The organ concert on Friday was devoted to the French “school” of organ playing, which flourished again in the mid-19th century. Daniel Roth, the titular organist of the Saint-Sulpice parish church in Paris, was not just an interpreter that evening, but also part of this great tradition as a student of Maurice Duruflé.
What all representatives of this organ school have in common is the sound vision of a pioneering organ builder, who marked a new beginning after the decline of organ music as a result of the French Revolution, when countless pipes were melted down to cannon fodder.
Aristide Cavaillé-Coll inspired the following generations of composers with his symphonic approach to organ sound. This was impressively illustrated by Daniel Roth in his programme, which began with the first movement of Charles-Marie Widor’s 5th organ symphony. Charles Tournemire was best known for his improvisations. His student Maurice Duruflé reconstructed one about “Ave maris stella” based on a recording from 1930. In 1942, the year Daniel Roth was born, his teacher composed a “Prélude et Fugue sur le nom d’Alain” in memory of a friend and organist who died in the war in 1940.
The program led directly to the composer Daniel Roth, who created his fascinating “Hommage” in 1990 to mark the 100th anniversary of César Franck’s death. Daniel Roth acted on this evening with exorbitant virtuosity and an absolutely stylistically confident registration that exploited all the possibilities of the new Rieger organ in terms of sound.
Bruckner house: Organ concert with Daniel Roth, March 4th
Source: Nachrichten
