Wilhelm Middelschulte

On this CD:

1. Passacaglia for organ in D minor
Composed by Wilhelm Middelschulte

2. Perpetuum Mobile (Concerto on a Theme of J. S. Bach), for organ
Composed by Wilhelm Middelschulte

3. Kanonische Fantasie über BACH & Fuge über 4 Themes by Johann Sebastian Bach, for organ
Composed by Wilhelm Middelschulte

Tracks:

We All Believe in One God
Fantasia on The Old Hundredth
Perpetuum Mobile
Giga
Love's Old Sweet Song
Kamenoi Ostrow (Reve Angelique)
Poem
A Dream (Ein Traum)
Dreams
At Dawning
Minuet in G
Calm As The Night
A Perfect Day

Customer Reviews:

The Art of Virgil Fox Vol. 2.......2007-04-01

I find the recording quality of this CD to be very good. As a child I had the opportunity to meet the organist Virgil Fox through my mother, who was a friend and colleague of his (she was the soprano soloist at the Riverside Church where he was organist - the Riverside Church is also the place where the recordings were made). I also heard Mr. Fox live and found him to be a first-class artist. I can recommend the CD without reservation. Alexander Stevenson

!.......2003-11-19

This CD is just a small sample of the greatness of Virgil Fox. However, it is a must-have. It demonstrates the breadth of works which Fox mastered and in the more sentimental songs, those which he beautifully interpreted during his illustrious career; and these recordings at Riverside Church are an indispensable part of his legacy. The program starts with the majestic "We All Believe in one God", where we hear the control of dynamics and unique way Fox played Bach. Vaughn-Williams' work is an interesting fantasia on the familiar religious tune. The highlight of the CD is the Perpetuum Mobile. A favorite concert piece of Fox, it is an amazing flurry of notes, showing his amazing mastery of the pedalboard, and building to a tremendous crescendo and brilliant arpeggio. Giga is a rapid, merry piece which romps along in the manuals. Tracks 1-4 are the virtuoso organ pieces. Starting with Love's Old Sweet Song, # 5-13, the great interpretations of transcriptions, songs, and sentimental American pieces begin. The piano work Kamenoi Ostrow is a great transcription. A Dream and Calm as the Night are beautiful songs which are beautifully styled on the organ. In short, buy this CD - it is a musical and masterful recording.

Romantic and Virtuoso Works for Organ, Vol. 1

Average customer rating:

Romantic and Virtuoso Works for Organ, Vol. 1

Manufacturer: Avie
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Toccatas | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Classical | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B0000TOAUW
Release Date: 2004-04-06

Average customer rating:

Exceptional pianistic and musical experience
Rarely Heard Busoni Two-Piano Music

Busoni: Music for Two Pianos

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Busoni: Piano Music, Vol. 1
Busoni: Piano Music, Vol. 2
Anton Rubinstein: Complete Piano Sonatas
Busoni: Piano Music 3
Busoni: Piano Concerto

ASIN: B000BRJXZK
Release Date: 2005-12-13

Tracks:

Fantasia Contrappuntistica
Improvisation On The beach Chorale 'Wie Wohl Ist Mir, O Freund Der Seele'
Fantasie Fur Eine Orgelwalze
Duettino Concertante Nach Mozart

Customer Reviews:

Exceptional pianistic and musical experience.......2006-04-11

I agree with Scott Morrison - this must be one of the most gripping (and natural sounding)performances of this repertoire on disc. Although a 'studio' recording the playing sounds 'alive' and physical in a way that studio performances often do not. The pianists are suberbly matched and the stereo separation of the two Steinways is a credit to the production team.

Rarely Heard Busoni Two-Piano Music.......2006-01-05

To the extent that piano music by Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924) is known to the average music-lover, it is in the form of the fairly straightforward hyphenated piano arrangements of the music of other composers, e.g. Bach-Busoni. But he wrote a lot of original music and some of it was for two pianos. Here we have four such works, including the two-piano version of his pianistic masterpiece, the highly original and fascinating half-hour-long Fantasia Contrappuntistica. I had never heard this version before - I'm very familiar with the one-piano version - and must say that from its initial peremptory dotted-figure opening through to the end of the final stretta it commands the listener's attention. Part of the work is a set of variations based on Bach's chorale 'Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr.' Typical of Busoni, he couldn't leave the original one-piano version alone -- it went through several versions and finally was arranged as here for two pianos, and then, thinking to make it the final movement of a gigantic two-piano sonata, he added three further movements, also heard here. Each of these pieces can be played as a stand-alone work, but the cumulative power of hearing the four pieces in succession is pretty impressive. On this CD, however, the Fantasia Contrappuntistica is Track 1, so if you want to hear the putative 'sonata' as Busoni considered presenting it, you must program your CD player to play tracks in the following order: 2 3 4 1.

Track 2 contains the so-called 'Improvisation on the Bach Chorale "Wie wohl ist mir, o Freund der Seele"', which in its original form had been part of a violin sonata. (See how complicated Busoni's oeuvre can get because of his penchant for changing his mind about the form various works should take?) Just as the outer movements of this 'sonata' are based on Bach's music, the two inner movements are based on themes by Mozart, another of Busoni's gods. Movement Two (Track 3) is entitled 'Fantasie für eine Orgelwalze', based on a trivial Mozart tune actually written for barrel organ, K. 608. It is, actually, a pretty weighty movement, and sounds more like the Busoni we're used to from his many hyphenated arrangements. This is followed by Movement Three (Track 4) called 'Duettino Concertante nach Mozart' which is based on the finale of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 19 in F Major, K. 459. It acts as the Scherzo (albeit in 2/4) of this putative sonata and is entirely winning.

The two pianists here are Alan Schiller and John Humphreys, both British and neither of whom I'd heard of before. They apparently have been playing together for many years, although each has another career as a soloist and teacher. They certainly seem to have the sound of a duo who think and breathe together. (Their rapid-fire double-thirds trills and scales are breathtakingly synchronized.) Sound is clear and lifelike, if just a bit shallow. This is a marvelous exposition of rarely-heard music by an altogether under-appreciated 20th century composer.

TT=58:01

Scott Morrison

Average customer rating:

Middelschulte great performance of his genuine work

Wilhelm Middelschulte: Organ Works

Manufacturer: Cpo Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000056PQT
Release Date: 2001-02-20

Tracks:

Toccata On 'Ein Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott'
Contrapuntal Sym
Two Studies On The Chorale 'Vater Unser Im Himmelreich': Study 1
Two Studies On The Chorale 'Vater Unser Im Himmelreich': Study 2
Chromatic Fant And Fugue: Fant
Chromatic Fant And Fugue: Fugue
Con On A Theme By J.S. Bach: Intermezzo 'Perpetuum Mobile'
Chaconne

Customer Reviews:

Middelschulte great performance of his genuine work.......2005-07-30

Middelschulte himself was a great organist and Played bach on Organ like Gould would play bach on Piano. Busoni decided his Fantasia contrapunttistica to him ("To the master of couterpoint").
Here on the Cd the performer performs the works of Middelschulte himself with great elegance and clearity. It is a wonderful album.