CD REVIEWS
THE ORGANIST (THE T.C. LEWIS ORGAN OF ALBION CHURCH)
JONATHAN SCOTT - SBDRCD006
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Publication: The Organ
Date: February/April 2012
Reviewer: Mathew PowerTHE ORGANIST *****
Jonathan Scott plays the TC Lewis Organ of Albion Church, Ashton-Under-Lyne
This is the best recording of an organ in a church I have heard in many years. The quality of the sound is very fine, as one may hear at the outset - the opening Allegro movement of Widor's Sixth Symphony in G minor. The microphone placing appears to be ideal, and the full sound of this remarkable late 19th- century Lewis organ is well caught without a trace of overload.
This is claimed to be the first recording ever made on this instrument, but I trust it will not be the last. Jonathan Scott has selected a mixture of short items (Mozart's K 608 Fantasia is the longest, at 9'59''; Herbert Brewer's Chanson de Matin - see page 36 for Jerrold Northrop Moore's feature on Elgar's organ music in this issue - is the shortest, at 2'47"), which work extremely well.This is really fine playing on an unfairly neglected instrument (so far as commercial recordings of it are concerned), and all in all it came as something of a revelation to me. I hope that Jonathan Scott goes on to record some major late 19th-century repertoire on this organ - he and the instrument deserve it. The booklet contains excellent notes on the music by the organist, a full specification and short history of the organ, and some striking colour photographs. A most impressive achievement.
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