John Butt

J.S.Bach’s specification of figuring for his Leipzig choral works can be quite detailed. In fact, sometimes it seems almost too detailed, with implied lines that can sometimes double vocal and instrumental parts. While it is easy to assume that a good organist would have been able to intuit that the figuring might have represented a ‘short-score’ or analysis of the whole texture, there are several points where lines or passing notes are added that are nowhere implicit in the full score. In other words, it may be possible that organ accompaniment in Bach’s circle was more ‘objectionable’ than we might like it to be today. If so, this might have something to do with the status of the church organist – someone with a different job structure than the cantor and perhaps having a degree of independence that needed to be respected.

John Butt is Gardener Professor of Music at Glasgow University and Music Director of Edinburgh's Dunedin Consort. He has published widely in the field of Bach, 17th-18th century music, the culture of historically informed performance, and musical modernity. He has a large discography as both organist/harpsichordist/ clavichordist (Harmonia Mundi) and conductor (Linn). His recording of Handel's Messiah received a Gramophone award in 2007 and two further discs have received nominations, including last year's release of Bach's John Passion. This is the first recording to present the work in the context of its original liturgy. 2014 sees the release of a recording of Mozart's Requiem, reconstructing the forces used for its very first performance, together with Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier (on harpsichord).