Product Review

The first recording of Mertons new Dobson organ a mixed recital spanning repertoire from Bach and Stanley to Dupré and Messiaen was designed to demonstrate the instruments considerable versatility. But behind the contemporary sophistication of its construction and design, this is essentially an English Romantic organ with a big, warm-hearted personality, securely grounded in the aesthetic traditions of the late nineteenth century, and this second recording highlights those qualities in music by the composer who pre-eminently shares them: Edward Elgar. Benjamin Nicholas, Mertons Reed Rubin Organist and Director of Music, here proves himself a fine Elgarian and an inventive programmer, coupling Elgars two original major works for the organ with three transcriptions including a first recording of the superb arrangement of the Prelude to The Kingdom made by Herbert Brewer, Elgars contemporary and the long-serving organist of Gloucester Cathedral.