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French Bonbons: Romantic Organ Music
Richard Lester (organ)
rec. March & July 2020 on the organ in St Luke’s Church, Buckfastleigh, Devon
NIMBUS NI5999 [79:42]

Cards on the table. I am an organ snob, who has long had issues with digital instruments. I always prefer to hear a real pipe organ. There is the feel of the wood and metal pipes speaking and vibrating, for one thing. And then there is the centuries-old tradition of organ building to consider. On the other hand, I do understand the arguments about cost and accessibility. One thought, though. Listening to this superb CD with a technically innocent ear, would I have clocked that it was a ‘digi’? Yes. For these reasons: perfect tuning, incisive action, and the lack of the clatter of the mechanism.

The present instrument in St Luke’s Church, Buckfastleigh was constructed by Eminent Organ builders around 2002 and installed in the town’s new parish church. The liner notes explain that the sound is produced from digitally recorded pipe samples which could be from a selection of the best pipe organs in the world. This is then ‘tuned’ by a ‘voicer’ on site for a perfect balance. Additionally, ‘a very high-quality custom-designed audio system affording a splendid recreation of a Cathedral organ in a moderately spacious acoustic’ is used. But I guess this is the nub of the matter: St Luke’s has a large, three-manual organ for a fraction of the cost of a very small two manual pipe organ. And some parish churches make do with a harmonium or a Hammond… Hmm.

Turning to the programme, I feel that the listener should, as we say in Scotland, ‘Ca’ Canny’ – go steadily. There is a huge danger that such a weight of warhorses will overwhelm the brain. To be fair to organist Richard Lester, he has introduced four relaxed tracks into the mix. But that leaves ten powerful toccatas, finales, fugues and sorties.

Theodore Dubois’s Toccata in G major was composed in 1889 as the third number of Douze pièces pour orgues. The work is devised in three-part form, with a bustling moto perpetuo opening section, balanced by a slower and more thoughtful middle eight, before the work reprises the opening music and ending with the inevitable big finish. It is known that the composer had a Cavaillé-Coll organ in mind when he wrote this piece. Nevertheless, it does sound neat and tight played on this organ.

Marcel Dupre’s Prelude & Fugue in G minor Op. 7 No. 3 was once deemed so difficult that only the composer could play it. Even Widor considered it unplayable. Clearly, organists have brushed up on their technique since the work was first published in 1920. (It was composed just before the outbreak of the Great War, in 1914.) The Prelude opens quietly with magical figurations – like ‘gurgling champagne’. A novelty here are the seven-note chords, three of them played on the pedals! The Fugue is scary. It is full of power, energy and even aggression. The music builds up into an overwhelming coda.

Louis James Alfred Lefébure-Wély contributes three excellent pieces to this recital. The opening section of the Sortie in E-flat (1857) has all the vivacity of a fairground organ. Equally effervescent is the Sortie in B flat (1857). Apparently, Lefébure-Wély’s music was often regarded as unsuitable for divine worship by some po-faced ministers of religion. It reminds me of my Uncle Eric, who was severely reprimanded for playing the Tiger Rag, in cinema organ style, on the organ of Albion Church in Ashton-under-Lyne. This just was not done before the War. Even the composer’s Andante ‘Choeur de Voix humaines’ Meditaciones religiosas (1858) may have been too much for the clergy of the day. Despite its title, there is a touch of humour heard in the elaborations made by the flutes.

Old favourites of mine are the Toccata from Léon Boëllmann’s Suite gothique Op. 25 and Eugene Gigout’s Toccata in B minor. The former is rightly described in the liner notes as eerie: it would make a great Halloween piece. The latter builds up from the opening brilliant flourishes and figurations to a powerful peroration.

No organ recital of French bon-bons would be complete without ‘Widdor’s Tocc-itta’ (exact English pronunciation!) as the ‘knowledgeable’ bridegroom once insisted on having. Ever since The Princess Margaret and Anthony Armstrong-Jones had this piece at their wedding on 6 May 1960 at Westminster Abbey, it has been the go-to piece for half-hearing before exiting the church for the interminable wedding photographs and bun fight. And I guess that several organists will have been expected to play this on a single-manual instrument in a shy rural church. Fortunately, the resources at St Luke’s are considerably more ample.

