Elfrida Andree was
an interesting character: one of the
few women of her time to make such a
mark in the country of her birth, both
in music in general and, more astonishingly,
in the organ loft. She was in fact organist
of Gothenburg Cathedral from 1867 (unthinkable
at that time that a woman should become
a Cathedral organist at all, let alone
at just 26 years old!) until her death.
Her style reflects the dominant German
influences of the time cf Schumann
- and the music of Alexandre Guilmant,
whom Andree heard play in Paris and
whose music she herself played. Her
visits to England are also reflected
in her manner of writing for the organ,
Alfred Hollins seems never too far away.
This recording comprises all Andrees
surviving organ works with the exception
of some small chorale preludes.
The music is characterised
by a certain tuneful warmth. Perhaps
it is no coincidence that her first
organ symphony, while declined by the
Swedish publisher Gehrmans, was accepted
by the London publisher Augener; one
could well believe that this music came
from an English composer of the late
19th century. Unfortunately
I was not so convinced by the quality
of the music in general. The pieces
often seem to lack a sound structural
basis, and are harmonically, bland.
Most effective is the Orgelsymfoni
nr 2 with the brass ensemble, but
even here the juxtaposition of the forces
is unimaginative.
The performances are
committed and the enthusiasm with which
Ralph Gustaffson, (current professor
of organ at the Conservatory in Stockholm
and organist of the Maria Magdalena
Church) has gone about this set of projects
of Swedish Romantic organ music is very
admirable. His organ, an Akerman and
Lund instrument of 1878/1927 sounds
remarkably English, and demonstrates
a high quality in the 8 flues and strings
especially. Sadly the acoustic is not
very large and one is left with the
impression of an instrument which is
perhaps slightly too big for the room.
Interesting then, but
really only for fans of the obscure.
Chris Bragg
Ralph Gustaffson, organ 
