The first line of the notes to this release states “Why another recording of Bach’s Trio Sonatas?”. That’s a question I asked myself when I first received the CD. It seems that in the last year or so I have had my fill of them, from woodwind trio to organ to quintet. And now I get another hybrid, one that advertises prominently on the front cover that these are “performed on a diverse collection of period instruments”. Well, only if you consider the organ and harpsichord period instruments. In fact, four of the six are given on organ, two (nos. 4 and 5) are arranged either for harpsichord, flute, and cello, or harpsichord, violin, and viola da gamba. So this disc is not as radical as I supposed, especially if you believe (as the notes state) that most of these pieces were not intended for the organ (which I do not believe, considering Bach’s grouping of them together to be sufficient testimony that he did indeed intend them to be played by one instrument despite the disparate origins of many of the individual movements).
In fact the work may well have served as a pedagogical supplement for eldest son W.F. Bach, being composed of many different tempos, meters, and keys. But like so many of Bach’s works, we simply do care anymore about the origins, but revel in the music. Organist/harpsichordist Christa Rakich has played each of these in a different setting and on different organs, so we get a good sample of the color inherent in not only the various organs (some, like the Taylor & Boody Op. 14 at the Clifton Forge Baptist Church in Virginia sporting a fabulously delightful glockenspiel stop) but also in the music itself.
— Steven Ritter
