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Contents:
| 1. |
Toccata (From Symphony V Op. 42) |
Charles
M. Widor |
[4.51] |
|
Two
Choral Improvisations |
| 2. |
Jesu hilf Siegen |
Sigfrid Karg-Elert |
[1.57] |
| 3. |
Nun Danket alle Gott Op. 65 |
Sigfrid Karg-Elert |
[4.07] |
| 4. |
Concert Overture in C minor (1899) |
Alfred Hollins |
[6.41] |
| 5. |
Chorale Partita 'Sei gegrüsset,
Jesu Gütig' BWV 768 |
Johann S. Bach  Sound Clip |
[18.13] |
| 6. |
Fugue sur le theme des heures de la
Cathedrale de Soissons |
Maurice Duruflé |
[3.18] |
| 7. |
Tocatta & Fugue in D minor BWV
565 |
Johann S Bach |
[8.06] |
| 8. |
Salamanca |
Guy Bovet |
[5.26] |
| 9. |
Final |
Louis
Vierne Sound Clip |
[5.54] |
| 10. |
Humouresque |
Pietro Yon |
[2.16] |
| 11. |
Scherzo Symphonique (1974)
(transcription Filsell) |
Pierre Cochereau |
[7.02] |
| 12. |
Sortie en Eb |
Louis Lefébure-Wély |
[3.23] |
| 13. |
Carillon de Westminster |
Louis Vierne |
[6.19] |
DDD Total time = 78.25 - Recorded at All Hallows, Twickenham 1997
Virtuoso Organ Works - Jeremy Filsell
Welcome to the collection of virtuoso organ works which includes many of the greatest
master pieces written for the’ King of Instruments’ over the past three hundred
years. J.S. Bach’s music was in its time revolutionary for its use of the
organ’s fast developing tonal palette and more importantly, its independent Pedal
colours and chorus. Just as revolutionary in this century was the appearance of technology
which allowed the imitation of the pipe organ’s sound in all its powerful and
colourful glory. This recording shows off in spectacular fashion one of the most
up-to-date and convincing of pipe organ imitators, the Viscount
Prestige.
My own experience as a performer has led me to both the finest and the worst of pipe
instruments and indeed the same in the field of electronics. However, my encounters with
the Viscount ushered in a desire to return again and again to the instrument, such was the
individuality of its colours and timbres. The simulation of mechanical touch on keyboards
of an ivory equivalent made the physicality of playing a reward unmatched by the rather
plastic feel of most other electronics. The genuine beauty of the flutes and Principals
will be discerned from this recording as will the brilliance of the reeds and Mixtures.
Bach’s sublime Variations on the Lutheran chorale, Sei Gerrüsset admirably
demonstrates the wealth of Baroque sounds available, the softer Karg-Elert and Yon pieces,
the piquancy of the 8’ Flutes and in the Widor and Vierne, those giants of the French
Romantic School, the brilliant and exciting Tutti.
We make no apology for presenting this recording of favourite masterworks on an
electronic instrument as it conveys so splendidly the excellent and joie de Vivre or these
pieces. The naturally generous acoustic of All Hallows Twickenham provided us with the
perfect ambience and there is no subsequent addition of any reverberation. The recording
sounds exactly as it did in the building on that hot July day when (as maybe detected at
various moments) traffic continually sped past on the ever busy Chertsey Road just outside
the church. We hope that you gain as much enjoyment from listening to these great organ
works as we did in performing and recording them.
Jeremy Filsell
Notes:
Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937): Toccata (finale) - Symphony no 5 In F
minor opus 42 no 1
This is by far the most famous piece by the great French organist and composer
Charles-Marie Widor, and one of the most popular and brilliant in the entire organ
repertoire. Widor was appointed organist of his father's, church in Lyons aged 16, and ten
years later was appointed to Saint- Sulpice in Paris, a post he held until retiring at the
age of 90. He composed operas, orchestral and chamber music, together with songs but his
fame as a composer rests on his magnificent organ works, headed by ten symphonies. The
Fifth is from 1880, and concludes with this dazzling virtuoso Toccata, whose tempestuous
cascades are underpinned by a thrilling theme on the pedals.
Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877-1933): Sixty-six Choral Improvisations opus
66: .Jesu Hilf Siegen ,Nun Danket alle Gott
Sigfrid Karg-Elert’s life was a triumph of genius over adversity; his father died
when he was a child, leaving his family destitute. Sigfrid’s education was spasmodic,
bur he eventually succeeded Max Reger as Professor at the Leipzig Conservatorium. Almost
all of Karg-Elert's music was composed for organ and/or harmonium: the six volumes which
make up his sixty-six Choral Improvisations were his first works originally planned for
the organ. The range covered in these short works is considerable, and in Jesu, hilf
Siegen and Nun Danket alle Gott we encounter some of his most impressive
shorter pieces, particularly with the second, No. 59 in the set, the most famous and most
martial in the series.
