If you enjoy hearing trumpet and organ sounding
and resounding around a church, without too much concern for
what is actually being played, then be assured that both players
are secure and musical and the recording balances them in exemplary
manner, homing in on the details of the organ’s passage work
while not ignoring the church’s long reverberation period.
It’s a glorious sound and I could leave it
at that. If, like me, you have the musicological bug and want
to know what you’re listening to, then the notes, by Landeghem
himself, are a little disingenuous. I have dutifully reproduced
the title of the Boyce as given on the disc, but it turns out
(as I suspected it would) to be an old friend, the quick movement
from the composer’s first Organ Voluntary. This was written
to show off the organ’s trumpet stop, to be sure, but Boyce
might have been bemused at the idea of a real trumpet playing
it, however splendidly. He might, too, have felt that his indication
"Swell or Eccho" called for a lighter registration
of the minor-key middle section. Similarly the Clarke Suite,
of which we are told that "the original version was probably
written for trumpet and a wind instrument ensemble". It
turns out to be another string of "old familiar faces",
one of them very familiar indeed, originally published as keyboard
pieces, and this is the first time I have heard it suggested
that this was not the composer’s intended form. On the other
hand, much of it sounds pretty thin on a harpsichord and Clarke
might have taken his own life a little less willingly if he
had heard what a splendid sound his music could make. I should
add that I have nothing whatever against arrangements, especially
for a combination which, despite its obvious effectiveness,
has inspired composers to write precious little original music
for it; but I do expect sources and arrangers to be fully declared.
With the two Italian composers we have original
music for the combination. Or at least, basically we do. As
Landeghem tells us, the Fantini Sonatas "are of historical
significance in that the trumpet is accompanied for the first
time in the history of music by a figured bass. The organist
was expected to improvise both the necessary harmonies and the
counterpoint in the style of the period". He certainly
enjoys himself no end doing that, as can be heard in the 5th
Sonata with exuberantly enjoyable results.
Roelant plays, as far as I can tell, a modern
trumpet, soaring into the upper reaches of the "baroque"
range without apparent effort. The organ was brand new (1991)
at the time of the recording, though based on an 18th
Century model. For 17th Century music even a chamber-sized
instrument of a century later offers ample opportunities for
anachronism in the hands of an organist who likes the 16-foot
stop and certain sections of the Bruhns, the Froberger and even
the Bach suffer from overbearingly heavy registration. But Landeghem
is an imaginative player (he is also a composer) whose zestful
rhythmic articulation usually wins the day, not least in the
Buxtehude where his natural exuberance matches the composer’s
own.
Not a musicological experience, then, but a
very enjoyable one. 47’02" might seem short measure but
it is about the right length for an enjoyable programme from
this combination – is it really such a good idea to jam-pack
CDs up to 75+ minutes at all costs? (I know you don’t have to
listen all at one go, but people tend to do so). And one can
only be disarmed by the total unconcern for publicity shown
by the whole team when the disc contains the most famous
trumpet piece ever and neither cover nor notes make any reference
to the fact. If you don’t know the title by which this is usually
known, I shan’t tell you! .
Christopher Howell
Alain ROELANT (trumpet)*,
Jan Van Landeghem (organ) 