Bach Passacaglia Recordings: Speed

[robert zube]

Hello, all. I have been listening to Xaver Varnus' rendition of Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor on and off for the past couple of weeks. While I greatly enjoy his choice of tempo, which is by far the slowest I have heard it, I find some of his stop changes a bit irksome. Does anyone know of a recording or video of the Passacaglia played in organo pleno at around the tempo Varnus takes? Every other recording I can find is a bit fast for what I'm looking for (not to say that they are too fast for my enjoyment, I am just looking for something a bit slower).

[quantum]

[granvillenader]

Wow! Esecuzione pulitissima ed esemplare. Grazie mille per la condivisione!

[essence]

I think i prefer the first video to the second. the second is rather raucous. But maybe more importantly the quavers in the fugue are not articulated clearly and consistently. The third time the set of quavers are played, there is a different articulation.

I have often played this, and my teacher Nicholas Danby did a recording. I also heard him play it on the Roya Festival Hall organ.

He did something interesting. The passacaglia went along at a good pace, but he also went a fraction faster in the fugue. I think that is right. The passacaglia should have magnificence, the fugue should be thrilling. Of course you cannot do that unless the passacaglia is already at a good speed.

This is his recording on a pedal harpsichord. Note his phrasing of the quavers I mentioned above. From memory, the fugue in his royal Festival hall performance was significantly faster. It certainly gives me a good workout when I play it at that speed on a tracker organ (which is my norm).

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Here is another of his recordings.

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I don;t know any of these pieces, but they trigger my curiosity. Particularly the Ciacona.

BTW, I was visiting Gloucester cathedral the other day, the organist John Stafford Smith  there composed Star Spangled Banner.

https://historyplaces.wordpress.com/2020/01/01/gloucester-cathedral-and-the-us-national-anthem/

[essence]

I'm sorry, I only just had a chance to listen to Xaver Varnus.

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I feel his tempo for the fugue is just right, and as I said above, faster than the passacaglia.
I might take the passacaglia slightly faster, but I wouldn;t say his version is too slow.

His stop changes are, as you say, rather strange. He goes quiet right at the end! He changes stops in the middle of the first statement!

To be honest, I'm not sure what you are looking for. You say you greatly enjoy his of choice of tempo. Are you looking for something with the same tempo, but fewer irritating stops? On a full organ?

I don;t think you will find any fugues significantly faster.

[essence]

Nederlands Bach Society is always excellent for Bach.

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