Early Music nr. 34 (2006)

Early keyboard

[...] A really successful matching of composer, player, instrument and tuning is achieved on Praetorius: Organ works (Ramée RAM 0402, rec 2003, 77'). Léon Berben plays the music of Jacob Praetorius on the Hans Scherer organ in the St Stephanskirche, Tangermünde. This is a well-researched and tasteful presentation of little-known works by this composer, and includes a useful bibliography. Like Scheidemann, his Hamburg contemporary, Jacob Praetorius (no apparent relation to Michael) was a student of Sweelinck and adopted much of his teacher's style and technique of playing. The Scherer organ has retained much of its original specification, with pipework which would certainly infringe new EU legislation, being of almost 100 per cent lead. The pitch of the instrument is a' = 486, it is tuned in meantone temperament, and the sound is splendid.
This is a CD where everything comes together — fine playing and an instrument which enhances the music. The performer apologizes, in my opinion unnecessarily, for the Abs which occur in the title piece ‘Von allen Menschen abgewandt’ — the tuning favours G#s — but these are in passing, and merely add some gentle spice to the texture. The presence of the Abs is interesting, though; was the organ in the mind of the composer equipped with split keys, or with the title of the piece in mind, was the composer indulging in a rhetorical nuance? [...]

Paul Simmonds