Alfred Hollins ( 1865-1942): Concert- Overture In C minor
Alfred Hollins was born without slight, In Hull in 1865, and became professor of Music at
the Blind college In Norwood after studying with Hans von Bulow in Berlin. He was a fine
pianist appearing as soloist with several leading orchestras In Europe. Later, he moved to
Edinburgh, becoming organist at West St George's and composed this brilliantly dramatic
Concert Overture In C minor in l899.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Chorale-Partita: "Sei
gegrüsset, Jesu Gütig" BWV 768
Bach’s great output of organ music has for long formed the backbone of the entire
repertoire for the instrument, and amongst the inexhaustible richness and diversity of his
organ music can be found a superb series. of variations. This Chorale-partita, thought to
date from about 1715, is a wonderful series of variations on a chorale in which Bach's
contrapuntal mastery is seen at its finest.
Maurice Duruflé (1902-l986): Fugue sur le theme du Carillon des
heures de la Cathédrale de Soissons - Opus 12
The French organist-composer Maurice Duruflé wrote very little music during his long and
distinguished life - perhaps fewer than twenty compositions in all - yet his Requiem,
dating from 1947, is the most, famous by a French composer since Fauré’s; other of
his religious choral works, and his organ compositions, have an International following.
This splendidly attractive Fugue dates from about 1967, and was inspired, as the title
indicates, by the carillon of the hours at the Cathedral of Soissons, an ancient city in
the Aisne district of north-eastern France near the Belgian border.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV
565
Together with the Widor Toccata, which opens this programme, J.S. Bach’s Toccata and
Fugue in D minor is arguably the most famous piece of organ music in the repertoire. It
is, so far as it can be dated at all, an early work - no autograph score has survived, but
various aspects of the music point to it possibly having been written prior to 1708. The
arresting and challenging opening, the cascading figuration and the repeated notes in the
fugue itself are the work of a great composer who, for all his youthfulness, here already
exhibits a commanding creative personality.
Guy Bovet (1942- ): Salamanca
Guy Bovet is one of the more important of the younger generation of contemporary Swiss
composers, and is an outstanding organist. Salamanca was composed in 1986, improvised on a
Catalan folk-song about a little donkey, a theme submitted to Bovet by the Dean of the
later (1513-1733) Salamanca Cathedral which adjoins the older 12th-century Gothic
structure in the City. The result is a most appealing modern short organ piece - the
original meaning of the word Salamanca is "witch" or " sorcerer".
Louis Vierne (1870 1937): Final, from Organ Symphony no 1 in D minor
opus 14
Like Alfred Hollins, his English contemporary, Louis Vierne was also blind. He was born in
Poitiers, and studied with César Franck and Charles-Marie Widor, becoming organist at
Notre Dame in Paris in 1900. He held this post until his death (which occurred whilst he
was playing in the cathedral), and, just before taking up the post, he composed the first
of his (eventually) six Symphonies for organ. This brilliant composition, which clearly
marked out Vierne as a composer of fine gifts, ends with this splendid Final, which is
often played as a separate concert item.
Pietro Yon (1886-1943): Humoresque
Pietro Yon was much-admired Italian-American organist and composer, who became an American
citizen in 1921 , after emigrating to the USA in 1907 following studies in his native
Italy. In New York City, Yon established a tremendous reputation, as a superb organist and
composer of a wide range of emotion, from large-scale oratorio to popular short pieces.
Among the latter can be found this delightful Humoresque, a study for the flute stop.
Pierre Cochereau (1924- 1984): Scherzo Symphonique - transcription by
Jeremy Filesll
This distinguished French musician studied in Paris and became organist at Notre Dame in
1955. Whilst his original compositions for the instrument are few, he was pre-eminent in
improvisation, and during the 1970s several of his improvised pieces were actually
recorded. Among them is this virtuoso piece, which was recorded by Cochereau in 1974 -
interestingly, he had recorded an almost identical version in 1968. Jeremy Filsell has
transcribed, from the 1974 recording, the music. - making this the first recording of the
piece by someone other than the composer.
Louis Lefébure-Wély (1817-1869): Sortie In E flat
It is only in relatively recent years that the music of this 19th century Parisian
organist and composer has been rediscovered, and his elegant and finely-polished music is
now heard much more frequently than hitherto. Lefébure-Wély was something of a child
prodigy, but he matured into a finished artist, and among his attractive organ pieces are
several Sorties (or postludes). This one, in E flat major, is by far the most popular and
is also arguably the finest, conjuring up the Imperial Paris of Napoleon III.
Louis Vierne (1870-l937): Carillon de Westminster
Apart from his six large-scale Organ Symphonies (mentioned above), Vierne also composed
several sets of short pieces for the instrument, including 24 Pièces de Fantasie
published in four books. The last In Book 3, which constitutes Vierne’s opus 54,
appeared in 1927, and is a tremendously effective fantasia on the famous Westminster
chimes.
Robert Matthew Walker (C) 1997
Page revised Friday May 25 2007
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