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Bach: Toccatas
Edward Parmentier, harpsichord (Jacques Germain, Paris 1785). (WLBR 9402)

Edward Parmentier plays these rarely performed and recorded works with style, panache and assurance that places them squarely in their rightful historical context as the summation of the seventeenth century harpsichord toccata of Buxtehude and Weckmann, rather than "pre-Partitas" Bach.

The Jacques Germain (Johannes Goermanns) harpsichord of 1785 used on this recording is one of the best-sounding, best restored antique harpsichords playing, yielding brilliance, power and sweetness in a constantly shifting palette of timbral colors. It is more even through its registers than most late French double harpsichords, making it ideal for rendering the music of Bach. The tuning propounded by Andreas Werckmeister in 1695 is used throughout, giving to all the Toccatas a suitably variable range of sweetness to dissonance according to the tonal area being transversed. This is especially revealing in the F-sharp minor, which is often cited as evidence that Bach favored equal temperament; here a solution is proferred that renders the piece tonally beautiful and harmonically fascinating, within the parameters of historical tunings. A very exciting harpsichord recording.

Tracks

1. Toccata in F# Minor BWV 910
2. Toccata in C Minor BWV 911
3. Toccata in D Major BWV 912
4. Toccata in D Minor BWV 913
5. Toccata in E Minor BWV 914
6. Toccata in G Minor BWV 915
7. Toccata in G Major BWV 916