Florian

Which are in your opinion the most interesting volumes?

ATTENTION: The two Dover volumes doesn't contain the definite versions of the symphonies and are only of interest for someone who would likes to study the earlier versions of some movements.

I once have written a Toccata for Christmas, 'Toccata pour le jour de noel'. It is in Sonata form with the gregorian Christmas Alleluia as first theme and a german carol as second theme. After the development section both themes are combined in the recapitulation. As you can see by the french title, the piece owes much to my predilection for the french symphonic style. The first (and so far only) performance was played by myself on a huge Steinmeyer organ during a Christmas service. At the end I was happier about my playing than about the composition, because I came through the piece without any breakdown

Actually, you mean bars 39 and 40, don't you? I have the Urtext-edition (Breitkopf) which has no tie at the point in question. I prefer it untied because it emphasizes the harmonic change between the two bars. But perhaps this is an error in the manuscript which found its way into the complete edition.

Perhaps he was as good in Latin than I was...

'Petra' is the latin word for 'rock', and therefor the original text reads 'Tu es petra, et super...' etc.

During the last renovation (2001/2002) the major task was to restore the old pitch (415 Hz, well-tempered) and to reconstruct the wind supply (manual or electric at choice). Works were carried out by the two companies, Jehmlich and Wegescheider. Pictures and technical informations are available at the Jehmlich homepage, where also informations about the Freiberg organs can be found (note that Freiberg and Freiburg are two different towns!). Jehmlich

By the way: the name of the piece is 'Tu es Petra'

The problem is that the church is open to the public day and night, so there aren't any quiet hours to make good recordings at really professionel conditions. Besides the recording mentioned above there are some further recordings by Hakim (Priory), and I can warmly recommend the all-improvisation-disc by the former titulaire, Daniel Roth (Motette), which is an absolutely stunning demonstration of these exceptional instrument (MOT 10751: "Le grand orgue Cavaillé-Coll du Sacre Coeur a Paris").

That's right! A lot of compositions are already available in cheap reprints (Kalmus/Mastermusic, Dover, bnote), and the rest will certainly follow soon. By the way: the German publisher CARUS starts a new critical edition of Vierne's complete organ works in 13 volumes, edited by David Sanger. I suppose this edition will include all the corrections which are listed in Rollin Smith's famous study about Vierne. Vierne complete edition

Gillian Weir is on the quicker side, as it is Olivier Latry. I have to confess that I prefer the Livre in these rather flowing performances - the cycle is long enough

Do you know Jennifer Bate's recording of this composition? I wonder if she played it at Westminster Cathedral also with this incredibly slow tempos...

Can you recommend Dame Gillian Weir's complete recording of Messiaen's organ works (Priory) to somebody who already owns the Latry and Bate sets? How does the Aarhus organ sound in this repertory? I have to confess that I was rather dissapointed by the Bate set because of the slightly "shrill" sound of the Beauvais instrument which is in my opinion a little bit too neoclassic (this seems not to be a fault of the specification, but of the intonation of this instrument).

There is another recording, made by Roger Fisher at Chester Cathedral for the German Motette-Label ('Roger Fisher plays Edward Elgar'). He plays both Sonatas, the Voluntaries and Lemare's Pomp & Circumstance-Transcription. Does anybody know this recording?

Years ago I had to replace a collegue of mine during a Christmas service. This organist was known for his somewhat "conservative" style: he played always the ordinary stuff and very boring improvisations, and most of all he was known that he played each year the same pieces (and improvisations? ). So I decided to play at the end of the service Lefébure-Wély's famous Sortie in E flat major. The congregation was completely amazed and rested in the stalls until the end (very unusual in German roman catholic churches...).

Canterbury seems to be one of our lesser-documented instruments (the last time I asked, they still did not have a booklet about the organ). During a stay at Canterbury this summer I bought at the Cathedral Shop a very infomative booklet which contains the specifications of all previous instruments.

I don't know the Bleicher set, but I have to tell you that it received quite bad reviews in German and French organ forums. Perhaps it is worth noting that there is a single CD on the Naxos label, played by Robert Delcamp (included in the label's "Organ Encyclopaedia"-series). Following their example of Dupré, Reger and other composers, it becomes perhaps a complete recording.

Did you try to get some informations from the french 'Association des Amis de l'art de Marcel Dupré' (=Association of the Friends of the Art of M.D.)? You can find them on the internet at www.marceldupre.com (but don't expect too much: last update 19/04/2005 )