The Best of Kevin Bowyer: Discover Organ Masterworks of the 20th Century

Discover ... Organ Masterworks of the 20th Century, Kevin Bower

The purist may well argue over the contents of this beautifully-packaged set of three compact discs with regard to the repertoire its contains, and lament the absence of music by Reger and of many organist-composers of the French school, of earlier British music for organ, or works by American or by composers of other nationalities, but clearly a compilation such as this is circumscribed by the available recorded repertoire and many will counter, as I would, that this is a terrific set of records, an ideal 'introduction', if you like, to 20th-century organ music from 1931 (Nielsen) to 1990 (Burrell).

In that regard, with an overall playing time of almost five hours, this selection could hardly be bettered, for it contains a repertoire demonstration of consid­erable breadth and depth. Equally, not all the music here is on the same level of artistic merit, but Kevin Bowyer's accomplishments are considerable, under pinned by a comprehensive technique and a genuine empathy with a surpris­ingly wide range of expression.

Bowyer delivers very fine accounts of the great works here - as wide-ranging in meeting the technical and interpret­ative demands as the music of Nielsen, Hindemith and Schoenberg impose - and I found this a wholly compelling repertoire collection, bringing to mind a number of fondly remembered mid century works as those by Maxwell Davies (from his early period) and Malcolm Williamson (one hopes for new recordings of his major organ works, which appear to be sadly neglected these days), alongside more recent short pieces by mainly British composers. But there is no overt nationalism in the selection here - one could just as readily make a case for living German, French, American and Scandinavian composers (which one hopes will form the bases for future recordings by this preeminently gifted artist). In particular, I must com­mend his performance of Hindemith's Second Sonata, one of three which date from the late 1930s and which form a valuable contribution to the rather slen­der output of distinguished twentieth-century composers to the organ repertoire.

But such is the consistent quality of Bowyers's performances that one could take any one of these individual record­ings as a benchmark for the full realis­ation of the music; I have been particularly impressed by being remind­ed of the excellence of this gifted artist's interpretations: the very sound within Odense Cathedral must have been very much in Carl Nielsen's mind as he penned his stunning masterpiece in 1931 (Nielsen was born in Odense), and Bowyer's delineation of the complexities of Schoenberg's Variations, revealing the genuine immortality of this work, can­not, in my opinion, be improved upon.

One may hope that such a set of discs as this goes into the hands of young composers: they would surely be inspired by the consistent wealth of music in this collection to want to add to the instrument's repertoire - it is that good. Robert Matthew-Walker, The Organ, *****(*)

Marcussen organs of the Chapel of Tonbridge School, Kent/* Odense Cathedral, Denmark/" Carthy Organ, Jack Singer Concert Hall, Calgary, Canada. Nielsen: Commotio Op 58 (1931)7 Franz Syberg: Praludium, Intermezzo og Fugato (1934)*/Hindemith: Sonata II (1937)VSchoenberg: Variations on a Recitative Op 40 (1940)*/Maxwell Davies: Fantasia on 'O Magnum Mysterium' (1960)/Per N0rgard: Partita Concertante Op 23 (1958)*/Malcolm Williamson: Epitaphs for Edith Sitwell (1965)/Jean Langlais: Poem of Happin-ess**(1967)/ Jehan Alain: Le Jardin Suspendu/ Alan Ridout: The Seven Last Words (1967)/ Henryk Goreki: Kantata Op 26/ Wilfrid Mellers: Opus Alchymicum (1969, rev 1972) -I MELANOSIS: Circumamnulatio (BLACKENING: Circling); Regio Nymphodidica (Regions of the Nymphs)/ James Iliff: Trio for Organ (late 1960)/ Ferneyhough: Siebert Sterne (1970)/ Rautavaara: Toccata Op 59 (1971)/ Sofia Gubaidulina: hell und dunken (1976)/ Arvo Part: Pari Intervallo (1976)/ Patrick Cowers: Toccata (1970) & Fugue (1988)/ Philip Glass: Satyagraha Act III: finale (1979) (transcribed by Michael Riesman from the composer's 'portrait opera' on the life of Ghandi/ John Tavener: Mandelion (1981)/ Janet Graham: Three Pieces for Organ (1986)/ Jonathan Harvey: Fantasia (1991)/ Christopher Bowers-Broadbent: Duets and Canons (1986)/Diana Burrell: Arched Forms with Bells (1990)