JS Bach
Bach Transcriptions – Sonatas etc (transcribed for Flute and harpsichord)
Julien Martin (flute), Olivier Fortin (harpsichord)
Alpha Classics ALPHA939 69:22 mins
Amidst the works by Johann Sebastian Bach which utilise wind instruments his music for the transverse flute is revelatory and idiomatic for players, and transformative for listeners. The flute appears across solo, chamber, choral and orchestral works, traversing both the sacred and the profane. In stark contrast, Bach’s music for the type of flute we now call the recorder lamentably eschews the sonata genre. Seeking to redress this situation through the art of transcription are two long-standing musical partners: recorder-player Julien Martin and harpsichordist Olivier Fortin. In so doing, they present a selection including sonatas for transverse flute, violin and organ as well as the D minor violin Chaconne, the chorale Prelude Nun komm der Heiden Heiland and the C minor lute suite. The duo are responsible for all but one of the transcriptions.
Most successful are those tracks where the transcription retains the timbral world of the work’s earlier/first incarnation. In the E major flute sonata, BWV 1035 Julien Martin uses tempo rubato stylishly to inflect melodic lines. Bearing in mind the fluidity with which Bach’s music moved between genres and across different performing media in his own lifetime, the selection here is a little uneven. A less convincing offering is Nun komm der Heiden Heiland for recorder and harpsichord which fails to capture the necessary gravitas and solemn grandeur of this chorale prelude. Similarly Pierre Gouin’s transcription for solo harpsichord of the famous violin Chaconne seems unnecessary given the existing richness of Bach’s keyboard music. Ingrid Pearson