Raven Pipe Organ CDs, DVDs, and Choral CDs - Johann Pachelbel Works Andrus Madsen, organ, harpsichord, clavichord 2 CDs for the Price of One Writes Pipedreams host Michael Barone: "Sublime!! . . . marvelous performances."

2 CDs for the Price of One

Writes Pipedreams host Michael Barone:

"This new Pachelbel album is sublime!!...superb audio recordings capture some superb instruments played by a musician who deserves to be better-known. These are marvelous performances, and the release is a thorough winner. It’s wonderful to hear the Schlagl organ so effectively used, though the instruments in Erfurt and Freiburg are equally well served by engineer Angus Lansing, who captures a real sense of air around the instruments, an open, unencumbered tone picture. What a treat!"

Reviews Jean-Yves Duperron of Classical Music Sentinel:
"American organist Andrus Madsen, himself a gifted improviser, breathes life into these extemporaneous pieces, searching out each one's unique qualities, and using the instrument best suited to highlight those qualities."

Reviews James Hildreth in The American Organist:
This recording reveals the rich variety of Johann Pachelbel's keyboard music. In his informative program notes, Andrus Madsen writes of his "certain affinity" for this music, clearly manifested in his performances. . . . Superbly transmitted by the recording technicians, Madsen's performances are thoroughtly rewarding, both aurally and musically. They definitively represent Pachelbel's keyboard mastery."

Johann Pachelbel
Johann Pachelbel’s (1653-1706) illustrious career as an organist, teacher, and composer spans many cities from Nuremberg to Vienna to various points in Thuringia and back to Nuremberg. Though modern audiences may be most familiar with his chamber works, these pale in comparison to the rich cornucopia of keyboard works — both liturgical and non-liturgical — that Pachelbel has left to posterity. Andrus Madsen draws upon this rich and varied keyboard smorgasbord to highlight Pachelbel’s compositions on several beautifully preserved, restored or replicated instruments, intended to introduce the listener to the panoply of textures, timbres, and compositional techniques that make up Pachelbel’s keyboard oeuvre.

CD 1
Toccata in e, PWC 462 *
Prelude in g, PWC 410 *
Fuga in C “Nachtigall,” PWC 131 *
Toccata in g, PWC 467 *
Fantasie in g, PWC 128 †
Warum betrübst du dich, PWC 484 †
Es spricht der unweisen Mund wohl, PWC 114 †
Durch Adam’s Fall is ganz verderbt, PWC 104 †
Suite in e, PWC 436 §

Prelude (improvised), Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Double, Gigue

Prelude in a (improvised) §
Fuga in a, PWC 163 §
Fugue in D, PWC 153 §
Ich ruf zu dir Herr Jesu Christ, PWC 42 ‡
Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, PWC 106 ‡
O Lamm Gottes unschuldig, PWC 393 ‡
Was mein Gott will das g’scheh allzeit, PWC 488 ‡
An Wasserflüssen Babylon, PWC 17 ‡
An Wasserflüssen Babylon (Weimar ms.) ‡
Magnificat Octavi Toni, PWC 353, 356, 349, 347 ‡ (as grouped in London manuscript)
Ciaccona in d, PWC 41 *

CD2
Toccata in F, PWC 464 *
Toccata in g, PWC 468 *
Fuga in g, PWC 160 *
Gelobet seist du Jesu Christ, PWC 166 *
Toccata in C, PWC 457 ‡
Fuga in C, PWC 151 ‡
Fantasie in E-flat, PWC 127 ‡
Wenn wit in höchsten Nöten sein, PWC 494 ‡
Fuga in d, PWC 154 ‡
Vom Himmel hoch, PWC 52 ‡
Wie schön leuchtet den Morgenstern, PWC 501 ‡
Suite in g, PWC 443 ¤

Prelude (improvised), Allemande, Courante, Sarabande

Christus der ist mein Leben, PWC 376 ¤
Suite in g, PWC 442 ¤

Allemande, Courante, Ballet, Sarabande, Gigue

Toccata in g, PWC 466 †
Fuga in c, PWC 152 †
Herr Gott dich loben alle Wir, PWC 183 †
O Mensch bewein dein Sünde groß, PWC 396 †
Wo Gott zum Haus nicht gibt sein Gunst, PWC 512 †
Toccata in F (improvised) *
Magnificat sexti toni, PWC 334, 326 * (as grouped in Berlin manuscript)
Toccata in F, PWC 463 *

