The output of Marcel DuprÃ© (1886-1971) is so vast and various that only scholars and fellow organists can expect to grasp it's scale. Most listeners require a discerning ear to pull out some of the many highlights. The Italian organist Alessandro Perin has done so here, without confining himself to DuprÃ©'s 'greatest hits', the characteristic pile-ups of chorale harmonies and torrents of semiquavers in toccatas and variations that find their natural home on the instruments of Cavaille-Coll as an apotheosis of the French Gothic organ style. Instead, Perin's selection is more diverse. It begins with the Suite Op.39: four pieces originally written as part of a collection of 12 Studies, though they bear no trace of didacticism. Rather, there is a Lisztian quality of invention to their virtuosity, from the glittering cascades of the opening Allegro agitato to the driving counterpoint of the finale. The four settings of the Ave maris stella chant are progressively more ornate, from a simple statement of the chant over a walking bass, through an intricate Bachian chorale prelude, to a final, brilliant toccata. The 'old Christmas carol' featured in Op.20 variations is known in English as Now the green blade riseth: in one of his most justly celebrated works, DuprÃ© treats the theme to a dazzling array of transformations, stretching the organist's technique to the limit. At the height of the Second World War, DuprÃ© composed the Evocation in memory of his father, and gave it's first performance at the Cathedral in Rouen in 1941. Exactly what is being evoked is left to the listener to decide, though only the tender second-movement elegy casts it's gaze back with fondness; the strident progress of the first movement seems to reflect the troubled times, and the finale has it's own struggles to overcome in a final blaze of C major triumph.

Tracklist:

Suite In F Minor, Op. 39: I. Allegro Agitato
Suite In F Minor, Op. 39: II. Cantabile
Suite In F Minor, Op. 39: III. Scherzando
Suite In F Minor, Op. 39: IV. Finale
15 Versets Sur Les Vêpres Du Commun Des Fêtes De La Sainte Vierge, Ave Maris Stella, Op. 18: I. When The Salutation
15 Versets Sur Les Vêpres Du Commun Des Fêtes De La Sainte Vierge, Ave Maris Stella, Op. 18: II. Jesus Tender Mother
15 Versets Sur Les Vêpres Du Commun Des Fêtes De La Sainte Vierge, Ave Maris Stella, Op. 18: III. So Now As We Journ
15 Versets Sur Les Vêpres Du Commun Des Fêtes De La Sainte Vierge, Ave Maris Stella, Op. 18: IV. Amen (Finale)
7 Pièces, Op. 27: IV. Carillon
Variations Sur Un Vieux Noël In D Minor, Op. 20
Évocation, Op. 37 Poème Symphonique: I. Moderato
Évocation, Op. 37 Poème Symphonique: II. Adagio Con Tenerezza
Évocation, Op. 37 Poème Symphonique: III. Allegro Deciso

UPC: 5028421956442
Label: Brilliant Classics
Release Date: 4.23.21
Format: CD

Dupre / Perin - Organ Music 1 (CD)