Most of Bach's organ works, apart from chorale preludes, consist of a freestyle first piece and a stricter second piece, usually a fugue.
Counterpoint, the use of multiple parts at once like voices in a choir, is the main feature of all fugues.
Martin Souter is the organist performing on this album.
The organ used for this recording was built in 1732 by Garrels and is a remarkable survival, having been very little altered since its construction.
Most of the organ music by Bach on this album dates from the first two decades of the 18th century, when he was a young man.
Johann Sebastian Bach, the composer, came from a long line of musicians and his first career jobs involved playing the organ.
Bach built on traditional musical forms known from his family and contemporaries, always taking them to new heights.
