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Subtitled "Organ
Music by Manchester Composers",
this is a desirable, varied and outstandingly
interesting disc.
The most serious and
most extended piece is David Ellis’s
‘Vetrate di Ricercata’, in three movements.
It is dedicated respectively to Mendelssohn,
specifically his work for J.S. Bach
and therefore contrapuntal, to Karg-Elert,
Impressionist as one would expect but
updated Impressionism (the work dates
from 2002), and to the Liverpool organist
Cyril Colvin, Ellis’s one-time mentor.
Overall, ‘Vetrate di Ricercata’ is of
considerable virtuosity and is a test
of Mr. Frost’s experience and technique*.
His own Passacaglia,
composed in 1979, begins with a "tone
row" derived from dates in St.
Ann’s history, but the treatment is
tonal with a joyful climax. The variations
by John Ellis – no relation of David
– are fairly simple workings of a well
known Advent hymn with just a few astringent
harmonies to remind us that this, too,
dates from 2002. The seventh and last
variation, the longest and marked Fantasie,
begins contrapuntally and ends in appropriately
triumphal mood.
Douglas Steele (1910-1999)
was basically a miniaturist and usually
gentle in invention, as is this chorale
prelude. Both Norman Cocker and Ernest
Tomlinson are best known for lighter
music and this CD does not alter that
perception of either. Cocker was a cinema
organist as well as Organist of Manchester
Cathedral, whose memory is kept alive
by the cheerful ‘Tuba Tune’. This, for
once, does not figure here and it is
good to hear something else by this
Yorkshire-born musician**. Four of the
five movements date from a published
collection of 1922 and are delightfully
shaped miniatures; ‘Cradle Song’ (1927),
unpublished, is much longer, but equally
tuneful. Ernest Tomlinson has said many
times that the tune is the main thing,
the starting point of any composition,
and so it is here - incidentally he
has had much experience as an organist.
The three pieces are titled ‘Quiet Prelude’,
‘Rondoletto’, deliciously lilting, and
‘Paean’, appropriately joyful.
Mr. Frost deals dedicatedly
with this diverse repertoire and, as
one would expect from one who has been
at St. Ann’s for upwards of a quarter
of a century, clearly knows his way
about the St. Ann’s organ, a major rebuild
of which he supervised in 1995-6. The
booklet includes its specification.
Recording excellent;
strongly recommended and not just to
organ buffs!
* A comprehensive analysis
of each movement is given within the
booklet.
** It is on Dunelm
Records’ DRD0166 "The Inaugural
Recital".
Philip L. Scowcroft
Ronald Frost (organ, St. Ann’s Church, Manchester)
