Almost ten years ago now, I wrote a review for a recording on the Alpha label of Bach's Organ Trio Sonatas featuring Benjamin Alard on the organ. I was so impressed by his exemplary playing, that it was one of the first recordings I included on the Definitive Recordings page of this website. Now, this French musician has embarked on a project that can only be quantified as being of biblical proportions. He plans to record, on the harmonia mundi label, all of Johann Sebastian Bach's music written for both the organ and harpsichord. Simply learning all of this music is a monumental task, but playing and recording all of it is surely an unprecedented achievement.

This first volume covers the years 1699 to 1705, from the ages of fourteen to twenty, from his apprenticeship in Ohrdruf to his first major post as organist at Arnstadt. It covers over 50 pieces spread over three discs, performed on an Émile Jobin harpsichord copied on instruments by Joannes Ruckers (1612) and Joannes Dulken (1747), and the organ in the church of Sainte-Aurélie of Strasbourg, built by Andreas Silbermann in 1718 and restored by Quentin Blumenroeder in 2015, comprised of 52 stops. It also features soprano Gerlinde Sämann singing the leading line of some of the Chorales.

"We are dealing here with the first complete recording of the works for solo keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach played by the same musician. My intention is to present Bach’s keyboard music in connection with the chronology of his life, his influences, his voyages, his professional choices, organised symbolically in fourteen chapters." (Benjamin Alard)

This is another aspect of this comprehensive undertaking that makes it all the more appealing. Instead of hearing, like most collections, the pieces grouped together by type (Toccatas, Preludes and Fugues, Chorales, etc ...) which inevitably tend to bring on ear fatigue, here we are served a few Chorales, followed by a Prelude and Fugue, followed by a Fantasie, and back to a Chorale, etc ... alternating between organ and harpsichord. The first CD even includes works by some of his contemporaries including Pachelbel, Kuhnau and Froberger, to give us a glimpse of who may have influenced Bach during his formative years.

As expected, Benjamin Alard's playing throughout is impeccable, informed and versatile, all captured by a well engineered recording that positions you well in relation to the instrument. Plans are to use different organs along the way that would match the various instruments Bach himself would have come upon during his career. I for one can't wait for the next volume.