- Tryptique Symphonique sur Deux Themes (1974) . . . . . . . . . . 21:24
- Berceuse a la memoire de Louis Vierne (1973) . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:39
- Cantem toto la Gloria (1969) (Byfield organ) . . . . . . . . . . . . 10:12
- Air (Trimazo) (Suite a la Francaise 1970) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5:02
- Variations sur ‘Venez Divin Messie’ ( 24 Dec 1968 ) . . . . . . . . .21:27
David Briggs plays his own transcriptions of the late great Pierre Cochereau’s improvisations, given (mostly) at Notre Dame de Paris, entry often by invitation, and always to a full house. The Cavaille-Coll organ is so famous that no further mention of it is needed here.
So David’s May 1992 recording made on the 1887 Father Willis and 1750 John Byfield of Truro Cathedral is remarkable on three major counts:
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The 3 manual main organ itself is considered by many to be among Britain’s very finest organ treasures, and remains tonally faithful to the way Willis left it. One former organist described it aptly as “The little giant” because although its resources are relatively modest, its output, perfectly matched by Willis to the Cathedral acoustics, are of spine-tingling grandeur.
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Because they were improvised on the spot, very little of Cochereau’s music of this type was written down. David would have had to obtain Radio France ’s old audio tapes of the concerts, and laboriously listen, write down, (and, I assume) rewind, listen again, etc., until finished. This labour took over six years to complete. (1986 – 1992)
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Then there is David’s superb handling of the main organ. He actually manages to make the little giant of Father Willis sing, whisper and roar in imitation of a much larger Cavaille-Coll anywhere in Paris .
The smaller Byfield instrument, in keeping with the majority of English organs of its day, had no pedal when new. Around 1836, “A set of Seventeen German Pedals” were added, and in 1887, the three original manuals were reduced to two. The organ underwent further additions and alterations and was housed in two different buildings. As far as I can tell, it presently has fifteen drawstops, and its sound is so beautiful, you need to listen carefully for tiny differences in nuance to tell it apart from the main organ. The programme notes say the Byfield organ closely resembles the sound of the 12 stop transportable instrument Cochereau had built to take with him on his tours to parts of France lacking a decent recital organ.
In listening to this superb disc, one can only fully concur with the superlatives that have been accorded the Willis organ, and the organist extraordinaire, David Briggs, for his performances upon it.
Any negatives?
Oh, yes!
Priory do not go to the same trouble as Chandos in packaging their product. The CD notes are informative but presented in such tiny print that my eyes need a serious magnifying glass to navigate through them.
There is neither photo of either organ nor information on registrations used.
Peter Wilding November 2006
