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About the exclusive use of the Peau de Buffle stop

"I think the thing about John Paul's Bach is that if you deprive yourself of the more usual means of expression, either you flop or you find some new avenue of expression. Actually punctuation, almost imperceptible breaks in the phrasing, and the "scanning" (Latin verse if you ever did it), which relies on shorts and longs, i.e. staccato notes and held notes, can if properly handled give you all the expression you need, expression in the sense of guiding the listener subtly through the different episodes and where it exists, the counterpoint.

It's so different, almost like a totally different instrument, which of course always shows musical detail in a new light. John Paul's self-imposed limitation compels him to bring out expression and clarity of line in new ways, being deprived of the piano touch, or the harpsichord's registration possibilities and terrace dynamics. Impossible one might think, but he seems to manage it. It's also very relaxing listening."

Michael Meacock co-founder of the Oryx Recordings label, editor and contributor  Baroque Music.org , and The Baroque Music Collection, and The Baroque Music Library

On the third volume of The Complete Clavier Suites of JS Bach, John Paul continues his phenomenal realizations of Bach's clavier suites performed on the gut-strung lautenwerck (luteharpsichord). The Clavier Suites of J.S. Bach are among the crowning glories of keyboard music in the Baroque Era. In them Bach combines German counterpoint with the current flavors of French and Italian musical fashion to produce nineteen works of gracefulness and brilliance. Here is a recording on a lautenwerck Peau de Buffle. The lute-like sound of gut strings gently brushed by soft leather quills displays at once the intimacy and the virtuosity of these marvelous works. Fanfare Magazine calls him “... a performer of considerable distinction” The prestigious British Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music says he “... plays with vigour and much expressive vitality.” This is his sixth ground-breaking, world premier Lyrichord Early Music Series recording, and is the first of 7 volumes encompassing all of J.S. Bach's Clavier Suites performed on the gut-strung lautenwerck. The delicate, intimate tone of the lautenwerck, as realized though John Paul's sensitive and expressive interpretation, sets a new standard for these wonderful suites by the 18th century keyboard master!

Tracks: 

1. Partita No. 3 in A Minor, BWV 827: Fantasie

2. Partita No. 3 in A Minor, BWV 827: Allemande

 3. Partita No. 3 in A Minor, BWV 827: Courante

 4. Partita No. 3 in A Minor, BWV 827: Sarabande

 5. Partita No. 3 in A Minor, BWV 827: Burlesca

 6. Partita No. 3 in A Minor, BWV 827: Scherzo

 7. Partita No. 3 in A Minor, BWV 827: Gigue

 8. French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816: Allemande

 9. French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816: Courante

 10. French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816: Sarabande

 11. French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816: Gavotte

 12. French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816: Bouree

 13. French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816: Loure

 14. French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816: Gigue

 15. English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808: Prelude

 16. English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808: Allemande

 17. English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808: Courante

 18. English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808: Sarabande

 19. English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808: Gavotte

 20. English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808: Gigue

 For more about the Lautenwerck, read instrument builder Anden Houben's article here.