The Gramophone Shop Celebrity Series
Complete Danish Recordings 1948-1950 and the earliest Finn Viderø organ recordings 1937-1941
DANACORD DACOCD893-896 [4 CDs: 305:51]
The Gramophone Shop was a powerhouse among North American emporia, situated on 42nd East Street and owned by Bill Tyler and Joe Brogan. Not only did it issue its own Encyclopedia of Recorded Music, which ran to several editions – I use the 1948 edition regularly whether for reviewing or for research – but it also had its own record label. This was the Gramophone Shop Celebrities series and this is the background to the first ever CD release of the complete GSC recordings of Danish recordings made between 1948 and 1950.
It was through Askel Schiøtz that Brogan learned of Finn Viderø and Mogens Wöldike, and their espousal of Baroque and Renaissance music clearly fired Brogan’s enthusiasm for an expansion of the recorded repertoire. Brogan duly travelled to Denmark to make this series of recordings that were soon to be issued in a sequence of five album sets each containing six 78rpm discs. They were produced by Danish HMV in Valby, Copenhagen. The albums were called ‘Baroque Cantatas of 17th Century North Germany’, ‘Seventeenth-Century Organ music’, ‘Compenius Organ album’, ‘Choral music of the Renaissance’ and ‘Alto Cantatas of Schütz and Buxtehude’. There’s more to read in the notes by Claus Byrith and Peter Quantrill, to which I’m indebted for this introduction.
In the Baroque Cantatas album, the main soloist is the mezzo Lorri Lail, a Norwegianisation of her original name which was Laurie Lyle. Though Oslo-born and a Norwegian artist her heritage was Scottish. She recorded for HMV and Urania and Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen is probably her best-remembered LP. Nevertheless, her early music and church recitals were especially popular, and she reveals her real affinity for this repertoire – Schütz and Buxtehude principally but Franz Tunder too. She is accompanied by fine string players - Else Marie Bruun and Julius Koppel feature prominently, as does cellist Alberto Medici - and by Viderø himself. In Buxtehude’s Jubilate Domino, the viola da gamba of Thomas Rosenberg is very audible, enriching the small string ensemble very considerably and adding another sonic layer to the sound. It’s the only piece on which he plays. For the second part of this first album, Wöldike conducts or directs from the harpsichord a variety of shifting ensembles with various singers in cantatas by Matthias Weckmann Schutz, Buxtehude and less well-known composers such as Vincent Lübeck. All reveal sharp interaction between the accompanying forces and the series of fine singers, and the difference between the organ and harpsichord-accompanying figures is marked.
For the Renaissance Choral music album Wöldike conducts the forces of the Danish Broadcasting Madrigal Choir in performances that reflect the then prevailing approach to unaccompanied choral music in the same way as the accompanying string ensemble in the Cantata album, with its obvious use of vibrato and warm phrasing, reflected the instrumental approach of the day. Wöldike is especially convincing in Lassus and Palestrina whilst in Josquin his instinct is toward a degree of romanticism.
CD3 contains Finn Viderø’s ‘Late Renaissance and Early Baroque Organ music’ album played on the largely unmodified 1601 Esaias Compenius organ at Frederiksborg Castle, near Copenhagen, and which is one of the best-preserved instruments of the time. The repertoire here reflects the organist’s wide range of enthusiasms and accomplishments – as commanding in Scheidt as he is in Antonio de Cabezón, where he is unexpectedly touching. For the GSC sequence Viderø also recorded on two Marcussen organs, one in Grundtvigs Church and the other in Jaegersborg Church, where one can revel in a tremendously compelling and stylish Louis Marchand Grand dialogue. These were hardly his first experiences recording as twelve years earlier, in 1937, he recorded three 78s for HMV on the Compenius organ and they are also included. Whilst obviously not part of the Gramophone Shop series, their place here is both valuable and historically relevant. Here too are the three HMVs he made in 1940 on the Marcussen organ at Christiansborg Castle which can be found in the fourth disc. They complement the Gramophone Shop recordings in recorded sound, use of relevant organs and repertoire, and they must also have been made by the same recording team as well.
