A close contemporary of Buxtehude, Johann Pachelbel was, by all accounts, an outstanding keyboard player himself, and his compositions provide a fascinating stylistic bridge between early-Baroque composers such as Frescobaldi and Froberger (both of whom influenced him) and the later music of J.S. Bach and his contemporaries. Organist Matthew Owens continues his major exploration of the many extant organ works of Pachelbel with this fourth volume, recorded on a recent instrument by the renowned French organ builder, Bernard Aubertin. This recording sheds fresh light on Pachelbel's ingenious counterpoint and inventive chorale preludes, revealing layers of seventeenth-century Lutheran devotion and compositional mastery.

Classical Music

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Also Available: Pachelbel: Complete Organ Works, Vol. 2 and Pachelbel: Complete Organ Works, Vol. 3

REVIEW:

This set of five discs is the first volume of a recording of the complete extant keyboard works of Johann Pachelbel.

This is not the first 'complete' recording: at least the organ works have been recorded complete before. However, this is the first recording which is based on a new critical edition of his keyboard oeuvre, edited by one of the performers on this set, Michael Belotti. For this project only appropriate historical organs are used, dating from the early 18th century. The programmes on every disc are put together in such a way that there is some coherence in content, but at the same time variation between pieces based on chorales and 'free' organ works.

Pachelbel was one of the most important German composers of the second half of the 17th century. He was born in Nuremberg where he also would die at the age of 53. One of his first teachers was Georg Caspar Wecker (some of his compositions were recorded recently by Ralf Waldner: review. Probably in 1670 he enrolled in the Gymnasium Poeticum in Regensburg where he excelled and was allowed to study music externally. He became a pupil of Kaspar Prentz, himself a pupil of Johann Caspar Kerll. It was probably through Prentz that he became acquainted with the Italian style. His knowledge in this realm was enhanced when he moved to Vienna where he acted as deputy organist of the Stephansdom. From 1673 Kerll also worked there as court organist. It is not quite clear whether Pachelbel took lessons from him, but his own oeuvre shows Kerll's influence.

In 1677 Pachelbel became organist of the court in Eisenach. During his time there he established contact with members of the Bach family. He is one of the composers who influenced the development of Johann Sebastian as a composer of organ music, especially in the genre of the chorale partita. According to the Eisenach Kapellmeister, Daniel Eberlin, Pachelbel was a "perfect and rare virtuoso". In 1678 he moved to Erfurt where he was appointed organist of the Predigerkirche. He left that post for Stuttgart where he worked for two years as court organist. The French invasion in 1692 forced him to leave Stuttgart; he then became town organist in Gotha. When in 1695 his former teacher Wecker died he was appointed as his successor as organist of St Sebaldus in Nuremberg, without the then common examination. The fact that the authorities were so eager to have him return to Nuremberg bears witness to his reputation as one of the most prominent organists of his time.

He also played a crucial role in the development of the style of keyboard composing in Germany. Through his education he was influenced by the Italian style which he then disseminated in central Germany through his pupils. He also had contacts in northern Germany, especially with Dieterich Buxtehude, one of the most prominent representatives of the North German organ school. When he published his Hexachordum Apollinis in 1699, Buxtehude was one of the dedicatees.

Pachelbel has left a large oeuvre, even though parts of his output have been lost. Although music for keyboard is by far the largest part of his oeuvre, he also composed vocal music - sacred and secular - and music for instrumental ensemble. A part of his keyboard oeuvre can be played on the organ or on a stringed keyboard instrument, such as the harpsichord and the clavichord. It is more or less a matter of taste which instrument to choose. This explains why, in this first volume, we find several pieces which are also available to perform on the harpsichord.

