[Marc]

I couldn't recommend just one.
(Apologies for that. )
A lot depends on the availability of the various sets, too.
But some OOP sets may be downloadable or streamable somewhere (to be honest though, I have no idea).

My personal favourites are Bram Beekman on Lindenberg (OOP) and Ewald Kooiman on Coronata (OOP).
If still available, then I would also recommend my 'fun' sets Bernard Foccroulle (Ricercar) and Olivier Vernet (Ligia).
Beekman, Kooiman and Foccroulle play historic instruments, mostly of the North German/Dutch type.
Vernets plays a mixture of modern and historic instruments. Most of the modern instruments are built in a baroque-influenced way though. Generally: very nice!

A very interesting set is a rather expensive integral, played by Ewalk Kooiman and former pupils (mentioned above) on historic instruments of the Silbermann family, built in North-East France.
The label is Aeolus. The sound quality is really superb, but the set may be OOP, too.

Besides that, organists like Marie-Claire Alain and Lionel Rogg are trustworthy solid choices, no matter what kind of instruments they play.
The 'good ole' Silbermann set with various interest (mentioned above) is interesting, too. The same goes for the Profil/Hänssler set with various organists (f.i. Kay Johannesen, Andrea Marcon, Wolfgang Zerer, Bine Katrine Bryndorf).

Personally, I prefer (restored) historical instruments, but the amount of solid to great sets is rather impressive.
Younger organists are still wild about Bach, so I may have missed one or two more recent sets. But, if you like this part of Bach's oeuvre, the listening experiences are mostly very worthwhile. All those instruments and organists have their own individual characteristics and style. It's a fun travel!

 

[Marc]

Maybe it's fun to check out this thread, too:

Bach on the Organ | Classical Music Forum (talkclassical.com)

 

[Philidor]

Imho, the cycles with Walcha (both cycles), Stockmeier and Preston are boring. Very even and uniform playing. if that's what you are looking for, go for it.

Bach had 21 children. And he was known for loving a good joke and eating and drinking. So I think he wasn't just head-driven.

I find more phantasy with Koopman, Fagius, Bowyer and Weinberger. Kooiman is an excellent choice, too.

Neither northern German organs nor Silbermann seem to be ideal for Bach, although playing his works on those organs isn't too bad. He preferred organs were built by Trost, a fact, that could be established not earlier than in the 1980s.

 

[Marc]

Well, I think Bach was also rather content with instruments built by G. Silbermann, Hildebrandt and Schnitger (Hamburg).
I know it's Weinberger's take that Silbermanns aren't all that well suited for Bach and he explains that in his booklet. So far, I have enjoyed plenty of Bach discs on Silbermann organs, but I do realize that he of course is the truly informed guy.
Mind you, his good friend Ewald Kooiman was pleasantly surprised by the 'Alsace' Silbermanns and admitted that he had underestimated their beauty and their suitability for Bach. It's a pity that he died before completing that cycle. Luckily three former pupils were willing to finish the job.

I.c. Walcha & Stockmeier (for instance): their playing may be considered a bit old-fashioned nowadays, even though Walcha had a positive influence on the revaluation of Bach's organ music and on the playing on historic instruments.
Stockmeier is more 'good ole' legato, but the Kreienbrink organs are actually very crisp and fresh sounding, which I've always considered a bonus.
Preston: I don't like his 'hip hop' playing of most of the free works, but his chorales and the sonatas are well worth listening to imho.

Anyway, so many persons, so many tastes.

 

[HarukiKougami]

I couldn't recommend just one.
(Apologies for that. )
A lot depends on the availability of the various sets, too.
But some OOP sets may be downloadable or streamable somewhere (to be honest though, I have no idea).

My personal favourites are Bram Beekman on Lindenberg (OOP) and Ewald Kooiman on Coronata (OOP).
If still available, then I would also recommend my 'fun' sets Bernard Foccroulle (Ricercar) and Olivier Vernet (Ligia).
Beekman, Kooiman and Foccroulle play historic instruments, mostly of the North German/Dutch type.
Vernets plays a mixture of modern and historic instruments. Most of the modern instruments are built in a baroque-influenced way though. Generally: very nice!