Do not ask me why, but I have never enjoyed César Franck’s organ music. To me, it belongs to the grind, scrape and chug school. To my mind, there is nothing valiant about this Pièce héroïque. Maybe I need to have another go at Franck?

Contrariwise, I have known several organ buffs who cannot abide Messiaen. I happen to think that he is seriously good and vital. OK, there are some pieces which I enjoy better than others: that is same for all composers – even Bach. Richard Lester has chosen to play entry-level Messiaen here. Offrande au Saint-Sacrement was discovered by Messiaen’s wife Yvonne Loriod in 1992 and published in 2001. It is understood to have been composed around the time of Le Banquet Céleste (1928). There is nothing to frighten the horses: it is quite lovely from end to end.

Louis Vierne is represented by four pieces in this CD. The first, even I can play! Berceuse (Cradle Song) must be one of the most delicious organ miniatures in the repertoire. It is the seventh of 24 pièces en style libre op. 31, Book 2. The Lied from the same volume presents a lovely melody supported by a rocking accompaniment. Moving up a notch, the Carillon de Westminster deserves its place in the repertoire. This is the sixth number in the third of Vierne’s four-suite set of 24 pieces de fantaisie, published in 1927. It is one of the great war-horses of the organist’s repertoire. Vierne’s final offering here is the Finale from the Organ Symphony No. 1 Op. 14 (1898-1899). This is one of those pieces that seems to just keep on building up, (with a slight relaxation) until its thunderous conclusion. It is given a great performance here.

Richard Lester’s liner notes are ideal. They provide all the required information, and are presented in an engaging and often witty style. There is a résumé of the organist, as well as the ever-important specification of the organ.

I enjoyed this CD. It is full of good things. The playing is terrific, and the outstanding recording is exactly what I expect from Nimbus CDs. I think that I know each piece here, but certainly hearing some of them again gave me a fresh perspective. This was especially so with the two vivacious Sorties by Lefébure-Wély.

Finally, I repeat, I am an organ snob. In my ideal world this repertoire would have been performed on a genuine Cavaillé-Coll instrument. That said, it sounds great played here on this ‘digi’. It is amazing that an instrument with all these powerful resources can be found in a Devon Parish Church. Food for thought, I fear.

John France
 
Details
 
Théodore DUBOIS (1837-1924)
Toccata in G from 12 Pièces pour orgues (1889) [7:15]
Marcel DUPRÉ (1886-1971)
Prelude & Fugue in G minor op. 7 no. 3 (1914) [8:00]
Louis James Alfred LEFÉBURE-WÉLY (1817-1869)
Sortie in E-flat ILL 51 (1857) [4:34]
Léon BOËLLMANN (1862-1897)
Toccata from Suite gothique op. 25 (1895) [3:51]
Olivier MESSIAEN (1908-1992)
Offrande au Saint Sacrement (c.1928) [4:48]
Eugene GIGOUT (1844-1925)
Toccata in B minor (1890) [3:12]
Louis VIERNE (1870-1937)
Berceuse from 24 pièces en style libre op. 31 (1914) [3:50]
César FRANCK (1822-1890)
Pièce héroïque CFF 104 (1878) [9:23]
Louis James Alfred LEFÉBURE-WÉLY
Andante ‘Choeur de Voix humaines’ Meditaciones religiosas ILL 37 (1858) [4:51]
Charles-Marie Jean Albert WIDOR (1844-1937)
Toccata from Symphony for Organ No. 5 o6p. 42, no. 1 (1879) [6:05]
Louis James Alfred LEFÉBURE-WÉLY
Sortie in B flat ILL 51(1857) [4:40]
Louis VIERNE
‘Lied’ from 24 pièces en style libre op.31 (1914) [4:32]
‘Carillon de Westminster’ from 24 Pièces de fantaisie op. 54 (1927) [7:26]
‘Finale’ from Organ Symphony No. 1 op. 14 (1895-98) [7:06]