The Toccata and Fugue in D minor by Johann Sebastian Bach is among the most popular pieces of Baroque and organ music today. It is hard to imagine that it was almost unknown during the first century of its existence, with probably only one surviving manuscript for more than a hundred years. Felix Mendelssohn first published (1833) and later performed (1840) it in a concert in Leipzig that launched its ascent to mainstream fame. To this day, there are scholarly discussions about its true authorship and musical value, with some calling it “simplistic.”
The performance we are hearing in our Music of the Week is anything but simplistic, however. Sergey Teleshev is an acclaimed accordion player who was trained at the Academy of Music in Voronezh, Russia. In 2019, he ranked as the No. 1 Accordionist of the Year in Russia and as No. 3 in the world according to Accordion Stars Illustrated magazine, New York.
The classical accordion can sound like an organ. Different from the folk music instrument, it has a variety of reed ranks and switches that are similar to the organ register. Both are incredibly rich in harmonics.
Related:
Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 on Wikipedia
