Search - Cesar Franck, Jos van Immerseel, Joris Verdin :: Entree for Harmonium

An Exquisite Disc.

06/22/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is absolutely one of my favorite discs of all time. It features very rare, obscure, and unusual music of the fin de siècle. Verdin performs on an original Alexandre harmonium from ca. 1865. He has selected the best pieces from Franck's last work, "L'Organiste," on which he was working at the time of his death in late-1890. The harmonium, of course, is a wind & reed keyboard instrument likened to an huge accordion; between ca. 1850 to ca. 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 in the chruch or at a concert of fin-de-siècle art music. It is a little known fact that Franck's famous "Prelude, Fugue et Variation, Op. 18," was originally written for harmonium & piano duo. Franck then transcribed it for organ, and it was later re-transcribed for solo piano. If you are attracted to turn-of-the-century aesthetic culture, then this disc is for you! And don't delay, because this is the kind of rare disc that is unfortunately quickly discontinued."