Quinney - Metzler - Trinity

[ardcarp]

On CD Review this morning, Robert Quinney's recordings of Bach on the organ of Trinity College Cambridge were discussed, including the Fantasia in G and the 'Ebeneezer Prout' fugue (sorry, Fugue in G minor).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06pv3gx#play

...about 1 hour 35 mins into the programme.

[Keraulophone]

Caroline Gill (at 1.41'00): "In the Prelude in G... you can hear there are these triplets at the beginning that you just don't often hear as triplets; usually they come out as slightly uneven quavers."

Having lived with this piece since Grade 8, may I point out that there are no triplets written anywhere along its sinuous course, which begins with an upward G major arpeggio of three semi-quavers and a quaver (I think CG meant uneven semi-quavers). Robert Quinney's 'individual' playing (CG's description) hurried the G-B-D semi-quavers, playing them as if they were written as a triplet, as some conductors do, intentionally or not, with the initial three-quaver motto of Beethoven's 5th.

On having this pointed out, AMG said in her defence that the notes are 'grouped in threes' (of course, there's only one group of three) and often sound a muddle. Most players seem to treat the first three notes as lively, rhythmically even semi-quavers, which leaves no trace of muddle... but WDIK?

RQ's first Bach CD for Coro of the Trio Sonatas remains one of my desert island organ discs. I'm not quite so keen on the sound of the Metzler at Trinity, preferring the one in the more generous acoustic of the Grossmunster, Zurich (for Rogg's first complete Bach) but Quinney's playing is undeniably brilliant, even 'individual'.