Pachelbel left a large number of chorale arrangements. This is remarkable as organists in his time were expected to improvise; if any of their improvisations have come down to us it is mostly through copies by pupils or colleagues. Printed editions of chorale arrangements were very rare, but Pachelbel published a set of eight during his time in Erfurt — later reprinted in Nuremberg in 1693. Most of his chorale arrangements date from this time. The contract stipulated that as organist of the Predigerkirche he should precede the singing of a chorale by the congregation with a thematic prelude based on its melody, and was to accompany the singing throughout all the stanzas. "The wording makes it clear that he was not to improvise the prelude but should diligently prepare it beforehand", John Butt writes in New Grove. This could well explain the large number of chorale arrangements which have been preserved. Scholars distinguish no fewer than eight different forms of chorale arrangement, most of which are exposed in the printed edition. One form which Pachelbel frequently used is the so-called 'combination-form': a fugue on the first line of a chorale followed by an elaboration of the complete chorale. Other forms are the bicinium in which the chorale melody is embellished first in the upper voice and then in the bass, and fugues on the opening line.

Fugues play an important role in Pachelbel's oeuvre. He wrote no fewer than 98 Magnificat fugues which date from his time as organist of St Sebaldus in Nuremberg. The Magnificat was part of the Vespers, and these fugues were used as intonations to establish the pitch for the singers. Only a minority of these fugues are thematically related to the Magnificat chant; the majority are based on free themes. This explains why they are quite popular among today's organists to be used in the liturgy; also because they are relatively short. They are very different in character: the Magnificat fugue 1. toni No. 15, for instance, is based on a very lively subject, whereas the theme of the next is a chromatically ascending line (CD 3, track 9). These fugues are divided in this CPO set over the five discs: every time only a handful in one of the ecclesiastical modes is played.

The free works are usually considered 'non-liturgical', but that doesn't mean that they could not have been played, for instance, before or after a service. Pachelbel contributed to the main genres of his time: toccatas, preludes, fantasias, fugues, ricercares and ciaconas. The combination of a toccata or a prelude and a fugue is rare; this is a form which was to become common among composers of later generations, such as Johann Sebastian Bach. In this recording some of these are combined anyway, but obviously there is no thematic relationship, only a common key. In view of their often different character they can hardly be experienced as belonging together and there are also differences in registration. The toccatas have in common that all of them are largely based on a pedal point. In Pachelbel's organ music one doesn't find the virtuosic pedal parts which were characteristic of the North German organ school. A notable exception is the Prelude in d minor which opens the first disc and which begins with an elaborated pedal solo. In the liner-notes this is attributed to influences from North Germany, in particular Buxtehude.

The last important part of Pachelbel's keyboard oeuvre is the variation. He composed a number of chorale partitas (not included here) and variations for keyboard for either organ or harpsichord/clavichord. The first disc ends with the Aria in D with six variations, but the largest collection of such pieces is the Hexachordum Apollinis of 1699. This edition includes six arias with various variations. They show strong influences from Italy and from composers such as Kerll and in particular Froberger. It is notable that in the chorale partitas - which are of an earlier date - we always find a chromatic variation. This is absent from the 1699 edition. The first five arias seem to be intended as a cycle; the sixth and last is called 'Aria Sebaldina' and is somewhat different from the others.

One of the problems editors and performers have to deal with is the question of authenticity. It’s not different here. There are several pieces which are attributed to Pachelbel in some sources, but could have been written by a composer from his environment, be it his teacher, a colleague or one of his pupils. The editors of this recording project have decided to be generous and include those pieces which may be written by someone else, also to give some idea of the environment in which Pachelbel worked. This is all indicated in the tracklist.

The various pieces have numbers; unfortunately the booklet omits any information about the identity of these numbers which may refer to the edition which is being published. It is also not very forthcoming towards non-German speakers in that the indications of the various genres of chorale arrangement are given only in German.

As I have already written, some pieces which are often played on the harpsichord are performed here on the organ. That is largely a matter of preference, and some might have liked it better on another instrument. The arias with variations do well on both, although I felt that the last variation of the set in D (CD 1, track 23) points in the direction of the harpsichord rather than the organ. Here and in the Hexachordum Apollinis I would probably have preferred a smaller organ, such as the one Christian Schmitt plays in some items on CD 2.

I have generally admired the way Pachelbel's music is played here. The four organists are excellent interpreters who know how to bring out the qualities of his various works. One can always have differences of opinion about registration. The change in registration within single pieces is questionable. In some cases I found the articulation not clear enough, and that goes especially for Michael Belotti's playing. James David Christie tends to be a little mechanical: more breathing spaces and a bit more liberty in the interpretation would have been nice. However, these are only small reservations about a remarkable, impressive and very important project. In fact, this seems to me one of the most important projects in recent times as it is a monument to one of the greatest composers of the baroque era. That is reason enough to label it Recording of the Month.

