What organist, especially a new organist, doesn’t want to play Bach? Unfortunately many of Bach’s organ works are difficult and long, well outside the competency of the beginner, and even the short chorale preludes can be a considerable technical challenge.
To give the beginner-to-middling organist a way in, Daniel Moult has put together An Easy Bach Organ Album for publishers Bärenreiter: a collection of short pieces of easy to medium difficulty.
Moult has had to fall back on ‘school of Bach’ items to provide some of the music, such as three of the preludes from the Short Preludes and Fugues BWV 553-560 – which have never quite shaken off being ascribed to Bach, but are now understood to be by one of his contemporaries. He also includes the pleasing In dulci jubilo, probably by Johann Michael Bach, and CPE Bach’s simple Marche.
However there is ‘real’ Bach in the form of a choice of ten chorale preludes from the Orgelbüchlein and other sources, and an assortment of pieces and arrangements, including from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena.
The content is a bit of a mixed bag, but it’s saved by Moult’s clear and scrupulous editorial notes at the beginning of the book. Ideally the student organist would have a teacher to lead them through the stylistic requirements of this repertoire, but someone teaching themselves will find plenty of help towards producing a convincing performance, with an index of technical difficulty, notes on registration and ornamentation, and possible liturgical uses for each piece. Moult deliberately leaves the scores free of distracting editorial fingerings and pedallings, but discusses both modern and eighteenth century practice, leaving the player to adopt his or her own approach. He also adds notes on articulation and practice techniques which make useful reading for any organist.
There’s plenty of manuals-only music included, of varying difficulty, so pianists-to-organists will find this book a good addition to their library.
It’s mentioned for O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig BWV1095, but I would have liked further editorial help for the beginner with the distribution of notes between the hands/staves – in Erbarm dich mein, o Herre Gott BWV 721, for example, where the Bärenreiter Urtext reproduced here needs rethinking in quite a few places to make it playable.
However I’m highly grateful to Daniel for including his excellent arrangement of Jesu, Joy of Man’s desiring for two manuals and pedals: which alone means that this book is probably going to be a regular resident of my music bag.
AN EASY BACH ORGAN ALBUM
Orginal Works and Arrangements
Edited by Daniel Moult
Bärenreiter BA11212
ISMN 979-0-006-52818-9
£15
Available for next day delivery from Bärenreiter’s UK Music Store website www.barenreiter.co.uk
feature image: statue of J S Bach outside the Thomaskirche in Leipzig by biedelcw