* 1634 Andreas Putz / 1708 J. C. Egedacher organ, Stift Schlägl, Austria
† 1735 Gottfried Silbermann organ, Petrikirche, Freiberg, Germany
‡ 2000 Rühle Orgelbau reconstruction of 1652 Compenius organ, Michaeliskirche, Erfurt, Germany
§ harpsichord (Flemish double) by Robert Hicks
¤ clavichord by Christopher Clarke

Johann Pachelbel
At around the age of 20 Pachelbel traveled to Vienna where he stayed for the next 5 years absorbing the Italianate improvisational styles used so frequently in Catholic service playing. While Pachelbel may have written many of his toccatas long after he left Vienna, one still hears in them a stylistic echo of Johann Kaspar Kerll and Johann Jakob Froberger, two of the prominent Viennese organists of the mid 17th century. Madsen records many of these toccatas on an Austrian organ at the Schlägl Monastery. Both discs in the collection begin and end with improvisational works be it toccatas or the D minor Ciaccona ending disc 1, a work not at all distant from the ciaccona and passacaglia of Kerll.

In 1678, Pachelbel accepted a position as organist in the Thuringian city of Erfurt, where he spent over a decade in its most important Protestant church, cementing there his roles of consummate keyboardist, composer, teacher, and family man. It is during Pachelbel’s Erfurt tenure that he composed the bulk of his liturgical keyboard repertoire, including the various types of compositions based on chorale melodies, as well as the more improvisatory forms of toccata, prelude, and fantasia. His employment contract for this position specified that each year on the feast of St. John’s day, he was to “play on the complete organ for a half hour once a year at the end of the main service . . . with attractive and pleasing harmonies” as a means of demonstrating his growth and progress in his position.

Madsen provides wide-ranging examples of Pachelbel’s chorale preludes. Pachelbel is an undisputed master of chorale-based keyboard works, utilizing a variety of inventive forms to present the chorale melody, no doubt a result of the requirements of his Erfurt contract. Max Seiffert has coined the phrase “combination form” to describe a particular type of chorale prelude invented by Pachelbel. As in the works Ein feste Burg, An Wasserflüssen Babylon, and Warum betrübst du dich, he introduces the first line of the chorale with a fugal treatment, and follows it with the cantus firmus appearing in the upper voice in stark contrast to the other parts. This forms a rich, contrapuntal underpinning to the chorale melody, allowing the congregation to clearly hear the melody.

Pachelbel ended his career in Nuremberg, accepting a position at St. Sebaldus Church. St. Sebaldus had a rich Vespers tradition. In Nuremberg the Magnificat was typically performed with choral verses alternating with verses played on the organ. While there, Pachelbel wrote at least a dozen vocal Magnificats in addition to approximately 100 fugues meant to be played at the organ in performances of the Magnificat.

Despite having composed both vocal music and chamber music, Pachelbel has subsequently been remembered primarily for his reputation as a keyboard composer. Among his students and other organists of the central and southern German areas, his works find a place in several contemporary manuscript collections (such as the Johann Valentin Eckelt tablature of 1692, Johann Christoph Graff’s 1698 collection, and Johann Gottfried Walther’s collections from Weimar). It is through coincidence and happy circumstance that these particular collections have survived until today, but it is also clear that this practice was much more widely spread than we may realize. The significance of Pachelbel’s reputation and renown in his own day may not be recognized by modern-day audiences, but by 1695, Johann Pachelbel was well known in Germany and had filled both civil and church positions in the cities of Vienna, Eisenach, Erfurt, Stuttgart, Gotha, and was just beginning a position in Nuremberg. He had already established his wider reputation as a composer with the publication of three collections of his keyboard music, and with the publication of his fourth collection, the Hexachordum Apollinis in 1699, the 46-year-old composer had reached the apex of his career. He dedicated this work to two master musicians of “universal renown”: Dietrich Buxtehude of Lübeck and Ferdinand Tobias Richter of Vienna, representing for Pachelbel the best musicians of the north and the south in Germanic lands. The quality of Pachelbel’s work places him squarely in their company as a master representative of middle German keyboard artistry. This recording refocuses our attention on this rich repertoire. Kathryn Welter

General Notes from the Performer
I have felt a certain affinity with the music of Johann Pachelbel since I first came to know it as a student in my early teens. Among the first pieces I learned on the organ were the E minor Toccata, and portions of the partita Christus der ist mein Leben. Both the freewheeling improvisatory whimsy of the toccata and the gentle, personal expression of the partita appeal to me deeply. I think that many musicians overlook much of his output, assuming it to be as insubstantial as can be many of the poor, strung out, empty performances of his Kanon in D. I believe that Kanon is a very nice work, however, and when played well, can be quite exciting. The same can be said of his keyboard music. Because so much of Pachelbel’s music tends toward the improvisatory or the expressive, he places a fair amount of responsibility in the performer’s hands. When it is played in a dull manner the music suffers tremendously, but when played well it can be very special.

