Orgue

Still in his twenties, Pétur Sakari studied in his native Finland and in Paris and made his recording début at the age of 18. On his previous disc for BIS, he performed works by five French composers, receiving international acclaim with top marks in Diapason as well as on the Klassik-Heute website.

On a toujours tendance à sous-estimer l'importance de Nicolas Lebègue dans la formation du style de la musique francaise pour clavier. Cet homme qui venant de Laon débarqua à Paris à l'âge de 25 ans a non seulement standardisé la suite pour clavecin à la francaise, mais il a aussi codifié le style d'orgue francais classique par ce premier livre d'orgue publié 10 ans après son arrivée à Paris.

The Mendelssohn sonatas are established standard repertoire items for most organists. Comminssioned in London as Voluntaries and then published simultaneously in four different countries, they are notable for their lack of consistent form, ranging from two to four movements, and eight to fifteen minutes in length. Scottish organist Susan Landale graduated from Edinburgh University and then continued her studies with the great French organist Andre Marchal in Paris. She was later appointed organist of St. George's Anglican Church, Paris, a post she held for eighteen years.

In selecting the program for his first solo recording, Jean-Willy Kunz was naturally drawn to music by composers from his native France including Jehan Alain, Charles-Marie Widor, Marcel Dupré, and Louis Vierne, while a work by Québécois Maxime Goulet provides a contemporary flavor. These are paired with the great Toccata and Fugue in D minor by J. S. Bach.

C'est à partir d'un “Avertissement” de Marin Marais lui-même, dans son IIe livre de pièces de viole (1701), qu'est née l'idée de cet enregistrement tout à fait original et inédit. En effet, il y invite les musiciens à ne pas jouer le pièces de viole seulement sur la viole : “J'ai eu attention en les composant à les rendre propres pour être joués sur toutes sortes d'instruments comme l'orgue, clavecin, théorbe, luth, violon, flûte allemande…”, et prié les interprètes de “se donner la peine de les mettre sur chaque instrument en particulier”. Il ajoute, dans l'“Avertissement” de son IIIe livre : “Il ne s'agira que d'en savoir faire le choix pour chacun des instrument” (et) remplir le vide entre le sujet et la basse afin de ne pas faire de mauvais sons, ce qui est une règle très essentielle à l'harmonie.”

Ten years after writing Les Corps Glorieux (8.573682), Olivier Messiaen developed a plan to compose a Book of Rhythmic Studies for the organ. This resulted in two distinct works of which Livre d'orgue proved to be an anthology representative of his compositional thinking at the time. It runs the gamut of rhythms, tone colours and sonorities, ranging from extreme delicacy to the most powerful vehemence, and includes new modes, complex Hindu rhythms, and an aviary of birdsong. The test piece Verset pour la Fete de la Dedicace offers a more serene vision in its own essay in birdsong.

On this disc, René Saorgin plays historic French organs at the Collégiale Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption in Tende and Chambéry Cathedral. Discover the delightful Noëls of Balbastre and a whole collection of pastoral pieces for organ not to mention a recording of the Carillon du Château des Ducs de Savoie in Chambéry. This splendid treasury of Noëls, or Carols, includes works by renowned 18th-century French organ composers Louis-Claude Daquin and Claude-Bénigne Balbastre as well as works by J.S. Bach and Domenico Zipoli.

Known as the ‘First Lady of the organ’, Marie-Claire Alain was a strikingly mature, creative and intuitive artist. Spanning four centuries of music, from Baroque masterpieces by the likes of Couperin and Grigny, through cornerstones of the French organ repertoire by Widor, Vierne and Messiaen, to two discs of works by her brother Jehan, this collection is testament to her vast and impressively wide-ranging recording legacy.

François de Bedos de Celles (1709-1779), described as a "monk of notable erudition," was also a highly trained and supremely talented builder of organs in eighteenth century France. The greatest of his organs was Dom Bedos, built for the abbey of Saint-Croix in Bordeaux – a glorious instrument with rich blends and subtle colors, with nuanced balances and stark contrasts, with whispering pianissimos and roaring fortissimos. Leonhardt's chosen program opens with the organ extracts from François Couperin's Messe propre pour les couvents, deeply devout music that Leonhardt performs with absolute command and complete dedication. The remainder of the program is a collection of works by better- and lesser-known composers, ranging from three Voluntaries by John Blow and two Toccatas by Georg Muffat to a Fantasia by Abraham van den Kerchkoven and a Chaconne by Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer, but Leonhardt performs all of them with total commitment and rapturous ecstasy. Alpha's sound is once again the omega of recorded sound.