Johann Sebastian Bach. (Briefly Noted).(Morimur)

Johann Sebastian Bach. Morimur. Hilliard Ensemble; Christoph Poppen. ECM 289 461 895-2, 2001.

The theory behind this recording is somewhat controversial, and a recording whose purpose is to illustrate a musicological theory should always be regarded with healthy suspicion. Musicologist Helga Thoene has, for some years now, been making the argument that J. S. Bach wrote into some of his instrumental works an elaborate system of coded references. Her most dramatic claim is that the Ciaccona from the Partita in D minor, BWV 1004, can be "read" as a musical epitaph for Maria Barbara Bach, who died shortly before the piece was written (Herbert Glossner, brochure notes); that argument is illustrated by the penultimate track on the disc, a simultaneous performance of that Ciaccona (played beautifully on baroque violin by Christoph Poppen) with selections from the chorale "Christ lag in Todesbanden." Thoene's argument is too ...