Johann Gottfried Muthel: Complete Fantasies & Choral Prelude – Leon Berben

   in Choir & Organ (Jul, 2017)
Johann Gottfried Müthel (1728-88) was, briefly, a pupil of J.S. Bach at the very end of the latter’s life. His unusual and often fascinating music bridges the enormous gap between the Hanseatic organ tradition on the one hand and the gallant style of the post-Bach generation on the other. Some time ago I reviewed Matteo Venturini’s recording of the same repertoire (Brilliant Classics 95013). Venturini utilises three modern organs in north German style and in opulent acoustics, thereby shining a light on Müthel’s northern roots (his early teachers included a successor of Buxtehude at the Lübeck Marienkirche), not least in the extended pedal solos. In the present recording, meanwhile, Léon Berben …