Unlike the 24 Pieces en style libre which are arranged in ascending chromatic order, the Pieces de fantaisie, which also use every major and minor key, are organised into four six-movement suites. There is no harmonic logic behind this ordering; in any case Vierne's liberated use of chromaticism obscures conventional harmonic relationships. Neither, with each piece a virtuoso tour de force in its own right, is there any obvious fast/slow or soft/loud sequence. Performances of each complete suite are extremely rare, but the advantage of having all four played in their entirety is that we can get to know all the pieces, not just the few popular ones.
The individual titles are descriptive, but the overall title is particularly appropriate. All 24 possess a certain remoteness, a kind of other-worldliness which gives an air of fantasy not only to the more obviously mysterious pieces (such as the peculiar ''Fantomes'', which is headed by a short philosophical argument between a young aesthete, an old pedant, a negro, a monkey and a beggar) but also to others, like the ''Carillon de Westminster'' based, in honour of its dedicatee Henry Willis, on the Westminster chimes. This sense of fantasy is all the more tangible on this most atmospheric recording where, speaking through the eerie recesses of Notre Dame, the organ's flutes develop a ghostly character, its reeds emit supernatural screams, and its pleno is so overwhelming that it seems as if Quasimodo himself is somewhere high in the tower ringing his bells for all their worth.
Olivier Latry has gone to great lengths to prepare these performances, among other things talking with some of Vierne's former pupils and unearthing some film of Vierne at the console. His playing has the stamp of authority and he observes every detail with meticulous care. Vierne was closely associated with the Notre Dame organ for most of his life, so it is safe to assume that the sound we hear is as close as possible to what he envisaged. So if a pedal note seems strangely indistinct or an odd combination of stops particularly weird, this would seem to be Vierne's intention. Latry's performances want for nothing in terms of authenticity or musical conviction.'