The 1730s were characterized by two factors for Bach. The first was the recurrance of squabbles with civic and school authorities over the prerogatives of his office. For example, in late 1728 a clergyman demanded the right to choose the Vespers hymns, something the Cantor had always done. Bach reacted strongly, saying his rights had…
Matthew J. Hall, harpsichord and organ Music by William Byrd (c. 1539–1623) Fantasia in C, BK 25 Fantasia in C, BK 27 Pavan and Galliard in a, BK 16 Pavan and Galliard: Ph. Tregian [in F], BK 60 Walsingham, BK 8 – pause – Fantasia in d, BK 46 Clarifica me, Pater, BK 47–49 Gloria…
Matthew J. Hall, organ “In the art of the organ, he took the works of Bruhns, Reincken, Buxtehude, and several good French organists as models.” So wrote Johann Friedrich Agricola and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach in 1754 in Johann Sebastian Bach’s obituary. C. P. E. Bach reiterated this in 1775 when he wrote to Johann…
Classic French organ music, ca. 1660–1750, occupies a minor place in the modern organ repertory. It developed in the context of the rigid liturgical norms of French Catholicism and the special tonal characteristics of French organs of the period; in the absence of both of these contexts the music can (but need not!) seem meagre.…