Pachelbel worked with a wide variety of keyboard instruments during his career. He was active in music centers where widely differing organ building traditions existed. Though he was born in Nürnberg, in his youth he spent time in two Catholic cities, Regensburg (1670-73) and Vienna (1673-77). The Catholic south German/Austrian organ was quite different stylistically from those in Protestant Germany, and was also used differently during the service. Many of the great organists Pachelbel came to know during this time, such as Froberger, Muffat, and Kerll, were playing in an Italianate style. In the Putz/Egedacher organ at Stift Schlägl, I found the perfect organ to play some of his more Italianate works. Many of Pachelbel’s toccatas as well as the Ciaccona in d display a strong affinity to Kerll and Froberger, and at Stift Schlägl they sound right at home.

The bulk of Pachelbel’s career was spent in central Germany as he held three posts successively in Thüringen: Eisenach (1677), Erfurt (1678-1690), and Gotha (1692-1695). In Erfurt, Pachelbel played an organ built in 1649 by Ludwig Compenius at the Predigerkirche. Unfortunately, all that remains of this organ is the case. The next organ Compenius built, also in Erfurt at the Michaeliskirche, was likewise mostly lost, but most of the prospect pipes survived. In 2000, Rühle Orgelbau reconstructed the Compenius organ, approximating what it might have been like. The 8’ Principal in the manual consists largely of original pipework, and while it is sometimes slow to speak (a complaint also leveled against

Pachelbel’s organ at the Predigerkirche (played by J. S. Bach in 1663), its gentle sound can be quite beautiful. On disc 1, I used nothing but Compenius’ 8’ Principal to play Ich ruf zu dir Herr Jesu Christ. Compenius’ somewhat vulnerable sounding 8’ Principal only adds to the poignant pathos of this heartfelt plea to Jesus. Pachelbel’s organ at the Predigerkirche was much larger than the Michaeliskirche organ. With a 6’ Quint in the Oberwerk, it appears to have been designed with a 16’ principal chorus in mind. Sadly, not much survives in central Germany from the late 17th century, particularly when it comes to larger organs. So I turned to the Silbermann organ at the Petrikirche, built in 1735. The principal chorus is conceived with a 16’ foundation, and, while there is no 6’ Quint in the Hauptwerk, the Hauptwerk mixture sounds right only when played in conjunction with a 16’ stop.

Pachelbel also played harpsichord and clavichord. He certainly would have been familiar with German, Flemish, and French harpsichord making traditions. I chose to play a copy of a Flemish double harpsichord built in the ravalement style by Robert Hicks in 1990. Such an instrument hybridizes elements from the early 17th-century Flemish instrument-building craft with the more refined, early 18th-century French taste for iron stringing. This particular instrument, I think, has a strong personality and can be quite expressive, making it a great voice for the plaintive Suite in e on disc 1.

The clavichord was a beloved instrument in the home during the late 17th century. Its strength lies in its ability to create dynamic shading, and it is capable of creating a pianissimo which tests the limits of human hearing. Because the 17th-century clavichord is a soft-spoken instrument, it is not well suited to a large hall. However, in a cozy parlor at home it is the perfect instrument for intimate musical expression. For this recording I chose a clavichord built by Christopher Clarke in 1974. The instrument is based in the south German style of ca. 1700.

It appears quite likely that, during the 17th century, much of what organists and harpsichordists played in public was improvised. I have made an effort to improvise in situations where Pachelbel himself was likely to have improvised. It was not uncommon to precede the performance of a suite on the lute or the keyboard with an improvised prelude; indeed, many preludes from the mid- to late-17th century were written to sound improvised. I improvised preludes to two of Pachelbel’s suites, one on each disc as well as a prelude to the A minor Fugue on disc 1. It is known that, during Vespers at St. Sebaldus in Nuremberg, Pachelbel began and ended the Magnificat with toccatas either written or improvised. On disc 2, I improvised a toccata before the Magnificat Fugues and followed them with a Toccata by Pachelbel himself. I have also made an effort to play Pachelbel’s toccatas and preludes with the spontaneity I hope to achieve in my improvisations.

