Johann Ludwig Krebs(1713-1780)
    Clavier-Ubung & Two Chorales

Clavier-Ubung:

1-3.   Allein Gott in der Hoh sei Ehr
4-6.   Wer nur den lieben Gott labt walten
7-9.   Jesu, meine Freude
10-12. Christ lag in Todesbanden
13-15. Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein
16-18. Auf meinen lieben Gott
19-21. Vater unser im Himmelreich
22-24. Sei Lob und Ehr dem hochsten Gut
25-27. Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan
28-30. Erbarm dich mein, o Herre Gott
31-33. Von Gott, will ich nicht lassen
34-36. Warum betrubst du dich, mein Herz
37-39. Jesus, meine Zuversicht

Two Chorales:

40.    Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr
41.    Von Gott will ich nicht lassen

Loft Recordings 1026
Recorded 2001
Pehr Schiorlin Organ(1806), Gammalkil, Sweden
William Porter, Organ
TT 76:54

The prevalent thinking is that Johann Ludwig Krebs was the favorite pupil
of Johann Sebastian Bach.  Although that's quite a testimony, there are two
basic differences between the music of Krebs and Bach.  The first involves
mood-painting.  Krebs is naturally a composer of good cheer; he has little
penchant for darkness and deep emotional angst.  As a result, the music of
Krebs possesses fewer contrasting emotional elements than found in Bach's
music.

The second difference has to do with musical inspiration.  Krebs is quite a
long way from being one of the masters of the classical repertoire.
However, he was an expert musical craftsman with a knack for beautifully
turning a phrase and holding the listener's interest with a high level of
compositional diversity.  At first listening, his music can sound rather
simple, but further investigation reveals a subtle level of nuances which
is quite attractive.

Krebs' Clavier-Ubung consists of thirty-nine pieces founded on thirteen
popular chorales of the 18th century.  The arrangement of each chorale has
three sections:  Preambulum - Choral - Choral alio modo.  The similarities
do not end there either.  With little exception, the preambulum sections
have a nice spring and bounce to them, the chorals tend to be melancholy
and rather stark with a filling out of the texture at the conclusion, and
the final sections are all strong and ceremonial.  The most pronounced
exception, at least the way Porter approaches it, is the middle section
of "Sei Lob und Ehr dem hochsten Gut" which takes on the strong qualities
of the final sections.

William Porter is a professor of organ at the New England Consevatory of
Music and also teaches Music Theory and Music History at this institution.
He has degrees from Oberlin College and Yale University.  Mr.  Porter is
considered one of the leading advocates of an historical approach to Bach's
organ music, and he has searched near and far to find historical organs
which suit his tastes.

Porter evidently considers Sweden ripe territory for appropriate historical
organs.  On another Loft organ disc, Porter uses a Swedish historical
organ for music devoted to Bruhns and Hanff.  On this disc, he plays a Pehr
Schiorlin organ built in 1806.  Schiorlin built about seventy organs in his
lifetime, and the one in Gammalkil is the largest of them.  It has a sweet
and reedy nature with abundant strength when Porter calls for it.  From my
perspective, it's certainly a fine organ for the music of Krebs.

Whole discs devoted to the organ music of Krebs are rare events.  However,
Naxos recently issued such a disc peformed by Gerhard Gnann on the Gabler
Organ at Weingarten.  This disc contains three of the chorales on the
Porter offering.  Comparison shows that Gnann is consistently faster
than Porter who I know plays every composer slowly.

The differences in tempo don't really make much of a difference in the
performances.  The most pronounced difference is that Porter is much
stronger and ceremonial than Gnann in the final sections of the chorales.
Also, Porter gives that middle section of "Sei Lob und Ehr dem hochsten
Gut" a ceremonial muscle than Gnann totally eschews.

Although Gnann is fully equal to Porter in the first and second sections,
excepting for the middle section noted above, Porter's greater strength and
public performance style in the final sections is much preferred by this
listener.

Porter concludes his disc with two unattched chorales which contrast nicely
with one another.  The first is introspective, the second is heroic.
Porter plays these pieces with the same insight and command he displays
in the Clavier-Ubung.

Don's Conclusion:  The William Porter recording is eminently recommendable.
The music is excellent, the organ sounds wonderful, and Porter does them
both proud.  I would suggest that the disc not be listened to at one
sitting.  A few chorales at a time, considering the similarity of
construction of each chorale, is more advantageous for one's listening
pleasure.

Any enthusiasts of baroque solo organ music will likely enjoy this disc
very much as long as they are not expecting the reincarnation of Bach.  The
liner notes are presented very well in an organized fashion, and the cover
photograph of the room housing the Schiorlin Organ is highly pleasing to
the eyes; in fact, it's now one of my favorite covers.

For those not familiar with Loft Recordings, the company is based in
Seattle, Washington and offers mainly organ and choral discs.  It has
a host of Bach organ recordings for sale at its website as well as other
organ recordings of baroque music.  The screens are user friendly, ordering
is simple, and delivery to the home is quick.

In summary, I do recommend purchase of the Krebs disc.  While you're at the
Loft Recordings website, do yourself a favor and order other discs as well.
You won't be sorry.  I have no personal connection to this company; I just
like their discs and mode of operation.

Don Satz
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