REVIEW ESSAY

CDs and Performances

There are some 31 recordings covering a range of BWV numbers. Once again both Moult and Schmeding provide listeners with penetrating, fresh and sparkling performances for the listener. You will not be disappointed by the pure joy and excellence demonstrated by both Moult and Schmeding throughout the documentary. Moult’s performances offer an eclectic palette of colour, tone and humour drawing you into the quirks within Bach’s composition. By contrast, Schmeding makes a transtemporal offering to the sisyphean interpretation that comes with performing Bach’s organ music, inviting the listener to contemplate the expressive narrative of the context. Moult’s performance is the waterfall to Schmeding’s forest: a delightful pairing.

Who is this for?

This is a comprehensive series on the performance and compositional interpretation of Bach’s organ music, performed using some of the organs Bach played. It is an invaluable educational resource for higher education and should be mandatory for all academic music course reading/watching lists when studying Bach. Fugue State Films have created a documentary that has almost ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) value. It is a series that requires regular revisiting. Bach and Expression is a companion for life.

The documentary is complex, and the writers clearly have significant prior knowledge about Bach and the organ, as well as understanding of what expression and historically informed performance means within Bach.