The Squid's Ear Magazine


Bach, Johann Sebastian: Musikalisches Opfer (Edition Rz)

1949 recording of Bach's "Musical Offering", with conductor Hermann Scherchen leading soloists of the Berlin Radio Symphony in an arrangement written by Swiss organist Roger Vuataz.
 

Price: $14.95



Quantity:

In Stock

Quantity in Basket: None

Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 3.00 units

Sample The Album:





product information:

Personnel:



Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin-orchestra

Hermann Scherchen-conductor


Click an artist name above to see in-stock items for that artist.




Label: Edition Rz
Catalog ID: ed. Rz 60001
Squidco Product Code: 14236

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 1993
Country: Germany
Packaging: Cardstock foldover
Recorded on January 30th, 1949 in Berlin.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Falling into the real oddity category is this 1949 recording of Bach's Musical Offering, with conductor Hermann Scherchen leading soloists of the Berlin Radio Symphony in an arrangement written by Swiss organist Roger Vuataz. The Musical Offering is, like the Art of Fugue, a semi-conceptual work, with instrumentation, and even the ordering of sections, only partly specified; it consists of a series of contrapuntal treatments of a theme given to Bach by King Frederick the Great of Prussia.

The work certainly appealed to Scherchen, who spoke of "realizations" rather than interpretations of works and would, one suspects, have been pleased by the current trend toward substantial recastings of compositions. Scherchen's Bach performances in general were unique: his was neither the Romantic Bach of old, nor a harbinger of the incipient historical performance movement. He treated Bach as an intellectual, rather dry modernist, and since the Vuataz arrangement of the Musical Offering takes a similar approach, the recording hangs together.

Vuataz arranges the work for oboe, violin, English horn, viola, cello, and bassoon. Different instruments are used in each movement, with the winds predominating, until all the forces come together for the six-part ricercar at the end. The shifts in timbre are a little distracting just because one has never heard anything quite like them before, but really they're no more extreme than a shift in registration on the organ. The texture clarifies Bach's complex polyphony.

One noteworthy aspect of this release is the expertly remastered 1949 sound, which shows just how good recorded sound got at the end of the 78 rpm era. There isn't a trace of hiss. This is not a pick for those looking for a first Musical Offering, but those fascinated by this major product of Bach's intellect, and interested in its resonances through history, should investigate this disc."-James Manheim, All Music


Get additional information at All Music

Artist Biographies

Related Categories of Interest:


Compositional Forms
Historical Recordings


Track Listing:



1. Ricercare A 3, Oboe, Corno Inglese, Fagotto 6:33

2. Canone Perpetuus, Violino, Viola, Violoncello 1:00

3. Canone A 2, Violino I, Violino II 0:30

4. Canone A 32, Violino I, Violino II, Violoncello 1:13

5. Canone Per Motum Contrarium, Oboe, Violino, Viola 1:04

6. Canone Per Tonos, Corno Inglese, Viola, Violoncello 2:32

7. Fuga Canonica, Flauto, Clavicembalo 2:32

8. Canone A 2, Corno Inglese, Fagotto 0:56

9. Canone A 2, Corno Inglese, Fagotto 0:59

10. Canone Per Aungmentationesm, Contrarium Motu, Violino, Corno Inglese, Viola 1:29

11. Canone Perpetuo, Flauto, Violino, Violoncello, Clavicembalo 1:13

12. Canone A 4, Oboe, Violino, Fagotto, Violoncello 2:00

13. Trio (Flauto, Violino, Violoncello, Clavicembalo) - Largo 5:33

14. Trio (Flauto, Violino, Violoncello, Clavicembalo) - Allegro 7:04

15. Trio (Flauto, Violino, Violoncello, Clavicembalo) - Andante 2:44

16. Trio (Flauto, Violino, Violoncello, Clavicembalo) - Allegro 3:32

17. Trio (Flauto, Violino, Violoncello, Clavicembalo) - Largo 7:54

Related Categories of Interest:


