Steven Devine harpsichord
70:52
resonus RES10376
Steven Devine completes his complete recording of Krebs’ keyboard works with volume 6 which contains the Sechs Praeambulis from the early Vier Pieces, Part 1 of 1740, Suite 5 of the Six Suites (Clavier-Übung, Part IV, 1746: Krebs WV-811) and the Suite in A minor ‘nach dem heutigen Gusto’ (Vier Pieces, Part 2 of 1741: Krebs-WV 819).
Devine’s instrument for this final CD remains his favourite double-manual harpsichord by Colin Booth (2000) after a single manual by Johann Christof Fleischer (Hamburg 1710) at a=415Hz which he tunes to a Modified Young II temperament. The singing quality of this instrument is perfectly suited to this music which in the early 1740s when Krebs was approaching his 30th birthday sounds completely ‘modern’. For example, track 2, Praeludium 2 – Andante ‘A giusto Italiano’ – with its snap rhythms shows Devine’s perfect control and elegant sense of timing. In tracks 4 & 5 he uses the harpsichord’s second manual to give point to Krebs’ echo effects. Krebs spans the shift from the essentially florid style of the toccatas and contrapuntal writing of the late 17th century, of which the prelude and fugue in the A minor Suite (tracks 13 & 14) are an example, to the gallant and appealing 18th century tunefulness of the 5th Suite (tracks 7-12).
Where did this all come from? Krebs – reputedly Bach’s favourite pupil – had left the Bach household in 1737 when he was 24, after 11 years from 1726-35 as a pupil in the Thomasschule, followed by two in the university. He played the harpsichord in Bach’s Collegium while a university student, and was a copyist of a number of Bach’s Cantatas. Was his failure to secure Bach’s post in Leipzig due to him being considered too modern – or too vieux jeu?
As in the previous discs, Devine’s playing is not only incredibly poised and stylish but entirely adjusted to these mercurial compositions which shed such light on the hinge between the old world and the new. He is that most blessèd interpreter who does not let his ego turn the works he plays into the vehicle of some kind of personality cult as so many of the versions chosen by the presenters on Radio 3 seem to think is what is necessary to bring dusty old music to life. This complete edition is not devoid of colourful characterisation, but Devine’s playing is always at the service of the music, not of himself.
For me, Devine’s Krebs stands as a model of how to do it – letting a composer speak for himself – with elegant and sympathetic performances that do not depend on the intrusion of the player’s personality. This will be the best edition of Krebs’ music that you could wish for – even if it fails the BBC ‘Breakfast’ test.
David Stancliffe