Shop Now

Fanfare

In 41:4 my review of two organ symphonies by Andreas Willscher (b. 1955), also performed by Carson Cooman, marked the debut of that composer in the pages of Fanfare. This sequel with Willscher brings another debut in the form of Raimund Schächer (b. 1960), who has served as organist in various locales in Germany and as an editor of modem editions of early keyboard music for various German music publishing firms. This association and influence are unapologetically present in his 2004 Sonata antiqua, written in a style which is unabashedly consonant, and modal as much as tonal. The opening “Praludium antiqua” is penned in the form of a pre-Baroque praeludium. This is succeeded by an “Aria irlandese con variazioni” (Irish Air with Variations), in which Schächer employs a faux folk melody of his own devising, but one so fetching and authentic-sounding that you would never guess it was not genuine. The closing “Passacaglia in a” returns to a pre-Baroque musical form. The Fantasia from 1996, subtitled “Tintinnabuli – Hommage a Arvo Part,” was inspired by the Estonian composer’s use of bell-like motifs; while quiet and tranquil, it does not fall prey to the tedium of Minimalist repetition. Dating from 1989, the Treuchtlinger Partita in six brief movements (Praeambulum, Bicinium, Pedal-Solo, Choral: “Gib dich zuffieden,” Aria, and Passacaglia), named for a town in which Schächer worked, once again harkens back to Renaissance music forms, and is thoroughly diatonic in its musical vocabulary.

The Suite romantique from 1972 and Aria from 1976 are two of Willscher’s earliest works. As the booklet notes observe, the French organ repertoire from the later 19th and early 20th centuries exercises a major influence on his compositional style, and here that is worn heart on sleeve in the Suite’s three movements: a playfully waltz-like Scherzo, a simple but touching “Romance sans paroles,” and a vigorous concluding “Toccata romantique” that is obviously indebted to Widor’s immortal Toccata. The Aria is long-breathed and songful in its outer sections, with a more agitated middle section bringing in some crunchy discords. The Partita on Creator alme siderum from 2002 is also firmly tonal and generally consonant throughout the theme and several variations: in the fourth of the latter the “Nachtigall” (Nightingale) toy bird stop is employed (a gesture to Messiaen, perhaps?). This is the one piece on this disc regarding which I have any reservations; while I enjoyed it overall, some of the variations seemed perfunctory, as if the composer were merely treading musical water.

As in the previous disc of Willscher’s music, Carson Cooman is an able exponent for his colleagues’ compositions and is well recorded. Specifications are provided for the organ, a neo-Baroque instrument built between 1997 and 2006 for the parish church of Sts. Peter and Paul in Görlitz (located at Germany’s triangular border with Poland and the Czech Republic). While its sound reasonably approximates that of a genuine Baroque organ, one can definitely tell the difference; sometimes, as in the Treuchtlinger Partita and the Aria, I find the effect a bit heavy and wish I could hear those pieces performed on a genuine 16th- or 17th-century “swallow’s nest” organ instead, but that is a minor cavil. While not front-rank masterpieces or strikingly original, these works all afford considerable pleasure. In sum, advocates of avant-garde music who are of the mindset of Charles Wuorinen (see the latter’s comments in a May 24,2018 article in the New York Times), who believe that tonality is an exhausted resource for “serious” composers and is fit only for ephemeral popular “entertainment,” will find here only material at which to sneer. Those of us who believe in the continuing value and vitality of tonal music, and agree with Arnold Schoenberg that “There is still much good music to be written in the key of C Major,” find much here to enjoy and in which to rejoice. Unashamedly recommended.