The organ works of Axel Ruoff, born in Stuttgart in 1957, constitute one of the most important contributions to the literature for the instrument by any composer since Messiaen. Stylistically, his music unites the French cathedral tradition of composers like Langlais, Dupre and Guillou with the concern with counterpoint and logic heard in Reger and later German figures. Ruoff uses the unparalleled resources of the modern symphonic organ not produce music of freewheeling energy and uncompromising power. (Volumes 1-5, TOCC 0567, 0596, 0610, 0672, 0709)

French organ music from the period of Louis XIV to the Revolution has always held fascination for performers and listeners alike. The kaleidoscope of colours, the rich and varied styles, and the sheer exuberance of the music never fail to captivate. Yet, performance practice of this music has never been fully understood. David Ponsford has spent much of his career studying this repertoire, resulting in his book French Organ Music in the Reign of Louis XIV (Cambridge University Press, 2011). The present series of recordings on the most important historical organs in France is therefore the fruit of many years of research by a seasoned performer whose aim is to combine technical brilliance with intellectual understanding, to bring the music alive with authority and meaning.

The Swiss-Franco-American virtuoso, C�leste-Marie Roy, elevates the sonorous splendour of the bassoon to vibrant new heights with her flexible tone, technical finesse, and striking interpretation of melodious and highly virtuosic works from the 20th and 21st centuries.

This first volume of The Complete Alkan Organ Works presents Joseph Nolan's recording of Charles-Valentin Alkan's major works for organ and pedal-piano, performed on the restored Stahlhuth-Jann organ of St Martin's Church, Dudelange. The release includes the 11 Grands Pr�ludes and Handel transcription Op. 66, the Petits Pr�ludes sur les huit gammes du plainchant, and the Impromptu on Luther's "Ein feste Burg", Op. 69. The booklet outlines Alkan's background, his distinctive position in 19th-century French music, and the technical demands of these rarely recorded pieces. It also documents the instrument's history and Nolan's long-term commitment to the project.

David Matthews and Peter Sheppard Skaerved have been collaborating on a series of works for violin and viola for many years now, with Matthews setting Sheppard Skaerved formidable technical challenges, and Sheppard Skaerved surprising Matthews by finding a way to overcome the difficulties in his path. Behind all the pyrotechnics, this partnership is generating one of the largest, and most musically rewarding, body of compositions for violin and viola by any living composer. Many of Matthews' pieces record his experience of nature or offer tributes to friends, with the works heard in this third volume also tracing a journey from darkness to light.

Although Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000) was born in Massachusetts and ended his days in Seattle, his music was profoundly coloured by his Armenian heritage, in particular through his fondness for the modal melos of the ancient Armenian church. His combination of modality and melisma, of hymn and dance, can often make him sound like an eastern cousin of Vaughan Williams. The organ is an ideal medium for his musical language, allowing it to range from timeless, questing prayer to gloriously full-bodied statements that stir the soul.

In the 1930s, as Gunter Raphael (1903-60) found doors closing in his native Germany - he was half-Jewish - he was accorded a warm reception in Finland, where his music was heard in a series of broadcast concerts. There was a family connection, too: Raphael's grandfather had taught Sibelius in Berlin. Raphael acknowledged his welcome by incorporating Finnish material into his music, and his Op. 41 is a monumental organ triptych based on Finnish chorales, with two towering contrapuntal edifices either side of a Baroque suite.

The English composer John Gardner (1917-2011) played the organ from an early age; his first work to be published was for the organ, and he wrote for the instrument throughout his long life. His music, whether secular or sacred, is characterised by a rhythmic vivacity and technical command informed by his fondness for jazz, Renaissance and Baroque procedures and classical counterpoint - and the spirit of dance is often close to hand. It's quirky and distinctive personality is a mirror of the man: Gardner's gruff, slightly formal manner barely hid a mischievous sense of humour, flashes of which can be glimpsed even in his more serious works. Above all, his musical language is honest and emotionally direct, as he was.

Oskar Merikanto (1868–1924) made an enormous contribution to music-making in Finland, and to organ music in particular, as teacher, virtuoso performer and authority on performance practice, reforming the approach to the organ in both church and concert-hall. It was thought that all of his organ music was known and recorded, but recent discoveries have added a number of previously unknown works to his catalogue: a striking concert fantasia, an early funeral march, some pedal studies, a vast series of chorale preludes – some of them beautifully crafted miniatures, others only aphoristic ideas – and an organ transcription of a piano piece by Mendelssohn.

REVIEW:

Finnish organist and composer Oskar Merikanto made significant contributions to the musical life of Finland. He initiated reforms in the approach to organ music, playing, and building in both the church and concert hall. It was thought that most of his organ music had been published, but recent discoveries have unearthed a number of pieces that remained in manuscript. This program includes 4 of them as well as a selection of the 100 Chorale Preludes Op. 59, published in 1906.

