During the long life of the French composer Charles-Marie Widor – he died in 1937 at the age of 93 – his organ music earned him a world reputation as an outstanding composer for the instrument, of which he was a master. In Widor’s list of works there are no fewer than ten symphonies for organ, and the two that were composed around 1880 and published as his Opus 42, are amongst the most justly famous. Indeed, the concluding Toccata from the Fifth Symphony in F minor is known as one of the most admired and popular of all organ pieces. Both works make considerable demands on the player, and on this brilliant new CD the highly acclaimed Colin Walsh, at the organ of Lincoln Cathedral, gives outstanding performances of virtuosity and sensitivity, revealing the qualities of this music anew.

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