Midnight at St Etienne du Mont
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Charles (Arnould) Tournemire, David Briggs, Louis Vierne, Maurice Duruflé
Genre:
Instrumental
Label: Signum
Magazine Review Date: 04/2018
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 79
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: SIGCD470
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Le tombeau de Duruflé |
David Briggs, Composer
David Briggs, Composer Joseph Nolan, Organ |
Suite |
Maurice Duruflé, Composer
Joseph Nolan, Organ Maurice Duruflé, Composer |
Improvisation sur le Te Deum |
Charles (Arnould) Tournemire, Composer
Charles (Arnould) Tournemire, Composer Joseph Nolan, Organ |
Pièces de fantaisie, Suite No. 3, Movement: Fantômes |
Louis Vierne, Composer
Joseph Nolan, Organ Louis Vierne, Composer |
Symphony No. 5 |
Louis Vierne, Composer
Joseph Nolan, Organ Louis Vierne, Composer |
Symphony No. 6 |
Louis Vierne, Composer
Joseph Nolan, Organ Louis Vierne, Composer |
Author: Marc Rochester
Nolan, whose Widor recordings have shown him to have an intelligent and instinctive feel for the French Romantic repertory, enhances that reputation here with playing that is perceptive, compelling and intensely musical. The Suite’s Prélude unfolds with tantalising slowness (although something goes a little awry around 3'46"), occasional flashes of virtuosity flaring up like candles before guttering away into the darkness. Nolan magically evokes the elusive danse macabre quality of the central Sicilienne, and for him the final Toccata is no empty display of virtuosity but a frenzied attempt to shake off the darkness of night and burst out into the blazing light of day.
Other works are related to Duruflé (if not to St Etienne) by being by his teachers. Tournemire, as profligate with his creative powers as Duruflé was sparing with his, is represented by a typically expansive plainsong-based improvisation, transcribed by his erstwhile student. While Nolan delivers the Tournemire with unabashed flair, he adds an undercurrent of aggression to the Vierne pieces. His take on the Scherzo from the Sixth Symphony is more like the angry hurling of rocks than the ‘tableau of cicadas chirping’ suggested by the colourful booklet notes. Nevertheless, ‘Fantômes’ inhabits a suitably eerie dimension and the finale from the Fifth Symphony effectively evokes the harsh clamour of a French carillon.
English organist David Briggs specialises in out-Frenching the French at plainsong-based improvisations, and no fewer than 11 plainchant themes crop up in Le tombeau de Duruflé. This is a tremendous tour de force for instrument and player, and both come up trumps here.
This disc makes a fitting tribute to an organist and composer who holds a special place in many hearts on either side of the English Channel.
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