Pipe dreams


Now playing - Gothic Pipes with Kimberley Marshall organ and vocal ensemble Cappella Romana. This Loft Recordings CD goes back to the fourteenth century to present some of the earliest music written for organ from the Faenza Codex and other sources framed by liturgical settings . Beautiful sound from the reconstruction of a fifteenth century organ in Basel's Predigerkirche and the use of the organ's "birdsong" device in the chanson "Or sus, vous dormés trop" ("Now awake, you sleep too much") reminds us that Messiaen trod in the footsteps of others.

Talking of Messiaen it is interesting to reflect that the time that elapsed between the compilation of the Faenza Codex and the birth of Bach is greater than the time that has passed between the death of Bach and today. A select few early composers have become the musical equivalent of household names. But we need more projects like Gothic Pipes to explore the true dawn of Western music.

More truly early music here, and back in the twenty first century read how Loft Recordings built a virtual concert hall.
'Pipes' photo taken in the joiners new house and (c) On An Overgrown Path 2008. Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

Comments

Pliable said…
Email received:

Reminds me of a PHILIPS 10" LP I had of the organ works of Jan Zwart, performed by Feike Asma (and, as a teenager, once I got over the goofy names, I really enjoyed the music) which had a gorgeous black and white photo of the inside of what I believe was the Oude Kirke. And there it was on prominant display: a massive hot water radiator and its pipes. There's also an issue of something by Gustav Leonhardt replete with old-fashioned hot water radiator. What is it with the Dutch and radiators??

Cheers
David Cavlovic
5:23 pm
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