The first of three major works on
this CD is Joseph Jongen’s imposing Sonata Eroica. This piece was commissioned
by Belgium Radio in 1930 for the inaugural concert at the art-deco concert hall
and arts centre at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. The work was played
on the newly installed instrument built by Josef Stevens of Duffel, near
Malines. The Sonata is dedicated to Joseph Bonnet, the former organist at St
Eustache’s Church in Paris.
The liner notes explain that this
is not a ‘sonata’ in any traditional sense, but a set of ‘symphonic’ variations
based on an Ardennes folksong. This tune first appears after a loud and
demanding introduction. The piece concludes with a ‘tightly-wrought
neo-classical fugue’ and a wonderful peroration, sounding like all the bells of
Brussels ringing peals of joy and triumph.
Listeners will detect several
influences in this music including Claude Debussy, fellow Belgian César Franck
and most important of all, Franz Liszt. Yet, I believe that Joseph Jongen has
created a marvellous synthesis that is never pastiche.
Alexander Ffinch gives a vibrant
performance of Jongen’s Sonata. There is a fine balance between the romantically
charged slow middle section, the commanding introduction and the overpowering
conclusion. The contrast between these three ‘sections’ is perfectly made.
I have not heard Jonathan Dove’s The
Dancing Pipes before reviewing this CD. The piece was commissioned by St
Lawrence’s Church in Ludlow, Shropshire and was dedicated to organist Thomas
Trotter. It commemorated the 250th anniversary of the installation
of the church’s Snetzler organ. The
Dancing Pipes is characterised by an ever-changing sense of rhythmic drive
propelled by varying metres that certainly satisfies the ‘Dancing’ part of the
title. Dove has written that the work
was derived from a ‘little dancing figure’ that dominates the piece and is
largely resistant to ‘the challenges of various counterpoints that tried to
knock it off balance.’ Naturally, the little melody survives, but not before
‘the organ pipes themselves wanted to dance.’ It is a superb piece that is, I
suppose, a toccata of sorts: it is an ideal conclusion to a recital or a
recessional for seeing the worshipers off the premises at the end of Matins. It
is also a splendid concert-piece. The overall stylistic impression of this
music is ‘minimalist’, at least in the sense that it reminds me of Philip
Glass. It is played with excitement and a sense of drama and attention to
registration which provides colour to this compulsive piece. This is The
Dancing Pipes’ ‘world premiere recording’: I doubt that it will be the
last…
The corpus of Franz Liszt’s organ
music is currently dominated by two major pieces that have stood the test of
time: The Prelude and Fugue on BACH (1855) and the present Fantasia and Fugue
on the chorale ‘Ad nos, ad salutarem undam’. Both remain in the repertoire of
recitalists. ‘Ad Nos’ is a long work, lasting over half an hour. Despite its
title, it is divided into three sections: Fantasy, Adagio and Fugue. Liszt
began composing the work in 1842 and finally completed it in 1850. He
considered it ‘as one of [his] least bad productions.’
The piece is based on a chorale sung
by Anabaptists in German-composer Giacomo Meyerbeer’s five-act opera La
Prophète (1849). What Liszt has done is to create a ‘compendium’ of organ
playing ‘devices.’ The success of this work depends on the recitalist’s ability
to manage the instrument in presenting ‘a kaleidoscopic range of moods and
colours.’ There are three underlying compositional techniques here: organ,
piano and orchestral. This fact alone, demands considerable challenges to the
registration and playing technique. For me, Ffinch’s performance achieves this
well, but in a typically restrained manner. I note the work’s often improvisatory
and rhapsodic character and understand that this feature can be the work’s
glory and perhaps its downfall. There is always a danger of the music drifting
into ‘empty waffle’ Ffinch avoids this and presents a convincing and satisfying
account of a work regarded by many as being one of the masterpieces of
nineteenth-century organ music.
The three-manual organ was
originally installed at the Cheltenham College Chapel in 1897 by Norman and
Beard. The organ case was designed by the chapel architect Henry Prothero. Over
the past 120 years the instrument was been rebuilt on one occasion (1930) and
restored in 1976. This work was carried out by Harrison and Harrison. Finally,
in 2017 the organ was dismantled and fully restored at the organ builder’s Durham
workshops.
Alexander Ffinch is currently the
organist at Cheltenham College Chapel, responsible for the day to day worship
at the Chapel as well as accompanying choirs and giving recitals. He was
appointed in 2004.
David Gammie provides excellent details
of the music and composers in the liner notes, along with the all-important full
specification of the instrument. Despite the eye-boggling ‘Cosmati’ pattern on
the CD cover, there are three good photographs of the organ: console, pipe-rack
and a general view of the chapel. Other pictures feature all three composers,
the organist Alexander Ffinch and an etching by Charles Bour (1814-1881) of the
cover of the piano reduction score of Meyerbeer’s Le Prophete.
This is an enormously satisfying
CD presenting three war-horses that are either standards in organists’ repertoire
(Liszt and Jongen) or ought to be (Dove). It is a well-produced disc that
rewards the listener attention. The playing overall is ideal, and the sound
quality is well-balanced.
Track Listings:
Joseph JONGEN (1873-1953) Sonata Eroica, op.94 (1930)
Jonathan DOVE (b.1959) The Dancing Pipes (2016)
Franz LISZT (1811-1886) Fantasia and Fugue on the
chorale ‘Ad nos, ad salutarem undam’. S.259 (1850)
Alexander Ffinch (organ)
Rec. Cheltenham College Chapel, 23, 24 & 27 July 2018
DIVINE ART dda 25193
With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review
was first published.
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