Johann Ludwig Krebs (1713-1780)
Keyboard Works, Volume 6
Steven Devine, harpsichord
Resonus Classics RES10376 (70’50)
Sechs Preambulis (Vier Pieces, Part 1, 1740)
Suite No. 5 in F Major, (Clavier-Übung, Part IV, 1746) Krebs-WV 811
Suite in A Minor ‘nach dem heutigen Gusto’ (Vier Pieces, Part 2, 1741) Krebs-WV 819
The twice-extended series of recordings of the complete harpsichord works of Johann Ludwig Krebs (Bach’s ‘favourite pupil’) has reached what now seems to be its conclusion with the release of the sixth and (we are, perhaps rashly, promised) the final volume. This disc focuses on the first two parts of the Krebs collection ‘Vier Pieces’, dating from 1740/41. Krebs had left the Leipzig Bach circle in 1737 to become organist at the Marienkirche in Zwickau. The organ was in poor condition, and Krebs’ efforts to commission a new Silbermann failed. He stayed until 1744 by which time he had married and had his first child. He also wrote a lot of music during that time, including the Vier Pieces.
Renaissance period and the start of the Baroque. Born in 1562, he was employed by the city of Amsterdam as organist of the Oude Kerk for 44 years until his death in 1621. Organ music in the Calvanist church was limited to occasional playing of pieces to familiarise the congregation with the choral melodies, before or after the service, but not during. So Sweelinck’s duties as city organist were generally to give concerts for the public and visitors. This have him time to build up an extensive teaching practice, attracting a generation of North German organists who returned to develop the influential Hamburg organ school that dominated the 17th century, culminating in the music Buxtehude in nearby Lübeck. His music was known throughout northern Europe, with two of his pieces includrf within the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book.
Andrew Benson-Wilson : Early Music Reviews + 