Bach Organ Landscapes Volume 10

Paraphrasing the advertising material for this new disc, one learns that Organ Landscapes was conceived as a long‑term artistic project (2017–2026), comprising ten double albums and two vinyl editions. It presents Bach’s organ music as a body of work shaped by instruments, buildings, and changing artistic perspectives, rather than as a single interpretative concept. Each recording contributes to a broader musical and cultural picture, documenting selected repertoire and an ongoing engagement with questions of context, sound, and interpretation across different acoustic environments.

The first CD in this present recital (Volume 10), performed by organist, harpsichordist, and conductor Jörg Halubek, presents seven works by J. S. Bach in arrangements or adaptations for the late‑Romantic organ. Alongside original organ and harpsichord compositions, it includes pieces written for other media, notably the Chaconne from the Partita No. 2 in D minor for solo violin (BWV 1004) and the famous Air from the Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major (BWV 1068). They are performed here on the Wilhelm Sauer organ of St Thomas’s Church, Leipzig, an instrument built and remodelled in 1889/1908.

Several of these were arranged by Karl Straube (1873–1950). Deeply influenced by Max Reger’s dense, orchestral organ writing, Straube believed Bach’s music should be realised with the full expressive power of the modern organ. His approach was not antiquarian, but devotional; he aimed to reveal its emotional depth through Romantic means, reimagining Bach rather than "correcting" him. Issued around 1913, his editions were inspired by the Wilhelm Sauer organs he championed: instruments boasting huge dynamic resources, complex stop‑changing mechanisms, and widely contrasting divisions.

These editions became deeply influential in early 20th‑century German church and conservatory life, establishing an opulent, orchestral Bach as the prevailing norm. While the historically informed performance movement later pushed back against this entrenched tradition - leaving Straube’s editions to be valued chiefly today as documents of reception history - they remain invaluable for understanding how Bach was heard in the early 1900s. Straube overlaid the scores with dynamics Bach never imagined, introduced legato phrasing, and thickened textures to suit large Romantic instruments.

The other composers represented here - Max Reger, Wilhelm Middelschulte, and Sigfrid Karg‑Elert also held a deep respect for Bach’s organ music, though their approaches differed. Reger valued “orchestral registrations” but prioritised “contrapuntal density,” expanding textures and adding chromatic inflections. Middelschulte’s Chaconne transcription transforms the violin masterpiece into a grand, symphonic structure. Karg‑Elert, by contrast, sought harmonic colour, exploiting delicate, often Impressionistic registrations, evident in his arrangements of the Air (BWV 1068) and the Pastoral Symphony (BWV 248).

Interestingly, Straube later underwent a radical “conversion” in the 1920s, abandoning his late‑Romantic aesthetic for a more “Baroque‑authentic” style influenced by the Orgelbewegung (Organ Reform Movement), whereas Reger and Middelschulte, for different reasons, continued to work within a fundamentally Romantic/symphonic conception of Bach’s music.

The second CD of the set pivots to an entirely different interpretative world, presenting Bach's Goldberg Variations (BWV 988). My first encounter with it came in the early 1970s via Karl Richter’s harpsichord recording for the Archiv Produktion Bach Edition, followed by pianist Glenn Gould’s legendary 1981 account for CBS Masterworks - exquisitely played, if inevitably punctuated by his vocalising. These days my preferred version is András Schiff’s 2003 ECM recording – once again for piano. Until this present release I had not heard it performed on the organ.

Bach’s Goldberg Variations (c.1741) form the fourth part of the Clavierübung (Keyboard Practice). He described it as “an aria with diverse variations for a two‑manual harpsichord, composed for the refreshment of music lovers.” Anecdotally, it was written for his pupil J. G. Goldberg to play to Count Keyserling as a remedy for his insomnia, though this attestation has since been disputed.

The set opens with an ornamented aria built over a ground bass that underpins all thirty variations. These include a complete cycle of canons at increasing intervals before it closes with a playful quodlibet weaving together popular song melodies of the day.

o the Goldberg Variations work on the organ? Halubek's transcription suggests they do. He describes the composition as “diary‑like,” a sequence of episodes without a fixed goal. The historically styled Central German, three‑manual organ at Trinity Church, Regensburg, dating from 2020 is sympathetic to Bach registrations. The thirty‑two sections “invite register combinations” that can sound novel to the ear. Though the fast movements call for crisp, articulate registrations, the organ’s wide range of stops lets the listener follow the shape of the whole cycle, from the French Overture of the 16th variation through the many canons to the final quodlibet, and in doing so offers a persuasive alternative to the harpsichord or piano.

The well-illustrated booklet lacks detailed notes on these works and their arrangers. Organ specifications are given for both instruments, as well as a biography of the organist, harpsichordist, and conductor, Jörg Halubek.

This tenth volume of Organ Landscapes serves as a fascinating study of Bach’s music as it was shaped and reshaped by the fashions of different eras. By contrasting the lush, orchestral "devotion" of the Straube era with his own lucid, "diary-like" realisation of the Goldberg Variations, Jörg Halubek bridges the gap between Romantic “enthusiasm and excess” and modern clarity.

Track Listing:
Arrangements of Bach’s Music.

CD1
Wilhelm Middelschulte (1863-1943)
from: Partita No.2 in D minor (BWV 1004): Chaconne
Karl Straube (1873-1950)
Prelude in A major (BWV 536)
Max Reger (1873-1916)
Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue (BWV 903)
Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877-1933)
from: Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248) Pastoral Symphony
Karl Straube
Prelude and Fugue in C major (BWV 547)
Sigfrid Karg-Elert
from: Suite No. 3 in D major (BWV 1068) Air célèbre
Karl Straube
Fantasia and Fugue in G minor (BWV 542)
CD2
Goldberg Variations (BWV 988) (pub.1741)
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Jörg Halubek (organs)
rec. 2024, St. Thomas’s Church, Leipzig; 2025, Trinity Church, Regensburg Germany. 

Berlin Classics 0303620BC

With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review was first published.