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Illuminations - Pfeiffer

Illuminations - Pfeiffer

Gloriae Dei Cantores  GDCD 059

Stereo/Multichannel Hybrid

Classical - Instrumental


Larry King: Resurrection - Lament, The Rising, The Ecstasy, Reflection
Charles-Marie Widor: Symphonie VI, Op. 42 - I. Allegro
Petr Eben: Job for Organ, 6. Penitence and Realization
J.S. Bach: Fantasia Super “Komm Heiliger Geist” BWV 651
Olivier Messiaen: Messe de la Pentecôte - V. Sortie (Le vent de l’Esprit)
Julius Reubke: Sonate der 94ste Psalm

SharonRose Pfeiffer, organ


Through the E.M. Skinner Organ at the Church of the Transfiguration in Orleans, Massachusetts, Dr. SharonRose Pfeiffer gives voice to works by master composers from the Baroque to the twentieth century. Recorded on Super Audio CD this disc creates a surround-sound experience, enabling listeners to hear the full effect of this organ. In a unique design by Nelson Barden & Associates of Boston, the organ pipes line the north and south side aisles the full length of the church, allowing the entire building to sing.

The program includes Resurrection: Lament, The Rising, The Ecstasy, Reflection by Larry King, Sonate der 94ste Psalm by Julius Reubke, Job for Organ, 6. Penitence and Realization by Petr Eben, Symphonie VI Op. 42: 1. Allegro by Charles-Marie Widor, Fantasia Super "Komm Heiliger Geist" BWV 651 by J.S. Bach, and Messe de la Pentecote: V. Sortie (Le vent d'Esprit) by Olivier Messiaen.

The inspiration for all of these text-based works is outlined in the detailed program notes, giving additional insight to the composers' thoughts and intentions behind the music.

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Review by John Miller - May 21, 2014

This disc sets out to capture the spiritual output of a unique organ in the Church of the Transfiguration Orleans, Massachusetts (dedicated in 2000). The project of the Catholic Community included decorations such as stained windows and paintings depicting the entire biblical story. Unconventionally, the organ was to be housed in mahogony chambers lining the upper part of the north and south aisles (about 100 feet from the west to the east along the nave). The chambers have a central corridor for access, and are louvred. This is the only such disposition in the world.

The organ, itself a massive on-going project, is being constructed from 17 retired Skinner Organs from the 1920s. Every part used is restored as new - even the screws. The four-manual console is new, built to support this remarkable instrument, which, when finished, will have 12 ranks, totalling about 12,000 pipes. The booklet has a fine set of coloured photographs of the pipe ranks in some of the divisions, some of which have yet to be completed. Oddly enough, though, there are no photos of the console, or any clues about where it is in the building (there are no standard organ lofts in this modern architecture).

The booklet usefully shows a view down the body of the church, and labels the divisions on either side. At the time of writing, the North Pedal and South Pedal (opposites one another) and the String Division (near the back on the south side) are still incomplete. There is a Processional Division (back, north) which contains the loudest stops (trumpets, trombones, etc.), and opposite, an Echo Division with such ranks as Principal Celeste.

Dr Sharonrose Pfeiffer is the Organist and Director of the Children's Choirs programme at the Church of the Transfiguration. As a concert artist she is well-known the in the USA and South France, and she has a particular interest in Messiaen's organ works. Her choice for this disc are strongly religion-inspired but they also give a good work-out for this organ, which strikes me as sounding splendid but somehow very new, so far lacking the distinctive character of organs which have matured and adapted to their building.

She begins with Larry King's attempt to portray the Resurrection of Jesus in four sections of a 'tone-poem', starting with Lament, Rising, Ecstasy and finishing with Reflection, where "the solo colours fade and dissipate completely...", the music "lifting to heaven, where it continues to eternity" as the booklet tells us. Pfeiffer seems to relish the looseness of the structure, and its variable styles, which range from chant and twelve tone-rows to borrowed Hallelujahs.

The first movement (Allegro) of Widor's Sixth Organ Symphony certainly has a heroic and passionate sound, Widor being at the acme of his new Romantic organ style, although I felt at times Peiffer's rhythms were a little heavy. 'Job for Organ; VII Penitance and Realisation' by the Czech composer Petr Eben lets Peiffer use some of the solo stops. It begins with a feeling of terror which might reflect his incarceration in Buchenvald Concentration Camp during the War. Leaping back to the Baroque, J.S Bach's 'Fantasia Super "Komm, Heiliger Geist" BWV 651 receives the jubilation it requires and is given a virtuoso ride.

The best of Pfeiffer's artistry is reflected in her 'Sortie' from Messiaen's 'Messe de la Pentecôte', thought by the composer to define the genius of his improvisation abilities. Sonically, it is the most interesting of the programme, with clear positioning of ranks in the composer's splashy fff chords which resonate nicely around the body of the church. Finishing the programme is Julius Reubke's 'Sonata der 94ste Psalm', another effort to draw musical pictures of the very philosophic 9 verses he chose to set. Often referred to as a "pinnacle work for the organ", I find it to be 30 minutes of unappealing material, with several slow movements of groping in the dark in low registers which seem never to end, succeeded by pompous and blustery repeated crescendos. Reubke was influenced by Liszt's tone poems, Berlioz' symphonies and Wagner's leitmotifs, yet, at least in this work, he wasn't much of a melodist compared with them. I'm afraid that it didn't "allow the inner vision of the text to ignite and enter the heart". But conveniently the text is included in the booklet in German and English.

Given the extraordinary disposition of the organ pipes along the whole length of the church, I expected that the sound would be an exemplar for a multichannel approach. I therefore expected hear each division in its place, along the side of my listening room. Rather than let the whole building "sing" along its length, the recording concentrates the sound in the front speakers as normal, except that one can hear the perspective placing of the divisions more clearly behind the speakers. The surround speakers only seem to be producing indirect sound including the church ambience, not pipe-sets from divisions towards the back of the building, 100 or so feet away from the Sanctuary. Recording in such circumstances must have been extremely difficult, with many possibilities in placing microphones. In this case, it sounds to me that the engineers settled for a rather conservative approach.

This is a fascinating adventure, with a new E.M. Skinner organ arising phoenix-like from being in long storage, and a tour de force of ingenuity in constructing an organ with a very high air pressure with its associated pipe-work far from the console. When the organ is completed in a few years, I hope that Gloriae Dei Artes will consider another disc from the Church of the Transfiguration. Recommended.

Copyright © 2014 John Miller and HRAudio.net

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