R Schumann Six Fugues on B-A-C-H, Op. 60; Six Studies in Canonic Form, Op. 56; Four Sketches, Op. 58 Tom Winpenny (organ) Naxos 8.574432 63:20 mins
When Schumann seized on a medium there was no holding back. In 1840, having previously shunned the composition of songs he suddenly produced some 140 in the space of a year. His admiration for JS Bach, however, had never been doubted, and in 1845, experiencing a ‘passion for fugues’, he consolidated his first-hand knowledge of Bachian counterpoint by working his way through a contrapuntal primer by Cherubini. He also acquired a pedal-board attachment for his piano, encouraging the enhanced possibilities of a left hand freed from responsibility for furnishing a bass line. The result was three sets of pieces for pedal-piano, now more usually performed on the organ – Schumann himself designating Op. 60 for either instrument.
Whether all the music works equally well on the ‘King of Instruments’ is a moot point. The Six Fugues on B-A-C-H certainly benefit from the organ’s ability to sustain notes. The flowing two-part invention over a harmony-defining bass that launches the six canonic studies oozes charm, nurtured by Winpenny’s liquid, flutey registration and easeful tempo. The Four Sketches, however, often sound like ambushed piano music, and generally sit less idiomatically.
Winpenny’s choice of instrument – completed not long after Schuman’s death – is less characterful than that of Odense Cathedral played by Kevin Bowyer for Op. 60, but Winpenny earths the noble gravity of the first ‘Bach’ fugue; braves a brisk tempo for the pugnacious rollercoaster second; and sparkles in the gigue-like No. 5.
Paul Riley