The Fantasia and Trauermarsch are substantial pieces of emotional power and originality, infused with the spirit of Max Reger. Of particular interest are the 5 Concert Etudes for pedal solo. Although they are meant to develop pedal technique, they come across not as mere technical exercises, but as character pieces much in manner of Chopin and Liszt’s etudes for piano.. The Mendelssohn is part of a collection of arrangements that Merikanto assembled in 1915 but never published. Most are under a minute long and are extremely interesting in their variety and emotional content. Organists take note.

This is another recording in Lehtola’s extensive series exploring unknown and forgotten composers. He plays on a 3-manual, 70-stop 1929/2021 Kangasala organ in Tampere Cathedral, Finland, one of the most important and largest romantic organs preserved in its original state. Extensive and informative notes by the performer on the composer and music. A fascinating recording.

— American Record Guide

Friedrich Lux (1820–95) was one of those musicians who formed the fabric of musical life in nineteenth-century Germany: though he worked away from the major cities, as conductor, teacher, organist, organiser and composer, he was an indispensable element of the communities in which he worked. His large body of organ music, as good as unknown before now, brings together elements of the musical language of Bach, Mendelssohn and Schumann, in works that range from the intimate to the grandiose. This second volume brings some of his many transcriptions to the fore.

Fanfare, Air and Flourishes is a suite originally for solo horn made from three pieces written during the COVID-19 pandemic for different purposes. The first, 'Fanfare', was written to a commission from the Royal Academy of Music, who invited two hundred composers to write pieces for all of the instruments taught at the Academy in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the institution. 'Fanfare' leans into one particular aspect of the horn's personality: it's assertive, loud and urgent. The expression mark at the start is 'bold and brassy'. 'Air' celebrates the horn's mellow tone; semplice espressivo is the instruction at the start of the piece and the horn plays a melody as expressive as anything you'd hear as a solo in a brass band. 'Flourish', the third piece, was a commission from BBC Radio 3 during lockdown. Rising melodies - or flourishes - run up and down the horn, returning even more elaborately after a simpler middle section. Flourish was written at the same time as Gavin was writing The Faerie Bride, and these flourishes appear in the oratorio to mark the turn of the seasons.

The enormously prolific Marie Joseph Erb (1858-1944) has somehow escaped the attention of posterity, although the quality of his music is on a par with contemporary organist-composers whose works are far better known. Erb's long life - he saw Berlioz conduct in 1863 and was still composing 80 years later - was focused on Strasbourg, where he was active as pianist, organist and professor, though he had studied in Paris, with Faure, Gigout, Saint-Saens and Widor, and later with Liszt in Weimar. This second Jan Lehtola/Toccata Classics album devoted to his organ music sandwiches six short pieces intended for liturgical use between two monumental works; indeed, in it's combination of architectural magnificence and emotional intensity, the Sonata on Chorale Themes of the Catholic Liturgy may be one of the finest of all organ sonatas.

Dacw 'Nghariad (there is my love) is a beautful Welsh folk song that I discovered whilst working on a cantata for the Aldeburgh Festival based on the Welsh myth of Lyn y Fan Fach. The song is about longing; longing for something that is unreachable and distant, for the moment at least. � Gavin Higgins

Dacw 'Nghariad (there is my love) is a beautful Welsh folk song that I discovered whilst working on a cantata for the Aldeburgh Festival based on the Welsh myth of Lyn y Fan Fach. The song is about longing; longing for something that is unreachable and distant, for the moment at least. � Gavin Higgins

Whilst working on The Faerie Bride for the Aldeburgh Festival - a cantata based on the Welsh legend of Lyn y Fan Fach - I became fascinated by the rich and elusive world of Welsh folk music. Some of the tunes I discovered found their way into the cantata, but I inadvertently found myself arranging others for solo violin. Many welsh folk tunes and airs are very ancient, stretching back to the time of Henry V, whilst others are more recent, being written in the 17 and 1800's. But no matter when these melodies originated, most Welsh folk songs fall into three main categories: songs of love, songs of nature, and songs of battle. The songs in this arrangement explore a broad range of subjects including unrequited love, loss, friendship, infidelity, and even one about a cat who's lost it's fur! � Gavin Higgins

Fanfare, Air and Flourishes is a suite for solo horn made from three pieces written during the COVID-19 pandemic for different purposes. The first, 'Fanfare', was written to a commission from the Royal Academy of Music, who invited two hundred composers to write pieces for all of the instruments taught at the Academy in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the institution. 'Fanfare' leans into one particular aspect of the horn's personality: it's assertive, loud and urgent. The expression mark at the start is 'bold and brassy'. 'Air' celebrates the horn's mellow tone; semplice espressivo is the instruction at the start of the piece and the horn plays a melody as expressive as anything you'd hear as a solo in a brass band. 'Flourish', the third piece, was a commission from BBC Radio 3 during lockdown. Rising melodies - or flourishes - run up and down the horn, returning even more elaborately after a simpler middle section. Flourish was written at the same time as Gavin was writing The Faerie Bride, and these flourishes appear in the oratorio to mark the turn of the seasons.

