Franck, C: Pièce héroïque, M37

This fourteenth volume of Christopher Herrick’s monumental Organ Fireworks series comes from the organ of Melbourne Town Hall. As ever, Herrick presents a cornucopia of virtuoso delights, opening with a bang with Lemare’s outrageous transcription of the Grand March from Aida, given a new sheen by Herrick himself. Other works include pieces by living composers Iain Farrington and Paul Spicer, and examples of the best of the English and French traditions of 19th and 20th century organ writing.

Please note that the whole text of the CD and of the enclosed booklet is ONLY IN ITALIAN LANGUAGE.

The grand swell and floating poetry of César Franck’s works for organ have long given rise to descriptions such as musical incense, which focus on their numinous spiritual address, perhaps at the expense of their ingenious construction, which may owe much to a Wagnerian, leitmotivically inspired process of continuous development but also to older models of the French organ school – and which in turn became influential for the next two generations of French organ composers such as Dupré and Duruflé.

The Three Chorals and the Pièce héroïque are relatively well known now, at least in recital (their technical difficulties place them beyond the reach of many church organists, and a few church organs, come to that), but beyond those late and deeply intimate explorations are some spectacular transformations of Bachian counterpoint into 19th-century showpieces such as the Final in B flat. Adriano Falcioni (b.1975) recently won golden opinions for his recital at the organ of Sheffield Cathedral, and has performed on the instruments of many great European churches and cathedrals.

This particular recording was made in the Basilica of S.Maria degli Angeli in Assisi: a beautiful church in its own right, made only more so by acting as an ecclesiastical shell for the chapel of the Porziuncola, which is known as the birthplace of the Franciscan order: St Francis himself died but a few metres from the door of the chapel, well within the grounds of what is now a spectacular basilica.

Played on the Puget organ at the church of Notre-Dame de la Dalbade a Toulouse

Four organ showpieces performed of the Great organ of Milan Cathedral.

Franz Liszt was a master at taking well-known tunes from popular operas and turning them into highly effective concert paraphrases for piano and orchestra. He had already produced 3 based on Meyerbeer’s 1849 hit opera Le Prophet. The fourth work was to be a vast fantasie and fugue for organ taking the tune sung in Act I by the three Anabaptists urging people to see the error of their ways.

Max Reger’s fantasies for organ are, like Liszt’s works, virtually symphonic poems for solo organ. The op40/2 work is divided into 6 movements, and each mirrors the text of the Protestant chorale on which the work is based – anger, sin and love - all are depicted here.

Cesar Franck’s Piece Heroique is the last of his Three Pieces for organ composed in 1878 for the inaugural concerts of the new Cavaille-Coll organ in the Salle des Fetes in the Palais du Trocadero. The Franco-Prussian war had just ended, and the French had been defeated. The troops marched through Paris in 1871. It must have been a sombre procession. Franck’s work is rather more funereal than jingoistic – its emotions are ambivalent.

Just as Liszt was a piano virtuoso, Edwin Lemare was the foremost organ virtuoso of his time. Taking a work by another piano virtuoso – Camille Saint- Saens’ orchestral symphonic poem Danse Macabre (already Liszt had transcribed the original for piano) and transcribing it for organ Lemare created one of the most famous of organ showpieces.

A 2CD set release that will please all organ lovers, a collection of ‘romantic’ organ works from the French composer Franck. These recordings date from 1958 and have been re-mastered and released on CD for the first time. It showcases the extraordinary talents of André Marchal, who remained a true exponent of the organ music of Franck.