Warrington Cavaillé-Coll Organ

[Christine Jose Rigby]

J S Bach: Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542

Played by Gillian Adams on the 1870 Cavaillé-Coll organ in the Parr Hall, Warrington, England.

In the words of her Husband, Bill Cheffers 'She tried to ‘pull everything out’ ! But we only came up the day before, so as usual, there wasn’t enough time to get used to the beast ! Especially with such an ambitious programme !'

Gillian studied organ playing with Professor Harold Dexter at the Guildhall School of Music.

She was one time Organist and Choirmaster at St Paul's, Wokingham and later, the Organist and Choirmaster at the Priory and Parish Church of St Germans in Cornwall.

The non-commercial recording was made in 1983 by Roland Dowd, who later transferred it to a CD.

Many thanks to Philip Davey for converting the recording to OneDrive.

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AlPXtBDQaZng-iPC1ctUddbLJCys?e=o9zeC1

 

The full programme was -

1. Buxtehude - Toccata & Fugue in D

2. J S Bach - O mench, bewein' Dein sunde gross

3. J S Bach - Fantasia & Fugue in G minor

4. Mozart - Fantasia in F minor for Mechanical Organ

5. S S Wesley - Choral Song & Fugue

6. Mendelssohn - Sonata No 2 in C minor Op. 65

7. Franck - Prelude, Fugue & Variation

8. Liszt - Fantasia & Fugue on BACH.

[Colin Pykett]

Thank you indeed for this.  I saw your other post under 'The Organ' which looks the same, and found that one downloaded with fewer problems than this one (not that I'm blaming anyone for that other than myself and my pesky setup!).

Although not intended critically, I found the recording sonically rather top-heavy and found that some bass EQ evened up the balance a bit.  I only have one other recording of this organ, by the late Roger Fisher made in 1984 (the year after yours) and live at a recital in 2011.  He confined himself to French romantic works whereas the programme here is more eclectic, so they complement each other very well.  I was particularly surprised how well Bach came over - not at all opaque as he sometimes does on other C-C instruments.  Also C-C's rather strange mixture compositions sometimes work against the 'theoretically purer' (if I can put it like that) vertical chorus work of the baroque era, at least in Schnitger-style Werkprinzip organs up to c. 1700, though this was less noticeable here than with some other of his organs.

And (somewhat late) congratulations to Gillian Adams.

Is the CD you mentioned available?

----

Later edit:

I have tried to download again but only the Bach F&F G min seems to be there now. Is it just me? (Quite likely ... )

[Christine Jose Rigby]

Thank you for your reply Colin.

Sorry if the post was misleading, there is only the Bach.

I realised the post would be better in General Discussion, so it is duplicated.

I am sorry to say that the CD isn't available.

This link is of Gillian Adams playing the Mendelssohn Sonata No 2 in C minor Op. 65

https://1drv.ms/u/s!Aty6wS5ABp9XpF6fHlh0s_EpS4Nw