Dip Your Ears, No. 130 (Bach, Fresh Squeezed)

J.S.Bach, Partitas No.2, 4 BWV 826, 828, “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme” (arr. Dimetrik) W.Dimetrik Gramola 98945

The accordion has a reputation problem in the US, where its esteem ranks somewhere between recorder and kazoo. But after recording three English Suites in 2007, the Austrian Wolfgang Dimetrik is back with a Bach-accordion-disc that has the power to dispel any suppressed giggles. Perhaps forced, when transcribing, to think about the music beyond what can usually be expected, Dimetrik displays an incredible sense of phrasing in the two Partitas. And his keen musical intelligence becomes obvious in the ‘slight’ piece included, the arranged famous Choral Prelude “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme”, which stirs instead of being merely catchy.

Bach, Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme BWV140 (excerpt), Wolfgang Dimetrik, Gramola 98945