Organ At The Royal Albert Hall Restored Simon Preston

• Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847):
• 1 Paulus, (St. Paul), Op. 36: St. Paul, Op. 36: Overture 07:44
• Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856): 6 Fugues on B-A-C-H, Op. 60:
• 2 I. Langsam 05:03
• 3 II. Lebhaft 05:25
• 4 III. Mit sanften Stimmen 03:39
• 5 IV. Massig, doch nicht zu langsam 04:21
• 6 V. Lebhaft 02:43
• 7 VI. Massig, nach und nach schneller 06:34
• William Bolcom (1938):
• 8 Fantasia on O Zion Haste and How Firm a Foundation 07:47
• Howard Cable (1920 - 2016):
• 9 The Brothers Gershwin 10:30
• Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877 - 1933):
• 10 10 Pieces, Op. 142: 3 pieces (3 New Impressions), Op. 142, No. 2 05:17
• Joseph Jongen (1873 - 1953):
• 11 Sonata eroica, Op. 94 15:21
• Total Runtime 01:14:24

Info zu Organ At The Royal Albert Hall Restored

Since the Royal Albert Hall organ was inaugurated by W.T.Best, the most famous performer of his day, in the presence of Queen Victoria on the 29th March 1871, it seems appropriate to begin this programme with one of Best’s own organ transcriptions: the Overture to Mendelssohn’s Oratorio St. Paul. Mendelssohn’s own performances of Bach on the organ in St. Paul’s Cathedral and elsewhere during the 1830s had been wildly acclaimed by the crowds who came to hear him and Best took full advantage of the enormous surge in interest in performances of music arranged for the organ. After the Mendelssohn Overture it is but a short step to the symphonic nature of Schumann’s Six Fugues on the name B-A-C-H, to which the wide dynamic range and sonic possibilities of the Albert Hall organ are ideally matched. In the Bolcom Fantasia, the composer fuses a modern compositional idiom with two Southern Spirituals, breathing new life into both forms with shattering effect; in a way the same thing has happened to the Albert Hall organ, and with modern blowers for the bellows taking the place of the original steam engines of 1871, it certainly has enough wind now to cope with most contingencies - as you will hear. In America the traditions of theatre organ playing are still kept very much alive. As a child I remember playing two very old records over and over again on a wind-up portable gramophone - the sort that had wooden needles which you had to keep sharpening.

“The pacing of the Schumann fugues, building up to the final ones irrepressible climax, is masterly… The organ sounds wonderful, with all the shimmer and shudder that a High Victorian organ should have. Difficult to capture, but Signum has done a pretty good job.” (BBC Music Magazine)

"His programme is electrifying ... trademark virtuosity, dazzlingly displayed ... as a communicative, musical and absorbing performance, this is unbeatable ... this disc is an absolute must have" (International Record Review)

Simon Preston, organ

Simon Preston
Shortly after his London debut in March 1962, Simon Preston was appointed Sub-Organist of Westminster Abbey and later that same year appeared for the first time in the Royal Albert Hall at the Proms, performing in Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. During the sixties Simon Preston produced a milestone series of recordings on Westminster Abbey’s famous instrument, which included Messiaen’s La Nativité and the Sonata on the 94th Psalm by Reubke. He also appeared at the Royal Albert Hall in the now legendary fund-raising concert for the Royal College of Organists - “Organ in Sanity and Madness” - where he opened proceedings with Bossi’s Etude Symphonique. During that period too he worked under the direction of many renowned conductors including Leopold Stokowski and Pierre Monteux, and in 1965 made his first tour to Canada and the USA.

By the time he left Westminster Abbey in 1967, Simon Preston was already an internationally acclaimed artist. In 1970 Simon Preston became Organist of the Cathedral and Tutor in Music at Christ Church, Oxford, where his work with the choir won great praise. He was appointed Organist and Master of the Choristers at Westminster Abbey in 1981, where his work with the choir again received great acclaim. He directed the music at the Royal Wedding of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson in 1986 and was responsible for writing much of Salieri’s music for the film Amadeus. After leaving Westminster Abbey in 1987, he continued to pursue an active career as a much sought-after organist and conductor, undertaking a series of tours to the Far East, Australia and South Africa as well as North America and Canada. In 1990 Simon Preston became Artistic Director of the Calgary International Organ Festival and Competition of which he was Co-Founder. Simon Preston currently has almost fifty CDs available, including two versions of the Handel Organ Concertos with both Yehudi Menuhin and Trevor Pinnock, the complete organ works of Bach for Deutsche Grammophon as well as the 5th Brandenburg Concerto as harpsichord soloist, and many recordings with the choirs of Westminster Abbey and Christ Church, Oxford.

In 1971 Simon Preston was awarded an Edison Classique for his recordings of Messiaen’s Les Corps Glorieux and Hindemith’s Organ Sonatas. The recording of Handel’s Coronation Anthems with the Westminster Abbey Choir conducted by Simon Preston was awarded a Grand Prix du Disque in 1983 and Copland’s Organ Symphony with Simon Preston as soloist with the St Louis Symphony Orchestra under Leonard Slatkin was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1997. He has recorded Poulenc’s Organ Concerto three times - with the London Symphony Orchestra and Andre Previn, the Boston Symphony and Seiji Ozawa, and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra with Nicholas Braithwaite.

In 2004 Simon Preston appeared at The Last Night of the Proms performing Barber’s Toccata Festiva on the Albert Hall’s newly restored organ with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Leonard Slatkin.

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