A very interesting set is a rather expensive integral, played by Ewalk Kooiman and former pupils (mentioned above) on historic instruments of the Silbermann family, built in North-East France.
The label is Aeolus. The sound quality is really superb, but the set may be OOP, too.

Besides that, organists like Marie-Claire Alain and Lionel Rogg are trustworthy solid choices, no matter what kind of instruments they play.
The 'good ole' Silbermann set with various interest (mentioned above) is interesting, too. The same goes for the Profil/Hänssler set with various organists (f.i. Kay Johannesen, Andrea Marcon, Wolfgang Zerer, Bine Katrine Bryndorf).

Personally, I prefer (restored) historical instruments, but the amount of solid to great sets is rather impressive.
Younger organists are still wild about Bach, so I may have missed one or two more recent sets. But, if you like this part of Bach's oeuvre, the listening experiences are mostly very worthwhile. All those instruments and organists have their own individual characteristics and style. It's a fun travel!

Thank you so much for the help... Not sure yet, but I think I'll get the Marie-Claire Alain's second one, which I saw available yesterday

 

[Marc]

Thank you so much for the help... Not sure yet, but I think I'll get the Marie-Claire Alain's second one, which I saw available yesterday

That's a solid choice.
AFAIK, Alain recorded 3 Bach integrals. Generally, the 2nd one is considered the best. The 3rd one has the 'bonus' of historic instruments.
She never recorded the so-called 'Neumeister' chorales though, which were added to the Bach catalogue in 1985.
Even though these pieces aren't as good as the chorales of the Orgelbüchlein, it's still nice to check them out.

Franz Haselböck on Hänssler or Chrstopher Herrick on Hyperion come to mind.

 

[HarukiKougami]

That's a solid choice.
AFAIK, Alain recorded 3 Bach integrals. Generally, the 2nd one is considered the best. The 3rd one has the 'bonus' of historic instruments.
She never recorded the so-called 'Neumeister' chorales though, which were added to the Bach catalogue in 1985.
Even though these pieces aren't as good as the chorales of the Orgelbüchlein, it's still nice to check them out.

Franz Haselböck on Hänssler or Chrstopher Herrick on Hyperion come to mind.

I think I should get the box of Alain and something as complementary to it, anyway. I would consider that as well, thank you

 

[TallPaulInKy]

You can't go wrong with Marie-Claire Alain. One of the supreme organists of the 20th century, grew up in a distinguished musical family that was obsessed with Bach. She duly proved a determining force in her life, and she made no fewer than three complete recordings of his mighty catalogue of organ works. She embarked upon the first of these in 1959, when she was 33, and completed it eight years later. Described by Alain as the most “instinctive” of her assembled interpretations of Bach, it is now released on CD for the first time, specially remastered from the original tapes. It's available for about $40 on Amazon. However, there is a LOT of organ music, (15 CDs) so unless you are a die-hard fan, a smaller 3 or 4 disk set of the most common works may work just fine. There are several fine small sets by Karl Richter or E Power Biggs.

 

[HarukiKougami]

You can't go wrong with Marie-Claire Alain. One of the supreme organists of the 20th century, grew up in a distinguished musical family that was obsessed with Bach. She duly proved a determining force in her life, and she made no fewer than three complete recordings of his mighty catalogue of organ works. She embarked upon the first of these in 1959, when she was 33, and completed it eight years later. Described by Alain as the most “instinctive” of her assembled interpretations of Bach, it is now released on CD for the first time, specially remastered from the original tapes. It's available for about $40 on Amazon. However, there is a LOT of organ music, (15 CDs) so unless you are a die-hard fan, a smaller 3 or 4 disk set of the most common works may work just fine. There are several fine small sets by Karl Richter or E Power Biggs.

Thank you so much! I was also thinking about getting Marie-Claire Alain at the end. But I was more prone to get the second cycle of hers, which I've found second hand.

