Edward Elgar - Complete Works for Organ (John Butt)

Information

Composer: Edward Elgar

• (01) Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Op. 28
• (05) Vesper Voluntaries, Op. 14
• (14) Cantique in C Major, Op. 3 No. 1
• (15) Loughborough Memorial Chime
• (16) Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 87a

John Butt, organ

Date: 2002

Label: Harmonia Mundi

https://www.harmoniamundi.com/#!/albums/1772

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Review

Magnificent accounts‚ full of colour‚ of Elgar on a glorious instrument

These five works represent Elgar’s complete output for solo organ. Indeed‚ in the case of the Sonata in B flat‚ the music is as much the work of Elgar’s close friend‚ Ivor Atkins‚ as of Elgar himself‚ but in spite – maybe because – of that‚ it is probably the most successful of all the works here. Having been largely overlooked on disc‚ it is good to report that John Butt’s suitably self­confident if‚ at times‚ slightly idiosyncratic performance (he gives the arresting opening rhythm a curiously lop­sided feel which‚ even after repeated hearings‚ I can’t quite accept) makes truly riveting listening. Strongly redolent in style (and title) of the period (1890)‚ the nine tiny Vesper Voluntaries have all but disappeared from the repertory in recent years. They are‚ nevertheless‚ full of Elgar hallmarks and Butt’s sensitive handling of both the music and‚ more especially‚ the organ (listen to that charming reed which pops its perky little head over the side of the organ loft briefly in the ‘Intermezzo’)‚ breathes new life into these miniature gems. The Cantique‚ reminiscent of that once popular hymn ‘Will your anchor hold?’ but with a central section which clearly was the model for the opening chorus of The Apostles‚ is the least inspiring of all Elgar’s organ pieces‚ but here‚ as in the intriguing Loughborough Memorial Chime‚ composed in 1923 for a War Memorial carillon‚ Butt reveals undoubted Elgarian credentials and gloriously fluid handling of the instrument. The Sonata in G is Elgar’s largest‚ best known and most frequently recorded organ work‚ but there is no need to bring comparisons to bear. Butt’s authoritative performance‚ at times magisterial‚ occasionally deliciously sentimental‚ frequently breathtakingly virtuoso‚ invariably colourful and always unquestionably sensitive‚ has no equal in the current catalogues. The unusually clear and focused recording of the famous King’s instrument – some may regret the absence of that famous acoustic and many will be disappointed at Harmonia Mundi’s lack of a specification or photograph in the booklet – is the ideal partner to Butt’s playing. I don’t think that Elgar’s music for organ has ever been served so well on record as it is here.

-- Marc Rochester, Gramophone

More reviews:
https://www.classical-music.com/reviews/instrumental/elgar-12/

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2002/apr02/ElgarOrgan.htm

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Edward Elgar (2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, whose many works have entered international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos for violin and cello, and two symphonies. He also composed choral works, chamber music and songs. Elgar has been described as the first composer to take the gramophone seriously. Elgar was the first composer to take the gramophone seriously, and made recordings of most of his major orchestral works between 1914 and 1925.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Elgar

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John Butt (born 17 November 1960 in Solihull, England) is an orchestral and choral conductor, organist, harpsichordist and scholar. He studied at the University of Cambridge, where his teachers included Peter Hurford and Gillian Weir. Since October 2001, Butt has been the Gardiner Chair of Music at the University of Glasgow; he also served as Head of the Music Department from 2001 to 2005. Since 2003 he has conducted the Dunedin Consort, a professional ensemble in Edinburgh for performances in historically informed performance. As a soloist, Butt made recordings for the Harmonia mundi label.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Butt_(musician)

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