Subtitled “Lüneberg to Weimar” the defining factor of this superbly planned live recital is the sheer life Roger Sherman breathes into these performances. Performed on the Flentrop organ at St. Mark’s Cathedral, Seattle, Washington, this is part of Loft’s “Flentrop Organ 50 years” series. Installed in 1965, this organ now contains 3,944 pipes. There are 58 speaking stops distributed over four manuals and pedal. It is one of the largest 20^th-century organs that employ a mechanical key action. It is housed in a glorious mahogany wooden case (glorious from the pictures, at least). There was a major restoration in 1993-94 by Fritts Organ Buildings (Tacoma), and further work occurred in 2001. The 1994-95 date is significant as this recital was given shortly after that, in 1995 (and therefore also the 2001 work is not heard here). We certainly hear the full plenum sound of the organ at the opening of the chorale Partita O Gott, du frommer Gott; later, reed and trumpet stops contrast nicely, as do forte and piano ensembles.

Sherman offers some of the finest Bach playing here that this particular listener has come across, certainly. Assured and confident, one of the defining characteristics is the maintgenance of rhythmnic pulse, something all too many organists neglect. Sherman’s sense of the piece’s shape, too, is superb. There are in fact nine partitas within BWV 767, followed by a climactic (and satisfying, here) restatement of the opening chorale.

Deliberately selecting chorales from the Orgelbuchlein that offer a varied approach, Sherman’s Ich ruf’ zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ is placid and yet quietly commanding, a trio in which each voice has its own rhythm; O Mensch, bewein dein Sunde gross offers a pure statement of the chorale, stately and dignified, contrasting with the more celebratory and outgoing Wer nun den lieben Giott last walten, itself a massive contrast to the funeral chorale, Alle Menschen mussen sterben. The first half of the concert comes to an end with the G-Major Fugue, BWV 577; its nickname is “Gigue” and rightly so. Sprightly in the extreme, its theme carrying fanfare resonances, it is the perfect close to the concert’s first part. That rhythmic discipline remarked on earlier sets this apart as one of the infectious accounts available.

The second part of the concert is centered around a cluster of chorale preludes, heard after the gigantic Prelude and Fugue in F minor, BWV 534 (one is tempted to speculate what the collective noun for chorale preludes might be; a congregation?) It’s fascinating, though, to hear adjacent settings of the same chorale—the chordal, devotional BWV 730 against the more florid BWFV 731 (both Liebster Jesu, wire sind heir, with the second featuring a beautiful Dulciaan at 16’) The two settings of Nun freut euch could hardly be more different, the joyous scampering of the first set against a restrained yet not less happy second.

The Good Friday chorale, Erbarm dich mein, o Herre Gott is fascinating; in this performance it positively pulsates, the concentration on harmonic progression being all the more fascinating for it; the Fantasia on an Easter Theme, Christ lag in Todesbanden BWV 695, another trio composition, is absolutely compelling. This all leads to the great A-Minor Prelude and Fugue, BWV 543, with its fluent Prelude and its Fugue that includes a cadnezas for pedals. One is left in no doubt of Sherman’s consummate virtuosity, and of his high stature among Bach players of the last 25 years. There is an encore, Bist du bei mir from the Anna Magdalena Notenbuch, the perfect way to (pardon the pun) recompose oneself.

The booklet notes are full and expert.

I don’t suppose for a second anyone anywhere needs converting to Bach’s organ music, but if they exist, this could be the means with which to do it. A major release, superbly recorded.