L'oeuvre de Bach est d'une totale singularité dans toute l'histoire de la musique. Elle recourt peu aux lieux communs, si fréquents dans la musique baroque. Pourtant, le compositeur n'invente pas plus les éléments de son vocabulaire musical qu'il ne traite et structure des figures empruntées selon des principes personnels. Son art est un art de la synthèse. Ouvert à toutes les influences (allemande, du nord et du sud, française, italienne et anglaise), il parvient à les rassembler dans un style unifié et totalement homogène, un style proprement individualisé. On le retrouve ici dans les cinq concertos pour orgue, transcrits pour la plupart d'après des partitions de Vivaldi (une comparaison avec les concertos originaux est d'ailleurs particulièrement passionnante).

J.S. Bach wrote Die Kunst der Fuge in open score, so it is often played by pianists, harpsichordists, string quartets, and chamber groups of varied instrumentation, though an excellent choice for this monumental study of fugal techniques is the organ, the composer's principle instrument. The issues that arise when performed on a single keyboard are more easily managed on multiple manuals and pedals, and the counterpoint is given great clarity and character through the use of the organ's various stops. André Isoir's superb performance in Saint Cyprien in Périgord is especially enjoyable because of his judicious registration, which brings contrasts of dynamics and timbres to these monothematic fugues and canons, which can sound a bit dry when played on a less versatile or colorful instrument.

The four Toccatas and Fugues require no introduction, including as they do the Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV 565, one of the most universally famous works in musical history, popularised notably by the cinema, from Monty Python to Fellini’s La Dolce Vita. André Isoir’s classic recording has been the benchmark version for thirty years.

This disc offers works for organ f one of the main French composers of his time. Jean-François Dandrieu was born in Paris and received his first music lessons from his uncle, Pierre, organist of St Barthélemy, and probably also from Jean-Baptiste Moreau. From 1705 until his death he acted as organist of St Merry, a post earlier held by the famous Nicolas Lebègue. In the last years of his life he also succeeded to the position of his uncle at St Barthélemy.