Martin Luther. Par SCHNEIDER ENJOTT. On the occasion of the quincentenary of Reformation Day in 2017, the composer Enjott Schneider thoroughly studied Martin Luther the individual and all his contradictions. The result is a brilliant, demanding organ symphony which is perfect for concerts on the subject of Reformation and Martin Luther. The composer describes the five movements of the symphony as follows: '1st movement: Wir glauben all an einen Gott with its quintuplet-like beginning is very Gregorian in style, outlining the range of Lutheran emotionalism between the Middle Ages and the modern era. The irrationality of 'faith' ultimately has priority over any thought and evidence. At the beginning of the movement, sounds of knocking on wood remind of the nailing of the Ninety-Five Theses to the doors of churches in Wittenberg. The chorale melody sometimes hides with an almost rough medieval saltarello, referring to Luther's robustness and vitality with which he knew to carry away even common people. 2nd movement: In 1530, the electoral prince of Saxony presented to Luther at Coburg Castle the golden signet ring with the 'Luther rose' which became the symbol of his theology of grace. A white heart with black cross is fixed on a five-petalled rose. To him, 'white' is the colour of angels and ghosts, 'black' stands for the pain of crucification: 'The just shall live by faith, but by faith in the Crucified.' But the fact that the rose and the heart are the dominating symbols shows how Catholic Marian piety remained an ingredient of Luther's spirituality throughout his life. In line with the dominant five-petal structure of the rose, this movement was composed, to a large extent, in accordance with the floating, lyrical rhythm in 5/8 time. 3rd movement: The omnipresence of death and dying – from the plague and war to the never-ending dangers of daily life – was an essential part of the world view of that time. Fears ensued that might heighten into the grotesque, e.g. in the pictures of Hieronymus Bosch. The 'Danse macabre' was a popular motif in those years. Luther's chorale 'Mitten wir im Leben sind / mit dem Tod umfangen' from 1524 ('Enchiridion' from Erfurt) is based on the Gregorian chant 'Media vita in morte sumus' created in France around 750 and, with its idea of transience, inspired a simplistic air. 4th movement: The famous confession delivered at the Diet of Worms in 1521, 'I stand here and can say no more. God help me. Amen', are not Luther's words but the version later used as text for a pamphlet. However, it represents quite plainly the straightforwardness and inevitability of his mission. Musically, it was made into a 'perpetuum mobile', i.e. a dogged, ostinato and never-ending musical air. 5th movement: The 'Mighty Fortress', on the other hand, is one of the great symbols of Martin Luther which, with its shining C major key, embodies the Protestant ideology and willful nature of the Reformation unlike any other song. Heinrich Heine called it the 'Marseille anthem of the Reformation', Friedrich Engels the 'Marseillaise of the Peasants' Wars'. This disputability is not thought through to the end but rather interrupted: With a jubilant 'birdcall version' of the melody, the finale shows a rather chamber-music-like side of the 'ideals of freedom of Christians'.'/ Répertoire / Orgue

The “Little Organ Book” perhaps the most celebrated collection ever of chorale preludes owes its title to J.S. Bach’s application for the post of Cantor at St Thomas’ Church in Leipzig. Lacking an academic degree Bach wanted to demonstrate his qualifications as a teacher through his compositions – including his Inventions Sinfonias and the “Well Tempered Klavier”. This also led him to append a misleading title to the most ambitious project of his time at Weimar: he called this collection of chorale preludes - originally meant to number 164 pieces - pieces for an “aspiring organist”. In fact the44 completed compositions of the “Little Organ Book” are demanding masterpieces which give an impressive display of the full range of the so-called short chorale prelude. This new critical edition returns for the first time to the format of the principal sources dating from Bach’s time in that most of the pieces are reproduced on two systems rather than three.

