It is difficult to know just what to make of
Jean-François Tapray; from the sound of these organ concertos
he was either a free-minded genius well ahead of his time, or
he was mad. Whichever it was, his reputation has not survived
enough for him to be any sort of well-known name in our time
and, on the evidence of these works, this is a real pity. The
repertoire of organ concertos from Handel onwards is small and
is dominated by the obvious Handel and Haydn sets with then
a long break until the French 19th century outpourings of Widor
and Saint-Saëns (both of whom wrote Organ "Symphonies"
rather than "concertos") and the frequently heard
Poulenc of the 20th century. That there should be a whole repertoire
of earlier French organ concertos comes as something of a surprise,
and yet, given the solo heritage of Couperin and Dandrieu, to
name but two, Organ music was alive and highly regarded in France
throughout the 18th century.
These concertos are without doubt remarkable.
For anybody brought up on the small chamber organs of the Handel
or Haydn concertos, with their palettes limited to flute and
principal ranks, the addition of blaring, thick reeds comes
as a real shock, but what a wonderful shock it is. The very
opening of the disc shows the spectacular colours available
from a large Baroque organ built for the church. The orchestra
in these works consists only of strings (violins, cellos and
double bass) but the colours of the large organ add just as
much as any woodwind section ever could. The orchestral playing
of the Ensemble Baroque de Nice under the direction (from the
violin) of Gilbert Bezzina is lively, accurate and stylish.
(Sample 1) On top of this the organ is played with not just
a sense of style, but a bizarre outlandishness that fits this
exotic music perfectly. (Sample 2) It is all impressively recorded
to avoid imbalance between organ and orchestra, yet the organ
is still captured with clarity while not loosing the sense of
space that surrounds it. The performers are all French and clearly
steeped in this little known repertoire, which they bring off
with tremendous elan.
Of the works themselves it is difficult to
know where to start. The variety of styles, themes and workings
out is remarkable. The imagination of Tapray was prodigious,
and this was recognised in his own time. While the fast movements
have a certain edge of earlier romanticism, the slow movements
remind one of the concertos of Vivaldi it their delicate cantilenas
with string accompaniment. (Sample 3) As everywhere else on
this recording, Domineque Ferran’s ability to communicate this
music through the historic organ of the Abbey of St Croix is
exemplary. The immediacy, and, where required, intimacy that
he brings out of the instrument is constant. This is a quite
remarkable disc that brings to mind the early days of the ‘early
music revival’ in being a revelatory listening experience. In
this case it is also bringing forth the music of a very interesting
composer, of whom we should clearly know more. Highly recommendable.
Peter Wells
Dominique Ferran - organ 