Everyone knows and loves Paul
Dukas’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (1897). Made famous in Walt Disney’s Fantasia
(1940) featuring Mickey Mouse, this work has retained its place in the
repertoire. The story goes back to the Greek satirist Lucian of Samosata’s Lover
of Lies, which scorned the magicians and alchemists of his day. The tale
was taken up by Goethe in 1796 as a comic ballad. A hundred years later, Dukas
created his “one hit wonder” for full orchestra. The progress of the “tone
poem” needs no explanation. The present soloist made this organ transcription
in 2012 for the Symphony Hall’s 21st birthday celebrations. The instrument’s
registrations perfectly match the brilliant orchestration of the original. As an
aside, I do wish that Dukas’s small catalogue could be re-investigated by
listeners: especially the Symphony in C, the ballet Le Peri and the
Piano Sonata in E flat minor. I think that folk would find them rewarding.
This wonderful tone-poem is followed by a movement from Charles-Marie Widor’s Symphonie No.5, op 42 (1879): it is not the ubiquitous Toccata. Here Trotter plays the opening Allegro vivace. This is an excursion through a set of variations that reveals the tonal colours of the organ. It opens with a “balletic” main theme and progresses through a “goblin-like” dance before turning more serious. The movement ends in a blaze of “power and energy.” Trotter’s performance is superb. He is correct in identifying that this movement is “much more satisfying, entertaining and original” than the Toccata.
A contemporary review of John Gardner’s Five Dances for organ, op.179 (1988), remarks that they “showcase the composer's love of jazz and contrapuntal ingenuity.” This is as it should be: Gardner’s two musical loves were jazz and the baroque. The five numbers include a lively Lavolta (Italian dance with high springs and bounds), a noble Pavin, a nonchalant Irish Jig, a profound Lament and concluding with an increasingly extrovert “Highland” Fling. Once again Trotter’s imaginative registrations make this a delightful set of dances that can be performed as a set, or individually.
Camille Saint-Saens’s Fantasie in E flat major was finished in 1857 and used to inaugurate the rebuilt organ at his church, Saint-Merry in Paris. The piece is in two sections. Witchery and style are characteristics of the first part of this “diptych.” The second “demonstrates the power and majesty of the full organ.” It is rightly popular.
Derek Bourgeois’ short Serenade is new to me. This is best known in the brass band world, but originally started life for the organ. It was devised as a “cheerful recessional for his own wedding in 1965.” This is a catchy, rhythmical miniature, which suggests the bride and groom must have skipped down the aisle. It is certainly just as welcome as Mendelssohn’s Wedding March.
The clock is turned back nearly four hundred years with Antwerp-based composer and publisher Tielman Susato’s Dances from Danserye. These date from about 1551. Trotter explains that much of Susato’s work was designed for singing: madrigals, chansons, psalms, masses, and motets. Amongst some fifty books of music was a volume of sixty-six popular tunes - dances and “rustic peasant songs.” Trotter has arranged five of these for the present charming Suite.
Hungarian composer, theorist, and organist Zsolt Gárdonyi’s Mozart Changes (1995) is based on “two dance like motifs” from the finale of Mozart’s last Piano Sonata in D minor, K572. After the first few bars, which are purely “classical” it moves into “the groove.” Blue notes, jazzy episodes, and swing shifts Mozart Changes into the 20th century. The registration at times nods to a cinema organ. It would make a great, if quiet, encore.
The final track on this CD is Rachel Laurin’s sophisticated Sweelinck Variations, op. 96. Written to celebrate Thomas Trotter’s 800th recital as Birmingham City Organist, it was premiered shortly before lockdown during February 2020. Laurin takes as her theme from Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck’s (1562-1621) Ballo del Granduca for harpsichord or organ. It is possible that this piece may have been by his pupil Samuel Scheidt. That said, the actual melody was composed in Italy in 1589 by a certain Emilio di Cavalieri. No matter. The Variations explore a vast range of musical “texture mood and colour.” It has moments “that are light, humorous, meditative, expressive, impressionistic, exuberant, and dramatic.” The entire work concludes with a massive fugue.
The liner notes are devised by David Gammie and provide all the information needed to enjoy this CD. The all-important organ specification is included. This four-manual instrument was built by Johannes Klais Orgelbau based in Bonn and was commissioned on 19 October 2001. It is the largest mechanical action organ in the United Kingdom. The booklet also features several stunning photographs of the instrument and one of the soloist. Details of the soloist can be found at his agent’s webpage, here.
Thomas Trotter has chosen a splendidly diverse repertoire for this recital. I have noted above the impressive and creative registrations that he has chosen for these pieces. Equally extraordinary is his technique and irrepressible enthusiasm which is apparent in every bar that he plays.
Track Listing:Paul Dukas (1865–1935), arr Thomas Trotter (b. 1957)
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (1897, arr. 2012)
Charles-Marie Widor (1844–1937)
Symphonie No.5, op 42, No 1: I. Allegro Vivace (1879)
John Gardner (1917–2011)
Five Dances for organ, op 179 (1988)
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921)
Fantaisie in E flat major (1857)
Derek Bourgeois (1941–2017)
Serenade, op. 22 (1965)
Tielman Susato (c.1510–c.70), arr. Thomas Trotter
Dances from Danserye (1551)
Zsolt Gárdonyi (b. 1946)
Mozart Changes (1995)
Rachel Laurin (b. 1961)
Sweelinck Variations, op. 96 (2020)
Thomas Trotter (organ)
rec. 21-22 August 2021, Symphony Hall, Birmingham, UK
Regent Records REGCD566
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