Search - Johannes Matthias Michel :: Karg-Elert: Works for Harmonium, Vol. 1

1000x-STAR DISC!!!!

Sébastien Melmoth | Hôtel d'Alsace, PARIS | 05/04/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

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This is it! This is the one!! This is the first of the six CDs J. M. Michel recorded for cpo of Karg-Elert's harmonium works. Of the complete set, this one's the best. It features the best repetoire with the best sound. It's so clear in fact that the mechanical sounds of this acoustic instrument can sometimes be heard in the recording.



Michel plays a 1913 Mustel harmonium d'art. The harmonium, of course, is a wind & reed keyboard instrument likened to an huge accordion. Between c.1850 to c.1925 it was a very important instrument in bourgeois households, smaller churches, in the concert hall, and also in the early cinema where its eerie vibrations perfectly corresponded with German Expressionism. But these charming pieces were originally intended to be played at a concert of fin-de-siècle art music.



This is the most remarkable Art Nouveau/Jugendstil music of the Fin de Siècle/Belle Époque.



Disc includes a very fine Bachian Fantasy & Fugue; the exquisite "Impressions"--12 Neo-Impressionistic pieces; and two wonderful tone poems: the lovely Wagnerian "Pastoral Tale" and the humorous Saint-Saënsian "Danse Macabre."



Love the Pre-Raphaelite Burne-Jones cover art too!



Get the whole set: Sigfried Karg-Elert: Compositions for Harmonium Sigfrid Karg-Elert: Harmonium Works, Vol. 2 Sigfrid Karg-Elert: Works for Harmonium, Vol. 3 Sigfrid Karg-Elert: Works for Harmonium, Vol. 4 Karg-Elert: Harmonium Works Vol 5

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Wonderful recording of obscure harmonium works.

Robert Badger | Philadelphia, PA | 11/26/1998

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This recording, which features the harmonium works of Sigfrid Karg-Elert gives an excellent overview of his works. Karg-Elert is an important composer for organ. He composed many works for the harmonium. Unfortunately, with the demise of the harmonium, these works have been forgotten. An excellent recording, and one I would highly reccommend."