<<  -- 2 --  David Thompson    Voice of an angel

Elsewhere, it's a case of horses for courses. The horses at Boston are big warhorses: Jongen's exhilarating Sonata Eroica, Healey Willan's Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue, and Reubke's magnificent Sonata on the 94th Psalm [listen -- CD1 track 7,5:58-6:57], the latter a true masterpiece of romantic organ music, and, for me, the highlight of the first disc, in the thrilling performance it is accorded. What really amazes, on the Boston disc, is the clarity of the textures, from the quietest voicings to full-throttle fortissimo. This kind of repertoire is usually experienced in a generalised haze of muddied reverberation. Here, however, nothing gets in the way of the music itself, which emerges bright, clear and perfectly blended, even in the most majestic of climaxes.

The Hexham experience, if less obviously spine-tingling, is all sheer delight. What a wonderfully rich collection of voices is here. Listen to the six renaissance dances which open the disc with a kaleidoscope of brilliant colours. Dame Gillian herself invites us to close our eyes and picture a renaissance band in a minstrel's gallery. She could not have put it better. The range of colours also ideally informs works in variation form, and Bach's Chorale Partita on Sei gegrusset, Jesu gutig is a sublime experience, as his ingenious invention unfolds in all its glory. Light relief is provided by the Schnizer Sonata, played with a tremendous sense of fun by Dame Gillian. The bubbly opening on high flute stops [listen -- CD2 track 19, 0:00-0:54] sets the mood for the delights to come.

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