Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) transcribed Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924)
Plein jeu
Prelude and Fugue in D major BWV 532
Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C major BWV 564
Chorale prelude Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesus Christ BWV 639
Prelude and Fugue in E flat major St Anne BWV 552
Chorale prelude Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland BWV 659
Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV 565
Jean-Philippe Collard (piano)
rec. 2024 at Grande Salle, L’Arsenal Cité musicale-Metz, Lorraine, France
La Dolce Volta LDV139 [68]
In his own time, and for many years afterwards, Busoni was better known for his Bach transcriptions than for his original works. He even found himself addressed as Mr Bach-Busoni on occasion. Now that his own music is more often performed, the Bach transcriptions have dropped into a lower place, but they are still of interest. On this disc, Jean-Philippe Collard has taken up the four main transcriptions of organ music, together with two of the Chorale Preludes, out of ten which Busoni arranged. (The celebrated D minor Chaconne is not included, as it is a transcription, not of an organ work, but of one movement of the second Partita for solo violin.) In an interview in the booklet, Collard explains that his father was a church organist but that he had had not previously been attracted by Bach on the piano until, late in his career, he took up these transcriptions. The title Plein Jeu, literally full organ, refers to a particular combination of stops which was popular in France; its relevance to this recital is that these piano versions are quite full-blooded.
Busoni made his versions of some of Bach’s organ works between 1888 and 1900, which is early in his career. He was inspired by the example of Liszt, who had previously transcribed a number of Bach’s organ works, and he, like Liszt, made these in the high romantic manner. Busoni explained his practice in doing so, compensating for the reduced power of the piano compared to the organ. He adds octave doublings, uses the piano pedals freely, including the Steinway third or sustaining pedal, makes additions and omissions and takes liberties and, in general, makes these works convincing as compositions for the piano. It follows that the ideas about historically informed performance practice which have greatly influenced players of baroque music in recent years have no place here, where authenticity means realizing the high romantic manner in which these versions were written. This was how Busoni wrote for the piano up to and including its culmination in his massive Piano Concerto of 1904, after which he radically rethought and simplified his style.
We begin with the Prelude and Fugue in D major, which was also Busoni’s first transcription of a Bach organ work. In the Prelude, there are two outer sections of the toccata type, with a middle section characterized by its contrapuntal complexity. The Fugue is a long one whose main subject is light-hearted and which encourages considerable virtuosity.
A particular feature of the opening toccata of the Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C is the long passage in the bass, originally for the organ pedals. It was also unusual to have a central slow movement added to the traditional prelude and fugue. The fugue itself is closely worked with some unusual harmonies.
The first of the two chorale preludes follows, Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesus Christ. Particularly noteworthy here is the way a middle voice weaves its way between the melody and a bass largely in octaves. This middle voice is constantly being passed between the two hands but needs to flow seamlessly, as indeed it does here.
We then have the large work, the Prelude and Fugue in E flat known as St Anne. This came from Bach’s Organ Mass, and in the published volume the Prelude opens and the Fugue closes the volume, with various works inserted in between. In joining them together Busoni devised a short transition and also cut a passage of repetition from the Prelude.
The second chorale prelude is in complete contrast to this massive work, with its quiet melodic flow, increasingly elaborately decorated, over a regular pulsing bass.
Finally, we have the well-known Toccata and Fugue in D minor, which goes so well on the piano that you would not guess that it was originally an organ work.
Collard is best known, at least on record, for his French repertoire, and, indeed, on looking at my shelves I see have him in Saint-Saëns, Franck, Chausson, Fauré and Ravel. However, of course he can play other repertoire as well and he clearly enjoys playing these Busoni versions and revels in their full and rich sonority. There are other recordings of this repertoire, and I think particularly of Nikolai Demidenko’s two disc set on Hyperion, but if you want just one disc of Busoni’s organ transcriptions of Bach, this will do very nicely. The recording is clear and the booklet helpful.
Stephen Barber
Buying this recording via the link below generates revenue for MWI, which helps the site remain free
