Bach: Concerto Transcriptions

Featuring

Joan Lippincott
Johann Sebastian Bach

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Performer Biography

Joan Lippincott, the organist on this recording, has performed extensively in the United States, Europe, and Canada, and has been recording on Gothic Records for 30 years.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Bach's encounter with Vivaldi's concertos was a life-changing experience, offering him an attractive alternative to his earlier North-German style with its incisive themes and strong forms.

Compositional Technique

Bach and Walther arranged a series of fashionable instrumental concertos by Vivaldi, Johann Ernst, and other progressive composers for organ and harpsichord, creating a body of transcriptions.

Composition History

Prince Johann Ernst, a gifted violinist and keyboard player, brought a large quantity of printed music, including Vivaldi's L'Estro armonico, to Weimar, which influenced Bach.

Historical Context

Bach's cousin, Johann Gottfried Walther, an organist and music dictionary author, spurred friendly competition and opened new musical vistas for Bach in Weimar.

Composer Biography

J.S. Bach's time in Weimar (1708-1717) is considered the golden period of his organ writing, where he established his reputation as a great organist and composer.

Instruments

The album features the Paul Fritts Organ Opus 20, built in 2000 for Miller Chapel at Princeton Theological Seminary, which has a suspended key action and mechanical stop action.