Quentin Decaillet

Balsom explains in her booklet note that EMI gave her considerable freedom in choosing her programme for the disc and thereby lays my only real reservation. The objective (a daunting one as Balsom readily admits) was to seek out new material although what we get is a slightly uncomfortable blend of one vast original composition in the Eben, that whilst well coupled with the shorter Tomasi work seems rather ill at ease with the likes of Shenandoah and George Thalben-Ball’s well-known organ Elegy. It may be that Balsom was conscious of not duplicating works with Håkan Hardenberger’s release of music for the same combination that appeared on BIS earlier this year (also reviewed by the writer) although in fact it is only the Tomasi that is common to both discs.

Grammy award-winning drummer Quentin Baxter is joined by his quintet for Art Moves Jazz, a collection of originals by the expert performer!

French organ music under Napoleon and the Restoration is an overlooked period in musical history, inheriting the glories of classical organ and heralding the great romantic organ music. This pivotal time, teeming with great performers - most of them improvisers - counted Isaac-Francois Lefebure-Wely among its masters, who presided over the prestigious Eglise Saint-Roch from 1805. In 1823 he published a collection of 34 Noels, inspired by those of his predecessors yet deeply rooted in their time, imbued with the memory of the Incroyables and the Merveilleuses. These extremely popular works for nativity ring out in true splendour from the organ of the Chapelle Royale, shimmering with the mysteries of Christmas through Quentin Guerillot's generous, familiar style.