Farbklange
Zehn Jahre Westenfelder-Orgel in St. Lambrecht
Manfred Novak
Ad Artem Musicae AAM 001-2012. 61’28

Music by Scheidemann, Bach, Frescobaldi, Boëlly, Arauxo, Ximénez, Brahms, Froberger, Buxtehude.

The design of modern organs is something of a minefield, with views ranging from entirely eclectic instruments, supposedly intended to play the entire historic repertoire; entirely modern instruments aiming to encourage present and future composers but bearing little attention to the existing organ repertoire; through to carefully researched reconstructions of key organs of yesteryear, ideal for a particular repertoire, but limited for other repertoires – together with all the many variations between these extremes.  Added to this are the complexities of the acoustics of the space and the space available for the organ, which is often in an historically and architecturally important environment.

This CD demonstrates the 2003 Westenfelder organ in the Abbey of Sankt Lambrecht, in the southern part of central Austria, ten years after its construction. Continue reading →