Here is a programme of 19^th century German heavyweights played on a solidly English Harrison & Harrison organ dating back to 1954. It should be a recipe for stodge and solidity; after all, of the organ’s 66 speaking stops, only 20 are above 8-foot pitch. It should be as digestible as a sauerkraut sandwich. It should hit you in the pit of the stomach with such a sickening thud that you feel the need to come up for air. But it doesn’t. David Hinitt’s excellent recording of the Temple Church organ focuses on its bright and airy qualities, while Roger Sayer’s playing has a vitality and vibrancy about it which positively exudes brightness and clarity of thought.

5* Review by David Ponsford in Choir and Organ

Recorded at Temple Church, London, 2018

Tracklisting

Mendelssohn Organ Sonata No.1 in F minor, Op.65 No.1
Karg-Elert Symphonic Chorale ‘Jesu, meine Freude’, Op.87 No.2
Reger Chorale Fantasia ‘Hallelujah! Gott zu loben’
Reubke Sonata in C minor on the 94th Psalm