– MusicWeb International (Johan van Veen)

ARTHUR FIEDLER'S SINFONIETTA

A close contemporary of Buxtehude, Johann Pachelbel was, by all accounts, an outstanding keyboard player himself, and his compositions provide a fascinating stylistic bridge between early-Baroque composers such as Frescobaldi and Froberger (both of whom influenced him) and the later music of J.S. Bach and his contemporaries. Organist Matthew Owens continues his major exploration of the many extant organ works of Pachelbel with this third volume, recorded on the Flentrop organ of Dunblane Cathedral, Scotland. This album explores Johann Pachelbel's improvisational techniques and compositions, highlighting his use of variation, counterpoint, and chorale preludes. It features preludes, fugues, ricercars, and variations that showcase his mastery and educational methods.

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The present recording spreads out before us the rich musical panorama covered by Pachelbel’s Magnificat compositions. We do not know what we should admire more about these works: the complexity of the contrapuntal and concerto textures or the naturalness and cantability of the part writing. In addition, we have Pachelbel’s great variation artistry, which constantly brings forth new formal designs, instrumental combinations, and focal points on the basis of one and the same text. Moreover, the natural flow of Pachelbel’s music includes a steady stream of musical rhetorical interpretations, and the richly pictorial Magnificat text offers plenty of opportunities for them. On this recording two sacred concertos and a Mass in three movements complement the four very different Magnificat settings and serve as contrasts to them.

Our new complete recording of the organ works of Johann Pachelbel, the most important composer of the Southern German organ tradition, concludes with a total of three albums – all of them once again in SS and with first-class organists performing on selected organs. Our three protagonists, Michael Belotti, Christian Schmitt, and James David Christie, have produced enthralling recordings on which they demonstrate their expertise in performances on outstanding historical instruments. This final volume of our complete edition adheres to the same policy as Vols. 1 and 2: it too is based on the new collection and edition of the composer’s extant oeuvre. The order of the works on the recordings initially follows that of the chorale arrangements in the edition, which results in programs with the following thematic emphases: Passions, Psalm Settings, and Chorale Partitas. The new recording invites all listeners to rediscover the mastery and versatility of the keyboard composer Pachelbel. Toccata wrote of Vol. 1 of the edition: “Here everything is in order: very good interpretations on appropriate instruments, with an informative booklet in which we also find descriptions and the disposition of the organs played as well as information about the registration of each individual work. The project has what it takes to become one of the most important of this time.”

Also available: Also Available: Pachelbel: Complete Organ Works, Vol. 1 and Pachelbel: Complete Organ Works, Vol. 3

Being the most important composer of the Southern German organ tradition, Johann Pachelbell's works are featured on this release in an all new recording. These discs are based on a new collection and edition of the extant musical materials. The order of the pieces on the recording initially adheres to the sequence of the chorale settings in the musicological edition.

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REVIEW:

Johann Pachelbel played an important role in the history of keyboard music in Germany in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. As teacher of Johann Sebastian Bach's eldest brother Johann Christoph he has substantially contributed to the development of the younger Bach as a composer of keyboard music. His chorale arrangements and partitas are regularly played by organists, but until recently there was no really good complete recording of his keyboard music. That has changed with the CPO project of which the present set is the second instalment. The first volume included five discs, and after these two there are three more to come.

Johann Pachelbel was born and died in Nürnberg in Bavaria. One of his first teachers was Georg Caspar Wecker. At the age of 16 he entered the university of Altdorf, but was forced to leave it within a year as his father couldn't afford to support him. However, because of his exceptional academic qualifications he was accepted as a scholarship student at the Gymnasium Poeticum in Regensburg. Here he also studied music under Kaspar Prentz, a protégé of Johann Caspar Kerll. Pachelbel was clearly influenced by Kerll, and through him by the Italian style. He worked for some time as deputy organist of the St Stephansdom in Vienna. After this he went to Eisenach - where he established contacts with members of the Bach family - and then to Erfurt to act as organist. Between 1690 and 1695 he worked in the same capacity in Stuttgart and Gotha. In 1695 he was invited to become organist of St Sebaldus in Nürnberg, an offer he gladly accepted. It is a token of his high reputation that no examination took place nor the organists of other churches in Nürnberg were invited to apply for the position. Also the fact that he had many pupils attests to his importance as organist and composer of organ music. It was in Nürnberg that Pachelbel also composed many vocal works, which are hardly known today.

