It is indeed amazing to listen to these thirty-plus years old
recordings coming up fresh as paint in this CD transfer. The effect
is lent added clarity and a feeling of space through Surround
Sound 4.0. Originally this was comprised two separate LPs, recorded
on very different organs in very different acoustics. Matteus
Church has a very lively acoustic but through extensive experimenting
with microphone placement Bertil Alving has managed to get a full
and pleasant sound, extremely clear and detailed. The Marcussen
& Søn organ was constructed in 1971-72 and has 52 registers,
disposed over five independent divisions corresponding to the
four manuals and pedal. Basically it is a classical instrument
but it has resources to perform music from all epochs, successfully
demonstrated here. The Vånga organ, by the same builders, installed
in 1966, is a smaller instrument but the church has a reverberation
of about 7 seconds, which means that Alving had a quite different
task. When listening to the disc one hears the differences but
most of all one reacts to the very natural sound in both cases,
analytical with warmth, not overwhelming as can be the
case but highly listener-friendly. Proprius has always been renowned
for their highly successful organ and choral recordings and this
is a disc in the front line. I have owned the Vånga LP since it
was new and returning to it after some time I was struck by the
even higher definition of sound and the dynamic width that the
LP was unable to reproduce at full.
The programmes are
wide-ranging, spanning music from late 16th century
or early 17th century Sweelinck to Messiaen from the
mid 20th century. Bengt Berg, born in 1935, had a close
relationship with both instruments, since in the mid-1960s he
worked in Östergötland and was engaged in the planning of the
new Vånga organ. From 1964 he was organist of the Matteus Church
until his retirement in 2000. He is also known as an arranger,
one example of this is included on this disc, the transcription
of Vivaldi’s concerto for sopranino. He also set hymns and songs
for choir and instruments. Some time ago I reviewed another Proprius
disc (see review)
Now the Green Blade Riseth, with Berg’s arrangements. To
some extent his arranging skills became a compensation for his
diminishing ability to play; in the 1980s he contracted multiple
sclerosis. Luckily he was able to set down these two records and
some others when his powers were still unbroken.
Precision, clarity
and rhythmic bounce were always his hallmarks besides a discriminating
registration that brings out the best from each composition.
Little of the repertoire actually belongs to what can be labelled
‘standard fare’, but everything is interesting in its own
way. From the terrace dynamics of Daquin’s variations
on a Christmas Carol, via Lebègue’s even earlier work
along the same lines, a really captivating little creation
that for many years was as much part and parcel of our Christmas
celebrations as ham; English speakers may read turkey
instead. Pachelbel’s Ciacona is one of the finest
organ works from the early German baroque, as are the two
works by his roughly contemporaneous compatriot Buxtehude.
The latter, whom Bach famously walked to hear playing
at Lübeck, is actually regarded as Danish. He even held a
post as organist in Helsingborg, nowadays Swedish but in those
days part of Denmark. The Prelude and fugue in F-sharp
minor is a masterpiece. Micheelsen may be
the least known of the composers here. He was active in Hamburg,
studied with Hindemith and took inspiration from him, the
so-called Neu Sachlichkeit (New objectivity). The second organ
concerto, from which we hear the Toccata, was written in 1943
and is based on Es sungen drei Engel, the old German
Christmas carol, which also plays an important part in Hindemith’s
opera Mathis der Maler.
Maybe the most
fascinating and stirring composition is Messiaen’s
Les oiseaux et les sources, which also lends its title
to the whole disc. It is just one of many works by the French
master mirroring his great interest in ornithology. The shimmering
colours always make a deep impression; still the booklet notes
point out that “on the Vånga organ it has only been possible
to approximate to Messiaen’s detailed registrations.” For
me this has never been a problem since it was this recording
that introduced me to this music. Hearing Messiaen’s successor
as organist of the Church of the Trinity in Paris, Naji Hakim,
playing the master’s music on the instrument for which he
wrote it, made me realise some years ago the even wider possibilities
the romantic Cavaillé-Coll with its sixty stops can offer.
Messiaen’s work, however, has such potential that even a compromise
brings out its greatness.
A booklet in English
and Swedish with good comments on the music, a bio of the
organist and descriptions of the two organs further enhances
the value of this issue. It is good to be able to exchange
the slightly worn Vånga LP for this superb SACD issue.
Göran Forsling
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Bengt Berg (organ)
[74:23]
