Bach Arrangements

This delightful disc offers a selection from the wealth of piano transcriptions of Bach's music. The Bach revival that gathered momentum during the nineteenth century created a climate for many composer-pianists to interpret his works through their own piano transcriptions, whether of chorale preludes, organ works or other instrumental music. Much of Bach's music was made domestically available via such arrangements (and the tradition continued well into the twentieth century, even after Bach originals were well known). Indeed, the practice of such transcriptions was widely used by Bach himself, who freely adapted his own and others' music for different instrumental settings. One of today's finest Bach pianists, Angela Hewitt concentrates primarily on those arrangements of Bach that keep pianistic elaboration and virtuosity in proportion: whatever instrument his music is played on, Bach should still sound like Bach. Eugen d'Albert's magnificent transcription of the C minor Passacaglia and Fugue for organ, BWV582, is included, as are five beautiful transcriptions by Wilhelm Kempff, and a number of arrangements by English composers that were included in A Bach Book for Harriet Cohen (a collection compiled for the pianist Harriet Cohen, who knew many English composers of the early twentieth century). Angela Hewitt also includes three transcriptions of her own. A fascinating companion to Angela Hewitt's acclaimed Bach recordings for Hyperion, this ravishing disc will appeal to lovers of Bach as much as connoisseurs of the piano.

BEST CLASSICAL ALBUM (SOLO OR CHAMBER), JUNO AWARDS 2002

'A magnificent addition to both the Bach repertoire and Angela Hewitt's artistically unparallelled survey of Bach's keyboard compositions' (Fanfare, USA)

'One of the foremost Bach interpreters of our time, Hewitt brings her own distinctive timing and touch. She makes the most of the piano’s sonority … demonstrating remarkable finger strength in sustaining the various lines of Bach’s melodies and counter-melodies and effectively drawing out the tenderness, vigour and serenity of the music. [An] attractive and impressive recording' (The Inverness Courier)

'A collection of rarities and oddities that makes for enjoyable listening. The quality of the Hyperion recording is excellent, with the right balance of ambience and instrument in the fine sounding Henry Wood Hall' (Pianist Magazine)

'Divine, uplifting' (The Ottawa Citizen)

'For pure listening pleasure that is both delightful and profoundly moving, this one is hard to beat' (National Post, Canada)

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Recording details: April 2001; Henry Wood Hall, London, United Kingdom; Produced by Ludger Böckenhoff; Engineered by Ludger Böckenhoff; Release date: August 2001;