Krebs: Complete Organ Music

Johann Ludwig Krebs lived from 1713 till 1780, a period of transition from the Baroque to the Classical Period. Taught by his organist father he was sent to the St. Thomas School in Leipzig, where Johann Sebastian Bach was his teacher. From 1755 on he was organist at the court of Prince Friedrich of Gotha-Altenberg, a position he held till his death. Krebs had difficulty in adjusting to the changing musical tastes of his time, which tended towards the Empfindsame Stil and the Rococo. His forte was the “old fashioned” counterpoint, in which he excelled and was only paralleled by his teacher and mentor J.S. Bach, who was full of praise for him, calling him “der einzige Krebs in meinem Bach” (the only crab in my stream). This new recording of the complete organ works by Krebs uses several historical organs: the Arp Schnitger organ of Noordbroek, the F.C. Schnitger organ of Zuidbroek, the Gottfried Silbermann organ in Freiberg, and a Pradella Organ (2007) of Valle di Colorina. Organist Manuel Tomadin is one