Stairway to Bach (Sven-Ingvart Mikkelsen) (CD)

George Bernard Shaw used to say the only things worth hearing on a pipe organ were Bach and Wagner. There’s no Wagner here but the spirit of arranging works from other media for the “King of Instruments” dates back to... Bach himself! (It’s been suggested that even the famous Toccata and Fugue in D minor was originally a violin solo)!

The symphonic rock music of the 1960s and 1970s aspired to great things and often drew upon classical tropes, particularly those suggesting the gravitas of J.S. Bach, sometimes using direct Bach quotes, while at others, as in "Penny Lane" by The Beatles, suggesting the sound of the Baroque masters.

In these arrangements, the connection between Bach and Rock is underlined by a direct interweaving of rock music with quotations from Johann Sebastian Bach, with the result that the music flows together in a patchwork of Baroque organ, Bach, and symphonic rock: "STAIRWAY to BACH – Rock classics with a hint of Bach".

Organist Sven-Ingvart Mikkelsen is one of the most versatile musicians on the Danish music scene, renowned for his surprising and frequently unconventional programs. Sven-Ingvart is a graduate of the music conservatories in Esbjerg and Copenhagen and is Professor and Head of Department for Organ and Church Music at The Royal Danish Academy of Music. Sven-Ingvart performs extensively throughout Europe, North and South America, and Asia.

Featured on this delightful genre-blending program is the glorious Marcussen organ in the Concert Hall of The Royal Danish Academy of Music.

Content:
1Light My Fire
2 Piece dOrgue BWV 572 - Tres vitement
3 Byen vågner (The City Awakes)
4 Stairway to Heaven
5 Bourée BWV 996,
6 Prelude in G Minor BWV 535a
7 Fugue in G Minor BWV 535b
8 Shine On You Crazy Diamond
9 Bohemian Rhapsody
10 People are Strange
11 Homburg
12 Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme BWV 645
13 Repent Walpurgi
14 Air from BWV 1068
15 A Whiter Shade of Pale