Marie-Claire Alain - Charles-Marie Widor: Organ Symphonies (1970. 2CD)

Artist: Marie-Claire Alain

Album: Charles-Marie Widor - Organ Symphonies (1970. 2CD)

Released: 2005

Label: Apex

Catalog N°: 2564 62297-2

Genre: Classical, Organ

File Format: eac_wv_cue_log  605mb, complete scans 19mb, MP3 (LAME) VBR 245 V0 249mb

I am at present engaged in the translation of a fascinating article about 19th century French organ music by Joris Verdin for publication in the US. Verdin tries in his article to correct some of the 20th century's misunderstandings about 19th century organ culture, attitudes towards the instrument and its music. In it he draws a distinction between the attitudes of Widor and his generation, and the attitudes of Lefйbure-Wйly and Franck who were products of a church-music culture where the organ was intended as a reminder of the joys of earthly life, a distraction from God. The music played in the mass included the grand offertoires, scherzos, cavatinas, polkas, marches etc.  Widor on the other hand saw, as with the many commentators on church music of the time, (most notably d'Ortigue and Chateaubriand) the organ as the ultimate religious instrument, and the organist as the depictor of the mystic. This distinction is important when one considers that Franck and Lefйbure worked in an organ-playing epoch where the organ was seen as any other instrument; as a flexible tool for expressing human emotions. With Widor and his contemporaries this idea becomes superseded, as Verdin says "the technical means came first, the artistic consequences were limited".

 In addition it is important to realise that in the course of the ten symphonies... Chris Bragg Read more

CD 1:

01. Symphony No 3 in E minor, op 13 No 3 (extract) / 1. Prelude 07:12

02. Symphony No 3 in E minor, op 13 No 3 (extract) / 4. Adagio 04:09

03. Symphony No 3 in E minor, op 13 No 3 (extract) / 6. Finale 06:10

04. Symphony No 4 in F minor, op 13 No 4 / 1. Toccata 02:56

05. Symphony No 4 in F minor, op 13 No 4 / 2. Fugue 03:52

06. Symphony No 4 in F minor, op 13 No 4 / 3. Andante cantabile 05:14

07. Symphony No 4 in F minor, op 13 No 4 / 4. Scherzo 06:04

08. Symphony No 4 in F minor, op 13 No 4 / 5. Adagio 05:46

09. Symphony No 4 in F minor, op 13 No 4 / 6. Finale 04:18

10. Symphony No 9 in C minor, op 70 'Gothique' / 1. Moderato 06:07

11. Symphony No 9 in C minor, op 70 'Gothique' / 2. Andante sostenuto 05:08

12. Symphony No 9 in C minor, op 70 'Gothique' / 3. Allegro 03:54

13. Symphony No 9 in C minor, op 70 'Gothique' /  - 4. Moderato - Allegro- ModeratoAndante 06:57

14. Symphony No 9 in C minor, op 70 'Gothique' / 5. Finale 04:11

15. Symphony No 1 in C minor, op 13 No 1 (extract) / 6. Meditation 04:24

CD 2:

01. Symphony No.6 in G minor, op.42 No.2 - 1. Allegro 08:25

02. Symphony No.6 in G minor, op.42 No.2 - 2. Adagio 07:43

03. Symphony No.6 in G minor, op.42 No.2 - 3. Intermezzo 05:49

04. Symphony No.6 in G minor, op.42 No.2 - 4. Cantabile 05:07

05. Symphony No.6 in G minor, op.42 No.2 - 5. Finale : Vivace 06:10

06. Symphony No.2 in D minor, op.13 No.2 (extract) - 6. Finale : Allegro 03:47

07. Symphony No.5 in F minor, op.42 No.1 - 1. Allegro vivace 11:00

08. Symphony No.5 in F minor, op.42 No.1 - 2. Allegro cantabile 07:16

09. Symphony No.5 in F minor, op.42 No.1 - 3. Andantino quasi allegretto 07:19

10. Symphony No.5 in F minor, op.42 No.1 - 4. Adagio 05:25

11. Symphony No.5 in F minor, op.42 No.1 - 5. Toccata 05:28

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