 

[drjjpdc]

Hello guys,

I don't own a set of Bach's organ music as of yet, but am thinking of getting a complete one finally.

Which one would you guys recommend? (I actually wanted to get the set called "Organ works on Silbermann Organs", but can't find the complete set anywhere.)

Would be very glad if you could help me to make up my mind

Thanx!

This the one I have and it is outstanding played on 4 European pipe organs.

 

[Algaer]

E. Power Biggs recorded on the Flentrop Organ in the Busch Reisinger Museum of Harvard University

 

[Allegro Con Brio]

My gold standard is Alain's set on Erato from 1986 (I didn't know she had two other cycles until now!) Very relaxed and natural playing with eloquent phrasing and consistently inspired registration choices, but she can also really let loose when needed—her Great Fugue in G Minor is simply the finest recorded performance of that work. It's red-hot! In contrast I find Walcha to be a bit grim, unrelenting, and not as interesting in registration, with harsh recorded sound (even in the stereo set). Here is how I would rank the other sets I have heard:

Suzuki (I don't think it's quite complete and certainly not compiled in a large collection, but he has a more brash and angular way of playing which makes for something uniquely different, and the historical organ he plays on is superb)
Goode (straightforward and pleasing, but with some daring and effective registration choices)
Hurford (he does the big preludes, fugues, and toccatas better than few others)
Rogg (another great choice for a historical organ sound)

For individual discs you also can't miss out on the old-fashioned splendor of E. Power Biggs and Karl Richter.

 

[HarukiKougami]

E. Power Biggs recorded on the Flentrop Organ in the Busch Reisinger Museum of Harvard University

Thank you for the tip!

 

[HarukiKougami]

My gold standard is Alain's set on Erato from 1986 (I didn't know she had two other cycles until now!) Very relaxed and natural playing with eloquent phrasing and consistently inspired registration choices, but she can also really let loose when needed—her Great Fugue in G Minor is simply the finest recorded performance of that work. It's red-hot! In contrast I find Walcha to be a bit grim, unrelenting, and not as interesting in registration, with harsh recorded sound (even in the stereo set). Here is how I would rank the other sets I have heard:

Suzuki (I don't think it's quite complete and certainly not compiled in a large collection, but he has a more brash and angular way of playing which makes for something uniquely different, and the historical organ he plays on is superb)
Goode (straightforward and pleasing, but with some daring and effective registration choices)
Hurford (he does the big preludes, fugues, and toccatas better than few others)
Rogg (another great choice for a historical organ sound)

For individual discs you also can't miss out on the old-fashioned splendor of E. Power Biggs and Karl Richter.

Thank you so much! That's the one I'm thinking of getting

 

[drjjpdc]

This the one I have and it is outstanding played on 4 European pipe organs.

View attachment 211020

I don't know what they included in the CD collection, but in the LP boxes from Telelfunken (2 LP's in each box) there were pictures of the organs, essay explaining each piece and the scores to each piece! One of the great joys of my life was to go hear Felix Hell perform all the Bach organ works at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, MD in 2006 at the age of 21! If you haven't heard of him you can read about him here, www.felixhell.com.

 

[Forster]

Carl Weinrich anyone? On Vårfrukyrka church's organ in Skänninge, Sweden.

 

[Tarneem]

For me Karl Righter NAILS Bach.

Absolutely breathtaking

 

[Forster]

Sampled Walcha, Koopman, Alain, Richter...wondered what on Earth Koopman was doing to the opening of the Toccata and Fugue

 

[Tarneem]

This recording is one of the best things ever produced by mankind!

 

[Bruckner Anton II]

The best I heard so far in terms of interpretation is Alain's three cycles. If you care a lot about audio quality and prefer HIP-like performances, then pick her 3rd cycle (1990s). If you don't care sound quality at all, you could pick either one of the three. If you care sound quality to some extent, pick either 2nd (1978-1980) or 3rd cycle. Generally speaking, Erato's sound engineering in 1970s or before is fairly good but not on a par with Hurford on Decca or Rubsam on Philips from the same period.