Ferruccio Busoni, a significant transcriber of Bach's works, believed that great music remains the same regardless of the means by which it is produced, but that different instruments have their own language.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Johann Sebastian Bach, the composer of several works on this album, consecrated all his music to God, believing it to be otherworldly because it was not created for someone or something in this world.
Cultural Impact
The numerous piano transcriptions of Bach's works in the 19th century brought his keyboard music to the attention of the educated middle classes in Germany.
Composition History
Franz Liszt's Fantasia and Fugue on the Theme B-A-C-H, featured on this album, was originally an organ prelude composed in 1855 for a cathedral consecration, but it was later revised and became one of his most famous organ works.
Performer Biography
Aurelia Shimkus, the pianist on this album, began playing piano at age four and has won multiple national competitions, becoming a Latvian national sensation at age eleven.
Interpretation
Aurelia Shimkus, the pianist, designed the album's program to resemble a large prayer, grouping pieces by their tonal relationships to combine music from different eras into one cohesive work.
Historical Context
Despite being considered aesthetically outdated at his death, Johann Sebastian Bach's keyboard music was never forgotten and became an indispensable part of piano education by the 19th century.
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