This excellent CD of music
showcasing the restored William Hill and Son organ at Selby Abbey gets off to a
great start. Charles Tournemire is less-well-known that his exact-contemporary
Louis Vierne. Yet his music is equally satisfying. As a pupil of César Franck
and Charles Marie Widor, he was certainly a great master of the organ. The key
thing to recall about Tournemire is that in his organ music he is to ‘plainsong’
what Bach was to ‘Lutheran chorales.’
Tournemire produced an immense
amount of music for the instrument, typically inspired by his deep Catholic
faith. His ‘magnus opus’ is the huge collection L’Orgue mystique which consists of 51 works written for the
Christian Year, including the Feast Days of the Saints. Each one has five discrete pieces: ‘Prélude a l'Introit’,
‘Offertoire’, ‘Elévation’, ‘Communion’ and ‘Pièce Terminale.’ Each makes use of
the ‘proper’ chants of the day.
The present ‘Paraphrase-Carillon’
is largely based on the plainsong ‘Salve Regina’ and ‘Ave maris stellis’ taken
from the Office of the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The
music is sometime impressionistic, sometime hints at birdsong and often deploys
complex chords. Fundamentally, it is an explosion of praise for Our Lady that
certainly does ring out the bells. The listener will find it easy to hear a
prefiguring of Messiaen, especially in the ‘spooky’ middle section.
Whilst preparing this review, I
took the opportunity of listening to one of Charles Tournemire’s eight
symphonies for orchestra. If you like Mahler, you will like this music. Alas,
he abandoned concert music after failing to make headway in this genre.
Maurice Duruflé’s Scherzo op.2 is
an amazing piece. I understand that it was composed in 1927 as an examination
exercise whilst the composer was still a student at the Paris Conservatoire. It
has been suggested that it may be a revision of an earlier piece. Yet, there is
not a whiff of the ‘academy’ about this music. There is a collection of essays
about the composer called Maurice Duruflé
(1902-1986): The Last Impressionist (ed. Ronald Ebrecht, Scarecrow Press,
2002), the title of which gives some idea of what style of music influenced the
composer’s work. Any hearing of the
Scherzo displays this mood from the first bar to the last. The entire work is
characterised by a misty, will o’ the wisp atmosphere featuring many tempo
changes and daring modulations. On the other hand, it is not a ‘ramble’ but
sticks to a definite formal structure: a small rondo. The work opens quietly
and slowly and proceeds to explore several ‘filigree’ phrases and some
beautiful chorale-like motives. For a scherzo it is typically reserved.
The work was dedicated to ‘To my
dear master, Charles Tournemire in grateful homage.’ Tournemire was at that
time organist at Sainte-Clothilde, Paris.
I began exploring the music of
Messiaen at the wrong end. I recall sitting down on the organ bench with a
friendly organist who played me extracts from the ‘Méditations sur le Mystère
de la Sainte Trinité’ (1969). I think that it had only recently been published.
I cannot claim that I was impressed. It was not until a year or so later that I
discovered the beautiful orchestral suite L’Ascension
(1932). I think it was an old ORTF Philharmonic Orchestra recording conducted
by Marius Constant. I found this a revelation after the ‘colourful’ ‘Méditations.’
Shortly afterwards, I heard the organ version of L’Ascension which Messiaen had created in 1933. The first, second
and fourth movements were direct transcriptions of the original, but the third
movement ‘Transports de joie’ was entirely new.
Messiaen’s L’Ascension’ was
inspired by Scripture, though it is fair to advocate that the composer has not
written a ‘programmatic’ work about biblical events, but a ‘meditation’ on its inherent
spirituality. I do not need to give a commentary on this work, save to mention
that most listeners will never forget the massive explosion of organ texture in
‘Transports de joie’. It is possible to forget the ‘programme’ and simply enjoy
this vibrant music as a superlative example of a twentieth century ‘toccata.’ The
sound world of the other less cataclysmic sections is always thoughtful and
well-wrought on this disc.
I have usually listened to L’Ascension’ in Jennifer Bate’s 1982
recording played on the organ at Beauvais Cathedral and the earlier version by
Simon Preston on the old ARGO label.
However, Aleksandr Nisse’s exceptional performance is one I can engage
with and recommend.
The ‘discovery’ for me on this CD
is the premiere recording of Danielle Salvignol-Nisse’s ‘Six Pieces’. As her
name might imply, she is related to the present soloist: in fact, she was his
aunt and godmother. Salvignol-Nisse studied with Gaston Litaize and Jean
Langlais at the National Institute for the Blind. After this she entered the
Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris. Her career included
positions at St Denis Church in Amboise and the Church of Notre Dame in St Lo.