Fanfare, Air and Flourishes is a suite originally for solo horn made from three pieces written during the COVID-19 pandemic for different purposes. The first, 'Fanfare', was written to a commission from the Royal Academy of Music, who invited two hundred composers to write pieces for all of the instruments taught at the Academy in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the institution. 'Fanfare' leans into one particular aspect of the horn's personality: it's assertive, loud and urgent. The expression mark at the start is 'bold and brassy'. 'Air' celebrates the horn's mellow tone; semplice espressivo is the instruction at the start of the piece and the horn plays a melody as expressive as anything you'd hear as a solo in a brass band. 'Flourish', the third piece, was a commission from BBC Radio 3 during lockdown. Rising melodies - or flourishes - run up and down the horn, returning even more elaborately after a simpler middle section. Flourish was written at the same time as Gavin was writing The Faerie Bride, and these flourishes appear in the oratorio to mark the turn of the seasons.

Friedhelm Flamme plays an extraordinary role in the organ catalogue of our record label. His discography, which ranges from the Baroque era to the 20th century, is a gift to organ connoisseurs and aficionados alike. Not only has he recorded a multitude of works of unknown composers, but has opened an impressive "organ museum" of more than two dozen productions on historical instruments that are seldom heard on record. This is the final release of our complete recordings of BUXTEHUDE's work. Here the German-Danish musician shows his compositional skills in an area that is justly called the ultimate discipline of Baroque keyboard players - the connection between prelude and fugue, which culminated in the works of Johann Sebastian Bach at the end of the Baroque era. It is well known that he made a pilgrimage to Lubeck in his younger years to attentively listen to the organist of St. Mary's Church there.

Organist and musicologist Jonas Lundblad explores the rich repertoire of Late Romantic music in the borderland between the organ and the orchestral sound scape, with both arrangements and original works of Swedish music from the early 20th century.

The instrument used for this recording stands in the focus. It's the Scherer-Bunting-organ in the St Nicolai Church in Molln, northern Germany. Presented with an interesting program of baroque and late baroque music

Freiberg has always been an important cultural location. Already shortly after its foundation in the twelfth century; as the result of important discoveries of silver ore; culture and music were documented and integral parts of urban life. Freiberg was the second Saxon city to have a band of town waits from which various musical groups were later to evolve. The town’s prosperity also made possible the building of large hall churches of which the Cathedral St. Mary numbers even today among the region’s most important cultural monuments.

The late 19th century saw the expansion of the Neustadt; the German district of Strasbourg; recently listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Built during the same period; the three historic organs chosen for the complete recording of Johannes Brahms’ organ chorales are the precious witnesses to a time of exceptional artistic luxuriance. The three Fin de siècle composers whose works were additionally selected by Jean-Michel Douiller revive Brahms’s sonorous world as they breathe life into these three instruments: Ernest Chausson; Max Reger; and Gustav Busch. The works by Chausson and Busch are recorded for the very first time on the CD at hand.

Segovia is Carlotta Dalia's debut album on Berlin Classics - as the first female guitarist in the label's artist roster. The programme is recorded with Carlotta Dalia playing the 1939 Hermann Hauser I guitar, that was originally built for Andres Segovia. There are only two Hermann Hauser guitars existing, one is currently in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The album contains works for solo guitar by Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Pedrell, Haug, Ibert, Torroba, Turina and Segovia himself, plus one new commissioned piece by Enrico Melozzi, written especially for Carlotta Dalia.

Goran Stevanovich is considered one of the leading accordionist of the present day?. He grew up in Bosnia-Herzegovina and began his accordion studies there?. His debut album "Sarajevo" is a musical portrait of a fascinating town, showing him as an ambassador not only of sevdah music?. From Max Richter to Bryce Dessner to his own compositions, an unmatched variety of styles and atmospheres can be heard, influenced by Minimal as well as classical East European music?.

On the CD at hand; Hannes Pohlit plays the debut recording of the complete cycle. It contains lyrical and dramatical fantasies on tango standards like “El Día Que Me Quieras”; “Por Una Cabeza” and “Sus Ojos Se Cerraron” as well as complex showpieces which due to their virtuosity remind one of Liszt’s “Mephisto Waltz” or opera fantasies. The album is a homage both to the emotional world of the sung classical tango as well as to the exalted romantic salon. It presents the Blüthner Aliquot grand piano as a symphonic instrument and Hannes Pohlit as a versatile stylistic composer as well as a technically superior pianist.