Flor PEETERS (1903-1986)
Vlaamse Rhapsodie, Op.37 [13:27]
Suite Modale, Op.43 [15:34]
Elégie, Op.38 [6:45]
Aria, Op.51 [4’40”]
Paraphrase on ‘Salve Regina’, Op.123 [ 7:57]
Lied-Symphony, Op.66 [31:03]
Toccata, Fugue et Hymne sur ‘Ave Maris Stella’, Op.28 [9:41]
Symphonic Fantasy on an Eastern Gregorian Alleluia, Op.13 [10:01]
3 Preludes & Fugues, Op.72 [19:27]
Variations and Finale on an old Flemish Song, Op.20 [16:50]
Sinfonia per Organo, Op.48 [22:43]
Roberto Marini (organ)
rec. 2017, Kristus Koningkerk, Antwerp, Belgium
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 95637 [79:34+78:50]
Time was when no self-respecting organist would be without some Flor Peeters to hand for church or recital use. During his lifetime he was not just one of the leading virtuoso players, but one of the most prolific composers for the instrument, producing reams of highly-serviceable music, much of which was based on chorale and hymn melodies. Certainly much of the chorale-based music was not just formulaic, but decidedly derivative, and he had a penchant in his concert music for the kind of flashy toccata-writing which made the French romantic school so popular. One work, the Variations on an Old Flemish Song was unabashedly based, almost bar-by-bar, on a standard of the repertory (in this case Dupré’s Variations on an Old French Noel, even down to carrying the same opus number). But with such a huge output, it is perhaps inevitable that Peeters resorted so often to tried and tested formulae, but that should not diminish the distinctive individuality of many of his early and more substantial works. This double-CD set of his organ music has contrived to draw out his finest and most original works. Hearing some of these works again after almost half a century reminds me just what a fine composer he was and how he was able to instil into his music for the organ a real sense of passion for the instrument.
The one Peeters work which probably every organist knows and still plays is the Aria, which is a transcription of the slow movement of his Trumpet Sonata of 1943. It is good to hear Roberto Marini perform it with such gentleness and open-hearted affection. The four-movement Suite Modale of 1938 contains a slow movement which vies with the Aria in its sentimental theme, but is today only usually remembered for its dazzling Toccata, complete with thundering pedal theme under waves of flying manual figurations. The massive Lied-Symphony and the Toccata, Fugue and Hymne sur ‘Ave Maris Stella’ are among Peeters’s more inspired (and enduring) concert works, while, for all its occasional references to the Reubke Sonata on the 94th Psalm the Vlaamse Rhapsodie has much to offer in its intriguing journey around the resources of a large concert organ. Neither the three rather acerbic Preludes and Fugues of Op.72 nor the huge Sinfonia ever seem really to have caught organists’ attention, but they all show facets of Peeters’ style which are not generally found elsewhere. In short we have here a valuable compendium of a surprisingly versatile and flexible composer whose knowledge of the organ and its potential was as vast as his own output.
This recording of the 93-stop Klais of the Church of Christ the King in Antwerp, places the organ sufficiently at arm’s length to allow us to appreciate its huge range without it ever sounding overwhelming. The church’s acoustic is warm and comfortable, and the playing of Robert Marini (an erstwhile pupil of Peeters’ own great contemporary Fernando Germani) is exemplary in its command of the style, character and often daunting virtuoso demands. I would place his performance of the Op.20 Variations high on my list of favourites, not only for the wonderful range of colours Marini draws from the organ, but for his ability to get truly under the skin of Peeters and show this to be a work which, for all its close connections with Dupré, exudes from every bar the unique musical voice of Flor Peeters.
Marc Rochester
