MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2023
Approaching 60,000 reviews
and more.. and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger


REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

alternatively
AmazonUK


Felix MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY (1809-1847)
Organ Works

Three Preludes and Fugues Op 37 (1837) [23:34]; Andante in D major (1823) [3:10]; Passacaglia in C minor (1823) [5:28]; Chorale and variations (1823) [11:29]; Nachspiel (1831) [4:17]; Andante con moto in G minor (1833) [1:13]; Fughetta in D major (1834) [3:18]; Fugue in E minor (1839) [4:42]; Prelude in C minor (1841); Andante and variations in D major (1844); [5:05]; Allegro, Chorale and Fugue in D (1844) [7:36]; Six Sonatas Op 65 [71:34]; Andante in F major (1844) [3:06]; Allegro in B flat major (1844) [2:57]
Hans Fagius (organ)
rec. Ǻkerman & Lund Organ, Kokkola Church, Finland, 21-23 September 2008
notes in English and Swedish
DAPHNE 1033 [78:47+78:32]
Experience Classicsonline


The Mendelssohn anniversary has been celebrated in style by many companies with new recordings of familiar and unfamiliar works.
 

The present issue is a mixture of both, with not only the well known Sonatas and Preludes and Fugues but also thirteen shorter and less familiar pieces. It is an engrossing mixture where the composer’s skill and inventiveness is shown even in what are admittedly more minor works. The early Passacaglia of 1823, for instance, untitled in the manuscript and called “Ostinato” in the recent Bärenreiter edition, is clearly based on Bach’s Passacaglia in C minor. Whilst it is perhaps unfair to compare the two works, Mendelssohn’s early piece is certainly worth hearing for its energy and craftsmanship, especially in this performance. This should be no surprise given the miracle of the Octet, and admittedly it does not begin to approach the quality of that work, but it is no mere prentice work. 

I could make similar comments on most of the short pieces on these discs. It is a great pity that they seem to be little known outside organ circles as there is much enjoyment to be had from them here. They are more varied in character than their titles might suggest, and even if they are no masterpieces they are worth hearing, as of course are the major works here. The Preludes and Fugues have an obvious origin in the music of J.S. Bach, but they are no slavish imitations of his style, and they are very varied in character. For example the first, in C minor, begins with an energetic and extrovert Prelude followed by a gentler Fugue in 12/8. The second, in G minor, has in contrast a gentle Prelude in the style of a Song with Words followed by a chromatically wandering Fugue. All three are amongst Mendelssohn’s best music, as are the six Sonatas. I was delighted to hear the latter again so soon after the recent Chandos disc (CHAN10532) on which William Whitehead played them on the organ of the Ballroom of Buckingham Palace. Both are outstanding, although I must admit to a slight preference for the Chandos version as the less resonant acoustic and closer recording is more vivid in its impact and allows the more complex passages to emerge much more clearly. Nonetheless the present version also has strong merits, and as part of a two disc set does enable the listener to get to know significantly more of the composer’s music for organ. Both players understand the composer’s idiom, and present the music in a forthright, unsentimental but never crude manner. 

One special merit of the present set is the accompanying booklet in which Hans Fagius introduces the music in no less than 14 pages of notes written in a very approachable style almost as if the player were speaking directly to the listener. These are fascinating and add much to one’s understanding and enjoyment. Unusually the organ registration is not included, but perhaps this is a positive decision intended to demonstrate that the discs have a potential appeal beyond the organ specialist. If so, I welcome it as these discs do very much deserve to be heard in wider musical circles.

John Sheppard 


 

 
 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.