It was very difficult to choose which pieces to play for this recording. I had originally planned to record only one disc, but the more time I spent with Pachelbel’s music, the more I came to the conclusion that I could not stop at only 70 minutes of music. Too much of the music is just too good to miss. Even so, I had to eliminate some pieces I recorded because they would not fit in the time available on two CDs. Each disc begins with a toccata such as would often begin a church service. Also, each disc features a set of Magnificat Fugues near the end of the disc, in the same position they would occupy toward the end of a Vespers service. One might even say that the pieces on each disc are arranged so as to loosely resemble the order of a Vespers service, with chorale preludes substituting for psalm settings (though I have indulged the exception of sandwiching the keyboard suites in the middle of both discs).

One other difficulty in choosing pieces for a recording of music by Pachelbel lies in the fact that many of the works attributed to him are of doubtful authenticity. The phrase “ascription questioned” may indeed be the true theme of the Pachelbel thematic catalog. The keyboard suites attributed to Pachelbel have a particularly sticky history. In 1901, Max Seiffert and Adolf Sandberger published a group of suites which all came from two sources, the Sandberger and the Eckelt manuscripts. The Sandberger manuscript was lost at the end of World War II, and recent scholars now question Seiffert’s and Sandberger’s attribution of the suites they published in 1901. The authorship of all but two of the twenty suites from that 1901 collection is now questionable. One of the two authentic suites is the G minor suite PWC 433 appearing on disc 2.

The authorship of the other Suite in G Minor PWC 432 on disc 2 has been questioned, but not attributed to someone else. The only surviving source for the E minor suite PWV 436 is the Seiffert and Sandberger 1901 publication as their only source was the lost Sandberger manuscript. Because the suite is written in a style not distant from that of Johann Jakob Froberger, it has since been attributed to Froberger, and appears in Siegbert Rampe’s edition of the Froberger works as a work of uncertain Froberger authorship. Unless the Sandberger manuscript resurfaces, we will never know whether the suite was anonymously included in a Pachelbel manuscript or whether it is really the work of Pachelbel. For now, I will accept the opinion of the last scholar to critically consider the manuscript, Adolf Sandberger, who believed the E minor suite to be the work of Johann Pachelbel. Andrus Madsen

The Works on CD 1
This disc tends towards darker music. It begins and ends with works in a minor key, and features many chorale preludes appropriate for the sober Lenten season.

The first group of pieces on this disc features the Egedacher organ at Stift Schlägl. I can’t imagine a better way to start a recording of Pachelbel’s music than to lead off with the Toccata in e, PWC 462. This piece played a role in convincing me that I should record his music. A few years ago, when I experimented with applying a freewheeling 17th-century Italian quasi-improvisational performance style to the piece, it came alive for me in a way that grabbed me and made me want to know more of his music. For me, this piece epitomizes Pachelbel’s written-out improvisation aesthetic. It is believed that, when Froberger played Italianate toccatas, he improvised flourishes on the tonic chord before proceeding with the rest of the toccata. I read the E minor tonic roulades to begin this piece as notation of this sort of improvised opening flourish. Now, it’s the beginning of this piece that grabs me. As a teenager, however, my favorite part of the work was the last third of the piece with the circle-of-fifths sequence that works to a dominant pedal before concluding with a lengthy and jubilant tonic pedal. The Prelude in g, PWC 410, has the rather Germanic title of “prelude.” However, it couldn’t sound more like an Italian toccata per l’elevazione, particularly with the Italianate registration a catholic south German organ affords. The “Nachtigal” Fugue, PWC 131, is a playful work, with a subject imitating the call of a nightingale. It is possible that it was inspired by similar works Pachelbel might have come to know in Vienna—works by Kerll, Biber and Schmeltzer, which imitate the calls of various birds and beasts. The fugue ends with a clever, yet silly, extension of the nightingale’s call that repeats to the point of absurdity, sounding like a bird that refuses to be quiet. The Toccata in g, PWC 467, concludes the set of pieces recorded at Schlägl. This Toccata begins with two voices playing in imitation above a sustained pedal tone, and continues with the same texture after the imitation breaks off.

