Sounds French. Well, yes, up to a certain point
for this release of French organ music also includes a piece by
César Franck who was born in Liège (though he spent
most of his composing life in Paris) and another one by David
Briggs.
Pierre Cochereau was a highly respected musician
and was well known as a supreme organist, mainly at Notre Dame
in Paris. He was also (as are most organists) a master improviser
whose improvisations in Notre Dame were – luckily enough
– recorded and issued on LPs and later on CDs. The two pieces
here are heard in David Briggs’ excellent transcriptions
from these recordings. Entrée Grand Orgue is a typical
prelude to a high mass and is cast as a powerful crescendo-diminuendo
based on the plainsong Kyrie Orbis Factor, whereas Scherzo Symphonique
is a brilliant virtuoso improvisation on two contrasting themes.
Briggs’ transcriptions will hopefully be available in print,
for these pieces should feature more often in organists’
recitals.
Jean Langlais’s achievement as organist
and as composer is deservedly held in high esteem, although he
may not have been given his due yet, i.e. as far as commercial
recordings of his music are concerned. Incantation pour un jour
Saint is a short, but highly effective and brilliant piece composed
in 1949 whereas his Messe Alme Pater is a much later work completed
in 1985. Both display Langlais’s resourceful handling of
Gregorian chant which he wraps in his personal harmonic and rhythmic
manner. The organ mass is a major work in spite of its concision.
Jeanne Demessieux, too, was a remarkable organist
whose untimely death at the age of 47 was a tragic loss. Attende
Domine heard here is one of her twelve Chorals-Preludes published
in 1950. It is as beautifully written as anything else in this
selection, although the music is, on the whole, slightly more
traditional and nearer to Franck than Langlais or Dupré.
The latter is represented by the Allegro Deciso, in fact the third
movement from Evocations Op.37, a triptych dedicated to the memory
of his father. I wish that Briggs had recorded Evocations complete;
but this magnificent piece brilliantly closes this most welcome
selection.
The major work here is Briggs’ own Symphonie
en Improvisation, a substantial piece in four movements playing
for some 25 minutes, and – believe it or not – improvised
at about 11.20pm, at the end of the recording session! The whole
piece is a full-fledged symphony: a Moderato first movement followed
by a lively Scherzo, in turn followed by a slow movement of great
expressive strength and rounded-off by an energetic Finale. This
marvellous piece of music deserves to be heard. I hope that David
Briggs will commit it to paper. It would be a great loss indeed
if it was not available in print for other organists’ profit.
César Franck’s Three Chorals of
1890 are his last major works. The Choral No.1 displays all the
hallmarks of Franck’s mature music, and is roughly conceived
as a tone poem, rather than as the diminutive meditation that
might have been suggested by the title. It is interesting to compare
Briggs’ reading with that by Jamie Hitel (recently released
on Lammas LAMM 145 D, reviewed here some time ago). Briggs takes
a more expansive approach, and plays for two extra minutes. Moreover,
there are some curious, intriguing sounds heard first at about
2’35” [track 3] and again at about 5’. Have
these sounds anything to do with Briggs’ comments that “[we]
decided specifically not to have the organ tuned before this recording
in order to give an even more authentically French sound (sic)”?
Curious indeed, for I did not notice any particular distortion
in the other pieces.
In short, a most welcome release, magnificently
played and well recorded, well worth having, were it only for
Briggs’ Symphonie, although I could have done without the
Franck and instead had some more of Cochereau’s improvisations
and a complete recording of Dupré’s Evocations.
Hubert Culot
David Briggs at the organ of Blackburn Cathedral
Recorded: Blackburn Cathedral, June 2003 