Spira, Spera - Emmanuel Despax - Audio CD (Arrives in 50 days)

Emmanuel Despax returns to Signum with a disc of JS Bach transcriptions. The title quotes Victor Hugo’s ‘The Hunchback of Notre-Dame’ (“Breathe, Hope”), brought to Despax’s mind following the news of the fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral, where he had attended many concerts of Bach’s music as a child. Despax describes Bach’s music as being “of such clarity, coherence and expressive power, that it is able to transcend its original medium, and to some extent, style.”

This virtuosic programme combines both well-known transcriptions, such as the mighty Bach-Busoni ‘Chaconne’ and Saint-Saën’s ‘Overture’, with the first recordings of several arrangements by the late 19th/early 20th century pianist Theodor Szántó’s – featuring his monumental and uncompromising transcriptions of the Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, and the Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor.

World premiere recordings of several Szanto Bach transcriptions.

Liner notes translated into both English and French.

Tracklist

1. Wir Danken Dir, Gott, Wir Danken Dir, Bwv 29 (Ouverture)
2. Violin Partita No. 2 In D Minor, Bwv 1004: Chaconne
3. Prelude In B Minor, Bwv 855a
4. Prelude and Fugue In a Minor, Bwv 543 Prelude
5. Prelude and Fugue In a Minor, Bwv 543 Fugue
6. Nun Freut Euch, Lieben Christen G'mein, Bwv 734
7. Nun Komm, Der Heiden Heiland, Bwv 659
8. Passacaglia and Fugue In C Minor, Bwv 582 Passacaglia
9. Passacaglia and Fugue In C Minor, Bwv 582 Fugue
10. Wachet Auf, Ruft Uns Die Stimme, Bwv 645
11. Ich Ruf' Zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ, Bwv 639
12. Fantasia and Fugue In G Minor, Bwv 542 Fantasia
13. Fantasia and Fugue In G Minor, Bwv 542 Fugue
14. Herz Und Mund Und Tat Und Leben, Bwv 147 (Jesu, Joy of Man's

Label: Signum Classics | Origin: Holland

📌 Works By J.S. Bach