Organ performances are just as much about the organ being played upon as the music being played and the performer playing it. On this CD all come together for a most satisfying result. A purpose of this disc is to demonstrate the versatility of the Royal Albert Hall organ, restored in 2003-2004. Each work was selected to demonstrate specific aspects of this organ.W.T. Best was the most famous British organist of the Victorian era. Mendelssohn was the musical idol of Victorian England. So it is indeed appropriate to begin ...
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Organ performances are just as much about the organ being played upon as the music being played and the performer playing it. On this CD all come together for a most satisfying result. A purpose of this disc is to demonstrate the versatility of the Royal Albert Hall organ, restored in 2003-2004. Each work was selected to demonstrate specific aspects of this organ.W.T. Best was the most famous British organist of the Victorian era. Mendelssohn was the musical idol of Victorian England. So it is indeed appropriate to begin this recital with Best's transcription of Mendelssohn's Overture to the Oratorio St. Paul as homage to the man (Best) who inaugurated the Royal Albert Hall organ in 1871 with Queen Victoria in attendance.Robert Schumann's Six Fugues on B-A-C-H, Op. 60, demonstrate the wide dynamic arrange and sonic possibilities of this instrument. Bolcom's Free Fantasia shows its ability to deal with twentieth century musical idioms. The Gershwin medley, arranged by Howard Cable, shows the ability of...
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