Régis Rousseau - Pachelbel: Organ Music (1999)

The listener in search of J.S. Bach's musical ancestors gets presented with various relevant names, but that of Johann Pachelbel is seldom among them. This recording by Québec organist Régis Rousseau makes a strong case for Pachelbel's inclusion on the list -- and for investigating the works of this composer beyond the ubiquitous Canon in D major. It's not just that, as the notes point out, the organ genres are familiar to us from Bach: there are a quasi-improvisatory prelude and toccata (entertainingly described as "freestyle" pieces), a chorale partita, and numerous examples of the chorale prelude, along with the more old-fashioned chaconne and ricercar to which Bach sometimes returned just because he could. Pachelbel also reminds one of Bach in his tendency to design large formal structures and fill them in very densely (a tendency illustrated by the famous Canon as well). He also handles chromatic harmony with aplomb. Sample the last of the three ricercars included, in C minor (track 5), with a chromatic theme Bach wouldn't have thought unworthy. Or try the guess-the-composer game with any of the chorale preludes; it'll take a true student of the Baroque not to place them in Bach's catalog or those of composers closer to his immediate circle. Organist Rousseau, playing on a modern instrument in an Anglican church in downtown Montreal, brings both gravity and lyricism to the music -- another Bachian combination. Recommended to anyone curious about what else Pachelbel wrote besides the Canon.