The four discs are priced ‘as for two’ and make for a cohesive, insightful collection of Danish recordings of the period from 1937 to 1950, with the obvious emphasis on those 1948-50 sets masterminded by the indefatigable Joe Brogan. It’s rare to find these 78 sets as the LP market was soon to sweep America and they were never reissued in this format. Fine restoration and loving care ensures you can snap them up for the price of a twofer and you don’t have to worry about clicks, skipped grooves, and blasting.
Jonathan Woolf
Contents
CD1
Baroque Cantatas of the 17th Century North Germany
Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672)
[1] Herzlich lieb hab’ Ich dich, O Herr, SWV 348
Lorri Lail, Contralto
Else Marie Bruun and Julius Koppel, Violins
Alberto Medici, Cello
Finn Viderø, Organ
[2] Was hast du verwirket, SWV 307
Lorri Lail, Contralto
Alberto Medici, Cello
Finn Viderø, Organ
[3] Bringt her dem Herren, Ihr gewaltigen, SWV 283
Lorri Lail, Contralto
Alberto Medici, Cello
Finn Viderø, Organ
[4] O süsser, O freundlicher, O gütiger Herr Jesu Christe, SWV 285
Lorri Lail, Contralto
Jarl Hansen, Cello
Finn Viderø, Organ
[5] O misericordissime Jesu, SWV 309
Lorri Lail, Contralto
Jarl Hansen, Cello
Finn Viderø, Organ
Diderik Buxtehude (1637/39-1707)
[6] Jesu, meine Freud’ und Lust, BuxWV 59
Lorri Lail, Contralto
Else Marie Bruun, Violin and Julius Koppel, Violins Hans Kassow, Viola
Alberto Medici, Cello
Finn Viderø, Organ
[7] Jubilate Domino, omnis terra, BuxWV 64
Lorri Lail, Contralto
Alberto Medici, Cello
Thomas Rosenberg, Viola da gamba
Finn Viderø, Organ
[8] Wenn ich, Herr Jesu, habe dich, BuxWV 107
Lorri Lail, Contralto
Else Marie Bruun, Violin and Julius Koppel, Violins
Alberto Medici, Cello
Thomas Rosenberg, Viola da gamba
Finn Viderø, Organ
Franz Tunder (1614-1667)
[9] Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme
The Copenhagen Boys' Choir with chamber orchestra
Mogens Wöldike, Conductor
Matthias Weckmann (1619-1674)
[10] Zion spricht: Der Herr hat mich verlassen
Elsa Sigfuss, Contralto
Volmer Holböll, Tenor
Holger Nørgaard, Bas
Chamber Orchestra - Mogens Wöldike, Conductor
Heinrich Schütz
[11] O, hilf Christe, SWV 296
[12] Meister, wir haben die ganze Nacht gearbeitet, SWV 317
Volmer Holböll, Baryton
Eskild Rask Nielsen, Baryton
Alberto Medici, Cello
Mogens Wöldike, Harpsicord
[13] Pharisäer und Zöllner, SWV 444 I - Es gingen zween Menschen
[14] Pharisäer und Zöllner, SWV 444 II - Ich sage euch: Erhöre mich, wenn ich rufe
Maja Bærentzen, Soprano
Valborg Garde, Contralto
Volmer Holböll, Tenor
Holger Nørgaard, Bas
Alberto Medici, Cello
Mogens Wöldike, Harpsichord
CD2
Vincent Lübeck (1654-1740)
[1] Willkommen süsser Bräutigam
Karen Heerup, Soprano
Valborg Garde, Contralto
Else Marie Bruun, Violin
Julius Koppel, Violin
Alberto Medici, Cello
Mogens Wöldike, Harpsichord
Christoph Bernhard (1628-1692)
[2] Fürchtet euch nicht
Karen Heerup, Soprano
Else Marie Bruun, Violin
Julius Koppel, Violin
Mogens Wöldike, Harpsichord
Diderik Buxtehude
[3] O wie selig sind, BuxWV 90
Niels Brincker, Tenor
Holger Nørgaard, Bas
Else Marie Bruun, Violin
Julius Koppel, Violin
Alberto Medici, Cello
Mogens Wöldike, Harpsichord
Choral Music of the Renaissance
All with The Danish Broadcasting Madrigal Choir, Conductor, Mogens Wöldike
Orlando di Lasso (c. 1532-1594)
[4] Psalmus poenitentialis (Ps. 129 De Profundis)
[5] Improperium
