I tried Ian Quinn’s
Czech Music disc on Chandos
a few years ago, and though thoroughly enjoying the playing I
was a little less bowled over by the organ sound from Norwich
Cathedral. Here at Coventry Cathedral we are on firmer ground,
with a fine modern instrument from Sydney Campbell together with
Cuthbert Harrison, a replacement for the ‘father’ Willis
instrument which was completely destroyed during the air raid
of November 1940. Using this eloquent instrument, Iain Quinn
modestly “offers but a brief glimpse into the world of
Nordic organ music.” His own booklet notes admirably place
each composer and their work into context, and as usual Chandos
provide us with a sumptuous experience both in sonics and presentation.
Jean Sibelius opens this programme with a stirring ‘Intrada’,
the first of the
Two Pieces Op.111 and one of his best
known pieces for organ. This is followed by a ‘Surusiutto’ or
Funeral Music, which is laden with darker harmonic hues and a
minor key feel. This was written for the funeral of Sibelius’s
friend the painter Akseli Galen-Kallela, and was his final instrumental
work. Both of these pieces have the kind of craggy strength which
Sibelius brought to his symphonic composition, and won’t
disappoint fans of his more emotionally powerful work.
The Danish composer Niels W. Gade was another fine symphonist
and a contemporary of Mendelssohn, working with him in the Leipzig
Gewandhaus concerts. The stylish and charming
Tre Tonestykker or
Three Tone Pieces hark back to the well tested formulae which
led to the success of Mendelssohn’s Preludes and Fugues
some years before. Finnish composer Selim Palmgren’s
Two
Preludes are his only contribution to organ literature, and
in their compact form serve usefully as liturgical intermezzos,
the first a gentle
Tranquillo, the second a kind of incidental
work, with rising and falling sequences over a pedal note held
throughout.
Áskell Másson was a new name to me, but he is one
of Iceland’s
leading names in contemporary music. Iain Quinn has given the
UK and USA premieres of a number of his pieces, and it was a
logical step to include a work of his in this programme. The
recently written
Larghetto is depicted by the composer
as “contemplative, somber music… serenely peaceful.” None
of the pieces here are of a particularly difficult idiom, and
Másson inhabits the genre of composition which you might
expect from someone like Charles Camilleri, except with icicles
rather than warm Catholic mysticism. The
Larghetto rises
in a grand arch, growing from and returning to that serene atmosphere
described via a more chromatic and emotionally charged middle
section.
Knut Nystedt is a highly respected and celebrated Norwegian composer
best known for his orchestral and choral work. Nystedt was organist
at the Torshov Kirke in Oslo, and his
Variasjoner over ‘Med
Jesu vil eg fara’ he follows tradition in exploring
a variety of compositional techniques and the full range of the
organ over seven fascinating variations, the final
Allegro
energico of which is a truly spectacular treat.
Otto Olsson was a Swedish organist and composer who wrote widely
for the organ, and was recognised as one of the great virtuosos
of his time. His work is firmly anchored in the late romantic
idiom, and the work of Widor and Reger as well as Bach can be
named as sources for his compositional inspiration. Dating from
1909, the
Sonata in E major Op.38 is an early example
of an extended solo organ piece from any of the Nordic countries,
Olsson clearly being keen to import the large-scale proportions
from the French and German romantic tradition. This music is
genial and relatively uncomplicated in nature, with a transparent
luminosity in the general feel of the registrations and musical
material - in other words, substantial, but never overblown.
Iain Quinn points out the pedal solo which opens the
Finale,
a boisterous and confident statement which has a similar sense
of fun to some of Lefébure-Wély’s work.
This is a superb organ disc which brings together some perhaps
less well known composers and pieces, but offers tremendous value
in terms of quality in all aspects: superlative performance,
interesting and inspired programming, a rich well-balanced recording
of a superb instrument in peak condition, and a picture of a
snowy scene on the cover.
Dominy Clements
Tremendous value ... see Full Review
Iain Quinn (organ) 
