1902) that is featured on this recording. Before the advent of the phonograph, piano duo transcriptions made music of all sorts accessible to vast audiences outside the concert hall, in the intimacy of their own homes. They also allowed for repeated listening ‘on demand’, facili- tating a more detailed study of a work’s intricacies.
The artists’ approach here – in an advanced vein of historically informed performance –takes inspi- ration from well-established Bach performance practice and then filters that through two specific media: the chosen instrument of an early 20th- century upright piano and the set of performance indications scrupulously laid down by Richter, which range from tempo indications assigned to each chorale and numerous (yet not too intrusive) agogic signs, to the octave doubling he often added in the soprano and/or bass.
In the words of Harnoncourt, ‘Each period has precisely the instrumentarium best suited to its own music. In their imagination, composers hear the instruments of their own time […]’.
And the great Baroque oboist Bruce Haynes wrote: ‘Instruments can be seen in terms of Darwinian adaptation. They are constantly chan- ging in small ways to make it easier for musicians to perform the music currently in fashion. There is an immense pressure on instruments to be as well-adapted as possible to the music of their time.
Instrument makers are very receptive to the demands of players, and these demands are the immediate cause of mutations.’ The 1912 Kaps piano played here, with its many technical innovations for its day, comes precisely from the time of Richter’s interpretation of the Orgel- Büchlein.
The piano was preserved in perfect condition, with original strings and hammers, and its restoration afforded a scupulous reconstruction of every mechanism and resonator. Ernst Kaps obtained a number of patents on the inventions he applied to his instruments, among them double over- stringing (1865) employing three bridges (bass, tenor and treble), which provided even smaller instruments with greater power of sound.
Other information:
Recorded September 2023 in Rome, Italy
The artists play a piano by Ernst Kaps (Dresden, c.1915) restored by Dario Aufiero
Booklet in English contains a note on historically informed performance by Andrea Cohen, a note on piano 4 hands arrangements by Chiara Corona and a note on the piano by restorer Dario Aufiero
This new recording presents a beautiful four hands piano version (with significant interventions) of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Orgelbüchlein, transcribed by Bernhard Friedrich Richter (1850-1931), who was Bach’s (1685-1759) successor as Kantor at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig. It is performed on a late 19th century German piano built by Ernst Kaps, and perfectly captures the sound and character of 19th century “Hausmusik”, when the great masterworks of the past were modified for domestic use and practice.
Played by Early Music specialist Andrea Coen and Chiara Corona. Andrea Coen is an orga- nist, harpsichordist, and fortepianist, who has studied with such distinguished artists as Ton Koopman and Alan Curtis, and has collaborated with such figures as Christopher Hogwood and Monica Huggett. His recordings of Baroque and early-Classical keyboard repertoire for Brilliant Classics have attracted glowing reviews. Coen recorded the “Kleine Kammermusik” (BC 95683) and made the first complete recording of Telemann’s Fantasias (94228). According to MusicWeb International: ‘Coen, an experienced, insightful instrumentalist with a profound knowledge of historical performance practice and a sackful of important recordings under his belt, could make Telemann sound special even on a typewriter.’
