Bach Vinyl Records

Few composers reward repeated listening on a good system the way Johann Sebastian Bach does. The keyboard works (the Goldberg Variations, the Well-Tempered Clavier), the cello suites, the violin partitas, the choral masses — each major work sits at the foundation of the Western classical tradition, and each is served by the dynamic range and tonal warmth of vinyl playback.

Different performers shape these works in radically different ways. Glenn Gould's Goldberg Variations sit alongside very different readings by Schiff, Tureck and Perahia; the Casals cello suite recordings remain landmark performances; the Karl Richter mass recordings on Archiv are reference pressings.

Best Bach Albums on Vinyl

Goldberg Variations — Glenn Gould (1955 / 1981)
— Both recordings, four decades apart, sit in the canon. The 1981 reading is slower and more contemplative.

Six Cello Suites — Pablo Casals (recorded 1936-39)
— The recordings that introduced the cello suites to the modern repertoire. Still definitive.

Mass in B Minor — Karl Richter (Archiv, 1961)
— A landmark choral recording. The Archiv pressings cut from the original tapes are reference quality.

Sonatas & Partitas for Solo Violin — Henryk Szeryng (Deutsche Grammophon)
— A measured, intellectually serious reading. Reference vinyl.

If You Like Bach vinyl records, check these out:

Beethoven Vinyl Records Beethoven Glenn Gould Vinyl Records Glenn Gould Max Richter Vinyl Records Max Richter Mozart Vinyl Records Mozart Philip Glass Vinyl Records – Glassworks, Koyaanisqatsi & Essential Albums on Vinyl Philip Glass

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