MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger


 
REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

 

alternatively
CD: AmazonUK
Download: Classicsonline


Gustav MERKEL (1827-1885)
Organ Works Vol. I
Fantasia et Fuga a 5 voci, Op.5 [13:11]
“I Straf mich nicht in deinem Zorn”, Op.12 [3:43]
Sonate in D minor for four hands and double pedal, Op.30* [13:31]
“Nun sich der Tag”, Op.32 [3:19]
“Vom Himmel hoch”, Op.32 [2:16]
Fuge uber BACH in B major, Op.40 (1867) [3:33]
Sonata No.2 in G minor, Op.42 (pub.1866) [18:46]
Sonata No.3 in C minor, Op.80 [17:57]
Halgeir Schiager (organ)
Bjørn Boysen (organ) (secondo)*
rec. 22-26 June 2005, Stadkirche St. Laurentinus, Elsterberg and 27 June 2005, Dresden Cathedral (Op.5).
SIMAX CLASSICS PSC1273 [77:11]

 

alternatively
CD: AmazonUK
Download: Classicsonline

Gustav MERKEL (1827-1885)
Organ Works Vol. II
Introduktion und Doppelfuge, Op.34 (pub.1861) [5:47]
Doppelfuge, Op.3 (pub.1855) [8:23]
Variationen uber ein Thema von Beethoven, Op.45 (pub.1868) [16:00]
Fughette, Op.15 [1:16]
Con moto, Op.100 [2:10]
In ruhiger Bewegung, Op.100 [2:15]
“Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme”, Op.100 [3:34]
Larghetto, Op.102 [2:19]
Moderato, Op.102 [1:42]
Pastorale, Op.103 (pub. 1877) [7:07]
Fantasie und Fuge, Op.104 (pub.1876) [8:33]
Fantasie in freiem Style, Op.133 [5:35]
Fantasie und Fuge, Op.109 (pub.1877) [10:51]
Halgeir Schiager (organ)
rec. 3-5 October 2005, St. Katharinenkirche, Callenberg
SIMAX CLASSICS PSC 1274 [78:21]
Experience Classicsonline

Gustav Merkel is one of those names who crop up on slightly off the beaten path organ recitals or beefy romantic recitals, most spectacularly with the Sonata in D minor Op.30 which requires two players. Merkel is placed firmly in that mid-German organ tradition which includes names such as Hesse, Rinck, Ritter and Schneider whose influence as performers and teachers extended beyond their nation’s borders. Merkel’s output is primarily of works for piano or organ, including that popular domestic instrument the harmonium. More frequently recorded of his secular pieces are Merkel’s nine organ sonatas: three movement pieces in the classical tradition with a slow movement framed by two faster movements. This Simax set presents a kind of ‘best of’ Merkel performed on instruments from his own time.

Organs of Merkel’s period enjoyed an increasingly orchestral variety of stops. This feature is amply demonstrated in the Fantasia et Fuga a 5 voci, Op.5, which expands the language of Bach into the realms of a kind of hyper-Mendelssohn. On volume one of this four CD set this three movement piece is plunged into the vast acoustic of Dresden Cathedral and, while superbly spectacular, there is a certain amount of detail lost in the hugeness of it all. This is a good beginning however, heralding the softer voice of the first of a number of chorale preludes from Op.5 and Op.32. The Sonata in D minor Op.30 for two organists is another blockbuster, but being housed in the Stadkirche St. Laurentinus is rather less burdened with extremes of resonance. As with the single-player sonatas, there is a three movement plan involving a spectacular Allegro, a mellifluous Adagio and a final Allegro con fuoco-fuga. There was a trend for organ duets in Saxony, and this piece was also a prize-winning entry to a composition competition in Mannheim in 1858, retaining a certain popularity even in present times. The work retains all of Merkel’s uncomplicated romantic idiom, and with no previous knowledge the casual listener would probably not suspect that there were two players at work here - just one very capable one on a well stacked instrument.

The Fugue on BACH Op.40 continues another trend which followed the growing interest in Bach during the first half of the nineteenth century. Merkel’s fugue is comparable with the first of Schumann’s Six fugues on BACH, consisting of a long crescendo developing on the rising notes of BACH. Volume one ends with two of Merkel’s organ sonatas. These explore dynamic relationships and contrasts on the organ, mixing fugal elements with freer sonata composition. Although the Sonata No.2 was one of Merkel’s most popular pieces in his own time, the Sonata No.3 is a breeding ground for deeper exploration. The first movement is the most extensive in Merkel’s work in this genre, working with three themes. The Elsterberg organ is a fine instrument and Halgeir Schiager does justice to all of the pieces here, though there is rather a big contrast between this and the Dresden environment. Both of these organs are of Merkel’s time and well suited to music of this tradition, and the history and disposition of both instruments is given in the booklet notes.

Volume two avoids a clash of differing instruments, the Kreutzbach instrument here representing the more conservative end of the romantic period and characterised by a full but generally darker, more woody sound. Once again we are brought in with a rousing piece, the Introduktion und Doppelfuge, Op.34. The following Doppelfuge is from Merkel’s Op.3 collection of Drei Fugen, and his first published work. This substantial piece has an expressive, Brahms-like feel, and leads us nicely into the more up-front opening of the Variationen uber ein Thema von Beethoven, Op.45. The theme is from Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No.39 in E major Op.109, and this appears after the flourish of the introduction. The variations follow the classical pattern of melodic variation over unaltered harmony, with only the fifth and penultimate variation drawing us into a minor key. There is a very nice touch with a soft reprise of the original theme to conclude the otherwise rousing Finale.

Other highlights of this disc are the pleasantly lilting rhythms of the Pastorale Op.103, the thematically related outer movements of the dramatic and fascinatingly compact Fantasie und Fuge, Op.104 and the single movement Fantasie in freiem Style, Op.133. The melodic inventiveness in this piece is delightful, benefiting from transparent textures in the opening sections, which develop into a dynamic climax. I also like the gruff opening to the Fantasie und Fuge, Op.109 which comes across well on the Kreutzbach organ. The disc concludes with an intriguing double fugue which Merkel introduces after the opening Maestoso in the third movement of Op.109.

These two discs represent the first installments of a four disc set of Gustav Merkel’s organ music. Well-filled, these nonetheless represent a selection, plucking the best of the pieces from some of the more extended collections and giving us what looks like being most if not all of the sonatas and the grander Fantasie pieces. This well performed and recorded set is a significant contribution to the romantic organ catalogue, and will hopefully give a justified boost to this composer’s wider representation in today’s concert programmes.

Dominy Clements 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools






Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.