The first disc of this set includes music for Christmastide: here we find arrangements of some of the best-known hymns, which are still sung, such as Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her and Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ. In contrast, Lob sei Gott in des Himmels Thron is hardly known; it is from the pen of Michael Altenburg and was sung only in Thuringia. Vom Himmel hoch is played in two separate arrangements which show in what different ways a composer like Pachelbel could treat the same material. The second has an intimate character; it is the best-known of the two, but is has come down to us anonymously. For reasons of style it is attributed to Pachelbel, but there is no absolute certainty about the authorship. That is the case with quite a number of pieces; copies not always mention the name of the composer, and stylistically a teacher and his pupil could be so close that it is not always possible to attribute a piece to one of them. Christe, der du bist Tag und Licht is often included in recordings of the organ oeuvre of Johann Sebastian Bach as BWV 1096. It is included in the Neumeister Sammlung, an important source of chorale arrangements by Johann Sebastian and Johann Michael Bach. Michael Belotti, in his liner-notes, suggests that Johann Sebastian may have become acquainted with a fragment of this piece from the hand of Pachelbel and decided to finish it.

Both discs include a number of Magnificat-fugues. Pachelbel wrote around 90 of such pieces which date from his time as organist of St Sebaldus in Nürnberg. The Magnificat was part of the Vespers, and it is often suggested that these fugues were used as intonations to establish the pitch for the singers. However, Belotti comes up with a different explanation: they may have been used as part of the alternatim performances of the Magnificat. "The 12 verses in this canticle were presented in Latin by the choir and organ in alternation, with the organ playing the odd-numbered verses (1, 3, 5 etc) and the choir singing the even-numbered ones. In other words, each agent had six verses to perform. (...) Usually four fugues form a Magnificat cycle in a particular ecclesiastical mode." This means that two verses are missing. Belotti suggests that Pachelbel may have expected organists to improvise short toccatas on the first and last verses.

Fugues take an important place in Pachelbel's oeuvre, as the track-list shows. In contrast to common practice for most of the 17th century, in his oeuvre preludes and toccatas on the one hand and fugues on the other are formally separated. That was also to be the case later in Bach's oeuvre. However, whereas in the latter's output those are mostly connected, in Pachelbel's oeuvre we find quite a number of independent fugues. In this recording they are mostly connected by the performers to a prelude or a toccata.

The first disc also includes a first recording: the Ciaccona in G. It has the same ground bass as the first eight bars of the aria from Bach's Goldberg variations. It has been preserved in fragmentary form and is played here in a reconstruction of the missing parts by Michael Belotti.

The second disc is devoted to hymns based on psalms: Nun lob mein Seel den Herren (Psalm 103), Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält (Psalm 124), Wo Gott zum Haus nicht gibt sein Gunst (Psalm 127) and An Wasserflüssen Babylon (Psalm 137). Some of them are explicitly meant for an organ with two manuals. They are played here at the organ in Bedheim, which is a quite peculiar instrument. In 1711 Caspar Schippel built a single-manual instrument with pedals in the organ loft. A second organ, connected with the console of the main instrument by trackers running along the church loft, was added by Nicolaus Seeber above the entrance to the choir in 1721. Owing to its high location beneath the ceiling, this instrument became known as the 'swallows' nest organ'.

The bicinium Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält (CD 2, track 6) was discovered recently, although its authenticity is not established. The cantus firmus is first played in the upper voice and then in the lower voice. Pachelbel treats the hymn melodies in different ways. Sometimes they are played unchanged, but in other cases they are highly ornamented, in the style of diminutions. Nun lob mein Seel den Herren (CD 2, track 4) is notable for the cantus firmus being in the tenor, which is rather unusual. Another recent discovery is the Aria in G. It is of the kind we know from the collection Hexachordum Apollinis. The present piece includes five variations, one of them - as was common in Pachelbel's arias and chorale partitas - dominated by chromaticism.

