Album Notes

This is a disk of 20th century organ works, three of which have their premiere recordings here. Auguste Fauchard was a pupil of Louis Vierne whose influences in this Symphony are unmistakable in the skillful working out of the themes, in the idiomatic chromatic harmonies, and in the overall grand conception. Lode Van Dessel's Cyclical Suite is a display of the imaginative uses of a single motif which serves as the constitutive and unifying material for the several movements of this modern yet tonal composition. Richard Felciano is an internationally acclaimed and awarded composer, noted for his milti-faceted and innovative musical self-expression. His Sonata is the work of his student years in Paris and exhibits the flair and exuberant impulses of a young, talented composer. Paul Paray's Fugue in G Minor is an academic work that eexplores the complexities of contrapuntal art but which conceals the vibrant musical personality that was soon to emerge in his later compositions and in his authoritative orchestral conducting. - Eduard Perrone