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 [log in to unmask]