Steven Devine (harpsichord)

With this sixth and final volume, harpsichordist Steven Devine brings to a close his landmark traversal of the complete keyboard works of Johann Ludwig Krebs, Bach’s most gifted pupil.

Drawn largely from the early Vier Pieces of 1740–41, the programme juxtaposes the charming Sechs Preambulis — miniatures of elegant wit and gallant freshness — with the expansive A minor Suite ‘nach dem heutigen Gusto’, whose sequence of dances blends contrapuntal craft with strikingly modern flair. Between them stands the fifth Suite from Krebs’s Clavier-Übung IV (1746), a polished set that shows the composer’s imaginative response to contemporary demands for keyboard music both refined and accessible.

Devine’s artistry and scholarship, matched with the glowing sonority of a Colin Booth harpsichord after Fleischer, illuminate Krebs’s balance of learned invention and graceful invention. A project of rare vision and integrity, this final instalment crowns a cycle that restores Krebs to his rightful place among the most engaging keyboard composers of the eighteenth century.

Album Booklet (PDF)

About the Artists: Steven Devine