" In short: An Aussie toccata with much more bite than Bach... thrillingly played... Gothic Toccata is another bold Antipodean enterprise by Melbourne’s Melba Recordings that reaffirms the increasing presence, and influence, of Australian classical music across the globe. **** (4 stars)" Gothic Toccata is one of the most significant organ recordings to have been released in Australia in the past quarter of a century. Here is why: - It is the first major recording of Australian organ works on an important Australian instrument. Pieces from the early twentieth century until the present day showcase the diversity of styles and the plethora of colours which the Town Hall organ is capable of producing.
- Drawing on an enormous tonal palette, Calvin Bowman has carefully chosen registrations to suit each of the works in question.
- The Melbourne Town Hall Grand Organ is an outstanding instrument for music which is orchestral in effect (Hart), for transcriptions (Hill, Grainger and Batchelor), music which requires great clarity in terms of registrations (Brumby and Mills), and sheer unadulterated power (Schultz and Koehne).
- The Melbourne Town Hall organ is one of the largest in the world. Built in 1929, it was entirely rebuilt in 2001 and relaunched by Calvin Bowman with a work by Philip Glass in the composer’s presence.
- Eight world premiere recordings are included on the disc. Significant works by Fritz Hart, Alfred Hill, Phyllis Batchelor, Colin Brumby, Ross Edwards, Richard Mills and Andrew Schultz are being released commercially for the first time.
- This is the first CD recording of the instrument using Direct Stream Digital (DSD) technology, yielding the highest possible master quality and is ideally suited to reproducing the wide dynamic range and tone colours of the different organ divisions.
Track Listing - Richard Mills Epithalamium* 4:22 Listen Now
- Andrew Schultz Études Espace I-III* 18:23
- Graeme Koehne To His Servant Bach, God Grants a Final Glimpse: The Morning Star 4:28
- Graeme Koehne Gothic Toccata 6:58
- Ross Edwards Dawn Canticle* 6:01 Listen Now
- Ross Edwards Organmaninya* 2:07
- Colin Brumby Assemblages* 4:49 Listen Now
- Sir George Thalben-Ball Elegy 5:03
- Alfred Hill Valse Triste* 3:08
- Phyllis Batchelor When I was one-and-twenty* 3:18
- Fritz Hart Fantasia in G minor* 12:33 Listen Now
- Percy Aldridge Grainger Children’s March – “Over the hills and far away” 1:07
Total time: 72:19 *denotes world premiere recording
ORGAN SPECIFICATIONS To download the complete Melbourne Town Hall organ specifications, please click here for a detailed PDF (requires Acrobat Reader 4 or later).
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