Cinquième Symphonie: Organ Music by Vierne,
Tournemire and Duruflé

Charles Maxtone-Smith plays the Ruffatti organ in Buckfast Abbey.

AD FONTES AF016
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Few periods in the organ's long history rival the sheer inventiveness of early twentieth-century France, and this disc throws down that gauntlet from the very first bars. Charles Maxtone-Smith has gathered together three titans of the repertoire, Louis Vierne, Charles Tournemire, and Maurice Duruflé, and put the full resources of Buckfast Abbey's Ruffatti organ at their service. Vierne's tumultuous Cinquième Symphonie is the anchor here, its chromaticism spun from two contrasting themes that eventually lock together into a blazing, triumphal close. Where Vierne builds with almost architectural control, Tournemire lets go entirely: his improvisation on the Marian hymn Ave maris stella, preserved for us through Duruflé's transcription, beats with the restless, sensuous heart of French mysticism. It falls to Duruflé himself to reconcile the two approaches, and his Prélude, Adagio et Choral varié, composed for Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit, does exactly that, fusing Vierne's discipline with Tournemire's rapture into something quietly overwhelming.

Charles Maxtone-Smith is Organist of Buckfast Abbey and currently takes lessons in Paris, studying French Baroque and Romantic literature. His interpretation of these French organ works highlights the Buckfast Abbey instrument to great aplomb.

Louis Vierne was the semi-blind organist of Notre-Dame who died from a heart attack while playing a recital in the cathedral on the evening of 2 June 1937. The Fifth Symphony, composed between 1923 and 1924, is in five movements, and the sounds Maxtone-Smith conjures from it are infectious. His playing is thrilling, especially in the third movement, where the registrations traded between manuals draw the listener deep into the acoustic. He darts around the manuals with formidable technical dexterity, particularly through the trickiest chromatic passages, while the low pedal growls around the building like a Norwegian troll and the mixtures positively shimmer. He captures the opening movement's dark, brooding Grave with real atmosphere too.

As Maxtone-Smith observes in one of the most engaging accompanying booklets I have read in a long while, the Wagnerian, Tristanesque soundworld is immediately apparent, and it is notable that the very first chord echoes the famous "Tristan chord". This is a tremendous reading of a symphony that has never quite won the popularity of Vierne's others, and the recording does it full justice.

Tournemire's Fantaisie-Improvisation sur l'Ave maris stella, as transcribed by Duruflé, carries all the mysticism one would hope for, its harmonic palette by turns luminous and shadowed. There is a great deal going on beneath the organist's hands, each manual contributing its own thread to a kaleidoscopic tapestry of sound, and the instrument is shown off superbly, not least in the surge to full organ and the carefully judged retreat down to pianissimo.

Across this all-French programme, the different ranks of pipes are deployed to glorious effect, whether diapasons, reeds, or strings, and the tonal richness Maxtone-Smith draws from them entices the listener further into this repertoire. The disc also includes two lovely Duruflé pieces: the Prélude sur l'Introit de l'Épiphanie and the Prélude, Adagio et Choral varié sur le thème du Veni Creator, dedicated, characteristically, to Vierne. The flutes and soft reeds are given an exquisite outing, the finely balanced pedal lends real ambience, and Maxtone-Smith's control of the swell box heightens the sense of drama throughout these atmospheric works. The Choral varié is mesmerising from its opening bars, building steadily towards a close of dazzling technical assurance and sonic splendour.

Devotees of the organ and of French organ music in particular will relish this disc, as will anyone drawn to the sheer variety of soundscapes this instrument can conjure. The recording engineers deserve real credit for capturing the sound so faithfully, not least in the hushed pianissimo passages; together with the booklet and the playing itself, this is a first-class production, and I would happily hear more from this label.