Eben

Petr Eben drew upon the Old Testament and sacred texts from early church fathers for his powerful sacred vocal works. Latin was his preferred language for these settings, and he favoured Gregorian chant which he used as inspiration for his weaving polyphonic lines, complex rhythms and irregular patterning. This body of work, written in the teeth of party opposition in Czechoslovakia – born a Jew, Eben became a practising Catholic – is one of the most important by a Czech composer in the twentieth-century.

The Prague Chamber choir was launched in 1990 and was largely encouraged by the new climate of artistic freedom which accompanied Czechoslovakia's reclaimed political independence. The repertoire of Bohemian and Moravian religious music brought together on this album includes works by two of the greatest composers of the nationalist movement during the late-19th and early 20th Centuries. The third piece is a contemporary work by a composer who witnessed first-hand his country's oppression during World War II. Collectively, these pieces by Dvorak, Janacek and Eben add up to a sustained thanksgiving-underlined by a certain pride in the enduring strengths of the Czech tradition of sacred music.

Petr Eben - Das Orgelwerk, Volume 1 - Gunther Rost (2002) {Motette MOT12911}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 233 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 154 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 91 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2002 Motette | MOT 12911
Classical / 20th Century / Organ

I recently became aware of Gunther Rost's Petr Eben recording in an article in an organ journal. The recording is really exceptional and, in my opinion, sets new standards in the field of organ recordings: The choice of the instrument is excellent, the new Goll organ in Memmigen seems almost predestined for Ebens music. Above all, I would like to emphasize the perfection and virtuosity as well as the gripping musical interpretations of the young organist (I read that Gunther Rost was recently appointed professor of organ at the age of 27).

Petr Eben - Das Orgelwerk, Volume 3 - Gunther Rost (2005) {Motette MOT12934}
SACD rip | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 605 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 151 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 87 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2005 Motette | MOT 12934
Classical / 20th Century / Organ

Petr Eben is one of the leading composers of our time. After the recordings with Faust / Mutationes and Job, this recording forms the third part of a complete recording of his previous organ compositions. The works of Sunday music and Laude are among the most popular organ pieces in Eben. For the organ competition of the "Prague Spring Festival" he composed the two choral fantasies, which are characterized by virtuoso gestures. The work A Festive Voluntary - Variations on Good King Wenceslas was created in 1986 as a commission for the re-inauguration of the organ at Chichester Cathedral. Gunther Rost plays the Schuke organ of the Neubaukirche Würzburg. SACD multi-channel A CD of the highest quality level!

Petr Eben - Das Orgelwerk, Volume 2 - Gunther Rost (2002) {Motette MOT12921}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 233 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 145 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 92 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2002 Motette | MOT 12921
Classical / 20th Century / Organ

From the Tonhalle in Zürich, Switzerland, Gunther Rost is joined by speaker Gert Westphal in performing Eben's HIOB, (Job), which alternates between organ and readings from the Book of Job. Much of this work is based on improvisations by Eben. Even those who are otherwise distant from the sound of the organ listen to this total work of art.

When the Czech composer Petr Eben died in 2007, he was renowned and performed the world over as a composer for choirs and organ. Nevertheless, 15 years on, this album inaugurates the first attempt at a complete survey of his output for the organ – an output so rich and individual that it has come to define a late 20th-century sound for the instrument as characterfully as Marcel Dupré achieved some six decades earlier.