Johann Adolph Scheibe, Keyboard Partitas

Johann Adolph Scheibe (1708 – 1776) was a German-Danish composer and critic and theorist of music. As a composer Scheibe is nowadays largely unknown. Though most of his music is now lost, he composed over 150 church pieces and oratorios, some 200 concertos, two operas, and numerous sinfonias, chamber pieces, and secular cantatas. He is largely remembered because of his criticism of J.S. Bach’s musical style. In “Der Critische Musicus” (no.6) he criticised Bach for taking das Künstliche (technical or artificial) to excess, at the expense of das Natürliche (the natural). History judged harshly: Scheibe was wrong and his music and writings were neglected. Scheibe’s music deserves a reevaluation. The seven partita’s presented in this Edition are proof of that. The partita’s vary in length, the number of dances, their type and order seem somewhat arbitrary. But they all have one thing in common: they stick to the mind. Originally meant for harpsichord, they work very well on organ too.

A printed copy is obtainable at lulu.com, both in color version and a cheaper black and white version.

Score
Scheibe, Keyboard Partita’s

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