Simone Stella - Zachow: Complete Organ Music (2021)

The industrious Simone Stella has produced critically acclaimed complete sets of keyboard music by Buxtehude, Bohm, Reincken, Walther, Froberger and Pachelbel. Now he ventures further off the beaten track with the complete surviving organ music of Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow (1663-1712), a Leipzig-born musician long known to posterity almost exclusively as the first and formative teacher of the prodigious George Frideric Handel. Over the course of Handel’s teenage years he became a proficient violinist and organist as well as composer, thanks to the efforts of Zachow, whose library included much of the best music then published in Europe.

His own music has remained undeservedly in the shadows, for Zachow can be counted among the most distinguished and original composers of keyboard music in the generation before J.S. Bach. There are three- and four-voice chorale settings and variations, devotional in spirit but full of lively contrasts. More ambitious are the chorale fugues and partitas, which demonstrate considerable ingenuity on Zachow’s part as he embeds the old themes within intricate textures while maintaining a vividly drawn musical line. Most interesting in this respect are the 12 variations on Jesu meine Freude, which inevitable invite and by no means suffer from comparison with Bach’s motet.

Zachow’s music evidently exploits the untempered tuning and the bright timbres of the instruments of his day, which Simone Stella has respected in his choice of a modern Pinchi organ at the Auditorium Varrone (former church of San Giorgio) in Rieti. With only a single rival recording available (at full price), Simone Stella’s new set commends itself to all collectors of Baroque organ music.
Tracklist
01. Praeludium in C Major, Lv.55
02. Ach Gott, Vom Himmel Sieh Darein, Lv.16
03. Ach Herr, Mich Armen Sünder, Lv.24
04. Allein Gott in Der Höh Sei Ehr, Lv.46
05. Allein Zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ, Lv.1
06. Allein Zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ, Lv.1A
07. Allein Zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ, Lv.25
08. Praeludium in C Major, Lv.53
09. Fugue in C Major, Lv.54
10. An Wasserflüssen Babylon, Lv.2
11. Auf Meinen Lieben Gott, Lv.26
12. Aus Tiefer Not Lasst Uns Zu Gott, Lv.27
13. Christ Lag in Todesbanden, Lv.47
14. Christ, Unser Herr, Zum Jordan Kam, Lv.3
15. Durch Adams Fall Ist Ganz Verderbt, Lv.17
16. Fantasia in D Major, Lv.63
17. Erbarm Dich Mein, O Herre Gott, Lv.18
18. Erbarm Dich Mein, O Herre Gott, Lv.28
19. Es Ist Das Heil Uns Kommen Her, Lv.29
20. Gelobet Seist Du, Jesu Christ, Lv.30
21. Herr Gott, Dich Loben Alle Wir, Lv.31
22. Herr Gott, Dich Loben Wir, Lv.4
23. Herr Jesu Christ, Wahr' Mensch Und Gott, Lv.32
24. Capriccio in D Minor, Lv.64
25. Ich Ruf Zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ, Lv.5
26. In Dich Hab Ich Gehoffet, Herr, Lv.33
27. In Dulci Jubilo, Lv.34
28. Jesaja, Dem Propheten, Das Geschah, Lv.48: I. Praeludium
29. Jesaja, Dem Propheten, Das Geschah, Lv.48: II. Fuga I
30. Jesaja, Dem Propheten, Das Geschah, Lv.48: III. Fuga II
31. Jesu, Der Du Meine Seele, Lv.6
32. Jesus Christus, Unser Heiland, Der Den Tod Überwand, Lv.35
33. Jesus Christus, Unser Heiland, Der Von Uns Den Gotteszorn Wandt, Lv.7
34. Jesus Christus, Unser Heiland, Der Von Uns Den Gotteszorn Wandt, Lv.19
35. Jesus Christus, Unser Heiland, Der Von Uns Den Gotteszorn Wandt, Lv.36
36. Praeludium in F Major, Lv.57
37. Prelude and Fugue in F Major, Lv.56
38. Choralpartita "Jesu, Meine Freude", Lv.49: I. Choral
39. Choralpartita "Jesu, Meine Freude", Lv.49: II. Variation 1
40. Choralpartita "Jesu, Meine Freude", Lv.49: III. Variation 2
41. Choralpartita "Jesu, Meine Freude", Lv.49: IV. Variation 3
42. Choralpartita "Jesu, Meine Freude", Lv.49: V. Variation 4
43. Choralpartita "Jesu, Meine Freude", Lv.49: Vi. Variation 5
44. Choralpartita "Jesu, Meine Freude", Lv.49: VII. Variation 6
45. Choralpartita "Jesu, Meine Freude", Lv.49: VIII. Variation 7
46. Choralpartita "Jesu, Meine Freude", Lv.49: IX. Variation 8
47. Choralpartita "Jesu, Meine Freude", Lv.49: X. Variation 9
48. Choralpartita "Jesu, Meine Freude", Lv.49: XI. Variation 10
49. Choralpartita "Jesu, Meine Freude", Lv.49: XII. Variation 11
50. Choralpartita "Jesu, Meine Freude", Lv.49: XIII. Variation 12
51. Prelude and Fugue in G Major, Lv.59
52. Komm, Gott Schöpfer, Heiliger Geist, Lv.37
53. Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott, Lv.20
54. Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott, Lv.38
55. Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott Lv.8
56. Mit Fried Und Freud Ich Fahr Dahin, Lv.9
57. Prelude and Fugue in G Major, Lv.60
58. Nun Komm, Der Heiden Heiland, Lv.21
59. Nun Komm, Der Heiden Heiland, Lv.10
60. Choralpartita "Nun Komm, Der Heiden Heiland", Lv.50: I. Versus 1
61. Choralpartita "Nun Komm, Der Heiden Heiland", Lv.50: II. Versus 2
62. Choralpartita "Nun Komm, Der Heiden Heiland", Lv.50: III. Versus 3
63. Choralpartita "Nun Komm, Der Heiden Heiland", Lv.50: IV. Versus 4
64. Nun Lasst Uns Gott Dem Herren, Lv.39
65. O Jesu Christ, Du Höchstes Gut, Lv.11
66. O Lamm Gottes, Unschuldig, Lv.40
67. Vater Unser Im Himmelreich, Lv.22
68. Fugue in G Major, Lv.62
69. Vom Himmel Hoch, da Komm Ich Her, Lv.51: I. Versus I
70. Vom Himmel Hoch, da Komm Ich Her, Lv.51: II. Versus II
71. Vom Himmel Hoch, da Komm Ich Her, Lv.42
72. Vom Himmel Hoch, da Komm Ich Her, Lv.41
73. Warum Betrübst Du Dich, Mein Herz?, Lv.52
74. Was Mein Gott Will, Das Gescheh Allzeit, Lv.23
75. Wenn Mein Stündlein Vorhanden Ist, Lv.12
76. Prelude and Fugue in G Major, Lv.58
77. Wer Gott Vertraut Und Auf Ihn Baut, Lv.13
78. Wie Schön Leuchtet Der Morgenstern, Lv.43
79. Wir Christenleut Habn Jetzund Freud, Lv.14
80. Wir Glauben All an Einen Gott, Lv.15
81. Wo Gott, Der Herr, Nicht Bei Uns Hält, Lv.44
82. Wo Gott, Der Herr, Nicht Bei Uns Hält, Lv.45
83. Fugue in G Major, Lv.61