Bachs Königin Holland Baroque

• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750): Organ Sonata No. 5 in C Major, BWV 529 "Trio" (Arr. J. & T. Steenbrink for Chamber Ensemble):
• 1 Bach: Organ Sonata No. 5 in C Major, BWV 529 "Trio" (Arr. J. & T. Steenbrink for Chamber Ensemble): I. Allegro 04:46
• 2 Bach: Organ Sonata No. 5 in C Major, BWV 529 "Trio" (Arr. J. & T. Steenbrink for Chamber Ensemble): II. Largo 05:42
• 3 Bach: Organ Sonata No. 5 in C Major, BWV 529 "Trio" (Arr. J. & T. Steenbrink for Chamber Ensemble): III. Allegro 03:17
• Meine Seele erhebt den Herren, BWV 648 (Arr. J. & T. Steenbrink for Chamber Ensemble):
• 4 Bach: Meine Seele erhebt den Herren, BWV 648 (Arr. J. & T. Steenbrink for Chamber Ensemble): 04:06
• Organ Sonata No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 526 "Trio" (Excerpts Arr. J. & T. Steenbrink for Chamber Ensemble):
• 5 Bach: Organ Sonata No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 526 "Trio" (Excerpts Arr. J. & T. Steenbrink for Chamber Ensemble): I. Vivace 03:16
• 6 Bach: Organ Sonata No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 526 "Trio" (Excerpts Arr. J. & T. Steenbrink for Chamber Ensemble): III. Allegro 03:22
• Organ Concerto in G Major, BWV 592 (Excerpts Arr. J. & T. Steenbrink for Chamber Ensemble):
• 7 Bach: Organ Concerto in G Major, BWV 592 (Excerpts Arr. J. & T. Steenbrink for Chamber Ensemble): I. Allegro 02:37
• Concerto in D Minor, BWV 974 (Arr. J. & T. Steenbrink for Chamber Ensemble):
• 8 Bach: Concerto in D Minor, BWV 974 (Arr. J. & T. Steenbrink for Chamber Ensemble): II. Adagio 03:53
• Organ Concerto in G Major, BWV 592 (Excerpts Arr. J. & T. Steenbrink for Chamber Ensemble):
• 9 Bach: Organ Concerto in G Major, BWV 592 (Excerpts Arr. J. & T. Steenbrink for Chamber Ensemble): III. Presto 01:28
• Das Orgel-Büchlein (Excerpts Arr. J. & T. Steenbrink for Chamber Ensemble):
• 10 Bach: Das Orgel-Büchlein (Excerpts Arr. J. & T. Steenbrink for Chamber Ensemble): No. 19, Herr Gott, nun schleuß den Himmel auf, BWV 617 02:06
• Passacaglia in C Minor, BWV 582 (Arr. J. & T. Steenbrink for Chamber Ensemble):
• 11 Bach: Passacaglia in C Minor, BWV 582 (Arr. J. & T. Steenbrink for Chamber Ensemble): 10:27
• Fantasia & Fugue in G Minor, BWV 542 "The Great" (Arr. J. & T. Steenbrink for Chamber Ensemble):
• 12 Bach: Fantasia & Fugue in G Minor, BWV 542 "The Great" (Arr. J. & T. Steenbrink for Chamber Ensemble): II. Fugue 04:28
• Das Orgel-Büchlein (Excerpts Arr. J. & T. Steenbrink for Chamber Ensemble):
• 13 Bach: Das Orgel-Büchlein (Excerpts Arr. J. & T. Steenbrink for Chamber Ensemble): No. 17, In dir ist Freude, BWV 615 05:36
• Total Runtime 55:04

Info for Bachs Königin

Holland Baroque presents Bachs Königin, an album full of masterful organ works by J.S. Bach, transcribed for the orchestra by Judith and Tineke Steenbrink. These creative interpretations add unique colours and a fresh spirit to baroque monuments. Here is yet another chance to enjoy Bach’s genius.

Holland Baroque is an original and innovative baroque orchestra that approaches baroque repertoire through a fresh and contemporary approach, with a focus on improvisation and collaborations with outstanding artists from different traditions. Bachs Königin is their fifth Pentatone album, after having released Minne (2022) Brabant 1653, Polonoise (both 2021) and Silk Baroque (2019) with the label.