In 1977 she was appointed to a professorship at the Conservatoire of Music at
Perpignan. Salvignol-Nisse had a busy recital career in France, Germany,
Holland and Spain. I was unable to trace
any further information about her on the internet. Her remarkable Six pièces
pour orgue was published in 1974 at the behest of Jean Langlais. There are no detailed programme notes
provided for this work, but I guess that a good description would be that they
reflect the sound-world of Jean Langlais, Jehan Alain and ‘approachable’
Messiaen. That said, she is not writing pastiche. I would need to inspect the
score before making further comments, save to suggest that the music is deeply
thought out and reflects what Aleksandr Nisse describes as her ‘intense
[Christian] faith.’ The six pieces are: ‘Prière’, ‘Ave Maris Stella’, ‘Élégie’,
‘Fantaisie’, ‘Offertoire’ and ‘Communion’.
Franz Liszt’s ‘Funérailles’ is a
strange (to me) work. It is played here in a transcription by the French
organist Louis Robilliard. It began life as no.7 of Liszt’s ‘Harmonies Poétiques
et Religieuses’ for piano solo. This work was written in memory of three of the
composer’s friends killed in the Hungarian Revolution of 1849. The music
balances several moods. From the opening funeral march building to an
aggressive climax, the Chopin-like ‘Lagrimoso’ (tearful) which is thoughtful
and morose and then on towards a wonderful march which reflects the hoof-beats
of the cavalry in the pedals and the blare of military trumpets in the manuals.
The music calms down to a hush, reprising the ‘tearful’ music, before a last
cry of anguish brings the work to its conclusion. Not my favourite work on this
disc, but it is certainly one that displays the resources of this splendid
organ and the performer to great effect.
The soloist Aleksandr Nisse was
born in the Northern German province of Schleswig-Holstein and is of Russian
and French descent. He received early training as an organist in Hamburg.
Influential teachers and mentors included the great Helmut Walcha, Gaston
Litaize and Jean Langlais. Further studies at the Royal Academy of Music ensued
with Nicolas Kynaston and Lionel Rogg. Nisse was organ scholar at Christ Church
Cathedral, Dublin. In September 2011 he was appointed organist of St. Andrew’s
Church, Westland Row, Dublin, and music teacher at Terenure College. Aleksandr
Nisse has given many recitals in Europe, including in France, Hungary, the
United Kingdom and Germany.
The insert does not give a
history of the organ, only the specification. A couple of facts may be of
interest. The organ was built in 1909 by William Hill and Son. It is a highly-regarded
example of that organ builder’s craft. The oak organ case was designed by John
Oldrid Scott, son of George Gilbert Scott and brother of Giles. By 2012 the organ
was in danger of becoming unplayable. Over the next couple of years, it was
fully restored utilising as much of the original instrument as possible. A new four
manual and pedal nave console by Harrison and Harrison was installed.
The liner notes produced by the Selby
Abbey Organ Masters label are excellent. They give a detailed account of each
pieces, largely written by Ian Wells. It includes the all-important
specification of the organ, a biography of Aleksandr Nisse, an appreciation of
Danielle Salvignol-Nisse by the soloist and a brief history of the Abbey. It is
well illustrated with colour photographs of the building, the console and the
organist. In fact, it is a model insert (apart from omitting the organ history).
Finally, although I may have missed it, there is no exact date of recording:
only the year.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable
CD. Great music is played with exceptional skill on a wonderfully restored
instrument. What more could one ask for? Except for more organ records from
Selby Abbey Organ Masters label.
Track Listing:
Charles TOURNEMIRE
(1870-1939) L’Orgue Mystique: Paraphrase-Carillon: Office de l’Assumption,
no.35, op.57 (c.1928)
Maurice DURUFLÉ (1902-86)
Scherzo, op.2 (1926)
Olivier MESSIAEN (1908-1992)
L’Ascension (1932-34)
Danielle SALVIGNOL-NISSE
(1944-96) Six Pieces (1974)
Franz LISZT (1811-66)
Funérailles (1849) (Transcribed Louis ROBILLIARD
(b.1939)
Aleksandr Nisse (organ)
Rec. Selby Abbey 2018
SELBY ABBEY ORGAN
MASTERS SAOM004
With thanks to
MusicWeb International where this review was first published.
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