The second group of pieces on this disc features the Silbermann organ at the Petrikirche in Freiberg. The Fantasie in g, PWC 128, works a bit like a toccata durezza slowly meandering through many strange harmonies, pressing the limits of what was possible on late 17th-century tuning. Warum betrübst du dich, PWC 484, vividly expresses the anxiety in the hymn. “Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz?/ Bekümmerst dich und trägest Schmerz/ Nur um das zeitliche Gut?/Vertrau du deinem Herren Gott,/Der alle Ding erschaffen hat.” Why are you anxious, my heart, / why do you carry pain and care / only for temporal possessions? / Place your trust in your Lord God / who has created everything. In Es spricht der Unweisen Mund wohl, PWC 114, Pachelbel creates a classic bicinium. The hymn tune is in the soprano against a meandering second voice. This piece is in a fairly archaic style not distant from Schiedt or even Sweelinck. Durch Adam’s Fall ist ganz verderbt, PWC 104, features three-voice polyphony with the chorale melody unadorned in the soprano. Much of the motivic material in the two free voices is derived from the chorale melody. The 16’ principal chorus on the Silberman organ beautifully suits the gravity of Pachelbel’s writing.

Next we turn to music on the harpsichord, played here on a Flemish double by Robert Hicks. The first work in this set is the Suite in e, PWC 436, of which the attribution has been contested. One thing for certain: this is a superior example of mature 17th-century keyboard music. To me, the Allemande is among the most expressive pieces in the genre. The stile brisé texture varies in a way that allows the harpsichordist to create crescendo and diminuendo on an instrument not known for its dynamic flexibility. I am also enamored with the bold Sarabande which is followed by a much more tender Double. The Double is the most “Pachebelian” part of the work. The drifting 16th-note diminutions carry an expressive potential which I find reminiscent of Pachelbel’s work in some of the partita variations such as Christus der ist mein Leben. I chose to improvise preludes to both the Suite in e and the Fuga in a. Pachelbel’s music is filled with so many elements that strike me as notated improvisation that I have a hard time imagining that he didn’t frequently attach improvisations to his written works. The Fuga in a, PWC 163, is among my favorite Pachelbel works. I enjoy its forward momentum feverishly driving to the final cadence. Pachebel’s fugues can have a certain playabilty and tunefulness. All of the charm of the Fuga in D, PWC 153, sprouts from its clever subject like a plant from a seed.

The next set of pieces was recorded on the Compenius/Ruhle organ at the Michaeliskirche in Erfurt. Ich ruf zu dir Herr Jesu Christ, PWC 42, was recorded on the 8’ Principal in the Hauptwerk, the rank containing the highest percentage of original pipes from the 1652 Compenius organ. This work demonstrates Pachelbel at his best. I find the music touching and poignantly communicative. While some of the great Bach chorale preludes come off to me like powerful sermons, this work strikes me more like an intimate conversation with a dear friend discussing deeply personal matters of faith. Pachelbel’s setting of Martin Luther’s reformation hymn Ein Feste Burg ist unser Gott, PWC 106, features the chorale melody in the bass. It was a pleasure to record this work, in the Michaeliskirche in Erfurt, a church Martin Luther actually attended during his student years. O Lamm Gottes unschuldig, PWC 393, I find especially beautiful. Pachelbel creates an air of sweet innocence, painting a musical portrait of Jesus as sacrificial lamb. The work starts with a fugetta on the opening phrase of the chorale, after which the chorale tune appears in its entirety in the soprano. Like Es spricht der unweisen Mund wohl, Pachelbel writes Was mein Gott will das g’scheh allzeit, PWC 488, in the somewhat archaic bicinia style. I recorded two settings of the chorale An Wasserflüssen Babylon, a mournful chorale based on Psalm 137’s lament of the Babylonian captivity. The first setting, PWC 17, starts with a fughetta on the opening phrase followed by a presentation of the entire chorale tune in the bass. The other setting comes from the recently rediscovered Weimar Manuscript in which the young Johann Sebastian Bach copied this work. This setting of An Wasserflussen Babylon combines sections of three-voice texture as in Ich ruf zu dir, with sections where the choral melody is played ornamented on the Rückpositiv. To me, this is one of Pachelbel’s great masterpieces. I hear in the work both the melancholy of captive Isreal lamenting its fate by the waters of Babylon, as well as the gentle rippling of the flowing river. The Magnificat Octavi Toni consists of four fugues in the same mode and performed here in the order they appear in the London Manuscript (British Library Add. MS 31221). Each of these fugues would have been played between verses of the Magnificat during the Vespers service in Nürnberg. All four fugues have witty and vivacious subjects, particularly fugues 2 and 4. The upward-sweeping gestures in the subject of the second fugue show Pachelbel at his expressive best.

