Arp-Schnitger-Festival III: Von Meistern und Schülern

Masato Suzuki Organ

Program:
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck: Fantasia cromatica SwWV 258
Georg Böhm: Chorale prelude "Our Father in the Kingdom of Heaven"
Dieterich Buxtehude: Passacaglia in D minor BuxWV 161, Te Deum laudamus BuxWV 218, Praeludium in C major BuxWV 137
Johann Sebastian Bach: Partita "O Gott, du frommer Gott" BWV 767, Passacaglia in C minor BWV 582

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree - this is exactly true of Masato Suzuki. As the son of the famous Bach interpreter and founder of the Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki, he was born into a musical family. After studying in Tokyo, The Hague and Amsterdam, he himself became a renowned harpsichordist, organist, composer and conductor. A permanent member of the Bach Collegium Japan since 2002, Masato Suzuki was appointed Chief Conductor of the ensemble in 2018. So it comes as no surprise that Bach also takes center stage at his concert in Bockhorn. The organ with 19 stops on two manuals and pedal was built by Christian Vater, who was an apprentice of Arp Schnitger. It was inaugurated by him personally on December 25, 1722 - around six months before Bach took up the post of Thomaskantor in Leipzig. Complemented by works by Dieterich Buxtehude and Georg Böhm, among others, it becomes clear once again that Bach's genius did not fall from the sky, but that these two masters of the North German organ school were particularly influential for his organ music.