This series is turning into something of a world tour for organist Christopher Herrick, producer Paul Spicer and the rest of the “Organ Fireworks” team. Having already recorded in France, Finland and the USA they have now travelled about as far as it is possible to go from Hyperion’s London headquarters. They have come up with one genuine piece of ‘home-grown’ music (although C. S. Lang left New Zealand for England almost before he could tell a nappy from a nazard) and a connection with Edwin Lemare; he played this organ three months after its completion in 1906. However, the starting-point for this programme is the tradition of civic organ concerts which was exported from the town halls of Edwardian England to such far-flung corners of the British Empire as Singapore, South Africa and, of course, New Zealand. The Wellington Town Hall organ is typical of a large turn-of-the-century English symphonic organ and while it might seem a little extravagant to go half-way round the world to find one, it is, following its 1985-6 restoration, rare in being substantially unaltered and in excellent working condition. Full organ is gloriously meaty, the flue tone beautifully blended and the solo reeds a joy to behold – a silvery Tromba perfect for Hollins’s elegant Minuet; a gutsy Tuba ideal for both Cocker and Lang.
As ever Herrick’s performances have both musical integrity and great communicative flair: his is a matchless performance of the Elgar Sonata, the composer’s strangely awkward use of the organ, in places treating it almost orchestrally, immaculately managed. It’s also immensely satisfying to have a first-rate account of Sumsion’s finest organ work: a timely release since the composer’s death last year severed an important link with the Edwardian age.'