The disc concludes with Pachelbel’s magnificent Ciaccona in d, PWV 41, played at Schlägl. The entire work is built above a four-bar repeating bass pattern, ascending from d to a. I chose to play it with a gradual increase in energy and peaking just before the end, followed by a quiet reprise of the beginning.

The Music on CD 2
This disc tends towards brighter music, it begins and ends with works in a major tonality, and includes a number of chorale preludes appropriate for the Advent, Christmas and Epiphany Seasons.

The first set of pieces on this disc was recorded at Stift Schlägl. The Toccata in F, PWC 464, is a bright, freewheeling improvisatory work in the Italian style that shows itself quite well when played on a South German/Austrian instrument. The opening F major tonic is decorated with arpeggiated triads ranging the length of the keyboard. In many ways it is the major-key mirror image to the E minor Toccata that opens disc 1. They both begin with arpeggiated chords, moving into a stretch of intense stylus fantasticus grinding chord progressions, finally concluding with more light hearted sequences above sustained pedal tones. I have paired Toccata in g, PWC 468, with the Fuga in g, PWC 160, and recorded them both using the beautiful unterpositive division of Putz/Egedacher organ. This set concludes with the delightful Gelobet seist du Jesu Christ, PWC 166, a chorale prelude for the Christmas season. I chose to play using just a 4’ principal, creating a sweet and innocent sound that is well suited to the work’s pondering of the miracle of the newly born infant Jesus.

The next set of pieces features the Compenius/Ruhle organ at the Michaeliskirche in Erfurt, led off by a bright toccata and fugue pair, the Toccata in C, PWC 457, and Fuga in C, PWC 151. While the pairing is not original to Pachelbel, the works share a certain vivacious brightness. I especially enjoy the way Pachelbel allows a motive derived from the fugue subject to swirl out of control for several bars right before the end of the piece. The Fantasie in E-flat, PWC 127, is a subdued work not at all unlike an Italian Toccata per l’elevazione. This work presses to the absolute limit of what is tonally possible in the 6th-comma meantone temperament prevalent in Pachelbel’s day. Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein, PWC 494, is one of the more somber chorale preludes included in this volume. The chorale text speaks of turning to God when in trouble. Pachelbel constructs a gentle fughetta on the opening phrase of the chorale, after which the entire chorale melody appears in the soprano against gentle weaving counterpoint among the other three voices. The sort of tender expression Pachelbel employs in this work speaks so directly to me. The Fuga in d, PWC 154, is a blustery work with a chromatic descending tetrachord subject. Typical of Pachelbel, the last fugue-subject entrance is in the pedal, allowing one last tumult at the conclusion of the work. Vom Himmel hoch, PWC 52, features the very popular German Christmas chorale of the same name. The words of the chorale written by Luther are in the voice of the Angel bearing the Christmas news to the shepherds. Pachelbel places the chorale melody in the bass with two voices gleefully dancing above in 12/8 time, evoking a pastoral quality. The Epiphany prelude, Wie schön leuchtet den Morgenstern, PWC 501, bubbles over with pure joy. The chorale text speaks rapturously of love for Jesus and a longing to be with him in paradise. The chorale melody appears in long notes in the bass. While Pachelbel tends to keep the chorale unadorned when it appears in the bass line, in this piece the bass line breaks into jubilant trills, as if overcome by the exhilaration of the upper voices.