Joan Cabanilles Selected Works for OrganVolume I: BA11228Volume II: BA11229Although quite some time has passed since the multifaceted organ music from Spain's Golden Age could be called an ?insider's tip? it had yet to attain popularity with any wide audience outside the countries of the Iberian Peninsula. The three-volume Urtext edition of selected works by Joan Cabanilles the cathedral organist from Valencia now has every chance of becoming a milestone in its own right. The Iberian organ tradition of the 17th century appears to have reached its climax in his tientos diferencias and versos. In the first two volumes the editors Gerhard Doderer and MiguelBernal Ripoll present a total of 22 of his most appealing and most significant tientos.Urtext edition based on the latest research findingsPreface by the editors (in German English and Spanish)

Freie Orgelwerke - BuxWV 136-153, 158. Par BUXTEHUDE DIETERICH. This edition is the result of Harald Vogel?s many years of practice as an organist and musicologist. The music text is based on a reevaluation of 17 th - and 18 th -century manuscripts containing the free organ and keyboard works by Buxtehude. They originated during a transitional phase between the traditional letter tablature and the staff notation still in use today. Since many works have survived only in transcriptions for staff notation, the editor was confronted with a high error rate, which he carefully analyzes in the ?Einzelanmerkungen?. During the preparation of the edition, the editor always kept sight of the performance practice, but still, the image of the sources is never distorted (e. g. by superfluous rests, beaming not conforming to the sources and the unhistorical adjustment of time signatures) and stays very close to the compositional notation, the letter tablature. The flexible use of three staves and the differentiated distribution of the voices on the staves allow for an approximation in reading conventions of historical notation with its resulting information about hand division. Grouping the free organ repertoire into works with obbligato pedal and works for manuals, this edition is organized in two volumes. The first subvolume (I/1, EB 9304) contains the Preface and the Preludes, whereas the second subvolume (I/2, EB 9305) contains Toccatas, Ostinato works, alternative versions and a comprehensive Critical Commentary (in German only). Volume II (EB 9306) contains Buxtehude?s free organ and keyboard works (manualiter) with the corresponding texts (Preface and Critical Commentary). Until 1971, Harald Vogel worked on a dissertation (with Georg von Dadelsen, Hamburg) on ?Die Fuge um Bach?. Besides the description of the ?inclusion? of triple measures into the C notation and the irregularities of the ?voice mutation? in the polyphonic structures, this also included a discussion about the justification of the ?inner textual criticism?. With the inner textual criticism, deviations in parallel passages are unified. The North German fugue style, reaching a peak in Buxtehude?s work, is characterized by a constant diversity of details in subject and polyphonic progressions. One of the ?indicators of the fantastic style? is the dissolution of the polyphonic structures at the ends of the fugues, evident in Buxtehude?s work. In this edition, a musical text is presented that avoids the uniformity of detail not conforming to the sources. However, there are many examples of transcription and cursory errors, which are analyzed in a methodical systematic manner. About the editor: As an organist, professor, organ expert, and scholar, Harald Vogel has rendered outstanding services to the interpretation of early music and especially to historical performance practice concerning the organ for decades. He has received numerous awards, including an ECHO Klassik as Instrumentalist of the Year (2012), honorary doctorates from Luleå University of Technology (Sweden, 2008) and Oberlin College (USA, 2014), as well as the Buxtehude Prize of the City of Lübeck (2018). Harald Vogel is the author and editor of numerous scholarly publications and editions. Through his lifelong performance practice, he can look back on an extensive discography, including the complete recording of Buxtehude?s organ works, which he recorded in various locations with historical organ instruments of the North German organ building tradition in Scandinavia, North Germany and the Netherlands. / Date parution : 2022-10-12/ Recueil / Orgue

Syncretic Version. Par LISZT FRANZ. In his 'Art of Fugue' Bach himself introduced a theme based on the four letters of his name: the notes we know as Bb A C B correspond to the German note names B A C H. Since that time, many composers have expressed their admiration for incomparable master by writing their own pieces of music on this theme. The work based on this theme by Franz Liszt is without any doubt the most important of them all - indeed, it represents a major landmark in the whole of the organ repertoire. It was composed in 1855 and given its first performance in the cathedral of Merseburg by Alexander Winterberger, to whom the work was dedicated. Liszt produced a second version of the work in 1869/70 and in 1870 he also wrote a piano transcription. It was a pity that the organist should not be able to use the ideas with which Liszt subsequently enriched his own adaptation. That is why, without adding anything that was not written by Liszt himself, Guillou has incorporated everything contained in the organ composition and the piano transcription in this 'syncretic' version of the work./ Répertoire / Orgue

This is a revised reprint of Percy Whitlock's 1937 composition: Plymouth Suite a selection of music for organ. After a six year-gap since his previous work this was a competent return - it is probably the composers most famous and most popular work. The first movement Allegro Rosoluto is a vigorous and uplifting opening. The second Lantana is in a more ambling or relaxed style. Chanty is a maritime or nautical song with a rolling tempo while Salix is rhythmic and expressive. The final movement Toccata is sprightly work which brings us to a brilliant and striking ending.

Written to inaugurate a series of lunchtime concerts at Manchester Town Hall one of Britain's finest examples of Victorian architecture and home of the magnificent Cavaille-Coll organ. English through and through New Era opens with a short fanfare motif which helps to bind the sections together as it marches along with more than a hint of Elgar. Easy under the fingers (and feet) this is a real player's piece and would suit any occasion where a little pomp and ceremony is required.

While organ music of the 19th century was not highly regarded in Germany a few years ago [with the exception of a few outstanding works], our understanding of it has grown during recent years. In other countries 19th century organ music has retained its place in the repertoire to a far greater extent. This three-volume collection presents playable organ works of high quality for both liturgical and concert use. Most of the pieces have not yet been available in new editions [at the time of publication], and are made accessible to a wider public for the first time. The first two volumes contain pieces which were composed in, or introduced to, the German-speaking area of Europe between1800 and 1900; some of them point back stylistically to the 18th century. The focus of the third volume is on works by French, British, and American composers. There are also organ pieces from Bohemia, Belgium, Denmark, and even Brazil./ Répertoire / Orgue

Born in 1903 Percy Whitlock was one of the most outstanding organist-composers of his time. Following his death Whitlock's music was largly undiscovered by organists until a revival of interest in English music during the 1980's brought it to their attention. Now the full scope of Whitlock's output is beginning to be realised and his music is recieving the attention and respect it deserves. The pieces in this anthology dating from 1929 to 1945 represent the essence of Whitlock and one cannot fail to be charmed by the melodiousness and good-natured sense of fun of this most musical of craftsmen. All twenty-ficve pieces here are set in their original form for Organmanuals and pedals.

A scholarly-critical performing edition of George Frideric Handel's Complete Organ Works based on the Halle Handel Edition (HHA).First single-volume edition of Handel's Organ worksIncludes all variant readings from the sources which have previously only been available in the Critical Commentary of the HHADetailed Foreword (Ger/Eng) with short descriptions of each source and a Critical Commentary (Ger/Eng)With contemporary Organ dispositionsIn terms of layout and musical text this Barenreiter edition is based on the complete volumes of the composer's Keyboard music edited by TerenceBest as part of the HHA.The Halle Handel Edition's Critical Commentary forms the basis of this edition which however differs from the HHA volumes in two respects. Firstly it gathers together for the first time all of Handel's works for which it can be solidly argued that they were composed for the Organ. The centre piece is a set of twelve handwritten fugues deriving directly from the composer's immediate surroundings and published here for the first time as a unified cycle. Secondly this Barenreiter edition presents plausible alternative readings from various sources in the main body of the music. In the HHA these readings all of which definitely or presumably stem from the composer are merely listed in the critical commentary.Contents:Fuga I in C minor HWV 610Fuga II in G minor HWV 605Fuga III in B-flat major HWV 607Fuga IV in F minor HWV 433/2Fuga V in E minor HWV 429/1Fuga VI in G major HWV 606Fuga VII in D minor HWV 428/2Fuga VIII in A minor HWV 609Fuga IX in B minor HWV 608Fuga X in F-sharp minor HWV 431/3Fuga XI in F major HWV 427/4Fuga XII in F major HWV 611Fuga in E major HWV 612O the pleasure of the plains in G major HWV 474Jesu meine Freude in G minor HWV 480

Mendelssohn produced an early work for Organ in 1837, but it was a London music publishing firm who commissioned the first of his mature Organ works. The second half of the commissioned pieces are published in this volume. Mendelssohn himself saved all his manuscripts and they have survived in libraries in Berlin and Krakow, providing the subtitle of this book.Eleven movements are included here, all written in 1844 and 1845. What were originally commissioned as 'Voluntaries' were changed at the composer's request to 'Sonatas'. Whether one considers these movements as drafts and sketches or as distinct musical entities in their own right, the works are not identical to the final, printed versions. For those who appreciate or study the Mendelssohn Organ oeuvre, this volume is of immense interest.While the Organ never completely fell from grace as the instrument of church and religious music, it is the editor's belief that in the century dividing JS Bach from these works of Mendelssohn, fashion and church practice had greatly diminished its importance and few works of real note were produced. Mendelssohn was introduced to the Organ early in his prodigious career and found a warm audience for his Organ performances in Engand, to which he returned nine times over nearly twenty years. / Orgue

Introduction and Passacaglia In A Minor is written for solo Organ. It  is dedicated to David Willcocks who at the time of composition was organist at Worcester Cathedral. Craig Seller Lang (1891-1971) was a British composer organist and musical pedagogue who was born in New Zealand. He studied at the Royal College of Music before becoming a teacher at Christ’s Hospital School. His compositions were mostly written with a student performer in mind. He is best remembered for his seminal educational Organ books but he also created prolific volumes of material in both sacred and secular choral genres.

Josef Rheinberger (b. 1839 d. 1901) was a prolific composer in almost every field but he found in the Organ the medium best fitted to his genius and temperament. This seems to be proved by the fact that his reputation as an Organ composer has grown and is now firmly established whereas his position in other branches has declined. His twenty sonatas and his numerous shorter pieces (about a hundred) make up one of the most important contributions to the Organ repertory. It may indeed be claimed that in the maintenance of a high level of quality and interest throughout a long series of works of both large and small scale his position as an Organ composer issecond only to that of Bach. Sonata No. 19:The G minor Sonata is one of a small proportion of the twenty - No. 15 in D is another - concerning whose merits players are divided. It does not meet one half-way. It is the longest of the twenty: some monotony inevitably results from the use of the key of G for all its movements : its difficulties are of the ungrateful type : and the vigour of its first movement is often rough-even harsh. Yet it appears to be among the favourites of those who know it well; the late Dr. G. J. Bennett (a pupil of Rheinberger's and a devotee of the Sonatas) placed it among the best of the later numbers. Sonata No. 20:In spite of some inequalities No. 20 makes a worthy end to a fine series. Rheinberger's failing health at the time of its composition is no doubt responsible for a few moments of indecision especially in the Finale. The invention shows little if any falling off. In all the sonatas there are few better themes of the broad diatonic type than that which opens the first movement ; and the pleasant tunes of the Intermezzo and Pastoral and the swinging subject of the Finale are in the true Rheinberger vein. But the lack of a substantial fugal section is felt: it might well have come as a central portion of the Finale which

Albert W Ketèlbey's most popular works appear to have been a series of Orchestral tone poems like In a Persian Market that incorporate exoticism and demonstrate the high quality of his Orchestration. The Orchestral version of this piece included a Vocal line of male Voices calling for baksheesh which is absent from the Organ arrangement.Composer and arranger Albert W Ketèlbey is now almost unknown except for his work Bells Across the Meadows but until the time of the Second World War he strode the country’s musical stage like a giant of light musical entertainment. In 1929 he was declared ‘Britain’s greatest composer’ according to the number of performances of his works. Over the course of his career he was a church Organist musical director at London’s Vaudeville Theatre editor to several music publishing firms and Music Director of the Columbia Gramophone Company.