Bach Meets Jazz / Hilschmann

Evelyn Hilschmann, piano

Johann Sebastian Bach: Preludes & Fugues BWV 887 -875 - 871 - 881 - 884
George Gershwin: Preludes
Nikolai Kapustin: Toccatina Op.36
Alberto Ginastera: Tres Danzas Argentinas Op.2

Any historically informed performance of Bach's works on the grand piano - a well-known approach thanks to the performances and recordings of his oratorios, passions and of the Mass in B minor, for example, by famous conductors such as Harnoncourt or Gardiner - reveals a much more lighthearted music stripped of unnecessary flourishes and ornamentation. All of a sudden, Bach's syncopated rhythms take on a jazz or swing-like feel, especially in the fugues. When played too slowly, the fugues appear rather lengthy and overly complex, causing the listener to lose orientation; when played at a slightly faster tempo roughly equivalent to that of the preceding prelude however, the previously lengthy expositions are transformed into a meaningful and irresistible exchange of solo and tutti passages similar to those of a contemporary jazz band.
Where Gershwin opens his fi rst Prelude with a statement of the principal motif in the right hand and continues his musical thoughts across all registers, Bach similarly introduces the subject in the right hand and repeats it successively in all other voices before combining them all in a tutti passage. All works presented on this recording have pulsating rhythms and sometimes lucid, sometimes complex and painful harmonies in common; propelled by a steady beat, they have preserved their playfulness and enduring charm across the centuries and into the present.

Price: $27.98

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