Holy Spirit Bach on prominent original instrument

A Bach disc recorded on one of the Bach area’s best preserved 18th century organs always piques the interest. Here, Bach’s music is coupled, slightly incongruously, with music from the Hanseatic north by Reincken and Scheidemann, and more promisingly, with music by the performer. Ann-Helena Schlüter is active as a pianist, organist, poet and composer, and the most interesting material here is perhaps her own work, which reveals creative use of the historic instrument within a modernist musical jacket. Some programme notes would have been welcome. Bach’s D minor trio sonata reveals just how appropriate Trost’s wealth of 8ft colour seems for chamber music textures. However, all is not well with Schlüter’s Bach playing more broadly, not least thanks to a general instability of pulse, punctuated by more fundamental and bizarre changes of underlying tempo. BWV 652, for example, commits the cardinal sin of collapsing at the ‘Alleluia’ (bar 187). The D minor Fugue BWV 565 dies an even more dramatic death from a seriously unwise crochet = c.115 to crochet = c.90 at the demi-semiquaver scales (bar 85). The Passacaglia, meanwhile is fatally compromised by the rallentandi inserted at the end of each variation., the sudden accelerando at bar 80, etc. In addition, Schlüter’s over-active and inconsistent articulation is incompatible with the dry acoustic and frequently leads to over accenting. Recording a Bach disc on this most significant of historic organs calls for a level of experience and musical maturity Ann-Helena Schlüter is, as yet, unable to master.

Eine CD-Produktion sollte einen roten Faden, eine Idee haben, damit sie Interessenten zunächst vordergründig anspricht. In diesem Fall ist es das Instrument, eine Orgel aus dem Atelier von Tobias Heinrich Gottfried Trost, der von Johann Sebastian Bach sehr geschätzt wurde.

In der Stadtkirche von Waltershausen steht eine Trost-Orgel, die größte Barockorgel in Thüringen, auf der Ann-Helena Schlüter ihr Programm eingespielt hat.

Die Organistin profitiert von den starken tiefen Registern, die als wunderbares Fundament dienen. Auf diesem festen Bass-Grund kann sich die Bach’sche Kunst in ihrer ganzen Blüte entfalten. Ann-Helena Schlüter erweist sich als wunderbare Klanggestalterin, die bei aller Kraft des Instrumentes immer transparent bleibt. So formen sich auch ihre eigenen Kompositionen Rapture und Shades zu einem raffinierten Kontrast zu den alten Meistern.

Im Booklet ist von herber Wucht und spielerischer Leichtigkeit die Rede. Letzteres kann man für diese Interpretationen sicher gelten lassen. Die herbe Wucht hingegen erleben wir eher als barocken Glanz gleichsam dem Bach’schen Motto: Soli Deo Gloria.

A CD production should have a common thread, an idea, so that it initially appeals to interested parties superficially. In this case it is the instrument, an organ made by Tobias Heinrich Gottfried Trost, who was held in high esteem by Johann Sebastian Bach.In the town church of Waltershausen there is a Trost organ, the largest baroque organ in Thuringia, on which Ann-Helena Schlüter recorded her program.The organist benefits from the strong low registers, which serve as a wonderful ground. On this firm bass foundation, Bach’s art can unfold in its full bloom. Ann-Helena Schlüter proves to be a wonderful sound designer who always remains transparent despite all the power of the instrument. Thus her own compositions Rapture and Shades form a refined contrast to the old masters.The booklet speaks of harsh force and playful lightness. The latter can certainly be applied to these interpretations. The harsh force, on the other hand, we experience rather as baroque splendor, as it were, the Bachian motto: Soli Deo Gloria.