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c. 1525-1594)
[6] Motet, Super flumina Babylonis
[7] Motet, Dies sanctificatus (In festo nativitatis Domini)
[8] Missa Aeterna Christi Munera, Agnus Dei I & II
Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612)
[9] Motet, Dixit Maria ad angelum
Jacobus Gallus (Handl) (1550-1591)
[10] Pater noster
Clemens non Papa (c. 1510 - c. 1556)
[11] Motet, Vox in Rama audita est
Josquin des Pres (c. 1440-1521)
[12] Kyrie, Christe, Kyrie - Sanctus from Missa pange lingua
[13] Pleni sunt coeli - Benedictus
[14] Osanna - Agnus Dei
CD3
Late Renaissance and Early Baroque Organ Music
Finn Viderø on the Compenius Organ
Frederiksborg Castle, Hillerød, Denmark
Samuel Scheidt (1587-1641)
[1] Magnificat secondi toni, 1-6
Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643)
[2] Canzona dopo l'epistola
Heinrich Scheidemann (1595-1663)
[3] Praeambulum (In dorian mode)
Antonio de Cabezón (1510-1566)
[4] Diferencias 4:03 Play
[5] Tiento del quarto Tono
Jean Titelouze (1562-1633)
[6] Magnificat quinti toni
Magnificat, Quia respixit, Et misericordia eius, Deposuit potentes
Deposuit potentes alter versus, Suscepit Israel, Gloria patri et filio
Melchior Schildt (1593-1667)
[7] Praeambulum
Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625)
[8] Fantasia
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1652)
[9] O lux beata trinitas. Var. 1 & 2
Jacob Praetorius (1586-1651)
[10] Praeambulum
Michael Praetorius (1571-1621)
[11] Alvus tumescit virginis
Finn Viderø, Organ
His first recordings
Compenius Organ - Recorded November 12, 1937
Antonio de Cabezón
[12] Tiento del primer tono
Tomás de Santa María (c. 1515-1570)
[13] Fantasia tertii toni, from Arte de tañer fantasia
Nicolas Lebègue (1630-1702)
[14] Les Cloches, from Troisième livre d’orgue
Samuel Scheidt
[15] Variations on Da Jesus an dem Kreuze stund, verses 1-6, from Tabulatura nova
Girolamo Frescobaldi
[16] Toccata sopra I pedali, from Il secondo libro di toccata
canzone, versi d'hinni, magnificat
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck
[17] Fantasia op de Maneer van een Echo
Finn Viderø - Marcussen Organ, Grundtvigs Church, Copenhagen
Diderik Buxtehude: 4 Choral Preludes
[18] Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder, BuxWV 178
[19] Nun, komm, der Heiden Heiland, BuxWV 211
[20] Vater unser im Himmelreich, Spitta II, 1, 96
[21] Nun bitten wir den Heilgen Geist, Spitta II, 2, 24
CD4
17th Century Organ Music
Finn Viderø - Marcussen Organ, Jægersborg Church, Denmark
Recorded between January 11 and June, 1949.
Diderik Buxtehude
[1] Toccata F Major, BuxWV 156
Johann Jakob Froberger (1616-1667)
[2] Ricercare in phrygian mood
[3] Ricercare F sharp minor
Louis Marchand (1669-1732)
[4] Grand dialogue in C Major
Franz Tunder
[5] Prelude in G minor
Matthias Weckmann
[6] Toccata in E minor
Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706)
[7] Fantasia in G minor
[8] Ricercare in C minor
Diderik Buxtehude
[9] Prelude and Fugue in D minor, BuxWV 140
[10] Canzonetta in E minor
Early recordings
Marcussen Organ at Christiansborg Castle Church, Copenhagen
[11] Prelude and Fugue G minor, Spitta 14
[12] Passacaglia in D minor, Spitta 1
[13] Toccata in F Major, Spitta 21
[14] Choral prelude In dulci jubilo, BuxWV 197
Marcussen Organ, Grundtvigs Church, Copenhagen
[15] Prelude and Fugue in E Major, Spitta 8
