Johann & Max #1611
…a contrapuntal convergence honoring the births of Johann Sebastian Bach (3/21/1685) and Max Reger (3/19/1873).
Hour 1
J.S. BACH: Prelude & Fugue in G, BWV 550 –Simon Preston (1993 Klais/St. John's Smith Square, London) DG 449 212
MAX REGER: Prelude & Fugue in G, Op. 85, no. 2 –Bernard Haas (1906 Link/Evangelical church, Giengen an der Brenz) Naxos 8.553926
BACH: 3 Chorale-preludes (Allein zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 1100; Vater unser im Himmelreich, BWV 737; Jesu, meine Freude, BWV 1105) –Gerhard Weinberger (1767 Volckland/St. Boniface Church, Tröchtelborn) cpo 999 755
REGER: Aus tiefer Not, Op. 67, no. 3 –Christopher Anderson (1951 Aeolian-Skinner, expanded/Perkins Chapel, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX) SMU 2009
BACH: Aus tiefer Not, BWV 686 –Olivier Vernet (1737 Treutmann/Grauhof Cloister, Goslar) Ligia Digital 0104077-99
REGER: Passion, No. 4 fr Seven Pieces, Op. 145 –Edgar Krapp (1981 Eisenbarth/Passau Cathedral) Naxos 8.557891
BACH: Fugue in E-flat, BWV 552b –David Rothe (1990 Yokota/California State University, Chico, CA) CSU 001
Hour 2
REGER: Prelude, Scherzo & Fugue in d/D, Op. 65, nos. 7, 10 & 8 –Stefan Frank (1996 Rieger/Fulda Cathedral) Naxos 8.557186
BACH: O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig, BWV 656 –Robert Clark (2004 Brombaugh/1st Presbyterian Church, Springfield, IL) Arsis 405
REGER: 3 Sacred Songs (Christ, deines Geistes Süssigkeit; Klage vor Gottes Leiden; Jesu Christ, wir warten dein), Op. 137, nos. 6, 11/12 –Klaus Martens, baritone; Martin Haselböck (1910 Sauer/Stadthalle Görlitz) NCA 60101-215
BACH (arr. Meyer-Fiebig): Fantasy in C, BWV 573 –Aya Yoshida (1964 Jemlich/Kreuzkirche, Dresden) Zoho Classix 201207
REGER: Cantata, O wie selig seid ihr doch, ihr Frommen –Stuttgart Chamber Choir/Frieder Bernius, director; Ingeborg Müller-Ney, soprano; Wolfgang Dallmann (DaCamera Studio, Heidelberg) Amati 9301/1
From the WQXR Online Comments Page: Sam Eisenstein, a listener from California wrote: “I know it's absurd, but I can't help but muse on what Bach might think of the ubiquity of his music, his influence, his omnipresence on our musical horizon, our scene. Nearly half a millennium after his death he is vibrantly alive as important or more so than he was in his own time. What kind of a brain could he have possessed to envision and produce the sounds that he did? Without electricity, running water, sanitation of any sort, even the writing instrument he employed would not work more than for a line or two. Hooray for the human spirit that can give us such a hero!!”
