Matt Rhodes wrote:
> Thanks for including the Hamburg video; I have a wonderful recording of Heinz Wunderlich playing Bach there (one of my favorites), but I had never actually seen any photographs.  I seem to recall that Barbara Owen discussed in her Biggs biography that he had wanted to record there, but that the resident organist at the time had exclusive recording rights, and EPB was never able to cut any tracks (if I understand correctly).  
Actually, Biggs did record the Toccata in d on that instrument on that 
one album featuring the Toccata played some 14 times on different 
historic instruments (concluding with the toccata *and* fugue at the 
Royal Festival Hall, London).

The Wunderlich album you're referring to may have been the one with the 
Toccata in d, the "Wedge", the Passacaglia, and the Toccata in F - 
issued originally on the Cantate label in the 60's, it was available for 
a time on a Nonesuch reissue in the US. It was certainly interesting to 
me at the time, and one of the first times I heard an unequal 
temperament (probably one milder than the current modified meantone). 
This of course was before the more historically-informed restoration in 
1993 by Ahrend.

It's been fascinating to see the John Scott Whiteley videos on historic 
German organs. I wonder who's behind these - were they made just for 
YouTube? Somebody worked pretty hard to get inside video shots of the 
organ and action, all the special effects, etc.

I must say, though, the performance of the Bach D Major at the 
Jakobkirche is verrrry interesting and raises a number of questions. 
Because of the modified meantone, the sections in F-sharp are *very* 
excruciating - talk about out of tune thirds! The big question (not 
fully answerable) is: did Bach want it to sound this wild? Is this one 
of those pieces he would have used to annoy Silbermann when he 
supposedly said, "You tune it any way you want, and I'll play in any key 
I want", thereupon starting an F-sharp minor improv!?! Was it written to 
sound that wacky in the more conservative temperaments he would have 
encountered?

And of course the whole question of whether Bach and Schnitger go 
together that well is now in question anyway, despite Bach's tryout for 
the Hamburg position in his earlier days.

John Seboldt
Milwaukee, WI
http://portal.seboldt.net

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