The current year's CD reviews and index to archived reviews can be found here. These are the reviews added to the website in 2004

Extra CD Reviews for Issue 329 (August 2004) of The Organ

These reviews are of excellent CDs that wouldn't fit within the confines of the print magazine, but are no less worthy of your enjoyment. Don't miss the new DVD reviews either.

Choral

• Rheinberger Masses from Blackburn Cathedral
  "I was entranced from the first chord of the first Kyrie, both with the music and the very high standard of performance"
• Come Holy Spirit: Queen's College Oxford Choir
  "Highly recommended, not least for its refreshing and enthusiastic approach to the music"
• The Complete New English Hymnal: Volume 16
  "there is no feeling of all the best hymns having been already recorded"

  Mixtures

• Sammartini: Concertos for organ
  "the performances here are really excellent ... the string playing ... is very stylish, beautifully phrased and articulated"
• Sweelinck keyboard music played by Gunther Fetz
  "a pleasing anthology of preludes, toccatas, pavanes and variations"
• Pablo Casals cello recordings from 1925-1928
  "every organist should buy this CD, if only to hear the sheer perfection displayed by Casals"

  Solo Organ

• Joseph Jongen's complete works, recorded by John Scott Whitely
  "I can't imagine John Scott Whiteley's wonderful and imaginative performances ever being bettered"
• Jouko Linjama's works for organ
  "these fascinating journeys in contemporaneous styling are most welcome and will present organists with challenging yet rewarding repertoire"
• Storace: selva di varie compositioni, played by Fabio Bonizzoni
  "the five organ pieces show off the instrument wonderfully well"
• Sounds of Arthur Wills
  "I found all the compositions very accessible and stimulating, and the Ely Harrison sounds magnificent"
• An Elm Court Musicale: the 1929 Skinner residence organ
  "a miscellany, but a jolly good one"
• The Art of the Symphonic Organist: Ken Cowan on the 1921 Evanston Skinner
  "the two major works ... display Ken Cowan's stunning abilities at the console"
• French Organ Works: Colin Walsh at Lincoln Cathedral
  "the only word I could think of to describe this CD and the playing was 'sumptuous'"
• Passions: Jean-Christophe Revel at the organ of Sainte-Marie d'Auch
  an intriguing disc juxtaposing old and new compositions built around Jean-Christophe Revel's question ... to what ... are we contemporary?"
• Sounds Idyllic: Peter Dyke at Hereford Cathedral
  "Dyke clearly understands the music, the organ, and how best to bring the two together"

CD Reviews from Issue 329 (August 2004) of The Organ

Mixtures

• Psketona: Folk hymns and J S Bach from Sweden
  "[Langeland's] singular voice ... radiates a raw power against the refinements of Bach's keyboard equivalents"
• Anno 1630: Lorenzo Ghielmi, Enrico Onofri and Margret Kll
  "a feast of the most engaging music from the early Italian baroque in and around 1630"
• Orpheus with his lute: Music for Shakespeare from Purcell to Arne
  "Rachel Brown's deliciously sonorous wooden flute wafts the vocal interpretations like angel's wings"

  Organ Solo

• John Stanley: The Complete Voluntaries for Organ
  "Margaret Phillips captures the spirit of the eighteenth century marvellously"
• Sweelinck's Keyboard Music: Christopher Herrick
  "Richness pervades the colouration and registrations carried by the organ of Norrfjrden Church"
• The English Cathedral Series volume IX: Mark Lee at Bristol Cathedral
  "A fine CD"
• Engilsh Organ Music from Hull City Hall with Roger Fisher
  "Fisher is in his element on this organ"
• Fantasie: Peter King plays German Romantic organ works at Bath Abbey
  "King's take on the Romantics is a mature one that is never diminished in style"
• Stockholm Concert Hall: 20th Century Swedish Organ Music performed by Erik Lundkvist
  "Erik Lundkvist is marvellous throughout"
• A Windsor Collection: Timothy Byram-Wigfield at the organ of St George's Chapel
  "An eclectic programme fills the disc with nice surprises"

CD Reviews from Issue 328 (May 2004) of The Organ

• Organ Music by Samuel Wesley - Jennifer Bate at St James's Church, Bermondsey
  "The instrument is here a very impressive vehicle for the works"
• Sunday at 2 - Carol Williams at the Spreckels Organ, Balboa Park
  "the more relaxed approach ... allows detail and rhythm to come to the fore"
• Sounds French - David Briggs at Blackburn Cathedral
  "Briggs' new symphony fits perfectly into the tradition upon which he is drawing and is a fine addition to it"
• Organ Music from Hexham Abbey - Gerald Gifford
  "Gifford ... brings a nobility and panache to all the items included"
• Widor Symphonies 1 & 2 - Joseph Nolan at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral
  "Nolan is an impressive soloist and his new recording ... has much to commend it"

Mannfred Mann's Elgar

Robert Matthew-Walker reviews Elgar's Sacred music for choir and organ described in the February 2004 issue of The Organ.

CD Reviews from Issue 327 (February 2004) of The Organ

• Great European Organs no 69 - Stephan Engels plays the Seifert Organ of St Matthias, Berlin-Schonberg
  "Stephan Engels ... has chosen a demanding and varied programme of music"
• Benchmarks Vol. 6 - Paul Derrett at the organ of Ledbury Parish Church
  "You will enjoy every minute"
• Benchmarks Vol. 7 - Paul Derrett plays the organs of Ludlow and Leominster
  "quite small organs can give excellent results and listener satisfaction"
• A Celebration of Organ Music - Roger Fisher plays the organ of Hull City Hall
  "Roger Fisher plays a well-chosen Town Hall programme, which should appeal to everyone"
• Georgian Delights - Gerald Gifford plays organ and harpsichord music from the Dolmetsch Library
  "his love of the music emanates throughout this fine recording"
• A Classic Selection 2 - Roger Sayer at the organ of Rochester Cathedral
  "a splendidly virile reading of Liszt's Fantasia & Fugue on BACH"
• Virtuoso French Organ Music - Jennifer Bate at La Cathdrale Saint Pierre de Beauvais
  "the playing of Jennifer Bate is always intelligent, musical and essentially beyond criticism"
• Sweelinck - Der Organistenmacher - Lon Berben at the Organ of St Jaques, Lttich (Lige)
  "an exciting performance ... the organ sounding particularly immediate and the playing precise"
• Louis Vierne's 2me and 3me Symphonies - Olivier Latry at the Organ of Notre-Dame de Paris
  "If I simply used the word 'stunning' this could be a very quick review to read"
• Priory LP Archive Series Volume 1 - David Hill at Westminster Cathedral and John Porter at St George's Chapel Windsor
  "If future re-issues continue like this, Priory will have done us all a service"
• Organ Fireworks Volume X - Christopher Herrick at the organ of the Winspear Centre Edmonton (Canada)
  "an interesting programme, all items excellently played on a fine new organ"
• Sounds Messianic - Jamie Hitel plays the organ of St Paul's Episcopal Church, Akron, Ohio
  " the organ has a wide range of colour and sounds pretty convincing in both works"
• The English Cathedral Series vol. 8 - Scott Farrell at the organ of Newcastle Cathedral
  "lovers of this repertoire will be well satisfied with his flowing and faithful performances"
• Joseph Bonnet - Harold Britton at the organ of Notre Dame de France, Leicester Square, London
  "Harold Britton's measured but faithful performances serve the composer well"