J.S. Bach: Tranquillity

Featuring

Jonathan Phillips
Johann Sebastian Bach

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Composer's Artistic Vision

Johann Sebastian Bach, the composer, indicated at the end of many of his scores that his music was always written in the service of God.

Compositional Technique

Bach's keyboard style, particularly in the repertoire chosen for this album, is very melodic, posing a challenge for pianists to create a smooth, vocal-like line on a percussion instrument.

Performer Biography

Jonathan Phillips, the pianist, won the National Youth Orchestra of Wales Soloist award in 1986, leading to five performances of the Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini, one of which was televised on BBC2.

Performer Biography

Jonathan Phillips has performed over 100 concertos, including works by Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Chopin, and Schumann.

Recording & Production

This album features a selection of original Bach compositions and transcriptions, including one transcription by Bach himself, three by Busoni, one by August Stradl, and two by Alexander Siloti, who was Rachmaninoff's teacher.

Interpretation

The performer, Jonathan Phillips, believes that the authenticity of a live performance is compromised by endless editing, so this album was recorded with two complete performances.