The lockdown could have stopped one-man organ machine Carson Cooman from composing, but it’s unlikely. He’s prolific and never stops. Normally we expect Erik Simmons to be playing Cooman’s work but for this it’s German organist Philip Hartmann, and he does a fine job. We used to find organ music hard going but repeated forced […]
Erik Simmons: Portals, Carson Cooman Organ Music Vol 11
This came out a while back but we overlooked it — Simmons/Cooman are prolific to say the least — so we saved it for Easter, as it’s got a contemplative feel to it, while not being too heavyweight. (Though as Simmons is sat at the pedals of the Sun Organ of St Peter and Paul, […]
Erik Simmons: How Great our Joy! Organ music for Christmas by Carson Cooman
This is not a Christmas album. This is Christmas music played on a church organ, a different thing altogether. If you want a bland album of festive music, this is not for you. If you already like the organ then, as Carson Cooman undoubtedly says in his day-job as composer-in-residence at the Memorial Church, Harvard […]
Alexander Ffinch: Transformations
This CD sees Ffinch play Cheltenham College Chapel’s organ; he is college organist so he knows it well. The opener is Joseph Jongen’s Sonata Eroica. This was commissioned by Belgium Radio in 1930 for the inaugural concert at the art-deco concert hall and arts centre at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. We like Belgium, […]
Erik Simmons: Jubilee, Carson Cooman organ music vol. 10
Carson Cooman makes Neil Young look a slacker, and many of Young’s albums are from the vaults, not new. Cooman is composer in residence at the Memorial Church, Harvard University, and a prolific composer, the recordings often played by Erik Simmons — this is his 10th Cooman organ album for Divine Art. This latest collection […]
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