Compositional Forms
Historical Recordings

Search for other titles on the label:
Edition Rz.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Other Recommended Releases:
Ullmann, Jakob
fremde zeit addendum 4
(Edition Rz)
An extract from Berlin composer Jakob Ullman's 2012 3-CD box set on Edition Rz, presenting "solo III for organ" (1992/1993), an hour long work of tone and tension performed by Hans-Peter Schulz at the Big Organ in Abteikirche Neresheim.
Reudenbach, Michael
szenen, standbilder; werke 1991-2009 [2 CDS]
(Edition Rz)
German composer Michael Reudenbach's works and studies from 1991-2009 are presented in a six-panel digipack with a 22-page booklet of images and photos, and notes in German and English.
Various Artists
30 Jahre Inventionen 1982-2012 [2 CDs + DVD]
(Edition Rz)
Two re-releases of Edition RZ LPs that are now available in this double CD box with additional tracks, as well as a mainly acousmatic DVD that features electronic tracks by a variety of electroacoustic composers.
Ullmann, Jakob
fremde zeit addendum [3 CDs]
(Edition Rz)
A 3 CD box with new recordings of composer Jakob Ullmann's works, recorded between 2008-2011, including "disappearing musics for six players (more or less)", "komposition fur streichquartett 2", &c.



Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought:
Smith, Wadada Leo / Henry Kaiser / Alex Varty
Pacifica Koral Reef
(577 Records)
Interpreting trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith's Ankhrasmation graphic score--the term joining the Egyptian symbol for life, the Ethiopian word for leader and the universal term for mother--Smith and guitarists Alex Varty & Henry Kaiser use the rich combination of visual cues and musical notation to record this rapturous and unduplicable album of profound and engaging improvisation.
Leith, Oliver / George Barton / Siwan Rhys
Good Day Good Day Bad Day Bad Day
(Another Timbre)
UK composer Oliver Leith presents a work in 8 movements for piano, keys and percussion performed by Siwan Rhys (keys) and George Barton, an invocation of everyday life through a personal and often idiosyncratic orchestration reflective of personal ritual & habits; our good and our irrational, often contradictory impetus, portrayed through quirky and embraceable episodes.
Grady, Kraig
Monument Of Diamonds
(Another Timbre)
Microtonal composer Kraig Grady in a work for specially adapted brass instruments (Kris Tiner, trumpets; Subhraag Singh-saxophones; Emmett Kim Narushima-trombones) and organ (Terumi Narushima) using a the Meta-Slendro tuning, an obscure 17-tone scale, to create an expansive and organic work assembled from recordings of each musician playing meditations on single notes.
Rodrigues / Rodrigues / Faustino / Pinheiro / Carneiro
The Book of Spirals
(Creative Sources)
Not your average Creative Sources releases, the father/son collaboration of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola and Guilherme Rodrigues on cello are joined by 2/3 of Red Trio — Hernani Faustino on double bass and Rodrigo Pinheiro on piano — with Pedro Carneiro on marimba, for an impressively active set of Swirling, Whirling and Twirling improvisations.
Filip, Klaus / Moe Kamura
Passagein
(Winds Measure)
ppooll sound artist Klaus Filip and Japanese experimental vocalist Moe Kamura (10Tet, Taku Sugimoto) in a two-part improvisation of electronic tones, textures, silence, and minimalist vocalization and utterance, Filip using a dynamic frequency palette inspiring Kamura's wordless expression; lowercase or Onkyo, a meditative and moody work.
Tim Barnes
DEAD-LOOP [VINYL]
(Amish Records)
Percussionist, Quakebasket label leader, and experimental sound artist Tim Barnes both subverts and respect the forms of electronica by turning it on its side, extracting unusual rhythms and structures from rhythmic elements and samples, at times following conventional direction and then breaking off into Barne's instinctive drive for abstraction and diversion.
Hurd, Judson
Trouble Will Cause (A True Crime Documentary)
(Bad Architect Records)
The original motion picture soundtrack for a true crime documentary about the Lawson Family Murders on Christmas Day in 1929 from pianist and sonic experimenter Judson Hurd, presenting six tracks that accompany the movie through dark and mysterious passages of keys, synth and percussive tones; the profits of each copy sold will benefit victims of Hurricane Florence.
DNMF (Machinefabriek + Dead Neanderthals)
Smelter [VINYL]
(Moving Furniture)
The DNMF collaboration of Netherland's sonic experimenter Machinefabriek (Rutger Zuydervelt) and the Dead Neanderthals duo of saxophonist Otto Kokke and drummer Rene Aquarius, in their second album of heavy, droning style, reveling in a resonant, high-volume, long-form work of hypnotic sound merging metal, drone and dark ambience.
Ullmann, Jakob
Muntzers Stern, Solo II [2 CDs]
(Edition Rz)
Between 2014-16 Jakob Ullmann composed the orchestral work "steine, feuer, sterne" (stones, fire, stars) based on a modular structure, such that individual sections can be played outside of a complete performance, solo or in predetermined combinations; this album presents one section for solo bassoon titled "Muntzers stern" performed by Dafne Vicente-Sandoval.
CHANGES TO blind
evolvensume
(Squidco Records)
Collecting works from 2010-2017, Squidco's own Phil Zampino presents 10 tracks of electroacoustic composition sourced from studio work, live improvisation, field recordings, plunderphonics, and other indescribable approaches, a diverse set of recordings sharing a similar foreboding aesthetic and curious sonic desire.
Trespass Trio (Zanussi / Strid / Kuchen)
The Spirit of Pitesti
(Clean Feed)
Trespass trio with Martin Kuchen on saxophone, Per Zanussi on double bass, and Raymond Strid on drums & percussion, tell us instrumental narrative through compassionate, impassioned and unorthodox writing and playing, about Romania's Pitesti Prison, where for 4 years around 1950 totalarian authorities practiced brainwashing experiments on the inmates.
Braxton, Anthony
Quintet (Tristano) 2014 [7 CDs]
(New Braxton House)
Newly Distributed in 2021: Composer and jazz master Anthony Braxton performing on piano in a septet with saxophonists Jackson Moore and Andre Vida, bassist Eivind Opsvik and drummer Mike Szekely, exploring the compositions of Lennie Tristano plus peers Billy Bauer, Connie Crothers, Warne Marsh, Sal Mosca, &c.
DNMF (Rutger Zuydervelt / Kokke / Rene Aquarius)
DNMF [VINYL]
(Moving Furniture)
A collaborative release of Nijmegen's saxophone wielding grind duo of Rene Aquarius and Otto Kokke with sound artist Machinefabriek (Rutger Zuydervelt), tempering the duo's Ayleresque frenetic drive in response to Zuydervelt's long form drones.
Barlow, Clarence
Musica Derivata
(Hat [now] ART)
Composer Clarence Barlow, like Beethoven, builds his own labyrinths, brick by brick, and then searches for an escape by creating conceptual forms to get around the traps of time, tonality, and style.
DeRosa, Jon
Anchored
(Silber Records)
"Anchored" is the debut solo release for Jon DeRosa (Aarktica), a work of cinematic pop in a dark troubadour style reminiscent of Lou Reed or Robert Wyatt, with rich songs belying a quiet and dark lyrical violence.
Bang, Billy Survival Ensemble
Black Man's Blues / New York Collage [2 CDs]
(NoBusiness)
Never before released material from 1977 of Billy Bang's seminal NY loft band, Survival Ensemble: 2 CDs and a 40 page booklet of essays, images and flyers - essential!
Leandre, Joelle
Solo: Conversations With Franck Medioni [BOOK + CD + DVD]
(Kadima Triptych)
Frank Medioni interviewed bassist Joelle Leandre over two years at her home in Paris to create the narrative of this book; also included is a CD and DVD of two solo performances in Piednu and Guelph.
Lang, Klaus
Trauermusiken
(Edition Rz)
Two compositions by the young Austrian composer/organist Klaus Lang, who currently lives in Berlin, Germany.
Fujii, Satoko Orchestra New York
ETO
(Libra)
Satoko Fujii Orchestra New York in a work based on the Chinese zodiac, referred to as "Eto", in a celebration of husband and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura's 60th birthday, and of the 12 animals of the zodiac.
Fujii, Satoko Min-Yoh Ensemble
Watershed
(Libra)
After studying jazz and classical music, pianist Satoko Fujii became interested in Min-Yoh, which means folk music in Japanese; this is her 2nd lovely and powerful release with her Min-Yoh Ensemble.
Morris, Joe / Agusti Fernandez
Ambrosia
(Riti Records)
A state-of-the-art duo recording from two remarkable improvisers bridging New York and Spain - guitarist Joe Morris and pianist Agusti Fernandez - performing "Ambrosia" in 6 parts.
Hetu, Joane
Tryptique Musique d'hiver
(Ambiances Magnetiques)
A specially priced box set bringing together all three CDs from Joane Hetu of music about the winter: Musique d'hiver, Nouvelle musique d'hiver and Recits de neige.



The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC