Organ Music of César Franck – LER-9702     Price:  $15.00  

  1. Chorale in E Major (14:20)

  2. Prière, op.20 (12:17)

  3. Chorale in B Minor (13:53)

  4. Fantasy in C Major, op.16 (12:45)

  5. Chorale in A Minor (12:59) 

    Recorded August 30-September 2, 1997 on the Jaeckel Organ (1988) at Pilgrim Congregational Church, Duluth, Minnesota. 

This recording and its companion, The Symphonic Organ (LER-9703,below) present six of Franck’s twelve major organ works on one of the few American instruments exhibiting “the highly stylized 18th and 19th century French organ building concepts and practices,” to quote organbuilder Daniel Jaeckel.  Drawing inspiration particularly from the 1884 Aristide Cavaillé-Coll organ in the Abbaye aux Hommes in Caen, France, the builder’s intent was to provide American organists the opportunity to experience the sound and key action French organists, composers and organbuilders had in mind at the time they were performing and creating.

Such an instrument opens a new dimension of understanding for the listener as well as the performer.  Not only are Franck’s specific registrations an ease to execute, the aural impression created by the logical build-up in sound resulting from adding ventils in a designated order, as well as the dramatic change in tone color from having the three louvered walls of the Récit progress from closed to completely open, is thrilling.

The disc includes informative program notes on each of the compositions, as well as a stoplist for the organ.

The Symphonic Organ – LER-9703      Price:  $15.00

Vierne CD cover

         Grand Pièce Symphonique, op.17 – César Franck 

  1. Andantino serioso – Allegro non troppo e maestoso (10:30)

  2. Andante – Allegro – Andante (8:19)

  3. Allegro non troppo e maestoso (6:45) 

    Symphony No. 4, op.32 – Louis Vierne 

  4.     I. Prélude (7:06)

  5.    II. Allegro (5:10)

  6.   III. Menuet (7:30)

  7.   IV. Romance (8:02)

  8.    V. Final (5:25) 

    Recorded August 30-September 2, 1997 on the Jaeckel Organ (1988) at Pilgrim Congregational Church, Duluth, Minnesota. 

This recording contains the first large-scale organ symphony, with César Franck providing inspiration for composers such as Charles-Marie Widor, Alexandre Guilmant, and Louis Vierne to envision the organ as an orchestra.  Thorough program notes describe the metamorphosis of the style, in tonal concept as well as form and melodic treatment, from Franck to Vierne.

The symphonic style organ works depended upon the instruments of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll (1811-99) to achieve their optimum interpretation.  Cavaillé-Coll increased the power of the organ by improving the wind supply and provided the performer with several hook-down pedals to assist with coupling manuals and registration changes.  His most important contribution was the development of new organ stops.  The builder intended these stops to imitate the sound and character of the orchestral instruments after which they were named.  With these new families of orchestral timbres, composers began to think of the organ as a self-contained symphony orchestra, capable of sustaining an extended work of several movements and using forms and compositional techniques previously the exclusive domain of a multi-member instrumental ensemble.  Thus, the concept of the “organ symphony” was born.

The Jaeckel organ featured on this recording drew inspiration from the 1884 Aristide Cavaillé-Coll organ in the Abbaye aux Hommes in Caen, France.  The builder’s intent was to provide American organists the opportunity to experience the sound and key action French organists, composers and organbuilders had in mind at the time they were performing and creating.