Mendelssohn: Organ Sonatas Nos. 1-6, Op. 65

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Whitehead need not apologise for the apparent perversity of trying to recreate the frustrating performing conditions Mendelssohn would have found on his British tours… his immaculately articulated... — BBC Music Magazine, September 2009, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 29th Jun 2009
Catalogue No: CHAN10532
Label: Chandos
Length: 72 minutes

Presto Recording of the Week

28th December 2009

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Mendelssohn: 6 Organ Sonatas, Op. 65, No. 1 in F Minor, MWV W. 56

Work length15:40

$4.00

$5.20

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William Whitehead

I. Allegro moderato e serioso

Track length5:58

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II. Adagio

Track length2:59

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$1.75

III. Andante recitando

Track length3:18

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$1.75

IV. Allegro assai vivace

Track length3:25

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$1.75

Mendelssohn: 6 Organ Sonatas, Op. 65, No. 2 in C Minor, MWV W. 57

Work length10:11

$4.00

$5.20

$7.00

William Whitehead

I. Grave

Track length1:27

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$1.30

$1.75

II. Adagio

Track length2:35

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III. Allegro maestoso e vivace

Track length2:17

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IV. Fuga. Allegro moderato

Track length3:52

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Mendelssohn: 6 Organ Sonatas, Op. 65, No. 3 in A Major, MWV W. 58

Work length9:33

$3.00

$3.90

$5.25

William Whitehead

I. Con moto maestoso

Track length7:07

$2.00

$2.60

$3.50

II. Andante tranquillo

Track length2:26

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$1.30

$1.75

Mendelssohn: 6 Organ Sonatas, Op. 65, No. 4 in B-Flat Major, MWV W. 59

Work length13:35

$4.00

$5.20

$7.00

William Whitehead

I. Allegro con brio

Track length3:27

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II. Andante religioso

Track length2:06

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III. Allegretto

Track length3:46

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IV. Allegro maestoso e vivace

Track length4:16

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Mendelssohn: 6 Organ Sonatas, Op. 65, No. 5 in D Major, MWV W. 60

Work length8:46

$3.00

$3.90

$5.25

William Whitehead

I. Andante

Track length1:28

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$1.30

$1.75

II. Andante con moto

Track length2:40

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III. Allegro maestoso

Track length4:38

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$1.75

Mendelssohn: 6 Organ Sonatas, Op. 65, No. 6 in D Minor, MWV W. 61

Work length14:12

$4.00

$5.20

$7.00

William Whitehead

I. Chorale - Andante sostenuto

Track length8:48

$2.00

$2.60

$3.50

II. Fuga. Sostenuto e legato

Track length2:35

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

III. Finale. Andante

Track length2:49

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$1.75

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About

Felix Mendelssohn, whose centenary we celebrate this year, was the ultimate cosmopolitan composer, but formed a special relationship with Britain, which he visited ten times.

A number of his works were written in response to English commissions, including Elijah, and the Six Sonatas for Organ which have become established repertoire for organists and are some of Mendelssohn’s last compositions.

Mendelssohn was the first composer of international renown after J.S. Bach to return to the organ, and performed publicly on English organs during all his visits, audiences coming in droves to hear him. The sound of the English organ of his day had some distinctive qualities, which have been captured on this recording by William Whitehead, who uses the 1818 Lincoln Organ now situated in the Ballroom at Buckingham Palace.

It is not known whether Mendelssohn played this particular instrument but we know that he was a warmly welcomed guest of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at the Palace on numerous occasions. Recently restored, the organ gives an English perspective on this ebullient music which crosses international boundaries of style.

It is the first time an authentic instrument of this period has been used to record Mendelssohn’s Six Organ Sonatas.

Reviews

September 2009

Whitehead need not apologise for the apparent perversity of trying to recreate the frustrating performing conditions Mendelssohn would have found on his British tours… his immaculately articulated playing and musical imagination draws sounds, and an interpretation, which we may confidently imagine to be as authentic as it comes.

Awards Issue 2009

…is noble playing of the highest order.

29th July 2009

Recorded in the ballroom of Buckingham Palace, where Mendelssohn himself enthralled Queen Victoria and Prince Albert on several occasions, these six organ sonatas combine piety, grandeur, charming melody and festive display. William Whitehead’s consummate performances on the palace’s restored early 19th-century Henry Lincoln instrument illuminate variety of sonority as much as the manner in which Mendelssohn, while acknowledging the example of Bach and respecting the Protestant tradition, forged music of sumptuous, romantic lustre.

Offer,Mendelssohn: Organ Sonatas Nos. 1-6, Op. 65

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