Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer (1665-1746)
Prélude n° 8
Chaconne
Suite Uranie
Suite Euterpe

Johann Kaspar Kerll (1627-1693)
Toccata n° 1
Toccata n° 8
Capriccio sopra il Cucu
Ciaconda
Canzona
Ricercata in Cilyndrum
Passacaglia
Battaglia

Rui Fernandes Soares, orgue

Le son de ce disque comportant quelques œuvres choisies de Fischer et Kerll, compositeurs baroques allemands, est d’un timbre et d’une qualité incroyable ! Le caractère frais et coloré des pièces sélectionnées est renforcé par l’instrument choisi : un orgue d’Arp Schnitger, joyau de la facture d’orgue, retrouvé et restauré dans l’église du monastère de Moreira au Portugal. Voyons d’abord Fischer : un prélude, une chaconne et quelques mouvements de deux de ses neufs suites pour claviers Musicalisher Parnassus sont ici proposées. Le compositeur y mêle le style orchestral français à celui allemand et semble inviter à une réflexion musicale sur les muses qu’il a choisies pour dénommer ses suites. Son répertoire, habituellement joué au clavecin, présente de nombreuses similarités (dans le style des variations par exemple) avec des œuvres pour orgue de Buxtehude ou de Bach. Ensuite Kerll : toccata, cantate, passacaille, ricercar et bataille sont ici retenues où Kerll montre sa maîtrise du style concertant italien et espagnol, allié à une technique de contrepoint très développée et qui sont particulièrement mis en valeur par l’interprétation de Soares. (Mathieu Niezgoda)

Fischer was likely Bohemian, specifically from Scho¨nfeld, Carlsbad (now Krásno, Karlovy Vary in the far west of historical Bohemia), and was a very influential musician and composer in his day. Little is known of his career until the 1690s, when he was named capellmeister to Ludwig Wihelm of Baden, where he remained until his death at Rastatt. His largest and perhaps most significant work is the Musicalischer Parnassus of 1738, a collection of a great number of keyboard pieces organized into nine suites. In it, Fischer combines the French orchestral style with the German style. Each of the suites is named for one of the nine Muses. This recording features movements from the Urania and Euterpe suites, along with a Prelude and Chaconne from his remaining oeuvre. This repertoire is usually associated with the harpsichord and rarely performed on the organ, yet there are similarities with the “variations” style so often employed by Buxtehude and Bach in organ works. Kerll, the son of an organist and organ maker from Adorf in the south-west Saxon part of historic Vogtland, showed musical promise from a very early age. He travelled to Vienna to study under Valentini, then capellmeister at the Viennese Imperial Court, and he converted to Catholicism, which later led him to Rome where he likely had contact with Carissimi and Frescobaldi. He was named principal musical director to Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria, in 1656 and became one of the most acclaimed composers of his day. His influence on Handel and J.S. Bach is notable. His works display a mastery of the Italian concertante style and highly developed contrapuntal technique.