Best Bach 'Musical Offering' Recording?

[E. Kevin Hall]

Hi All,

Does anyone know of a good recording of Bach's _Musical Offering_ fugue?
Heck, does anyone know of _a_ recording? I can't seem to find one.

All the best,
K

[Dave J.G.]

> Does anyone know of a good recording of Bach's _Musical Offering_ fugue?
> Heck, does anyone know of _a_ recording? I can't seem to find one.

The Kuijken brothers version on Deutsche Harmonia Mundi is fantastic and is
pretty easy to find ( that is, if they didn't cut it out of the catalog
along with a whole bunch of other great Kuijken recordings. Bastards! :-)

Also, if you can find it, there's a great 3-CD set by Musica Antiqua Koln on
Archiv Produktion that includes: A Musical Offering, The Art of Fugue, and
Diverse Canons. Nearly impossible to get in the US. ( Bastards! ) I got
lucky and found a copy used. You may be able to order it as an import if
you're willing to pay about twice what it should cost.

Those are my favorites.

Dave

Dave's J.S.Bach Page - http://www.unpronounceable.com/bach/

David J. Grossman
daveg -AT- unpronounceable -DOT- com
http://www.unpronounceable.com/daves/

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[Paul Kintzele]

"E. Kevin Hall" wrote:
>
> Hi All,

>
> Does anyone know of a good recording of Bach's _Musical Offering_ fugue?
> Heck, does anyone know of _a_ recording? I can't seem to find one.

Ensemble Sonnerie has a lively and distinctive recording on Virgin
Veritas; by assigning different instruments to the several voices in
each of the canons and ricercars they really bring out the contrapuntal
virtuosity of the work. The lovely pungent sounds of the period
instruments is also a delight.

Paul

[Clifford Ando]

On 28 Jun 1999, PGoldst515 wrote:

> I'm extremely fond of Karl Muenchinger and the Stuttgart CO on London. Has
> this ever made it to CD?

London Jubilee 430 266-2.

Clifford Ando ca...@usc.edu
Classics Department phone: (213) 740-3683
University of Southern California fax: (213) 740-7360
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0352

[Socrates]

I'll second this recommendation; it's one of my favorite discs for
late-night listening, or when I'm in a meditative sort of mood.
The sound quality is hard to beat, too. It's on the reverberant side, but
fits the mood of the music perfectly IMO.

Paul Kintzele <kint...@english.upenn.edu> wrote in message
news:3776ED75...@english.upenn.edu...

[PGoldst515]

I'm extremely fond of Karl Muenchinger and the Stuttgart CO on London. Has
this ever made it to CD?

Paul Goldstein

[Thomas J Wood]

Paul Kintzele <kint...@english.upenn.edu> wrote in message
news:3776ED75...@english.upenn.edu...
>
>

> "E. Kevin Hall" wrote:
> >
> > Hi All,
> >
> > Does anyone know of a good recording of Bach's _Musical Offering_ fugue?
> > Heck, does anyone know of _a_ recording? I can't seem to find one.
>

> Ensemble Sonnerie has a lively and distinctive recording on Virgin
> Veritas; by assigning different instruments to the several voices in
> each of the canons and ricercars they really bring out the contrapuntal
> virtuosity of the work. The lovely pungent sounds of the period
> instruments is also a delight.

I've heard several version of the Offering and the once by the Ensemble
Sonnerie is easily my favorite. They provide alternate solutions to the
puzzle canons, present the 6-part Ricercar both in keyboard and ensemble
form, and the performance, recording and liner notes are all exemplary. This
is the one to get. I only wish they would have presented at least some of
the keyboard pieces on a 1740s Silbermann fortepiano (which probably is a
correct instrument for this work).

Tom Wood

[David R L Porter]

I have two recordings on CD. The Lind Consort is coupled with their
Brandenburgs, which I find bland (the Offering is better, IMO). The
other is the Kuijkens/Leonhardt version already mentioned, which I
have on Sony SEON. This is short measure at 48 minutes, but the
record is such a treasure that it doesn't matter. I do recommend it,
it's wonderful. Especially with a glass of white wine on a hot,
English June evening ....

--
Best wishes,

David
david....@zetnet.co.uk

[michael Osoffsky]

I prefer the Kuijken Bros earlier recording on Seon, which was reissued
by Sony. This recording has Gustav Leonhardt at the harpsichord and he
plays with his usually musical authority. They also employ a viola in
some pieces that brings a richer sonority to the texture. The DHM
version only uses the instrumentation of the trio sonata (flute, violin
cont.) I also like the Ensemble Sonnerie's performance on Virgin. They
greatly expand on the instrumentation and working out of the cannons.

Michael Osoffsky

Dave J.G. wrote:
>
> > Does anyone know of a good recording of Bach's _Musical Offering_ fugue?
> > Heck, does anyone know of _a_ recording? I can't seem to find one.
>

[dtj...@gmail.com]

On Sunday, June 27, 1999 at 12:00:00 AM UTC-7, E. Kevin Hall wrote:
> Hi All,
>

> Does anyone know of a good recording of Bach's _Musical Offering_ fugue?
> Heck, does anyone know of _a_ recording? I can't seem to find one.
>

> All the best,
> K

I love the first that I ever heard, and that was Yehudi Menuhin---------very soulful and very fruity too. but I love it. I actually have so many cds of it, I can't choose. Savall has great sound if thats important.

[m41...@gmail.com]

I like the Savall recording very much. There's also a recording on piano done by Constanti Lifshitz, that is I think one of the very great Bach recordings. I think it's on Orfeo.

Martin

[howie...@btinternet.com]

The Savall recording has some amazing keyboard playing by Pierre Hantaï.
Lifschitz transcribes everything for an ordinary modern piano!
One I've been enjoying is with La Stravaganza Hamburg and Siegbert Rampe - I have a poor quality rip that I found on the web, but the CD is rare and very expensive. If someone sees a reasonably priced copy or can make a good rip for me, please let me know.

[MELMOTH]

Ce cher mammifère du nom de dtj...@gmail.com nous susurrait, le
dimanche 21/05/2017, dans nos oreilles grandes ouvertes mais un peu
sales tout de même, et dans le message
<974d59ae-806f-45f7...@googlegroups.com>, les doux
mélismes suivants :

>> Does anyone know of a good recording of Bach's _Musical Offering_ fugue?
>> Heck, does anyone know of _a_ recording? I can't seem to find one.

*Hermann SCHERCHEN*, of course...

--
Car avec beaucoup de science, il y a beaucoup de chagrin ; et celui qui
accroît sa science accroît sa douleur.
[Ecclésiaste, 1-18]
MELMOTH - souffrant

[Al Eisner]

Inexpensive CD new at U.S. Amazon Marketplace, Amazon ASIN B01N4VWQM6.
(The label is not one I've heard of.)

How would you compare it to the Savall?

The OP will probably welcome these responses after 18 years. :)
--
Al Eisner

[howie...@btinternet.com]

Savall plays it as galant music, with beautiful harmonies and prominent top melodies. Rampe plays it more in the stile antico, with voices equal and staggered, sometimes making complex textures and unexpected harmonies. Savall is often slower and sadder and more reflective, Rampe is more punchy and more noble. Savall (of course) sometimes uses viol where Rampe uses harpsichord: that has consequences for the voicing.

That link to the Cd on Amazon. I'd contacted the seller but he wouldn't ship it to the UK. No matter, someone let me have a rip of Rampe's CD yesterday!