When a Bach recording with the title "A Musical Offering" is released,
one might assume that most (if not all) of the music is connected with
the 13 movements Bach sent to King Frederick in 1747 which came to be named
A Musical Offering.  The ordering of the movements is a tricky process
because they were transported in a random order from Leipzig to Berlin.
However, it is universally accepted that the work has an initial chromatic
theme, two Ricercars(strict fugues), a trio sonata, and some canons.

Another way of looking at the title "A Musical Offering" is to assume
that it's simply an offering of Bach music.  And that is the application
inherent in a new recording from Channel Classics performed by Florilegium.
On the cover, in rather small lettering under the Musical Offering title,
there is "The complete instrumental trio sonatas".  So what music is
actually on the recording? The only music on the disc from A Musical
Offering consists of 25 minutes encompassing the trio sonata and the
Ricercar A 6.  The remainder of the music is three trio sonatas (BWV
1037-1039).  Total disc time is 59 minutes.

I bought the Florilegium recording from an internet sales site and had
no idea that the disc had so little of A Musical Offering.  When the cd
arrived at my home, I realized what I really had purchased.  I was not
pleased with the deception, and I remain irked.  However, one must go with
the flow, so I played the cd last night.  I am very impressed with the
performances; they are lovely and idiomatic.  This disc is a keeper,
deception or not.

My main reason for this posting is to alert potential buyers to the
acutal contents of the Florilegium CD. With that out of the way, I can
heartily recommend the disc.  I've only listened to it in my car, but
it sounds great, and I doubt that my opinion would change in a different
venue.  The cover art is attractive, although the liner notes are fairly
useless and generalized; no justification is made for providing music
which is not aligned to the title on the cover.

Don's Conclusion: If you're in the market for recording of A Musical
Offering, do not obtain this Channel Classics disc.  But if you want some
great inward-looking Bach music and don't much care where it comes from,
the Florilegium peformances are sure to please.  The catalog number is CCS
14598.  I'm confident that I'll be listening to the disc often in the
future.

Don Satz
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