The Organ Magazine www.theorganmag.com
May 2001
Widor's last two organ symphonies mark a huge change in
his compositional style from his preceding eight. For the first time
plainsong becomes an element, in Symphony 9 for the last movement and a
half - Puer natus est - and in 10 (which in itself displays a large
stylistic change from No 9) as the basis for the entire work - Haec
Dies.
There are many different challenges for the interpreter
of these symphonies then, which don't occur in the earlier works. For the
most part David Fuller - a musicologist, former teacher of history at SUNY
in Buffalo where this recording was made, and former student of E Power
Biggs and André Marchal - copes with these challenges well, producing
musical and technically very sound performances.
The organ, a Fisk from 1989-90 responds well to its
challenge also. Essentially designed as an eclectic instrument with three
manuals and 48 stops, it has several features which allow at least part of
it to adapt well to French Romantic music; the Great Mixture for example
has two alternative compositions, one with breaks in the North German
style and one without, alla Cavaillé-Coll. Much of the voicing is is in
the French Romantic tradition. It is surprisingly convincing, the reeds
seem just right, and the tutti - though necessarily in this style of music
consisting of a fairly moderate portion of the organ - has genuine éclat,
aided by a very French full length 32' Contra Posaune.
