Johann Ludwig Krebs (1713 – 1780)
Keyboard Works Volume 3 & 4
Steven Devine, harpsichord
Resonus Classics RES10329 (77’30) & RES10344 (63’50)

Steven Devine continues his crustation-inspired (Krebs = crayfish or crab) series of recordings of Krebs’ keyboard works with Volumes 3 and 4. They follow the two earlier recordings reviewed here (Volume 1) and here (Volume 2). I understand there will now be two further CDs after the originally planned series of four, an essential and welcome addition needed to cover Krebs’ known harpsichord works. I should repeat the warning I gave in earlier reviews of this series that it only represents a part of Krebs’ keyboard music. The programme note essay gives the far more accurate ’Works for Harpsichord’ title. The works for organ fill another 7 full-sized CDs. Many of Krebs’ organ compositions show a direct Bach influence, often to a specific piece that Krebs then expands, often to enormous length and complexity. That is far less apparent in the harpsichord works on this recording, although the Bach-inspired moments are fairly easy to spot.

Volume 3 opens with the expansive ten-movement Partita VI in E-flat major (Krebs-WV 827a). It is the sixth of three Partitas surviving from a probable set of six. There are two versions, an immaculately drafted autograph copy and a later very different version from a manuscript by JG Walther with additional movements and many changes to the existing movements. As is often the case with Walther’s manuscripts it is not always certain that he really followed the composers’ intentions fully, but Steven Devine’s performance of the Walther version is compelling. The reduction in ornamentation, for example, in the Sarabande reflects a possible change in Krebs’ style between the two versions. The opening Präludium starts in a style reminiscent of his teacher Bach but quickly develops into a free fantasia with freely improvised chords and a relatively strict fugal section. The other movements display a wide range of musical styles, some reflecting Bach influence, other looking forward to developing styles.

That stylistic advance is far more evident in the Six Keyboard Sonatas (Krebs-WV 832-837), here given their world premiere recording. They were found during the historic restoration of the archive of the Sing-Akademie from Kyiv to Berlin after its removal to Ukraine during the war in 1943. They show a move away from the late Baroque Bach style towards a Galant simplicity, with predominantly two-part writing, and a more restrained harmonic development. They resemble the compositions of Bach’s son Carl Philipp Emmanuel but only occasionally reflect his more daring harmonies. They are all in three movements, all but one with a central Andante enclosed by jovial faster movements. Steven Devine’s playing relishes their charm.

Volume 4 features parts two and three of the Clavier-Übung (keyboard exercises): a four-part publication published around 1744 in Nurenberg. They are made up, respectively, of the lengthy eleven-movement Suite and Six jolly three-movement Sonatinas. They demonstrate Krebs’ development as a keyboard composer and the links with JS Bach and the new style of Bach’s sons. In this context, it is worth remembering that Krebs was just three years older than Wilhelm Friedemann and one year younger than Carl Philipp Emmanuel and in his youth spent around eleven years as an integral part of the Bach household.

The Suite opens with an exuberant Prelude very much in the Bach style of rollicking along until it suddenly stops. It is followed by an equally upbeat Fugue. The other movements (some of which are also rollicking) are rather more in the style of Bach’s sons, WF and CPE Bach. The Six Sonatinas (which, incidentally, might be the first use of such a term) show musical advances from the Volume 3 Sonatas, not least in the wide variety of their movement titles. Steven Devine adopts a brisk pace for many of the movements but just about manages to avoid sounding rushed.

Both recordings use the same double-manual harpsichord by Colin Booth (2000), based on a 1710 single-manual by Johann Christof Fleischer in Hamburg. The pitch is a=415Hz and the temperament is based on Werckmeister III (1691). They are available from Steven Devine’s own website, along with many others.