Joseph Jongen; César Franck - Symphonie Concertante; etc. (Michael Murray)

Information

Composer: Joseph Jongen; César Franck

• Jongen - Symphonie Concertante for Organ & Orchestra
• Franck - Fantaisie in A
• Franck - Pastorale

Michael Murray, organ

San Francisco Symphony Orchestra

Edo de Waart, conductor

Date: 1984

Label: Telarc

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Review

This recording celebrates an engagingly American occasion in 1984, when after the installation of a huge and splendid new Ruffatti organ in San Francisco's Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall ( ''said to be the largest concert hall organ in the world'' according to the hyperbole of the sleeve-note) the public was enticed to pack the auditorium with capacity audiences for six nights (with TV coverage in the West and a coast-to-coast broadcast relay) to hear the above artists perform the Jongen, the Poulenc concerto and the Saint-Saens Third Symphony. It must be said that the spectacle of the Telarc recording is fully worthy of the enterprise (indeed the LP is very much in the demonstration class and is so good, that the CD can only add a very marginal gain in freedom, notably to the pedals).

The Jongen is an attractively amiable work, melodically fluent with its concertante layout producing an imaginative lyrical interplay between organ and orchestra in the first movement, a passionately expansive romantic climax in the Lento misterioso and a huge closing panoply of sound for the florid Toccata finale when the organ laminates itself to the orchestral texture and enjoys a thrilling dialogue with the horns. Jongen's harmonic idiom is not adventurous (the work dates from 1926) but his writing, though eccletric in derivation, displays an individual personality and employs the chosen medium very skilfully indeed. The excellen performance has carried much of the spontaneity of the live occasion through to the recording studio, and the playing happily combines warmth with spirited verve. One can imagine how impressed the artists must have been with the engineering.

The Franck pieces make an admirable filler and are also played stylishly and sympathetically, and extremely well recorded. But it is the Jongen that is the draw here and those who enjoy the famous Saint-Saens Third Symphony should find this a suitable encore, even if it is not as melodically distinctive.

-- Ivan March, Gramophone

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Joseph Jongen (14 December 1873 – 12 July 1953) was a Belgian organist, composer, and music educator. From his teens to his seventies Jongen composed a great deal, including symphonies, concertos, chamber music and songs. In 1897, he won the Belgian Prix de Rome, which allowed him to travel to Italy, Germany and France. His list of opus numbers eventually reached 241, but he destroyed a good many pieces. His monumental Symphonie Concertante of 1926 is considered by many to be among the greatest works ever written for organ and orchestra, being championed and recorded by numerous eminent organists.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Jongen

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César Franck (10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life. As an organist he was particularly noted for his skill in improvisation. Franck is considered by many the greatest composer of organ music after Bach. Franck exerted a significant influence on music. He helped to renew and reinvigorate chamber music and developed the use of cyclic form. He became professor at the Paris Conservatoire in 1872, his pupils included Vincent d'Indy, Ernest Chausson, Louis Vierne, Charles Tournemire, Guillaume Lekeu and Henri Duparc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/César_Franck

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Michael Murray (born March 19, 1943, in Kokomo, Indiana) is an American-born organist and writer. studied at Butler University and the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, before private study with Marcel Dupré in Paris. Murray's performances have included nearly every major city in North America, with numerous appearances as a soloist with major orchestras. He has made many recordings on the Telarc label, featuring the works of Bach, Franck, Camille Saint-Saëns and others. Murray has also written many articles and has published five books, including a biography of Dupré.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Murray_(organist)

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