[SACD-R][OF] Friedhelm Flamme - Nicolaus Bruhns, Georg Dietrich Leyding - Complete Organ Works - 2005 (Classical)

The music on this disc will be unknown to most general listeners, and the works by Georg Dietrich Leyding is mostly unfamiliar even to organ specialists. Despite its obscurity, the disc is of interest to anyone who loves Bach's organ music. The cover is a little misleading in labeling the 11 pieces here as the "complete organ works" of Leyding and Nicolaus Bruhns; they are simply the few surviving scraps of what were presumably much larger bodies of work. Both these composers were students of Dietrich Buxtehude, whom Bach walked a few hundred miles to hear, and their music has some of the quasi-improvisatory quality of Buxtehude's. Both composers revel in the sheer sound of the organ, and hearing the 1724 instrument played here by Friedhelm Flamme one is reminded that the Baroque German organ is one of the great engineering marvels of civilization. Some of these works have the name "Praeludium," but they are multisectional pieces with fugal passages, actually closer to Bach's Preludes and Fugues than to Buxtehude, for they have fewer sections than Buxtehude uses. Check out track 5 (Bruhns) or track 7 or 9 (Leyding) for typical procedures showing the best and worst of each composer -- the best being the rumbling, virtuoso pedal passages that open each piece and the worst being the simple fugue subjects that suffer in comparison with Bach's contrapuntal art. There are also quieter chorale-based pieces. Sound quality is superb, and the available SACD version of this disc ought to be enough to bring the house down -- literally. The liner notes contradict themselves as to the deathdate of Bruhns, with the track listing giving it as 1697 and the German text stating that he died in 1689. Amusingly, the English and French translators seem to have spotted this gaffe; the English text fudges the issue, while the French reverts to 1697. The 1697 date is correct.
Reviews:
Bruhns, Leyding: Complete Organ Works Review by James Manheim
The music on this disc will be unknown to most general listeners, and the works by Georg Dietrich Leyding is mostly unfamiliar even to organ specialists. Despite its obscurity, the disc is of interest to anyone who loves Bach's organ music. The cover is a little misleading in labeling the 11 pieces here as the "complete organ works" of Leyding and Nicolaus Bruhns; they are simply the few surviving scraps of what were presumably much larger bodies of work. Both these composers were students of Dietrich Buxtehude, whom Bach walked a few hundred miles to hear, and their music has some of the quasi-improvisatory quality of Buxtehude's. Both composers revel in the sheer sound of the organ, and hearing the 1724 instrument played here by Friedhelm Flamme one is reminded that the Baroque German organ is one of the great engineering marvels of civilization. Some of these works have the name "Praeludium," but they are multisectional pieces with fugal passages, actually closer to Bach's Preludes and Fugues than to Buxtehude, for they have fewer sections than Buxtehude uses. Check out track 5 (Bruhns) or track 7 or 9 (Leyding) for typical procedures showing the best and worst of each composer -- the best being the rumbling, virtuoso pedal passages that open each piece and the worst being the simple fugue subjects that suffer in comparison with Bach's contrapuntal art. There are also quieter chorale-based pieces. Sound quality is superb, and the available SACD version of this disc ought to be enough to bring the house down -- literally.
The liner notes contradict themselves as to the deathdate of Bruhns, with the track listing giving it as 1697 and the German text stating that he died in 1689. Amusingly, the English and French translators seem to have spotted this gaffe; the English text fudges the issue, while the French reverts to 1697. The 1697 date is correct.
Review by gonzostick November 8, 2009
Performance: 5 Sonics: 5
If you love great organ music recordings, DO NOT MISS THIS DISC.
This is a great recording of obscure north German Baroque repertoire on a beautifully restored period instrument built in 1724 by Friedhelm Flamme. He is a stunning organist, uses the color resources of his instrument beautifully, uses informed historical practice but avoids the registration idiocy of staying on a full organ plenum for complete movements of baroque works. These are the complete works for organ of the two composers listed.
The works by Bruhns are always great music for listening and playing. He is very adventurous harmonically and texturally, showing some characteristics of the great north German master Diderik Buxthehude, but with more artistic daring.
A few things are especially nice about the instrument. It is pitched higher than normal pitch and tuned in one of the variants of meantone, Chorton, which is the reason why Flamme plays some of the works one full step lower (from e minor to d minor) in order to avoid howling 6th problems caused by the lack of equal temperament. Of course, there are many that argue that such intervallic howls were expected by the composers and that is why they put their music in such keys.
Still, this disc, like Flamme's Durufle's discs, is excellent. The bass response and the rasp of the reeds on this instrument are nothing short of beautiful.
There is plenty of bass on this recording as this instrument has a very solid bottom end, though there are NO 32 foot stops in the Pedal division. The 16 footers are very solid and the overall blend of the instrument, built by a man in the tradition of the Arp Schnitger shop, is breathtaking in its blend and tone. The mixtures never scream, as happens with some instruments.
Great recital with very musical playing. Again, worth every penny. You will find yourself tapping your toes to the dance-inspired preludes and fugues on this disc.