The Organ Magazine www.theorganmag.com
February 2001
Repackaged, and with a much more punchy title, this CD
bursts its way back onto the market with all the aplomb you would expect
from an artist and a scholar as considerable as Kimberly Marshall. Claims
for feminine authorship of some earlier repertoire may be tenuous, but
claim it she does: and who cares, as she plays it with such conviction and
understanding (though I wondered a bit about some brisk tempi). Of pieces
by the known women composers, Ethel Smyth's short Prelude and Fugue
shines out as the class act. Margaret Vardell Sandresky, however, could
not have a better advocate than Marshall, whose superb playing, and the
pungent colours of the Rosales organ, are here excellently paired. Elfrida
Andrée's contribution failed to arrest, but the Suite No 1 by Florence
Price revealed a charming melodic style, with hints of early Vierne, and a
refreshingly naïve musical language in the delightfully named "Toccato".
The Rosales organ betrays lush colours, in a thanklessly dry acoustic, but
with some lack of warmth in the foundation stops - or is it just a
recording fault that the tutti seems to rely on the reeds to give body?
Snarls plus high mixtures summarise its effect, but I hope I am wrong. The
booklet is excellent, with scholarly programme notes and imaginative
illustrations. This disc (originally released by Gamut) gives full value,
for all sorts of reasons.
Catherine Ennis
Musical Times
Kimberly Marshall's research 'marks a new departure in
feminist musicology...it changes our view of women's roles as musician,
replacing familiar images of frustrated aspirations with plentiful,
well-documented instances of fulfillment and power. Such a study can only
cheer and inspire.'
