1. J. S. Bach (1685-1750):
Prelude in E minor,
BWV 941 0:53

2. Henri Dutilleux (b. 1916):
Hommage à Bach 3:00
from: Au gré des ondes

3. J. S. Bach:
Fugue in C major,
BWV 953 1:08

4.-6. Arthur Honegger
(1892-1955):
Prélude–Arioso–Fughette 6:22
sur le nom de Bach

7. J. S Bach:
Prelude in C major,
BWV 939 0:33

8.,9. Leopold Godowsky
(1870-1938):
Prelude and Fugue (B.A.C.H.) 6:43
for the left hand alone

10. J. S. Bach:
Little Prelude in F major, BWV 927 0:30

11. Francis Poulenc (1899–1963):
Valse – Improvisation 2:14
sur le nom de BACH

12. J. S. Bach:
Little Prelude in C major, BWV 924 1:10

13.-16. Heitor Villa-Lobos
(1887-1959):
Bachianas Brasileiras,
No. 4 15:59
Preludio – Introdução Coral – Canto do Sertão
(Song of the Bush)
Aria – Cantiga
(Sobre un tema de Nordeste)
Dansa – (Miudinho)

17.,18. J. S. Bach:
Prelude and Fugue in D major, BWV 874 5:39
from: The Well-Tempered Clavier Book 2

19. J. S. Bach:
Prelude in C minor,
BWV 999 0:58

20. Béla Bartók (1881-1945):
Hommage à J.S.B. 1:15
from: Mikrokosmos Vol. III

21. György Kurtág (b. 1926):
Hommage à J.S.B. 0:09
from: Játékok (Games) Vol. 3

22. Terry Riley (b. 1935):
G Song 1:59

23. J. S. Bach:
Little Prelude in D major,
BWV 925 1:48

24., 25. Dmitri Shostakovitch (1906–1975):
Prelude and Fugue No. 24 in
D minor 11:13

26.-28. J. S. Bach:
Italian Concerto BWV 971 12:31
(Allegro)
Andante
Presto

 

MUSIC OF TRIBUTE Vol. 5
J.S. BACH
Beatrice Berthold: piano

Buy
digital | physical
LAB 7079

Music of Tribute turns to Bach: Music of Bach and Homages to Bach played by German pianist Beatrice Berthold

The fifth volume of Labor’s on-going “Music of Tribute” series, a solo album by the outstanding young German pianist Beatrice Berthold, features a series of homages to J.S. Bach from French, Swiss, Polish, Hungarian, Russian and American composers plus works by the great German master himself including his famous “Italian Concerto,” a prelude and fugue from “The Well-Tempered Clavier” and a series of preludes and fugues, taken from the teaching notebooks created for and by Bach’s sons under their father’s supervision. Many of the pieces by or attributed to Bach will be familiar to anyone who has ever studied or played classical piano.

All these works are performed by the German pianist who has become noted, not only for her Bach but also for her readings of Russian, French and, in particular, Spanish and Latin American music. A highlight is her performance of the final Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, four movements for piano solo by Heitor Villa-Lobos which mix Brazilian popular music and folk song with the influence of Bach. Many of the other tribute pieces are specifically based on the letters B-A-C-H, which, in German musical spelling, denote the tones B-flat, A, C, B natural. Examples of pieces based on this motto motif include a Prelude and Fugue for left hand only by the great piano virtuoso Leopold Godowsky and a Valse-Impromptu by Francis Poulenc. There is also the final Prelude and Fugue from Dmitri Shostakovich’s masterful set of 24 and another group includes tributes by the Hungarian composers Béla Bartók and György Kurtág as well as the pioneering American minimalist Terry Riley.

A co-production with Saarländischer Rundfunk, Saarbrücken, Germany

 

REVIEW

This is volume 5 in a series from Labor Records that juxtaposes the music of the “tribute” dedicatee (here J.S. Bach) with music that purports to be related by theme or other sort of dedication. The previous first three volumes have all been covered in Fanfare, to favorable comments: Villa-Lobos (LAB 7031), Debussy (LAB 7032). and Fauré (LAB 7043). Each features a different pianist and a slightly different concept as to what constitutes a tribute.
In this case, we have a number of pieces by Bach that, strangely enough, might not actually be by the composer, which might make the premise a little shaky. Be that as it may (and the questionable works will always be by Bach to me), it is remarkable how well this music melds with the others, all from the 20th century. But Dutilleux’s “Hommage à Bach from Au gré des ondes seems to be lifted directly from the last bars of the preceding Prelude in E Minor, and even composers as disparate as Bartók, Kurtág (whose nine-second homage offers little more than a skipped heartbeat), and Terry Riley, coming three-in-a-row, fit as naturally between the Prelude in C and D as ham and cheese on rye.
Of the meatier pieces here, I should mention that Berthold’s Italian Concerto is about as fine as I hope to hear, her Bachianas brasileiras No. 4 stunning in its rhythmic elasticity, and the one Shostakovich Prelude completely in the spirit of the Russian master’s love of polyphony. Her piano sounds warm and vibrant in its concert-hall acoustic, and I found this mix-and-match to be wonderfully entertaining and enlightening if not overly profound in meaning. A fine hour and change delightfully spent awaits you.
- Steven E. Ritter / Fanfare Magazine

 

Musicweb: see review