As someone whose improvisational
capabilities are strictly limited, I
always admire organists who can improvise,
and even more so, organists who dare
commit their spontaneous creations to
disc. Here, the new organist of St Paul's
Cathedral, and the young acting assistant
of Wells Cathedral combine to improvise
their way through the church year on
the 1969 Walker organ at Blackburn,
recently enlarged (turbo-charged?) and
rebuilt by David Wood.
The inspiration for
the recording came, according to Bednall's
notes, from the sequence of improvisations
on the Matthew’s Gospel, which Pierre
Cochereau created during Lent 1984 immediately
prior to his sudden and untimely death.
There, the comparison ends, may I suggest.
In the recent Solstice DVD about Cochereau,
Pierre Pincemaille notes that the most
important aspect of Cochereau's style
was his ultimately inimitable harmonic
language. Only briefly does this language
ever seem to pervade the creations here,
Bednall's brief improvisation on Conditor
alme siderum is indeed like 90 seconds
of 'canned Cochereau'. Archer uses more
neo-classical techniques; Flor Peeters-esque
chorale preludes, the neo-French baroque
treatment of Mount Ephraim; played on
the Plein Jeux and not the Grand Jeux
as Bednall erroneously suggests. Bednall,
a disciple of David Briggs and Naji
Hakim, seems more inspired by Tournemire,
structurally at least, and Langlais.
I must say that when Tournemire clearly
is the influence, one is reminded of
the frustratingly episodic nature of
so much of L'Orgue Mystique when torn
from a genuine liturgical context.
Moreover, and to return
to the insights given to us by Cochereau,
- that DVD is a must-have incidentally
- George Baker comments that the first
thing Cochereau taught his students
when improvising was to "Modulez Modulez!".
Its certainly true that harmonically
he never stayed in one place for very
long. Bednall especially seems too static
by comparison, David Briggs has inherited
the Cochereau rate of harmonic change
in his improvisation style, his pupil
hasn't - yet. The near-14 minute Fantasia
on Victimae Paschali, - Lasst uns erfreuen
cleverly introduced at the end - seems
harmonically to tread water for too
long, and thus eventually outstays its
welcome.
In general, I find
the contents of the disc a little clichéd.
I noted with a smile that no fewer than
three improvisations begin, alla Tournemire
with the Gregorian theme played in octaves
on the tutti! Lots and lots and lots
of celestes abound also. In a liturgical
context these things wouldn't worry
us, but on a CD, played in the living
room, it doesn't quite convince. One
gets the feeling also that the players
rely too much on the sensational effect
to grab attention; I got out my stopwatch,
no fewer than twenty minutes played
on tutti or near-tutti registrations,
often with the Imperial Trumpet coupled!
Headache-stuff.
So, while I'm delighted
that organists in the UK are taking
improvisation seriously, I would look
elsewhere if I were wanting to buy recordings
of really first rate improvisation on
disc. Alexander Mason's CD, on Signum
from Gloucester Cathedral is well worth
having for buyers looking for a British
player. Otherwise, Hortus's recent recordings
of Loic Mallie, - ‘Retour de Bayreuth’
especially unmissable - or Thierry Escaich
for example are essential purchases.
Chris Bragg
David Bednall and Malcolm Archer, organ 
