ANN ARBOR—Distance runner and University of Michigan music Prof. James Kibbie has committed to a marathon series of one-hour concerts presenting all 266 of Johann Sebastian Bach‘s written compositions for solo organ. Begun in
“I don’t claim to be an elite runner,” Kibbie says, “but I enjoy it and try to do as well as I can at it. I’ll train for some shorter races this summer, but the next marathon will have to wait until 2001 after the Bach marathon is completed.”

Kibbie has been in training for his Bach marathon for nearly 15 years, planning not only the concerts but a series of events to mark the Bach Year of 2000. His schedule includes a graduate seminar on Bach performance, workshops and master classes throughout the United States.

“Planning to perform the complete organ works of Bach presented an interesting challenge,” Kibbie says. “Exactly which works should I play? After more than 250 years, it is by no means certain exactly what Bach composed.”

For this series, Kibbie has relied upon an authoritative revision of Schmieder’s Bach catalog and programmed all works identified as authentic, including several, which have been only recently authenticated.

“I have included the chorales of the newly-discovered Rudorff Collection, and on the other hand have not programmed several works once thought to be by Bach, but which have been identified as spurious. Even guided by the best current scholarship, I was left with a handful of ‘dubious’ works, pieces that might or might not be by J. S. Bach. I have made my personal choices as to which of these to play, including especially those long associated with the Bach ‘canon,’ such as the Pedal-Exercitium, the Kleines harmonisches Labyrinth, and the ‘Gigue’ Fugue. Ultimately, though, my programming represents only a snapshot of current Bach research.”

Marilyn Mason Organmade by C.B. Fisk

It was during a sabbatical in the fall of 1999 that Kibbie moved into intense training for his Bach marathon, continuing to learn and rehearse the 266 organ works. Kibbie demonstrates the results of this training on a C.B. Fisk organ in Blanche Anderson Moore Hall at U-M’s School of Music. While not an exact replica of any organ, this instrument is modeled after those of Gottfried Silbermann (1683-1753) and closely resembles several of the extant 2-manual Silbermann organs, most notably that of the St. Georgen-Kirche in Rötha, Germany. Silbermann’s instruments were admired by Bach who said, “His organs are excellent; he is appropriately named ‘Silbermann,’ for his organs have a silvery tone and thundering basses.”

The U-M has published a volume of essays on Bach’s organ music by Kibbie, eight of his doctoral graduates, and other distinguished Bach scholars. Text of these essays is available online at http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jkibbie/ by clicking on Program Notes.

The Bach Recital Series continues

musicRudorff CollectionC.B. FiskC.B. Fisk organhttp://www-personal.umich.edu/~jkibbie/