“My sister Tineke and I have always worked together, through playing music but also in preparing programs, choosing pieces and preparing the musical material for the players. We send our arrangements back and forth until we both think it’s good. It’s a game for us and at the same time a very serious matter to respect the old rules of composition at all times. As an organist and harpsichordist, Tineke is more at home with organ repertoire, but I also have many childhood memories of these pieces. As children, we heard many organ concerts. The organist of the monastery where we spent a lot of time played these works. For example, on religious holidays the first part of BWV 592 always was played after Mass. It was a tradition. Everyone always hummed along.” – Judith Steenbrink

“It was an exciting experience to see how it would sound if the players of Holland Baroque were to breathe life into the notes. Our goal was for the transcriptions to be as playable and sound as natural as possible.” – Tineke Steenbrink

“It was interesting to see that the ten fingers and two feet of Bach as an organist can still leave space for the addition of more voices. I didn’t expect that. What also was a discovery for me was the use of the double bass as a symbol of the often imposing, low notes of the organ pedal. When Bach uses these low notes as an ‘organ point’ it sounds impressive, even overwhelming. In baroque repertoire, it is common for the contrabassist to simplify his part. It gives more clarity to the structure of the composition. By differentiating the double bass and cello parts in our arrangements, we were able to mimic the effect of the low pedal notes of the organ.” – Judith Steenbrink

“We had to make choices about which pieces to use from the large organ repertoire of Bach. We have chosen pieces and left others behind. For example, the famous Toccata & Fugue (BWV 565) is still on the shelf. I did start working on it, but I got stuck after some time. At a certain point, I couldn’t get past the bombastic side of the piece anymore. Maybe I will manage next time. There is so much material still. The most important thing is that we show the many sides of Bach. Also that new orchestral material has been created. An addition to help us dive into even more of Bach.” – Judith & Tineke Steenbrink

Holland Baroque

Holland Baroque
is an original and innovative Baroque orchestra. The musicians let their instruments sing, dance, cry, and laugh and use tradition, innovation, surprise, and a dash of entertainment in their work. Since they began in 2006, Holland Baroque has worked with many soloists, composers, choirs and theatre producers.

Encounters with soloists often result in warm friendships and unlock new worlds of sound. The easy blend of Eric Vloeimans’ velvety sound with the cornetto shows us that Baroque is now. This trumpet whisperer and Holland Baroque were awarded an Edison for their album Carrousel. Touring with piano virtuoso Leszek Możdżer proved that in a baroque orchestra as well the score can keep changing when the composer is improvising among the musicians. Cellist Giovanni Sollima has composed works for Holland Baroque. He could not have written something more Neapolitan: again, a tribute to the past and at the same time as fresh as a daisy. Holland Baroque and Reinbert de Leeuw became close friends during their quest for his truth behind Bach’s St Matthew Passion. Cherry Duyns made a documentary about this process, which was shown in cinemas for months. Bach in the cinema: a unique event.

Founders Tineke and Judith Steenbrink are the artistic team and beating heart of the ensemble. These baroque twins guard the ensemble’s sound, create original programmes, and rewrite repertoire according to Holland Baroque’s style. After years of musical encounters it is crystal clear to us: baroque can be found in many places. Baroque is now.

Holland Baroque has shared the stage with: Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Hidemi Suzuki, Amandine Beyer, Nederlands Kamerkoor, Cappella Amsterdam, Radialsystem, Orkater, Marco Amsbrosini, Dorothee Mields, Aisslinn Nosky, Toshio Hosokawa, Nico Muhly, and many others.

Wu Wei
is an avant-garde Sheng soloist. He has helped to develop this four thousand's years old ancient instrument into an innovative force in contemporary music, through the creation of newtechniques, expanding the new repertories and integrating different styles and genres.

Wu Wei studied the Sheng at the Shanghai Conservatory and was a soloist with the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra before studying at the Hanns Eisler Academy with a DAAD scholarship in Berlin, where he is now based.In addition to many prestigious national and international competitions for traditional Chinese music, he won the Musica Vitale Competition, Germany, in 1996 and 2002 and the Global Root folk prize in 2004. In 2011 he won the Herald Angels Award by Edinburgh International Festival. Since 1996 he has appeared as a soloist with many leading orchestras and ensembles, including the Berliner Philharmoniker Orchestras under Kent Nagano, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra under Gusta vo Dudamel, the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Ilan Volkov, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra under Myung-Whun Chun, and many others….

He has appeared at the Berliner Festspiele, the Munich Bienale, the Edinburgh international festival, the Donaueschingen Musik Tage, the Musica Viva Munich, the Dresdener Festspiele,the Warsaw Autumn, the Suntory music Festival Tokyo, the Bartók Festival Hungarian, the Achipel Festival Geneve, the Cologne Triennal, the Holland Festival, Festival les Musiques Marseille etc., and at the Walt Disney Hall, Los Angeles, Suntory Hall, Tokyo, the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, the Berlin Konzerthaus, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the User Hall, Edinburgh, and the Theatre Du Chatelet Paris etc.

His international engagements include appearances throughout the USA, Europe, Russia and the Middle and Far East, and he has given the world premieres of more than 150 works (including ten concertos for Sheng and Orchestra), by composers including John Cage, Unsuk Chin, Toshio Hosokawa, Enjott Schneider, Joerg Widmann, Guus Janssen, Tan Dun, Chen Qigang, Guo Weijing and Ruo Huang. He is also a prolific composer for Sheng.

Among forthcoming highlights are the French premiere of Unsuk Chin’s “Su-Concerto for Sheng” in Paris with the Radio France Philharmoic Orchestra under Myung-Whun Chung, and a concert tour of the work with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and Myung-Whun Chung to Europe and USA..

Booklet for Bachs Königin