Widor symphonies for organ

[jazz1]

going through this 5 cd box, absolutely marvellous playing and recording

http://www.solstice-music.com/caddie/detai...?id_art=50&

[Rooster_Ties]

I mainly know the

(I'm assuming this is the best known individual movement of any of his larger works).

If I were to want to dive in and listen to a couple more of his works -- especially full 'symphonies' -- which two (or maybe three) of the ten would you most recommend??

And have any other composers (besides Widor) written "symphonies" for solo organ?? Widor is the only one I know of, offhand, but I'm a little skimpy on my knowledge of classical organ literature.

[jazz1]

I mainly know the

(I'm assuming this is the best known individual movement of any of his larger works).

If I were to want to dive in and listen to a couple more of his works -- especially full 'symphonies' -- which two (or maybe three) of the ten would you most recommend??

And have any other composers (besides Widor) written "symphonies" for solo organ?? Widor is the only one I know of, offhand, but I'm a little skimpy on my knowledge of classical organ literature.

I actually enjoy all of them, sure 5 is the well known one!

If I had to pick another maybe no 1?? On this particulare set each of the 10 symphonies is played at a different venue, and 1 maybe stands out because of the incredible recording quality.

I bought this 5 cd's set on special from the FNAC for 10 Euros so if you shop around maybe you

can find a reasonably priced set.

Not too sure about other composers having written symphonies as such, obviously Poulenc, Frank, and Saint Seans did write symphonies for the organ but it always includes an orchestra.

As far as organ only works I really enjoy Frank and Mendelssohn especially this recording

http://www.amazon.com/Mendelssohn-Organ-So...7697&sr=1-3

BTW the seller includes shipping in his price.

[Alexander Hawkins]

The organ symphony is a bit of a French tradition...yes, there are others! They really grow out of the French improvising tradition, so there are quite a few, and several issued recordings of improvised works (I would do an Amazon search for 'Pierre Cochereau' - one of the master improvisers).

There a some by Louis Vierne, a blind organist who (IIRC) was titulaire at Notre Dame.

A favourite of mine is the Marcel Dupre 'Symphonie Passion' - wonderful, wonderful music, (and a complete headache to play(!))

There is a whole raft of extended works which are symphonic in their own way. Check out the awesome Chorales by Cesar Frank (there are three of them, of which the a minor is the best known).

If you get a French piece - really try hard to find a recording made on a Cavaille-Coll organ. It's very difficult to separate out the repertoire from the actual instruments for which these pieces were written, and these organs are absolutely THE classic instruments from the French tradition. They sound like nothing else - magnificent. Unbelievable reed sounds are perhaps their defining characteristic.

Moving into other traditions, there are various other pieces. Check out the Max Reger Sonatas for some really overblown Germanic stuff, and also the (purely instrumental) setting of the 94th Psalm by Reubke.

[Niko]

i used to play in an orchestra that was somewhat specialized on this type of music, two pieces i remember were organ concerts by alexandre guilmant and joseph callaerts (doubt the latter one is on cd, think we were the first ones to play it in almost 100 years)... wasn't ready for them at the time (we even travelled to belgium to peform them at the original place - wasn't ready for belgium either) pretty sure i would love them now....

[jazz1]

The organ symphony is a bit of a French tradition...yes, there are others! They really grow out of the French improvising tradition, so there are quite a few, and several issued recordings of improvised works (I would do an Amazon search for 'Pierre Cochereau' - one of the master improvisers).

There a some by Louis Vierne, a blind organist who (IIRC) was titulaire at Notre Dame.

A favourite of mine is the Marcel Dupre 'Symphonie Passion' - wonderful, wonderful music, (and a complete headache to play(!))

There is a whole raft of extended works which are symphonic in their own way. Check out the awesome Chorales by Cesar Frank (there are three of them, of which the a minor is the best known).

If you get a French piece - really try hard to find a recording made on a Cavaille-Coll organ. It's very difficult to separate out the repertoire from the actual instruments for which these pieces were written, and these organs are absolutely THE classic instruments from the French tradition. They sound like nothing else - magnificent. Unbelievable reed sounds are perhaps their defining characteristic.

Moving into other traditions, there are various other pieces. Check out the Max Reger Sonatas for some really overblown Germanic stuff, and also the (purely instrumental) setting of the 94th Psalm by Reubke.

Thanks for the infos, I am relatively new to organ music but enjoy it very much, I ll check the Dupre and Reger works I do have the Cesar Frank which i also enjoy.

BTW the Widor symphonies are played in different venues but all of them on Cavaille -Coll organs and as you said, unique and beautiful sounding.