Jill Crossland - J.S. Bach: Keyboard Works (2021)

The four works on this disc exemplify the two sides of Bach’s compositional journey – a continual experimentation, aggregation and integration of different European styles, and the evolution of an entirely personal synthesis. Little more need be said here about Johann Sebastian Bach or his music!

Jill Crossland is from West Yorkshire and studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, and later in Vienna with Paul Badura-Skoda and Sally Sargent. She now pursues an active concert and recording career.

Jill has played regularly on the South Bank and at the Wigmore Hall in London and at the Sage Gateshead; her appearances have also included Bridgewater Hall, St George’s Bristol, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Vienna Musikverein, Vienna Konzerthaus, Cadogan and Fairfield Halls and the National Concert Hall, Dublin. She has been a member of the Arts Council England Musicians in Residence scheme, and she has appeared on radio and TV, including live and recorded broadcasts on BBC Radios 3 and 4 and has featured in the Classic FM Hall of Fame.

Jill’s recordings include works by Bach, Handel, Scarlatti, Mozart and Beethoven for the Divine Art and Diversions labels, as well as the Bach Goldberg Variations on Warner Classics and works by Rameau and the complete Bach “Well-tempered Clavier” for Signum Classics. Her recordings have received high critical praise on both sides of the Atlantic. Among many critical plaudits, her Bach Well-tempered Clavier has been described as “among the most satisfying recent releases of [his] keyboard music” (Rob Cowan BBC Radio 3) and “rank[ing] with the finest previous versions, altogether a remarkable achievement” (Penguin Guide to CDs) and her Beethoven as “magnetic” and “delightful” by American Record Guide.