ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates interpretations of J. S. Bach's Toccata in D major BWV 912 through analysis of recordings made on the piano by pianists whose names have often been associated with Bach performance. It anticipates that performances of a relatively 'thin' work are liable to demonstrate that performers' artistic prerogatives have been exercised in dissimilar ways. The chapter examines recordings of a 'free' section and then a 'strict' one to ascertain how the four performances reflect the interpretative fields of these seemingly opposing elements. Sviatoslav Richter's performance certainly implies a 'literalist' interpretation and the response to the broad topical mode con discrezione evident in his recording suggests, as far as the nature of this music will permit, an advocacy of the Texttreue principle. Like Richter, Angela Hewitt also interprets the passage as moving from a softer to a stronger dynamic but her range is noticeably larger.
