Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Toccata And Fugue In D MInor BWV 565: Toccata: Adagio
2. Toccata And Fugue In D MInor BWV 565: Fugue
3. Toccata and Fugue in F major BWV 540: Toccata
4. Toccata and Fugue in F major BWV 540: Fugue
5. Toccata and Fugue BWV 538 'Dorian': Toccata
6. Toccata and Fugue BWV 538 'Dorian': Fugue
7. Fantasia and Fugue in G minor BWV 542: Fantasia
8. Fantasia and Fugue in G minor BWV 542: Fugue
9. Fantasia in G major BWV 572
10. Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor BWV 582: Passacaglia
11. Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor BWV 582: Fugue

Disc 2:

1. Prelude in D major BWV 532: Prelude
2. Fugue in D major BWV 532: Fugue
3. Prelude in E flat major BWV 552: Prelude
4. Fugue in E flat major BWV 552: Fugue
5. Trio Sonata No. 3 in D minor BWV 527, 'Andante': Andante
6. Trio Sonata No. 3 in D minor BWV 527, 'Andante': Adagio e dolce
7. Trio Sonata No. 3 in D minor BWV 527, 'Andante': Vivace
8. Canonic Variations On The Christmas Hymn 'Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her' BWV 769: Variatio 1: Nel Cnone all'ottava
9. Canonic Variations On The Christmas Hymn 'Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her' BWV 769: Variato 2: Alio nodo, nel canone alla quinta
10. Canonic Variations On The Christmas Hymn 'Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her' BWV 769: Variato 3: Canone alla settima
11. Canonic Variations On The Christmas Hymn 'Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her' BWV 769: Variatio 4: Per augmentatinem, nel canone all'ottava
12. Canonic Variations On The Christmas Hymn 'Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her' BWV 769: Variatio 5: Laltra sorte del canone al revescio: 1) alla sesta, 2) alla terza, 3) alla seconda e 4) alla nona
13. Six Chorales of Diverse Kinds ('Schubler' Chorales): Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme BWV 645
14. Six Chorales of Diverse Kinds ('Schubler' Chorales): Wo soll ich fliehen hin BWV 646
15. Six Chorales of Diverse Kinds ('Schubler' Chorales): Wer nur den lieben Gott lasst walten BWV 647
16. Six Chorales of Diverse Kinds ('Schubler' Chorales): Meine Seele erhebet den Herrn BWV 648
17. Six Chorales of Diverse Kinds ('Schubler' Chorales): Ach bleib bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ BWV 649
18. Six Chorales of Diverse Kinds ('Schubler' Chorales): Kommst du nun, Jesu, vom Himmel herunter BMV 650

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #178840 in Music
• Released on: 1997-07-15
• Number of discs: 2

Customer Reviews

Powerful!
How powerful is Helmut Walcha as Bach's organ player! I've discovered him from an old cassette record from "Archiv Produktion". I specially love "Passacaglia and Fugue BWV 582". You can feel the voices casting off from everywhere and, of course, you can feel lifting your religious experience (I think that, overall, Bach's music for organ is entirely "religious": no matter if you are Catholic, or Lutheran or somewhat else). I proudly recommend this two CD for organ's music lovers and also Bach's music lovers.

great STEREO recording
A previous review describes this set as "recorded in 1947 in mono." Just in case both Deutsche Grammophon and my ears were deceiving me, I listened to it with headphones to ascertain that indeed, it is recorded in stereo--even the oldest track, which is dated 1956 by the CD notes.

It's recorded in pretty good stereo, at that--really outstanding considering its age (mostly '60s and '70s). Not that it's on a par with audiophile CDs of recent years, but it sounds clean and clear. There are somewhat strong treble overtones from the Alkmaar organ (not so much from the Strasbourg organ that fills CD #2), but not to the point of annoying me. You definitely catch the nuances of the organs' differences, as well as the shuffling sounds of the action (in quiet passages).

Walcha's playing contributes as much to the clarity of these disks as the engineers did. It's as lucid as you can ask for without getting mechanical about it.

Maybe when I've heard these disks many times I will develop the sort of mystical attachment to them that others have expressed. For now, though, they represent excellent straightforward Bach, nothing more, nothing less. Walcha is not as flamboyant as Biggs or Fox; pedal notes don't shake the house and the melody line is not always at maximum perkiness. But there's nothing boring about this set. On the contrary, there is not only an adequate amount of fire, but also depth and great cohesion in Walcha's playing, never empty note-spinning or passages that seem out of place with the whole. It seems obvious as I listen that not one, but two powerful musical minds are at work.

Helmut Walcha Plays Bach
This review is dedicated to the memory of fellow Amazon-reviewer and my friend, Bob Zeidler. Bob was perhaps best-known for his love for and knowledge of the music of Charles Ives. But Bob also loved the pipe organ, as his many CD and book reviews on subjects related to the organ will attest. Bob loved the good and inspiring in music. We are fortunate that he shared his love and knowledge so generously and enthusiastically with the Amazon community. Robin Friedman


For the past 28 years, the Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. has presented a free five-hour Bach Organ Marathon early in March to celebrate J.S. Bach's birthday of March 21. Leading organists from the D.C. area together with lovers of the organ come together to hear the icy and improvisatory glory of Bach's organ music. I was fortunate to attend the Bach Marathon on March 6 of this year, and to have access to many other recitals of organ music in the Washington D.C. area. The Bach Marathon this past March inspired me to revisit an anthology of some of Bach's most famous compositions for the organ in this two-volume CD by Helmut Walcha.

Helmut Walcha (1907-1991) once said: "Bach opens a vista to the universe. After experiencing him, people feel there is meaning to life after all." Walcha's love for and mastery of Bach's organ works resonates through this compilation. Walcha lost his sight at the age of sixteen and learned Bach's entire and immense body of work for the organ, together with much other music, by memory through hearing the various lines played separately on the piano. Walcha spent 15 years memorizing the works of Bach, from age 25 through age 40.

The works on this set are compiled from a much larger collection of Bach's organ music that Walcha recorded in the 1950s and 1960s available in a larger box set on DG. The works on the first CD were recorded on the Great Organ in the Saint-Laurens Church, Alkmaar, the Netherlands while the works on the second CD were recorded on the organ of the Saint-Pierre le-Jeune Church, Strasbourg, France. The later organ, to me, has a softer, reedier tone.

The compilation opens with Bach's most famous organ composition, the early Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565. It includes an additional three toccatas and fugues, a fantasy and fugue, several separate preludes and fugues, a trio sonata, the Passaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582, a set of variations on the hymn "Vom Himmel hoch" BWV 769, and six of the so "Schubler Chorales" including the well-known setting of "Wachtet auf". Thus the CD presents an excellent cross-section of the many types of works and musical forms Bach used in composing for the organ.

Walcha plays a large, muscular, and angular Bach. This is steely and disciplined music, elevated and uplifiting. It is music to be returned to again and again. I particularly enjoyed the Passaglia and Fugue, BWV 582, the Schubler chorales, the G major Fantasia, BWV 572, and the variations, BWV 769. But this entire compilation is masterful.

There are many music-lovers with great knowledge of the music repertory, including knowledge of Bach, who have little knowledge of the organ. Perhaps this is because in order to get to hear this music live, listeners need to make an effort to attend rare recitals in churches rather than in the more familiar musical venues of the secular concert or recital hall. But this music is glorious. This two volume compilation by Walcha's is the best way for the music-lover to get a basic familiarity with the grandeur of Bach's compositions for the pipe organ.