Jan Lehtola - Organ Music - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

As composer, musicologist and critic, Erkki Salmenhaara (1941-2002) was one of the major figures in Finnish musical life in the second half of the twentieth century. His music for organ charts his stylistic evolution, from a modernism influenced by his teacher, György Ligeti, to triadic harmonies spiced with dissonance. Even so, all these works manifest his fondness for the ability of the organ to generate massive and powerful blocks of sound, giving this music a monumental character in keeping with the grand spaces of the buildings in which it is usually heard. Album Tracks 1. Toccata~I. Pesante 2. Toccata~II. Moderato 3. Toccata~III. Misterioso - Grave 4. Intrada 5. Prelude - Interlude - Postlude~I. Prelude 6. Prelude - Interlude - Postlude~II. Interlude 7. Prelude - Interlude - Postlude~III. Postlude 8. Canzona 9. Ricercata 10. Introduction and Toccata~I. Introduction - 11. Introduction and Toccata~II. Toccata

The enormously prolific Marie Joseph Erb (1858-1944) has somehow escaped the attention of posterity, although the quality of his music is on a par with contemporary organist-composers whose works are far better known. Erb's long life - he saw Berlioz conduct in 1863 and was still composing 80 years later - was focused on Strasbourg, where he was active as pianist, organist and professor, though he had studied in Paris, with Faure, Gigout, Saint-Saens and Widor, and later with Liszt in Weimar. This second Jan Lehtola/Toccata Classics album devoted to his organ music sandwiches six short pieces intended for liturgical use between two monumental works; indeed, in it's combination of architectural magnificence and emotional intensity, the Sonata on Chorale Themes of the Catholic Liturgy may be one of the finest of all organ sonatas. Album Tracks 1. Sonate über Choralthemen der katholischen Liturgie, Op. 70~I. Maestoso e lento 2. Sonate über Choralthemen der katholischen Liturgie, Op. 70~II. O Crux, eve, spes unica (Molto moderato e espressivo) 3. Sonate über Choralthemen der katholischen Liturgie, Op. 70~III. Allegro moderato 4. Sonate über Choralthemen der katholischen Liturgie, Op. 70~IV. Epilog (Lento) 5. Zwanzig Orgelstücke zum Gebrauch beim Gottesdienst, Op. 73~No. 1 Praeludium über ‘O salutaris hostia’ 6. Zwanzig Orgelstücke zum Gebrauch beim Gottesdienst, Op. 73~No. 2 Postludium über ‘Pange lingua’ 7. Zwanzig Orgelstücke zum Gebrauch beim Gottesdienst, Op. 73~No. 3 Alla Marcia bei Trauungen 8. Zwanzig Orgelstücke zum Gebrauch beim Gottesdienst, Op. 73~No. 4 Méditation über ‘Dies irae’ und ‘Lux aeterna’ 9. Zwanzig Orgelstücke zum Gebrauch beim Gottesdienst, Op. 73~No. 6 Zum Offertorium oder als Nachspiel 10. Zwanzig Orgelstücke zum Gebrauch beim Gottesdienst, Op. 73~No. 12 Impromptu über ‘Puer natus est nobis’ 11. Suite pour Grand Orgue, Op

The organ works of Axel Ruoff, born in Stuttgart in 1957, constitute one of the most important contributions to the literature for the instrument by any composer since Messiaen. Stylistically, his music unites the French cathedral tradition of composers like Langlais, Dupré and Guillou with the concern with counterpoint and logic heard in Reger and later German figures. Like Messiaen, Ruoff often finds stimulus in religious sources; unlike him, it is biblical narrative that inspires many of Ruoff's works, and he uses the unparalleled resources of the modern symphonic organ in his response to some of the most dramatic scenes in the Old Testament, writing music of freewheeling energy and uncompromising power. Album Tracks 1. Sacrum - Toccata VI (2018) 2. Neun Leichte Stücke (2013) 3. Morgengesang - Toccata V (2010) 4. Drei Phantastische Tänze (2004-5) 5. Erhebt Euch, Pforten Der Weltzeit - Toccata IV (2007) 6. Wie Liegt Die Stadt So Verlassen Sinfonische Fragmente (2007) 7. Via Dolorosa (1985) 8. Schalen Des Zorns - Toccata II (1995)