Early Music Review (November 2009)

Although most organists and harpsichordists will already own recordings of their respective keyboard toccatas, this double CD gives a chance to compare the compositional styles of both genres, with one disc devoted to the pedaliter and the other to the manualiter works. Having played some of the manualiter Toccatas on the organ myself, I wonder whether the strict division into organ and harpsichord is entirely appropriate, but there would be no room on the 2 CDs to include versions on differents instruments, and a performance on pedal clavichord would sound out of place. A programme of 14 Toccatas is not the most relaxing listen, but Berben's interpretations are musically effective.

Andrew Benson-Wilson