This release brings together for the first time the surviving keyboard works of Johann Christoph Bach, a great-cousin of J.S. Bach and organist at Eisenach’s Georgenkirche. It forms part of the final instalment in Ricercar’s complete recordings of the Bach ancestors (due October 2026).

The heart of the programme is three variation cycles for harpsichord — the Aria variata, Aria Eberlina variata, and Sarabanda variata — stylistically close to Pachelbel, with the Sarabanda sometimes floated as a conceptual precursor to the Goldberg Variations. On organ, the Praeludium & Fuga in E flat major (once misattributed to J.S. Bach) is paired with chorale preludes from the enigmatic 44 Choräle zum Präambulieren, whose plain style has long fueled debate over which “Johann Christoph” actually wrote them.

Recorded in Centeilles (2025) and Namur (2026), this is a genuine discovery rather than a rehash — most of this material has never been recorded before.

Cindy Castillo – organ
Brice Sailly – harpsichord
Lucie Chabard – harpsichord