This disc again includes some pieces of doubtful authenticity. Above I already mentioned one, and another one is the last item of the second disc, the fugue on An Wasserflüssen Babylon. Belotti suggest that it may be an arrangement of a piece by Pachelbel, made by one of his pupils. Like the first volume this disc includes a piece by Pachelbel's teacher Georg Caspar Wecker, the Fugue in B flat, added to Pachelbel's toccata in the same key (CD 2, track 9).

This is a worthy sequel to the first volume. The fact that several pieces are recorded here for the first time only adds to its value. It shows how important it is that these recordings are based on a new critical edition of Pachelbel's keyboard oeuvre, edited by Michael Belotti. The use of historical organs which are suitable for this repertoire is a precondition for a convincing interpretation. The three organists involved in this recording are all specialists in early music and know how to explore these organs for an optimal performance of Pachelbel's organ music. Thanks to the excellent articulation the musical discourse comes off to the full. The recording team deserves praise for handling the different acoustical circumstances in the two churches.

Organ lovers should definitely not miss this set, and I am eagerly awaiting the last volume which is already in the pipeline.

– MusicWeb International (Johan van Veen)

A precious sound document by the late maestro Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini – also in some Tactus' historic early recordings (see TB460090) – in a live recording on the Giuseppe Serassi 1764 organ of the Cathedral of Guastalla, on 2 October 2011. The event took place as part of the "Musica intorno al fiume" organ festival, set up by the cultural association "Giuseppe Serassi" from Guastalla (RE). For the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the unification of Italy (1861-2011) Tagliavini elaborated a very interesting program aimed at celebrating the anniversary: from the Renaissance to the Risorgimento, crossing the main Italian music schools and their influences in Europe, the collection depicts a passionate and emblematic fresco of the evolution of the Italian organ school.

The threads that weave through this entire music program, and indeed that inspired it, are 15 fugues taken from the 95 such works covering the eight church modes written by Pachelbel as preludes to settings of the Marian Magnificat canticle sung at vespers at St. Sebaldus. As scholar Ewald V. Nolte observes, these fugues – most transcribed and arranged here by director Amanda Keesmaat for various combinations of cellos, archlute, and organ – show Pachelbel as a keen, pragmatic, yet sensitive contrapuntist.

Montréal’s Baroque bass band, Space Time Continuo, held its first concert in 2019 in the series of La Nef at Salle Bourgie. The group’s ever-changing personnel brings bass instruments into the spotlight by emphasizing the various textures and functions of Baroque continuo instruments. The musicians are members of Montréal’s ‑ flourishing Early Music scene (Arion, SMAM, Infusion Baroque, Ensemble Caprice, Pallade Musica, Les Idees Heureuses).

Johann Pachelbel is remembered today for his Canon in D major, but he was an outstandingly successful organist and composer whose musical legacy is in fact quite broad and varied. Of his keyboard pieces the Hexachordum Apollinis is regarded as the pinnacle of his oeuvre and was a work to which Pachelbel himself attached great importance. Consisting of six arias with variations, the collection brings together the influence of several schools of music, all filtered through the composer’s refined tastes and superlative technical skill. The splendid Chaconne anticipates Bach and is one of Pachelbel’s best-known keyboard pieces.

REVIEW:

The title work on this disc is a fascinating composition. A set of 6 arias with variations written for either harpsichord or organ. Mathematically complex with symbolism relating to numerology and the Kabbalah the booklet notes point out some interesting features and point to a work that should perhaps be more widely known and appreciated. The Chaconne is a more known work.

