Paul Hale - The English Cathedral Series Volume XIV: Paul Hale Plays Organ Music From Southwell

Published Friday 7th March 2008
Paul Hale - The English Cathedral Series Volume XIV: Paul Hale Plays Organ Music From Southwell
Paul Hale - The English Cathedral Series Volume XIV: Paul Hale Plays Organ Music From Southwell

STYLE: Classical
RATING 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
OUR PRODUCT CODE: 44973-
LABEL: Regent REGCD248
FORMAT: CD Album
ITEMS: 1

Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

This is volume 14 in a collectable and critically acclaimed series. As ever, Gary Cole's skills as producer and engineer give us a superb recording. Our organist for this volume is Paul Hale, Rector Chori and organist at Southwell Minster, and he gives a notably accomplished performance on the Nicholson Organ. The programme opens with a rousing Fanfare by the British-born John Cook (1918-1984) written for the Festival Of Britain Pageant at Hampton Court. The second piece by contrast is much more meditative, a tone poem by Franz Liszt based on the Orpheus myth. The featured work - 47 minutes our of a generous total of 79 - is "Messe Pour Les Couvents" by Francois Couperin "le Grand" (1668-1733). Only one collection of organ music by this Couperin has survived. It includes a Mass for use in parish churches and this one, written for convents or abbey churches. Couperin provided the organ music but left gaps for the words to be sung according to the tradition of the community using it. For this recording the chant by Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers (1632-1714) edited by Edward Higginbotom of New College Oxford has been used and so for the first time in this series we hear voices as well as the organ. When I say that the singing is as good as the playing you can be assured that it is of the highest standard. The finale is a rousing "Homage To Handel" by Siegfried Karg-Elert (1877-1933). To conclude: another excellent collection in a very worthwhile series.

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