This debut recording from Dónal McCann on the organ of New College Oxford, explores Bach’s relationship with the music of his German and Italian contemporaries.

Vivaldi’s first major collection of concertos, L’Estro armónico, took Europe by storm at the start of the 18th century, and this disc shows how Bach responded to this new and exotic Venetian voice. Bach’s professional and personal life was also entwined with his German contemporary, Johann Gottfried Walther, both men sharing an interest in transcription and moving in the professional worlds of Weimar court music.

By focusing on transcription, this disc offers a unique insight into both composers’ compositional practices by comparing their responses to Vivaldi. And it also asks fundamental questions about the creative nature of transcription itself: are they tools for education, performance opportunities, or the creative response of one composer to the works of another?

This is virtuoso repertoire rarely heard, and performed with dazzling skill by Dónal McCann, on the iconic organ of New College Oxford, whose resources and colours are ideally suited to this repertoire.