Listening Room
........ Always under construction ........
As English is not my mother tongue, I am writing little by little.
Please visit again a little later. There'll always be something new. Thanks for
your patience!
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14.4 kbps is permissible for some recordings.
About this page
| I've been listening to organ (and much other)
music for about 37 years. The following is a selection of what I found to be exceptional
and worth appreciation. Most of them are commonly overlooked, underrated or forgotten.
The purpose of this page is to make such music or recordings known to latent listeners
who may rightly appreciate them. ( Warning : I would not recommend them to everyone.
If you find one or two of them interesting, then a chance will be great that you
like my other selections. ) |
 Romantic and Symphonic
Organ Music |
| - - The Second Golden Age - -
|
1) Edwin Lemare  
Historic performances by the great organist of the century.
2) Romantic and British
3) Symphonic / Transcription
| Chronological table of 19th - 20th Century composers/organists |
| |
    |
| Franck |
 
1822-1890 |
| Saint-Saëns |
1835-1921 |
| Guilmant |
1837-1911 |
| Widor |
1844-1937 |
| Vierne |
1870-1937 |
| Jongen |
1873-1953 |
| Dupré |
1886-1971 |
| Reger |
1873-1916 |
| Karg-Elert |
1877-1933 |
| Lemare |
1865-1934 |
| Hollins |
1865-1942 |
| Whitlock |
1903-1946 |
| W. Lloyd Webber |
1914-1982 |
| |
|
|
The Golden Age of
Organ Music
. . . Those underrated composers of 17th century . . .
1) Heinrich Scheidemann (c.1596 - 1663
)
Among Sweelinck's pupils Scheidemann was known as a friendly and
affable person. This is well reflected in his music. Some 80 keyboard works are
known to date, of which 4 Magnificats and 6 Praeambulums were recorded in 1980
by Régis Allard, co-produced by the organist and the webmaster of
this page. They are currently available as Arion ARN 68207. So far, this
is the only LP or CD album entirely dedicated to Scheidemann.
2) Anthoni van Noordt (c.1613/20 - 1675)
In 1659 van Noordt published the only printed volume of the period,
the Tabulatuur-Boeck van Psalmen en Fantasyen. It contains 10 psalm settings
(mostly with the Pedal) and 6 fantasies (manualiter). The modern edition was edited
by Jan van Biezen and published in 1976 (Monumenta Musica Neerlandica XI). The
French harpsichord & organ player Odile Bailleux recorded several pieces
in 70s (STIL 2510 S 77 [LP] : Cover -
Liner notes). Her interpretation was rather
straightforward, yet it reveals one of the most successful contrapuntal style
of writing in organ music. Unfortunately these recordings are not currently available.
We do hope they will be reissued.
Excerpts from this recording:
Psalms 116, verses 1 &
2. (2:30)
Psalms 7, verses 2 &
3. (4:50)
3) Diderik Buxtehude (c.1637 - 1707)
Certainly Buxtehude is much more well-known than the two composers
mentioned above. Many recordings of his organ works, some cantatas and chamber
music exist, yet in my opinion the essence of his music is seldom heard in the
recordings. (...Under construction. To be continued.)
| Chronological table of the Composers |
| |
 
|
| Scheidemann |
c.1596-1663 |
| Noordt |
? -1675 |
| Buxtehude |
c.1637-1707 |
| J. S. Bach |
1685-1750 |
|
Organ Video
- Decca (UK) / London (Polydor Japan):
ORGAN IMPERIAL
(76K jpg) by Carlo Curley.
The programme (48K gif).
(Decca=VHS/PAL / London=LD/NTSC. The latter is no more available.)
The big chronological
table of composers for organ
T. Ohbayashi me fecit. I appreciate your comments to:
ListenR@orgel.com
Copyright (C)1996-2002 by T. Ohbayashi. All rights reserved.
Last updated: 2004-05-12. (First published on 1996-May-22)
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