He was an avid reader of Greek philosophy and medieval poetry, but he also had a lifelong scholarly interest in religion, filling many of his notebooks with passages copied from Thomas Aquinas, St Augustine, Bede and others. Walter Rummel (1887–1953) was the personification of romanticism, a free-spirited individualist drawn constantly to the past, a dreamer always in pursuit of lofty ideals. They constitute the romantic element of his immense output and they speak to us like no other romanticism.
#Unsere mutter unsere vater ost windows
These rose windows are the soul of the cathedrals and they speak to the innermost part of human beings. We can compare Bach’s chorales and arias to the rose windows of cathedrals, in which reflections continually change from brilliant major to somber minor.
Jonathan Plowright’s exquisite performances embody the tradition of that golden age of pianism from which these transcriptions emerged-in Rummel’s own words: ‘The composer bewitches music, holding it captive behind the prison of five lines but the interpreter breaks the spell that holds the bewitched princess, he frees Music.’ The majority of Rummel’s transcriptions turn away from the standard fare of organ preludes, rather delving into the immeasurable riches to be found among Bach’s choral works, and at the same time mastering the difficulties inherent in condensing the numerous musical lines of a choir and orchestra into a meaningful piano score. Pupil of Godowsky, friend of Debussy and favourably compared to Cortot and Horowitz, Rummel left us recordings instantly conveying that essential combination of robust articulation and sensitive flexibility which must inform the outlook of the master-transcriber. This sixth volume in Hyperion’s voyage through the distinguished legacy of piano transcriptions of Bach masterpieces brings us to a fascinating programme presenting the twenty-five surviving transcriptions by Walter Rummel.