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CD reviews
"Cantus Firmus - Bach and his Mentors"
Nicola Dolci, organ
rec: June 3 - 5, 2024, Groningen (NL), Martinikerk
Brilliant Classics - 97772 (© 2026) (62'47")
Liner-notes: E/IT
Cover, track-list & booklet
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Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750):
Canonische Veränderungen über vom Himmel hoch (BWV 769a);
Prelude and fugue in e minor (BWV 548);
Georg BÖHM (1661-1733):
Prelude in C;
Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her;
Nicolaus BRUHNS (1665-1697):
Prelude in e minor (large);
Dieterich BUXTEHUDE (1637-1707):
Ciacona in e minor (BuxWV 160);
Girolamo FRESCOBALDI (1583-1643):
Capriccio XI con l'obbligo di cantare la quinta parte
Source:
Girolamo Frescobaldi, Il primo libro di Capricci, 1624
Which organs are ideal for the performance of the organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach? That is a question which concerns both scholars and performers, but is hard to answer, if at all. In the course of his life Bach played instruments of various builders, and that makes it hard to decide which one he may have preferred. Whereas it is documented that he knew the organs of Gottfried Silbermann, I have not found any indication about his connection to Arp Schnitger, who built the organ at the Martinikerk in Groningen (Netherlands). Schnitger died before he could finish the job; it was completed by his master journeyman Albert Anthoni Hinsz. On this instrument the Italian organist Nicola Dolci recorded music by Bach and composers who influenced him. In 2022 Dolci was awarded second prize at the International Martini Organ Competition.
In his liner-notes, Dolci characterizes the Bach, in his formative years, as "a young, extraordinary genius who had understood the need to draw inspiration from great composers and from the musical structures of the past to innovate his own music." That is not incorrect, but not something extraordinary. In the baroque era, studying and copying music of past masters was the most common way to learn and develop one's skills. Bach never stopped investigating what was written by others. In his early years he studied keyboard music by German and Italian masters, later he developed a lively interest in the concertos by Italian composers, in particular Antonio Vivaldi.
The programme Dolci recorded brings together several influences. One of the main sources of inspiration of the young Bach was the north German organ school. Both Nicolaus Bruhns and Dieterich Buxtehude are representatives of that school. The programme opens with the Prelude in e minor by Nicolaus Bruhns. His father was organist in Schwabstedt when Nicolaus was born. He learnt to play the organ as well as string instruments. In the latter department his teacher was his uncle Peter in Lübeck; here he also became the favourite pupil of Buxtehude. Bruhns developed into a virtuoso on the violin and on the organ. The German composer and theorist Johann Mattheson reported that Bruhns sometimes played both instruments at the same time: while playing the violin he realized the basso continuo part on the pedal of the organ. For some years he worked as a composer and violinist at the court in Copenhagen. In 1689 he was appointed organist of the Stadtkirche in Husum. It was stated that "never before (...) [had] the city heard his like in composition and performance on all manner of instruments". When the civic authorities in Kiel tried to make him move to their town the authority raised his salary. He remained in Husum until his death.
His preludes show the features of the North German organ school. They are written in the stylus phantasticus which has its origins in the seconda pratica which emerged in the early decades of the 17th century in Italy. They consist of various sections of contrasting character, largely following the pattern of toccata - fugue - toccata - fugue - toccata. The toccata sections have a strong improvisatory character. The Prelude in e minor is the longest of two in that key. It includes an arpeggio passage which may reflect Bruhns' skills as a violinist. In this work the pedal part plays an important role, and that is characteristic of the north German organ school.
Bach never met Bruhns, but he travelled to Lübeck to hear Buxtehude. Of all the German organists of previous generations, he may have been the one who had the strongest influence on Bach. The fact that he extended the time he was allowed to be in Lübeck says much about his appreciation of what he heard. Buxtehude is represented with a work that highlights a particularly important genre in the 17th century: the writing of various parts in counterpoint over a repeated bass pattern. The latter is here the ciacona, a form that was used across Europe. The pattern is a descending tetrachord (E-D-C-B) which sounds 31 times, towards the end with rhythmic variations.
