First, I apologize for taking so long to complete this review.  Back in
June, I eagerly started Part 2 but found Suzuki's performances far less
effective than in Part 1.  I decided to put the project on the shelf for
a few weeks, but that turned out to be many weeks.  As it happens, the
wait didn't alter my original opinion.

Chorale Preludes BWV 682 & 683 - A five voice trio sonata, BWV 682
definitely deserves the 'major' designation.  It is one of Bach's most
complex creations and also one of tremendous grandeur and majesty.  Kay
Johannsen and Werner Jacob give exceptional readings fully conveying the
great sweep of the Prelude; Suzuki does not.  He leaves me with a flat
feeling largely due to his decision to dispense as much as he can with
sustaining notes.  Essentially, he shortens his horizons, exhibits lumpy
phrasing, and loses much sweep and grandeur.  I think he has made a
tactical error, the first one in the recording.  Further, his slow tempo
makes for heavy treading.  In the short BWV 683, Suzuki is surprisingly
light in texture, and I found his performance somewhat wispy.  Much
preferred is the Kay Johannsen issue which has greater weight and beauty.
Overall, this series is a low point for Suzuki.

Chorale Preludes BWV 684 & 685 - The text for this series concerns the
baptism of Jesus and its subsequent impacts.  Obviously, the subject is a
serious one.  In BWV 684, the faster and more vivacious performances tend
to stray from the mood of the text.  However, I still very much enjoy a
version like Herrick's which is quite fast and played as 'good time' music;
I can't deny that I easily get the image of Jesus' head being snapped
backwards so vigorously that he could, through accident, incur damage
to his spinal column.  With Suzuki, it wouldn't be an accident but a
premediated snap.  As fast as Herrick, Suzuki is heavy and foreboding.
Musically, I'll go with Herrick for a fast version.  My overall favorite
is Jacob's; he best conveys the river's flow during the baptism, and his
mix of optimism and weight is very satisfying.  In BWV 685, Suzuki again
is low on poetry.

Update:  Something is going wrong with Suzuki's performances.  By the
conclusion of Part 1, I was starting to think that the recording might end
up being one of the finest Bach recorded performances ever.  Whether strong
or not, Suzuki always was conveying the music's inner beauty.  However, in
the last two series of preludes, the beauty and poetry are lacking and the
results are not advantageous.  For these four preludes, just about every
other version I've heard is preferable.  Here's hoping that Suzuki's slump
ends very soon.

Chorale Preludes BWV 686 & 687 - Based on Psalm 130, "Out of the depths I
cry to Thee", one would expect the 'major' prelude to have strong emotions
and BWV 686 is one powerful fugue with dense counterpoint.  Lionel Rogg
delivers the power and great optimism as well.  Although a little less
uplifting, Suzuki is in his element with a level of strength and anguish
that has to be heard.  Unfortunately, when he hits BWV 687, he falls apart.
BWV 687 is much softer music that needs little power but a great amount of
poetry and subtle nuance.  Suzuki dispenses with the power which is fine;
however, he just replaces it with a straight-forward, slow, and bland
interpretation that's miles behind the uplifiting Rogg version.

Chorale Preludes BWV 688& 689 - BWV 688 is a monothematic fugue with
the cantus firmus in the pedal.  The music is majestic, spacious, and has
an eerie tension.  Most versions take it at a fast clip well under four
minutes; I feel the majesty tends to decrease at a quick pace.  Leo van
Doeslaar on Channel Classics takes over 4 1/2 minutes; he gives the music
a majesty to savor with an infectious bounce.  Suzuki is among the quick
paced set and as good as most, but his reading likely would have benefited
from a slower tempo.  Lionel Rogg was very surprising here with little of
his usual gusto, delivering as benign a performance as I've ever heard.

BWV 689 is more stately than majestic and leaves me me with a great feeling
of contentment.  Rogg gives a slow and glowing performance.  Suzuki gives
more angularity to the piece, and the music easily absorbs it.  Overall,
I'd be hard pressed to choice between these two superb readings.

The Four Duets, BWV 802-805, are more frequently performed on piano or
harpsichord.  Suzuki makes a fine case for them on organ with the exception
of BWV 802 where he is much too fast with little time for emotion-based
priorities.

Clavier-Ubung III concludes with the Fugue BWV 552, the partner to the
opening Prelude.  This is one of Bach's greatest and most heroic fugues,
and it comes in three fantastic sections.  The first is the epitome of
majesty and heroism, the second swirls with increasing intensity, and the
third is supremely majestic.  Suzuki can't match Helmut Walcha's magical
reading; he can't even match the excellent version from Gabor Lehotka on
Laslerlight.  Suzuki is too fast and pushy in the second section; the third
section again finds him very fast and sounding not majestic, but just loud.

Don's Conclusions:  Through BWV 681, I thought that Suzuki's performance
constituted one of the best organ discs ever.  He was very strong and
muscular but also adapted beautifully to the gentle and tender pieces.
Suzuki had this work in the palm of his hand, but he let it go starting
with BWV 682.  Poetry became lost, phrasing sounded lumpy, and Suzuki was
generally either harsh/loud or routine.  Also, the slow tempos he employed
in the first half of the work were often taken over by fast ones in the
second half, and fast tempos are not elements in the strengths that Suzuki
brings to Bach's music.

I certainly recommend purchase of Suzuki's German Mass; much of it is
magical especially if you like your Bach organ music played through
strength.  However, the promise of a superb recording does not reach
fruition in the second half of the work; therefore, Suzuki's version
can't be given an essential designation.

Don Satz