"Bach: Sonatas" is the fourth recording in Kåre Nordstoga's series of Bach's complete organ works. The main works on this double-CD are the six "Trio Sonatas".
As a definitive collection of etudes, the trio sonatas are for classical organists what Czerny’s studies are for pianists. Playing the organ requires the ability to manoeuvre independent lines in both hands and the pedals, and this is perfected playing Bach’s sonatas. In the words of Bach connoisseur Albert Schweitzer:
"To this very day they are the Gradus ad Parnassum for every organist. Whoever has studied them thoroughly will thereafter encounter scarcely a single difficulty. The slightest unevenness in touch is heard with appalling clearness in this complicated trio playing.
The sonatas are a book of study not only for performers, but for composers as well. Bach’s private lessons for gifted students required a repertoire for the study of the noble art of polyphony. At the same time, this is concert music and art in its full complexity, where the art of polyphony is cultivated alongside the most moving melodie."