Now we turn to the music on the clavichord, including two suites and a partita. The 17th-century German clavichord is not a loud instrument. I have tried to preserve its intimate, quiet expression by leaving the volume levels low relative to the organs on this CD. Of the suites that have been attributed to Pachelbel at one time or another, the two suites PWC 442 and 443 are the most likely to have actually been written by Pachelbel. The Suite in g, PWC 443, originally appeared with two allemandes, the second of which is identical to the allemande in PWC 442. I chose to omit the second allemande and save it for the other suite. Many consider the suite incomplete because it lacks a gigue; however, the omission of a gigue in 17th-century German keyboard suites is hardly unusual. According to common 17th-century practice, I began this suite with an improvised prelude inspired by the gentle expression of the dances in this suite. Christus der ist mein Leben, PWC 376, was probably part of the now lost Musikalische Sterbens-Gedanken (Musical Thoughts on Death) published in Erfurt in after Pachelbel’s first wife, Barbara Gabler, and their only child succumbed to an epidemic in September of 1683. The partita consists of 12 variations on Christus der is mein Leben, a chorale frequently sung at funerals. The first verse of the chorale: Christus der ist mein Leben,/Sterben ist mein Gewinn;/Dem tu ich mich ergeben,/Mit Fried fahr ich dahin. Christ is my life,/ Death is my gain;/ I give myself to him, / I depart hence with joy. Many of the variations are somewhat subdued or filled with a bittersweet melancholy, but the last three variations turn into an ever more jubilant dance in gigue rhythm, perhaps depicting the joyful departure described in the chorale. The Suite in g, PWC 422, begins with a beautifully expressive allemande, and ends with a jubilant gigue. The quirky ballet dance between the courante and sarabande makes me smile.

The program continues with a set of pieces recorded on the Silbermann organ at the Petrikirche in Freiberg, lead off by the whimsical Toccata in g, PWC 466. I especially enjoy the “broken-record” moment beginning at 1:23 when the right hand sounds as if it is trapped before finally escaping to conclude the piece. The Fuga in c, PWC 152, while not long is certainly noble. It is played here on the Silbermann’s fittingly august reeds. Herr Gott dich loben alle Wir, PWC 183, is among the first works of Pachelbel’s I learned in my youth. In this prelude, the chorale melody appears boldly in the bass, each entrance preceded by fore-imitation. O Mensch bewein dein Sünde groß, PWC 396, likewise features the chorale melody played in the bass but the effect is quite different here. Instead of the resolute nature so common in this type of chorale prelude, Pachelbel turns to a doleful melancholy fitting the text of the chorale. In Wo Gott zum Haus nicht gibt sein Gunst, PWC 512, yet another prelude with the chorale tune in the bass, Pachelbel returns to a firm presentation of the chorale melody in the pedal division against two joyful rollicking voices in the manuals.

The disc concludes with one last offering from the Putz/ Egedacher organ at Schlägl, this time featuring the Magnificat sexti toni, PWC 334, 326. Records of vespers services in Nürnberg hint that Pachelbel frequently began and ended Magnificat performances with either written or improvised toccatas, so I chose to couple this set of Magnificat fugues together with both an improvised toccata as well as Pachelbel’s joyous Toccata in F, PWC 463. My improvised toccata is not entirely unlike the sort of meandering writing found in Pachelbel’s Fantasie in E-flat, PWC 127 (recorded on disc 1 of this set). The last fugue of the Magnificat combines the fugue subject from the previous two fugues forming a singularly powerful double fugue. The recording ends as it began with a Toccata in F played at Schlägl.

Andrus Madsen
Andrus Madsen was born in Provo, Utah, in 1969. He began his music studies at the piano at the age of nine, and by his early teens he was actively exploring the repertoire of the Baroque. At fourteen he began organ studies with Douglas E. Bush. Under Doug Bush’s tutelage he also developed an improvisational style in the language of late 17th-century northern Europe. He studied harpsichord with Arthur Haas, and clavichord and fortepiano with Peter Sykes. He holds a BM degree in organ performance from Brigham Young University, an MM degree in musicology and MA and DMA degrees in harpsichord performance from the Eastman School of Music. He currently resides in Newton, Massachusetts, where he is the Minister of Music at Second Church in Newton. He is the director and founder of the ensemble Newton Baroque, and plays with les Tourbillon, Saltarello, La Sylva, and also appears from time to time with A Far Cry, and Open Gate. He strives to play written repertoire as if he is improvising, while his improvisations often sound as if they had been notated.