-- Lark Reviews (Stephen Page)

Wolfgang Rübsam, one of the finest, busiest, and most prolifically recorded organists on Planet Earth, launches the first volume of a cycle devoted to the complete organ works of Pachelbel. The first impression you'll get from placing this disc in your trusty CD changer will be the pungency of the bright, reedy stops characterizing the organ by Johann Nepomuk Holzhey at Wiessnau (built in the 1780s). Naxos' transparent, up-close engineering further underscores the instrument's timbral distinctions. Listen, for example, to the registral clarity in the three Christmas Chorale Preludes, the brooding G minor Fantasia (what heartbreakingly gorgeous low-register harmonies!), or the flowing, reflective Komm, Gott Schöpfer, heiliger Geist. The two Toccatas in C major boast snarling pedal-points from which vivid, trumpet-like lines proudly take wing. Rübsam's slight ritards and breath marks throughout the D minor Chaconne, together with his strikingly varied couplings, add welcome drama and color to the score. Some listeners might prefer the steadier rhythm and restrained registration of Joseph Payne's more conservative reading on Centaur, but I lean toward Rübsam.


Payne's Pachelbel cycle, nearly complete at 10 volumes, employs a different organ for each installment. Will Rübsam do the same? That is, if he's been designated to record the whole Naxos Pachelbel cycle himself (remember, the label's Dupré organ music cycle is given over to different players). Artistically speaking, Rübsam and Payne complement rather than compete with each other. Even if you've acquired all or many or some of the Payne volumes, give Rübsam's Pachelbel a fair shot. What can you lose at Naxos' rock bottom price? Stay tuned for Volume 2.
--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

Classical Music

Includes chorale(s) for org by Johann Pachelbel. Soloist: Joseph Payne.
Includes work(s) for org by Johann Pachelbel. Soloist: Joseph Payne.

Includes work(s) for org by Johann Pachelbel. Soloist: Joseph Payne.

Includes work(s) by Johann Pachelbel. Ensembles: Namur Chamber Choir, Les Agrémens. Conductor: Jean Tubéry.

A close contemporary of Buxtehude, Johann Pachelbel was, by all accounts, an outstanding keyboard player himself, and his compositions provide a fascinating stylistic bridge between early-Baroque composers such as Frescobaldi and Froberger (both of whom influenced him) and the later music of J.S. Bach and his contemporaries. Organist Matthew Owens continues his major exploration of the many extant organ works of Pachelbel with this second volume, recorded on a recent instrument by the renowned French organ builder, Bernard Aubertin. The recital includes Pachelbel’s largest set of Magnificat Fugues – 23 in total – alongside free works and chorale-based works.

A close contemporary of Buxtehude, Johann Pachelbel was by all accounts an outstanding keyboard player himself, and his compositions provide a fascinating stylistic bridge between early-Baroque composers such as Frescobaldi and Froberger (both of whom influenced him) and the later music of Bach and his contemporaries. Organist Matthew Owens embarks on a major exploration of the many extant organ works of Pachelbel beginning with this first volume recorded on the iconic 1965 Frobenius Organ of The Queen’s College Chapel in Oxford, considered a vital instrument in the classical organ revival in Britain. Demonstrating the huge range of his abilities as a composer, the diverse forms and styles Pachelbel used are revealed in this compelling recital.

During his lifetime, Johann Pachelbel (1653–1706) was best known as an organ composer. He wrote more than two hundred pieces for the instrument, both liturgical and secular, and explored most of the genres that existed at the time. He is considered to be the apex of the 17th century’s south German organ school and generally one of the most important composers of the middle Baroque. His sphere of activity included central and southern Germany (modern Bavaria, Thuringia and Stuttgart), as well as important formative years in Vienna in his early 20s, during which he absorbed the Habsburg Empire’s dominant Italian and south German influences. The southern organ-builders’ emphasis on manual divisions is also apparent in much of Pachelbel’s liturgical organ music, which is relatively simple and written for manuals only. With this 13-disc set covering Pachelbel’s pivotal contributions to the chorale prelude, fugue and variation forms, internationally acclaimed organist Simone Stella adds another milestone to his already prolific discography of baroque keyboard music surveys on Brilliant Classics.

REVIEW:

The organ used here has much greater possibilities in variety of tonal colors, and Stella uses it to fine effect in the many fugues and chorale variations – and, it must be said, the music is in need of it. Pachelbel’s technique for toccatas is also consistent; based on pedal notes, the keyboard figurations of parallel 3rds, 6ths and 10ths predominate. Although not difficult to improvise, Pachelbel is always surprising in his modulatory shifts and textural changes.

-- Choir & Organ