CATHEDRAL ORGANIST KARE NORDSTOGA – CHORALE PRELUDES ON A BAROQUE ORGAN The fifth and sixth album in this series featuring Bach’s complete organ works were recorded in St. Martin’s Church in Groningen, on an organ representing the most noble qualities of the Baroque sound. The construction of the instrument is usually attributed to the well-known organ builder of the late 1600s, Arp Schnitger, although some stops date back to 1450.

Both discs are devoted to Bach’s chorale prelude adaptations, which, owing to the organ’s vocal timbre, distinctive temperament, and clear lines, are heard to good advantage. Here we find the eighteen Leipzig Chorale Preludes, which Bach wrote while serving as court organist in Weimar, but which he collected and adapted toward the end of his life. The six Schübler Chorale Preludes are adaptations for solo organ of movements from Bach’s own cantatas. They bear the name of the music publisher. Finally, in his Canonic Variations on the Christmas hymn “From Heaven Above to Earth I Come”, Bach seems to wish to demonstrate how much elaborate polyphony can be drawn out of a simple Christmas hymn in C-major.

Kare Nordstoga (b. 1954) studied at the Norwegian Academy of Music, where he was appointed professor in 1994. Since 1984 he has been organist of Oslo Cathedral. Here Nordstoga frequently performs a large repertoire, which has included two popular concert series with Bach’s complete organ works.

Nordstoga is an active concert organist. In recent years he has been soloist with the symphony orchestras of Oslo, Bergen, and Trondheim, and he has played at international organ festivals in Aarhus, Paris, and Tokyo, among others. In 2006 he was awarded the Lindeman Prize for his active contribution to musical life.

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SACD Surround 5.0