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| Label Challenge Classics |
UPC 0608917276428 |
Catalogue number CC 72764 |
Release date 08 September 2017 |
"If you want to hear for a moment how warm and sophisticated keyboard play can be, and witty, we can highly recommend this fine recording by Sigrun Stephan."
Kerk en Leven, 01-5-2018Bach en zijn geestverwanten
Toetseniste Sigrun Stephan presenteert met Kinship een goed doordacht album rondom Johann Sebastian Bach en zijn geestverwanten. Op de eerste plaats zijn de werken verwant aan elkaar doordat ze elk het meest geschikt zijn voor de clavichord, een van de meest gevoelige toetsinstrumenten uit de Barok. Ten tweede is er een verwantschap in de relaties tussen de componisten, of het nu gaat om een familie-relatie zoals bij de Bachs, of om een sterke vriendschap zoals bij Reincken en Müthel. Ten slotte delen de werken een bijzondere schoonheid, wat bij elk op een eigen manier naar buiten komt. Bovendien voert Stephan de muziek met grote precisie uit.
Reincken, die zo'n 40 jaar ouder was dan Bach, was in vele opzichten Bach's muzikale vader. Hij gaf les aan de jonge Johann Sebastian en zijn stijl en techniek komt grotendeels overeen. Johann Gottfried Müthel was de laatste student onder Bach die meewerkte aan Die Kunst der Fuge. Hij componeerde in een nieuwe stijl die afwijkt van het barok contrapunt. In dat opzicht ligt hij muzikaal gezien veel dichter bij Bachs zonen, Carl Philipp Emanuel en Wilhelm Friedemann, bijna als een broer van hen.
Wer ähnelt wem? Sind es Ähnlichkeiten im Geiste oder sind sie bewusst gewählt? An erster Stelle sind sich alle Stücke auf dieser Aufnahme darin gleich, dass sie sich besonders für das empfindsamste aller Tasteninstrumente, das Clavichord eignen. Schönheit ist eine weitere Gemeinsamkeit, die jedes Werk auf seine eigene Weise zeigt. Außerdem stehen sich die Kompositionen auch im Quintenzirkel sehr nahe.
Persönliche und familiäre Verwandtschaften mit dem Namen BACH werden offensichtlich. Es ist bekannt, dass Johann Sebastian den etwa 40 Jahre älteren J.A. Reincken als seinen Lehrer wählte: Reincken kann sicherlich als musikalischer Vater und wahrlich verwandter Geist bezeichnet werden. Johann Gottfried Müthel fügt sich als logische Konsequenz in diese Reihe ein. Er war J.S. Bachs letzter Schüler, der an der Transkription der Kunst der Fuge beteiligt war und der in konsequent neuem und nicht-kontrapunktischem Stil komponierte. Dahingehend steht er musikalisch Bachs Söhnen Carl Philipp Emanuel und Wilhelm Friedemann sehr viel näher, ist ihnen gewissermaßen ein Bruder.
Sigrun Stephan was born in the same town as Johann Sebastian Bach, albeit in a different country. Separated by a big wall from some of her relations but fortunately not from music, she learned to play the piano in the beautiful region of Thuringia at the foot of the Wartburg. She studied piano in the birthplace of Carl Philipp Emanuel and Wilhelm Friedemann Bach. After the fall of the wall, she was able to fulfil her dream of playing historical keyboard instruments professionally. She studied harpsichord at the Folkwang Academy and has lived and worked in Germany’s Ruhr region ever since.
The soft and magical clavichord has become her favourite instrument in recent years, following her leitmotif, as expressed by Mark Twain in his typically apt manner: “Noise proves nothing.” And according to rumours of bygone years, J.S. Bach, C.P.E. Bach and J.G. Müthel were all particularly fond of this wonderful instrument … kinships, therefore, on various levels?
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He enriched established German styles through his skill in counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organisation, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France. Bach's compositions include the Brandenburg Concertos, the Goldberg Variations, the Mass in B minor, two Passions, and hundreds of cantatas. His music is revered for its technical command, artistic beauty, and intellectual depth.
Bach's abilities as an organist were highly respected during his lifetime, although he was not widely recognised as a great composer until a revival of interest in and performances of his music in the first half of the 19th century. He is now generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.
It can't be easy to have been a son of the great Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach was undoubtedly very strict, and if you'd have any composition ambitions, you would have to find a way to step out of the shadow of your father. Luckily, his sons had everything going for them considering their music. Whereas the traditional Baroque music of their father slowly went out of fashion, most of Bach's sons managed to follow the new trends of the early Classicism. In other words: relatively simple, melodic music which is not too heavy on the listener, yet still very passionate.
Carl Philipp Emanuel, Bach's fifth son, became the most outstanding among his siblings. Like each of Bach's sons, he received a solid education from his father, en Carl Philipp developed into a remarkably talented keyboardist. Moreover, he became a prolific composer and of all Bach's sons, he was able to came closest to the quality of his father's work, albeit in a completely different style.
If you want to hear for a moment how warm and sophisticated keyboard play can be, and witty, we can highly recommend this fine recording by Sigrun Stephan.
Kerk en Leven, 01-5-2018
This fine-sounding recording fulfills the promise of its title and repertory choices and is an exemplary demonstration of performance on the clavichord.
AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE, 01-3-2018
Because of the variety in the programme and the two different instruments this disc is an excellent case for the clavichord.
Music Web International, 11-1-2018
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