It’s not often that one hears recorded organ transcriptions of major works originally composed for symphony orchestra. But that’s what we get here, in a transcendental program of orchestral favorites played to breathtaking perfection by Thomas Murray, an internationally renowned organist and Yale professor.

Murray is the latest in a long line of top-ranked players who have made outstanding solo recordings in keeping with Delos’s long-standing tradition of legendary organ albums. He is held in particularly high regard among his fellow virtuosos for his mastery of the grand “symphonic style” of organ playing.

Fans of great orchestral classics will immediately recognize both of the works featured here: Edvard Grieg’s ever-popular Holberg Suite and Ce?sar Franck’s monumental Symphony in D Minor – in stunning transcriptions for organ: the instrument best suited to recreate an orchestra’s power, nuance, and variety of sonorities. Murray plays the magnificent Schoenstein Gloria Dei Organ, St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, Houston, Texas.

Continuing his long tradition of outstanding recordings with Delos, organist Thomas Murray presents this album of symphonic masterworks by Edvard Grieg and Cesar Franck. These outstanding arrangements of orchestral classics are performed beautifully on the organ- the instrument best suited to reconstruct the orchestra’s variances, nuances, and power. “…consummate skill and artistry in treating the organ as a great orchestra.” (High Fidelity)

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REVIEW:

The playing of Thomas Murray is faultless; his clear belief in these arrangements carries them through coupled with his sensible choices of tempo and his clear understanding of the Franck Symphony’s musical processes. Sonically, the disc is a treat.

– Fanfare

For the 30th anniversary of the Brunnenthaler summer concerts, ensemble director Francesco Cera with the cornettist William Dongois performed music from the 17th century. The repertoire ranges from instrumental motets and virtuoso sonatas to toccatas whose origins lie in Italy.

Who says young people don't still present innovative programs? The virtuosic winner of the Leipzig Bach Competition 2012, Johannes Lang, even manages to integrate a Bach homage into his GENUIN debut CD that was created before Bach's birth - is such a thing possible? Yes - listen to the disc and study the text written by the soloist! Pieces by Bach himself and others based on the B-A-C-H tone sequence are put together here in a compilation that will transport the organ-music lover from 1600 to 2014. It's a journey that even contains a world premiere recording: Jan Esra Kuhl's "Variations on B-A-C-H".

The virtuoso ensemble Philadelphia Brass join organist Joan Lippincott at the large 135-rank Mander organ of Princeton University Chapel in this grandly conceived recording, animated by the Chapel's large acoustical space. The recording presents three original works for organ and brass: Lockwood's Concerto for Organ and Brasses, Dupre's Poeme Heroique and Widor's Salvum fac populuum tuum, plus six additional works arranged for organ and brass. For most of the 1990's Organ Prof. Emerita Ms. Lippincott was Principal University Organist at Princeton University.

Few organists are as well known or highly praised for their Bach recordins as Joan Lippincott. Performing on the newly constructed Craighead-Saunders organ at Christ Church, Rochester, NY (closely modeled after a 1776 instrument by the central German organbuilder, Casparini), Lippincott brings a maturity of vision to Art of Fugue that is based on a lifetime of distinguished interpretations and insights into Bach's organ works.

These premiere recordings, consisting of a Missa Brevis and Evensong settings plus organ interludes and voluntaries, represent the entire body of James D’Angelo’s sacred music. + An American living in England, the composer has assimilated and melded together diverse styles as found in the music of Gesualdo and other chromatic Renaissance composers, Hindemith, Debussy, Ravel, Holst and his mentor, the 20th c. Parisian composer Jean Catoire. + The resulting unique stylistic fusion has become the hallmark of Mr. D’Angelo’s distinctive musical language.