SIGFRID KARG-ELERT: “Ultimate Organ Works” Vol. 4 – Elka Völker, pipe organ – Aeolus

by | Aug 3, 2012 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

SIGFRID KARG-ELERT: “Ultimate Organ Works” Vol. 4 – Kaleidoscope, Op. 144 (1930); Seven Pastels from the Lake of Constance, Op. 96 (1921); Ronda alla Campanella, Op. 156 (1931); Home to Handel, Op. 75 (1922) – Elka Völker at the George Stahlhuth organ, St.-Martin, Dudelange – Aeolus multichannel SACD AE-10511, 69:42 [Distr. by Albany] ****:
Another slight glitch with the translations from the German. I think what they intended to convey was “Complete Organ Works.”  It looks like we missed the first three volumes, but this one demonstrates the unique tone colors which Karg-Elert coaxed out of the pipe organ in his works. Of course they require a symphonic type of organ with a variety of registers, as this one now has from its 2002 renovation. Two pages of the 28-page note booklet go into the history of this organ, originally installed in 1912. In 1962 it was subject to many modifications in line with the then popular neo-baroque tonal aesthetic, including removal of some of its characteristic stops. But now it is returned to the varied 1912 tonal palette, and provides an ideal instrument for Karg-Elert’s works.
This Kaleidoscope is neither the extremely virtuosic piano piece by Josef Hoffman nor the theme of Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz, but a sort of sonata in four continuous movements, using a Gregorian-style leitmotif thruout. In the Seven Pastels Karg-Elert wrote his only large-scale piece in an impressionist style, and although fundamentally minimalist, it has detailed registration instructions and takes the organ’s expressive abilities to the maximum. The work has seven short sections, inspired by the environs of the Swiss lake. Elka Völker has carefully chosen the appropriate registrations which Karg-Elert required. The concluding Homage to Handel provides a spectacular closing with 54 variations on a ground bass taken from Handel’s Keyboard Suite No. 7.
As with all pipe organ recordings, the hi-res surround adds a great deal to the realism of the music and its surroundings (as do binaural organ recordings). This may be the first surround SACD recording of the George Stahlhuth organ.
—John Sunier

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