Georg Böhm may not have been Bach's formal teacher, but he had a marked influence on his development as a composer. Through him he became acquainted with the French style (which he later studied by copying music by some of the French masters themselves) and Böhm also had a strong influence on Bach's treatment of hymns in his chorale preludes and variations. A specimen of the latter category is the chorale arrangement Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her, a figural setting with the hymn melody as a solo. The Prelude in C is another example of the north German organ school. It opens with a pedal solo and includes an ostinato bass, a pedal point and broken chords. The conclusion is especially virtuosic and brilliant.
In a letter to Bach's first biographer, Johann Nikolaus Forkel, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach mentioned several composers his father admired. Among them was Girolamo Frescobaldi. It shows that Bach did not confine himself to masters of the recent past. Frescobaldi was highly influential both in his own time and long after. In Germany it was especially his pupil Johann Jacob Froberger who passed on his art; he was another composer whose works Bach studied. He owned a copy of Frescobaldi's Fiori Musicali, and it has been suggested that the Clavier-Übung III has been inspired by Frescobaldi's organ masses. Whether he knew the latter's Capriccio con l'obbligo di cantare la quinta parte I don't know; it is part of the Primo libro di capricci of 1624. This work is remarkable for the fifth voice, which has to be sung. However, there is no text. Performers have come up with different solutions. Here this part is played on the pedals.
The programme closes with two works by Bach. In the Canonische Veränderungen über vom Himmel hoch Bach makes use of a technique used in the Renaissance. Many composers of that time used it, especially in mass settings; Josquin Desprez is one of the most notable examples. Bach wrote this work at the occasion of his joining the Societät der musikalischen Wissenschaften, founded in 1738 by Lorenz Mizler, as a proof of his skills. The canon technique can be used in different ways, and that is what Bach does here. This work exists in two versions, in which the order of the five sections differs. Dolci plays the autograph version, which has the symmetry of two three-voice canons and two four-voice canons at opposite sides of the variations on the chorale melody, which is the fifth in the version catalogued as BWV 769.
With the last work we return to the key in which the programme started. Johann Mattheson characterised this key as "pensive, profound, grieved, and sad" (denckendes, tiefsinniges, betrübtes und trauriges). The Prelude and fugue in e minor (BWV 548) dates from Bach's Leipzig period, but the circumstances or the reasons for its composition are not known. It has been suggested that Bach may have played it at the organ of the Paulinerkirche (Scheibe, 1717), inspected by Bach himself and, with three manuals and pedal, one of the largest in Germany. The prelude confirms Mattheson's characterisation, and the fugue is in four parts, with solo episodes, and a dacapo structure. It is generally considered one of Bach's greatest organ works.
None of the works on this disc is unknown; apart from Bach's works, those by Bruhns, Buxtehude, Böhm and Frescobaldi are all available in a number of recordings. However, it is certainly interesting and instructive to hear them in this context, showing how these works, or at least what they stand for, have influenced Bach in his development as a composer. Overall I am happy with Nicola Dolci's performances. He shows a thorough understanding of the style of the various pieces. There are two issues. I find Bruhns' Prelude in e minor a bit too slow. Especially the second section could have been a little swifter. Moreover, the pauses between the sections are a little too long, although that may have to do with the acoustic of the church. The second issue is the performance of the fifth voice in Frescobaldi. There is not one legitimate solution to the problem of how to interpret this part, but playing it on the pedals is problematic as it is indicated that it should be sung. Moreover, many Italian organs did not have a pedalboard. I also missed the typical sound of Italian organs. It is probably fair to say that a Schnitger organ is not the most appropriate for Frescobaldi's music. However, its inclusion makes sense, given the aim of this programme.
Otherwise, this disc is not only a nice demonstration of the influences on Bach, but also of one of the finest historical organs from the baroque period.
Johan van Veen (© 2026)