Search - Marilyn Keiser :: Music of Paris in the 1920's and 30's

Magnificent and vibrant

FrKurt Messick | Bloomington, IN USA | 07/23/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I must confess a bias in two directions - Marilyn Keiser is an organist I know fairly well (being organist at the last church I belonged to Bloomington), and the instrument she plays on this recording is also one I know well, the Holtkamp Organ at my seminary's chapel.



Keiser is a master of the instrument, which she demonstrated week after week in our congregational setting. The pieces here represented include some with religious inspiration and other more standard/secular pieces, performed with extraordinary grace and sensitivity to both the setting of the composition as well as the performance space. Keiser combines awesome technical competence with the musician's soul, a rare combination that leads to a truly wonderful musical experience. Keiser is an educator (on faculty at my undergraduate alma mater, Indiana University) as well as a leader in the field of Anglican music.



The composers represented here - Dupre, Durufle, Guilmant, Langlais, Messiaen, and Vierne - are noted for their compositions for organ for both religious and non-religious settings; it should come as no surprise that many composers of organ music hold or held positions as church/cathedral organists. Perhaps it is more surprising that they would branch out beyond the ecclesiastical setting with their compositions. For example the 'Impromptu Carillon de Westminster' by Vierne is based on the clock-tower chimes and Big Ben bell so famous the world over.



The instrument itself is a space with nearly 3 second reverberation; the organ was completed in 1987, and has 44 ranks with 2370 pipes (34 stops on a three-manual console keyboard).



This is a rare recording, magnificent and vibrant.

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