The Instruments
Putz / Egedacher organ, Stift Schlägl, Austria
This instrument was built in 1634 by Andreas Putz of Passau. A fire in 1702 damaged the instrument and Johann Christoph Egedacher, also of Passau, was hired to repair and expand the instrument, a project he finished in 1708. In 1989, Orgelmakerij Gebr. Reil of Heerde, The Netherlands, restored the organ to its disposition as of 1708.
Hauptwerk
Principal 8’
Copl 8’
Octave 4’
Spitzfletten 4’
Quint 3’
Superoctav 2’
Mixtur VII-X
Cimbl II
Pusaundl 8’

Unterpositiv
Copl 8’
Principal 4’
Flauta 4’
Octave 2’
Quinta 1-1/3’
Cimbalum III

Pedal
Principal 16’
Octav 8’
Octav 4’
Mixtur V
Großpusaun 16’
Octavpusaun 8’
Manual Compass, C-c’’’ short octave
Pedal Compass, C-b short octave
Tuned in 1/5-comma meantone Pitch: a=445 Hz

Compenius / Rühle organ, Michaelis Kirche, Erfurt, Germany
Having just finished building the organ in the Predigerkirche (Pachelbel’s church), Ludwig Compenius built an organ in the Michaeliskirche, completing it in 1652. In the 1750s the organ was moved and altered by Wagner. In the 1890s the organ was rebuilt, leaving only the exceptional case and prospect pipes intact. In 2000, Rühle Orgelbau built a new organ in the case, using the original prospect pipes and approximating the Compenius organ’s 17th-century disposition. Hauptwerk
Prinzipal 8’
Rohrflöte 8’
Oktave 4’
Oktave 2’
Mixtur III

Rückpositiv
Gedackt 8’
Prinzipal 4’
Rohrflöte 4’
Oktave 2’
Zimbel 2’
Krummhorn 8’
Sesquialter I-II

Pedal
Subbaß 16’
Oktavbaß 8’
Posaunenbaß 16’
Manual Compass C,D-c’’’
Pedal Compass C,D-c’ T
uned in 1/6-comma meantone
Pitch: a=466.2Hz

Gottfried Silbermann Organ, Petrikirche, Freiberg, Germany
In 1728 the Petrikirche was badly damaged in a fire and, by 1734, the church had hired Gottfried Silbermann to build a new organ. At the time he was also working on an organ for the Frauenkirche in Dresden, but that project became delayed and Silbermann was able to concentrate on the organ for the Petrikirche, finishing the instrument for its dedication in October, 1735. The organ was mildly altered during the 19th century, its pitch and temperament changed and some stops altered or replaced. In 2007 the instrument was restored collaboratively by two Dresden firms, Jehmlich Orgelbau and Orgelwerkstatt Wegscheider, its pitch raised back to a=466.2 , and tuned in the temperament described in 1732 by Neidhardt as “Für die kleine Stadt.”
Hauptwerk
Principal 16’
Octav Principal 8’
Viol di Gamba 8’
Rohr-Flöte 8’
Octava 4’
Spitz-Flöte 4’
Qvinta 3’
Octava 2’
Tertia aus 2’
Cornet IV
Mixtur IV
Cymbel III
Fachott 16’
Trompete 8’

Oberwerk
Qvintadena 16’
Principal 8’
Gedackts 8’
Qvintadena 8’
Octava 4’
Rohr-Flöte 4’
Nassat 3’
Octava 2’
Qvinta 1-1/3’
Sufflöt 1’
Sechst Qvint 4/5 ’
Mixtur III
Vox humana 8’

Pedal
Groß Untersatz 32’
Principal Bass 16’
Octaven Bass 8’
Possaune 16’
Trompete 8’
Manual Compass C,D-c’’’
Pedal Compass C,D-c’
Tuned in Neidhardt “Kleinstadt”

Robert Hicks Flemish Double Harpsichord
This instrument, built in 1990, imitates the “ravalement” style very popular in France in the late 17th century and into the 18th., during which an early 17th-century Flemish harpsichord (typically built by the Ruckers family) would be updated, making it suitable for more modern taste. Such instruments straddle stylistic boundaries and carry stylistic traits of both the early and middle baroque.
Compass GG-d’’’
Tuned in 1/4-comma meantone
Pitched: a=415 Hz 2x8’ 1x4’ buff

Christopher Clarke Double-Fretted Clavichord
This clavichord was built in 1974 and is typical of the clavichords built in southern Germany around 1700. While the instrument is fairly quiet it can be quite expressive. The gentle expression of the clavichord is ideally suited to the intimacy of domestic performance which was the norm during Pachelbel’s lifetime.
Compass C-d’’’
“Well Tempered”
Pitch: a=415

$Johann Pachelbel Works Andrus Madsen, organ, harpsichord, clavichord 2 CDs for the Price of One Writes Pipedreams host Michael Barone: \"Sublime!! . . . marvelous performances.\"$
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