Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

2007 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of one of England's finest composers, Edward Elgar. He was not a prolific writer of keyboard music and this enjoyable disc contains all the works for solo organ completed during his lifetime, plus some later transcriptions. The organist is Thomas Trotter who is to date the only organist to have received the Royal Philharmonic Society's award for best instrumentalist. The featured instrument is the historic Father Willis Organ of Salisbury Cathedral, an appropriate instrument for Elgar's music. Organ-spotters will be thrilled with the three pages of notes about the instrument. The musical content allows an interesting survey of Elgar's growth as a composer, starting with his "Sonata For Organ In G Major (Opus 28)" and ending with "Organ Sonata Number 2, (Opus 87a)". We also hear an early "Cantique" and his "Vesper Voluntaries". To conclude we get transcriptions of three popular Elgar pieces: "Chanson de Matin" (Herbert Brewer), "Nimrod" (W H Harris) and "Pomp And Circumstance" (G R Sinclair). This finale, grand though it is, detracts from the more reflective pieces that have gone before. However, this CD can be recommended to all collectors of church organ music and anyone who wants to explore the music of Elgar away from the obvious selections.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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