Bach - STOKOWSKI Transcriptions
Bach - STOKOWSKI Transcriptions (2001)
Easy CD-DA | APE tracks, no CUE, no LOG | Scans | 267 MB | TT: 1:08:11
Classical | Label: Classica D'oro| RS.com
Classical | Label: Classica D'oro| RS.com
Bach - STOKOWSKI Transcriptions
Orchestra: Philadelphia Orchestra, Conductor: Leopold Stokowski, Recorded: 1927-1940
Track List
1. Bach's Toccata and fugue in D minor (BWV 565), transcribed for orchestra
2. Transcription for orchestra of Bach's Prelude in E flat minor, No.8 (BWV 853) from the Well-Tempered Clavier, book 1
3. Transcription for orchestra of Bach's Air on the G String (BWV1068), from Orchestral Suite No.3
4. Sarabande, for orchestra (after Bach's Violin Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002)
5. Siciliano, for orchestra (after Bach's Violin Sonata No. 4 in C minor, BWV 1017)
6. Transcription for orchestra of Bach's "Mein Jesu, was für Seelenweh" (BWV487)
7. Es ist vollbracht, for orchestra (from Bach's The St. John Passion, BWV 245)
8. Christ lag in Todesbanden, for orchestra (from Bach's Cantata No. 4, BWV 4)
9. O Haupt voll Blut, for orchestra (from Bach's The St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244)
10. Bach's "Komm, süsser Tod" (BWV 478), transcribed for orchestra
11. Bach's Passacaglia and fugue in C minor (BWV 582), transcribed for orchestra
Although Leopold Stokowski was one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century he began his career as an organist, and he especially loved the music of Bach. After he established himself as a conductor, Stokowski transcribed several of his favorite works by Bach for orchestra. Stokowski's transcriptions were well received by the public and thereby exposed Bach's works to a wider audience; but, initially many critics and musical purists felt that Stokowski's transcriptions had sullied Bach's music. Fortunately, the Bach/Stokowski transcriptions are now generally recognized as masterpieces and performed by other conductors. But no one conducts them with quite the genius and love as Stokowski himself did. This CD presents several of the greatest Bach/ Stokowski transcriptions conducted by Stokowski himself.
Stokowski's love of Bach is of course not surprising, given his ten years as a church organist. Stokowski made at least 37 orchestrations or transcriptions of the music of Bach. His first transcription seems to have been prepared in the Summer of 1914 during Leopold and Olga Stokowski's stay at their villa in Munich. This was of the aria from Saint John's Passion "Es ist vollbracht", BWV 245, which Stokowski eventually recorded with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1934 on a double sided 10 inch Victor Red Seal disk Victor 1985.
The first Stokowski orchestration of a Bach organ work for full symphony orchestra which Stokowski performed with orchestra was of the Passacaglia and Fugue in c minor BWV 582, which Stokowski premiered with the orchestra on February 10, 19222. Stokowski later recorded the Passacaglia in 1929 (click on 1929 Bach Passacaglia and Fugue to read about and listen to this transcription.) He also performed it several times during every Philadelphia Orchestra season he conducted from 1922 to 1940, except only in 1928 and 1933.
In a later interview, Stokowski stated that the first Bach work he orchestrated was the Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582. However, the first Bach orchestration, or perhaps better described as an arrangement was the 'Wachet auf' portion of the famous cantata of 1731 ('Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme', or 'Sleepers Awake!', BWV 140), which the superb Stokowski Concert Register of Robert M. Stumpf, II lists as being performed March 19 and 20, 1915. The famous transcription of the Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra in February 1926, and at the concerts of December 8 and 9, 1926, Stokowski premiered his Bach transcription of "Komm Susser Tod", arranged for viola and string orchestra.
There have been a number of authors seeking to demonstrate that Stokowski did not himself orchestrate these works, in particular claiming that Lucien Cailliet of the Philadelphia Orchestra created the orchestrations, rather than simply transcribing them. However, the image below of the Stokowski manuscript of BWV 565 from the University of Pennsylvania Library archives shows the orchestration in Stokowski's own hand.
The first Stokowski orchestration of a Bach organ work for full symphony orchestra which Stokowski performed with orchestra was of the Passacaglia and Fugue in c minor BWV 582, which Stokowski premiered with the orchestra on February 10, 19222. Stokowski later recorded the Passacaglia in 1929 (click on 1929 Bach Passacaglia and Fugue to read about and listen to this transcription.) He also performed it several times during every Philadelphia Orchestra season he conducted from 1922 to 1940, except only in 1928 and 1933.
In a later interview, Stokowski stated that the first Bach work he orchestrated was the Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582. However, the first Bach orchestration, or perhaps better described as an arrangement was the 'Wachet auf' portion of the famous cantata of 1731 ('Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme', or 'Sleepers Awake!', BWV 140), which the superb Stokowski Concert Register of Robert M. Stumpf, II lists as being performed March 19 and 20, 1915. The famous transcription of the Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra in February 1926, and at the concerts of December 8 and 9, 1926, Stokowski premiered his Bach transcription of "Komm Susser Tod", arranged for viola and string orchestra.
There have been a number of authors seeking to demonstrate that Stokowski did not himself orchestrate these works, in particular claiming that Lucien Cailliet of the Philadelphia Orchestra created the orchestrations, rather than simply transcribing them. However, the image below of the Stokowski manuscript of BWV 565 from the University of Pennsylvania Library archives shows the orchestration in Stokowski's own hand.
Leopold