Jonathan Ferrucci - Johann Sebastian Bach: The Toccatas (2025) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

Johann Sebastian Bach’s seven keyboard toccatas are among his “rebellious” youthful works: experimental in form, startlingly bold in expression, powerful in the design of the fugues. The Italian-Australian pianist Jonathan Ferrucci regards the pieces as a “musical laboratory” in which Bach ultimately found his own style.

Even their genesis seems mysterious: manuscripts of Johann Sebastian Bach's toccatas have not survived. However, it is assumed that the works were composed in the years of his Arnstadt and early Weimar period, when Bach was gradually working his way up to become a renowned organist. And it is no wonder that he chose the toccata as the playground for his development: since the days of the Roman Girolamo Frescobaldi, the toccata was a kind of musical laboratory in which one could try out anything with impunity. There are virtuosic, glittering improvisations next to strict but extremely energetic fugues, expressive arias next to lively, folksy dances. Bach has thus compiled entertaining suites and potpourris with great freedom, but always allowing them to breathe under great dramatic arcs. Jonathan Ferrucci is certain that the toccatas are among Bach's most interesting piano works. 'He is bubbling over with ideas and always creates abrupt contrasts when you least expect them. There is this wild, youthful energy with which he explores all the affects and formal possibilities of the music of the time. And when I play, I feel as if I'm composing the music together with Bach in the moment - that's because of this incredible spontaneity and his delight in invention.' Born in Florence to Italian-Australian parents, Ferrucci's childhood was already characterised by the glorious history of the Renaissance and Baroque periods and the vast Australian landscape.

Tracklist:
01. Toccata in C Minor, BWV 911: I. Moderato
02. Toccata in C Minor, BWV 911: II. Allegro
03. Toccata in G Minor, BWV 915: I. Adagio
04. Toccata in G Minor, BWV 915: II. Allegro
05. Toccata in G Minor, BWV 915: III. Fuga
06. Toccata in D Minor, BWV 913: I.
07. Toccata in D Minor, BWV 913: II. Thema
08. Toccata in D Minor, BWV 913: III. Adagio
09. Toccata in D Minor, BWV 913: IV. Allegro
10. Toccata in G Major, BWV 916: I. Presto
11. Toccata in G Major, BWV 916: II. Adagio
12. Toccata in G Major, BWV 916: III. Allegro e Presto
13. Toccata in E Minor, BWV 914: I.
14. Toccata in E Minor, BWV 914: II. Fuga. Allegro
15. Toccata in F-Sharp Minor, BWV 910: I. -
16. Toccata in F-Sharp Minor, BWV 910: II. Presto e Staccato
17. Toccata in D Major, BWV 912: I. Presto
18. Toccata in D Major, BWV 912: II. Adagio
19. Improvisation No. 13 in A Minor, FP 170
20. Flute Sonata No. 2 in E-Flat Major, BWV 1031: Siciliano (Arr. For Piano by Wilhelm Kempff)
21. Le tombeau de Couperin, M. 68a: III. Menuet


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