Giles Swayne, Simon Nieminski - Stations Of The Cross

Published Thursday 28th March 2013
Giles Swayne, Simon Nieminski - Stations Of The Cross
Giles Swayne, Simon Nieminski - Stations Of The Cross

STYLE: Classical
RATING 6 6 6 6 6 6
OUR PRODUCT CODE: 137090-
LABEL: Resonus RES10118
FORMAT: Digital Only Album

Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

There is a gaping hole at the heart of this interesting release but before we discuss the weakness we should praise the strengths of this world premiere recording of Giles Swayne's epic organ work 'Stations Of The Cross'. The organist is Simon Nieminski who plays supremely well; the instrument is the 2007 Matthew Copley organ of St Mary's Metropolitan Cathedral in Edinburgh, where Nieminski is the resident organist, and the recording, produced, engineered and edited by Adam Binks, allows us to hear everything in superb detail. Collectors of organ music will find much to appreciate here. The music is by the British composer Giles Swayne (born 1946) and was written in autumn 2004 and early 2005. 'Stations' is one of the most significant and, at one hour in length, substantial organ works to have been commissioned in recent years. Swayne took inspiration from Eric Gill's carved stone Stations Of The Cross in Westminster Cathedral which break down the last journey of Jesus into 14 stages, from His death sentence to the laying of His body in a borrowed tomb. This is a journey that many will follow in their imagination or perhaps by walking around a church building on Good Friday but as we do this we know that whatever horrors there were inflicted upon Jesus in the lead up to Good Friday, Easter Sunday is coming. Sadly - and this is the hole at the heart of the piece - Swayne does not share this belief and comes to the Passion as an atheist. Of course he can see and understand the drama of the Via Dolorosa and his focus on the human aspect of what happened is not out of place. But - and this "but" shapes everything - the death of Jesus without a resurrection is just another heart-breaking, pointless, hopeless tragedy in an unending line of unnecessary deaths. But Sunday is coming. On a technical level, 'Stations Of The Cross' is worth hearing if you have any interest in contemporary organ music and the excellent recording allows us to hear everything as clearly as if we were there ourselves. The music has moments of poignancy and listeners who appreciate the organ music of Olivier Messiaen will find plenty to applaud. It's a shame though that its composer failed to comprehend the significance of the events which inspired his music.

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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