Clérambault was born in 1676 in Paris in a musical family whose members had served the kings of France since the 15th century. His father Dominique was a violinist and a member of the 24 violons du roi. Louis-Nicolas probably received his first music lessons from him. His organ teacher was André Raison to whom he dedicated his Livre d'orgue. His oeuvre is not very sizeable, but of consistently high quality. He was a major contributor to the genre of the chamber cantata which became popular in the early decades of the 18th century under the influence of the Italian style. Five books of such cantatas were published between 1710 and 1726.

Padre Davide da Bergamo was one of Italy’s most famous and prolific organists and organ composers (besides being a monk). His lifespan, 1791- 1863, encompassed the Romantic Era, in which organ music detached itself from purely liturgical use. He introduced the symphonic form in his organ works, especially in his “Sinfonias”, which are substantial structures in classical/romantic style and form. This recording features the first recording of his “6 Sonatas & Sinfonias”. Organist Marco Ruggeri chose two organs from Da Bergamo’s time, magnificent instruments which do full justice to the colours and virtuosity of Da Bergamo’s works. Booklet contains liner notes, biography and information on the instruments.

Pour son premier enregistrement chez Ligia, l’organiste Jean-Charles Ablitzer a choisi de revenir à l’un de ses orgues préférés, celui du temple de Belfort. En effet, par le passé, il nous avait proposé déjà deux enregistrements sur cet instrument, évoquant au travers des titres le Nord, par le voyage, le souffle ou son école avec le présent album. Il est vrai que l’orgue du temple Saint-Jean de Belfort est exceptionnel. Construit en 1984 par Marc Garnier, suivant les principes de la facture d’orgue nord-allemande magnifiée au XVII° par Arp Schnitger, cet orgue représente un modèle magnifique et sans compromis, de ce que furent ces instruments, portés au sommet par une école d’organites d’une incroyable fertilité et d’une immense variété. De plus le buffet a été copié sur des originaux, et celui ci n’est pas sans rappeler tel ou tel orgue célèbre. On pense à Altenbruch (près d’Hambourg) en particulier.

In his ninth and tenth of a total of fourteen releases of Bach’s collected organ works, Kåre Nordstoga pulls together much of what was not collected from the composer’s side — preludes and fugues.

In 2023 Brilliant Classics released a 9CD box of the complete keyboard music by William Byrd, marking the tercentenary of the composer’s death. The set was welcomed as a monumental achievement, and a worthy sequel to Davitt Moroney’s pioneering achievement on Hyperion: ‘Those who enjoyed Belder’s forthright and imaginatively ornamented Byrd performances in his complete Fitzwilliam Virginal Book survey will know what to expect,’ wrote Jed Distler in Classics Today. ‘He favors less agogic manipulation and more conservative rhythmic continuity compared to Hyperion’s Davitt Moroney. However, a palpable sense of controlled freedom informs Belder’s subtle placement of cadences and phrase endings and his flexibly articulated ornaments.’

Bach on the Silbermann cathedral organ in Arlesheim, Switzerland, performed by Oslo Cathedral organist Kåre Nordstoga! Andreas Silbermann, brother of the more famous organ builder Gottfried Silbermann, originally built this organ. The cathedral’s acoustics are superb, and although the organ has been rebuilt over the years, it still has the unique warmth and clarity of sound that was the hallmark of the baroque masters. On the first of the two CDs, we find all of Bach’s transcriptions for organ. Three are Bach’s arrangements of violin concertos by Antonio Vivaldi, and Prince Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar originally wrote two others. He died at age 21, and is perhaps best remembered by music historians because Bach — while he was organist at the ducal court in Weimar — transcribed the compositions for organ and cembalo.

Joris Verdin plays both the harmonium and the organ in Nancy (France) and Bergen op Zoom (Netherlands) on this unique double CD of religious music by Franz Liszt (1811-1886). From sweet intimacy through intoxicating harmonies and charming melodies to sheer grandeur: Liszt has it all. With the help of top soloists and the fine voices of Psallentes, this is more than two hours of sheer pleasure, nineteenth-century style.

Though he lived to be only 31, Nicolas de Grigny is remembered more than any of his contemporaries as epitomizing the French classical organ tradition. Technically and in his creative ideas Grigny demanded much more of his instrument (and his poor team of blowers!) than any of his predecessors, a fact that makes his works stylistically more akin to harpsichord than to organ practice at the time. In 1703, the year of his death, his wife published a first edition of his complete solo organ works, Premier Livre d’orgue (organists at the time typically composed only one or two books, then spent the rest of their lives improvising on them). A copy of this less-than-100-page volume eventually found its way to Germany and impressed a certain J.S. Bach enough that he reproduced it by hand for his own study.

The second and third discs in the series featuring Bach’s complete organ works were recorded in Arlesheim Cathedral. The organ was originally built by Andreas Silbermann, brother of the more famous organ builder, Gottfried Silbermann. The cathedral’s acoustics are superb, and although the organ has been rebuilt over the years, it still has the unique warmth and clarity of sound that was the hallmark of the baroque masters. On the first of the two CDs we find all of Bach’s transcriptions for organ. Three of them are Bach’s arrangements of violin concertos by Antonio Vivaldi, and the two others were originally written by Prince Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar.

The beauty of this CD is that it combines two very important factors: Vivaldi and the pipe organ, and creates a most listenable and relaxing musical mood. Vivaldi concertos are usually in three parts each: Allegro, Adagio, Allegro (or close to that), that is, fast, slow, fast, and were composed for a small chamber ensemble. Vivaldi himself was primarily a violinist, and wrote what you hear on this CD for ensemble, not for pipe organ. They transcribe very well to pipe organ.

"Bach - Sonatas" is the fourth recording in Kåre Nordstoga's series of Bach's complete organ works. The main works on this double-CD are the six "Trio Sonatas".

This disc offers works for organ f one of the main French composers of his time. Jean-François Dandrieu was born in Paris and received his first music lessons from his uncle, Pierre, organist of St Barthélemy, and probably also from Jean-Baptiste Moreau. From 1705 until his death he acted as organist of St Merry, a post earlier held by the famous Nicolas Lebègue. In the last years of his life he also succeeded to the position of his uncle at St Barthélemy.

The organ music of Charles Tournemire (1870–1939) is a revelation… The Triple Choral (1910) is a key work in his journey to individuality. Organist Vincent Boucher’s performance is well paced and his expressive rubato is tasteful… Boucher employs to full advantage the magnificent Casavant organ and acoustics of the Church of St. John the Baptist in Montreal; the sound on this recording is glorious… Boucher captures the improvisational feel of Tournemire’s style in the second [selection from L'Orgue mystique] — music that is unearthly at times, seemingly in-the-moment explorations conveying striking visions… Three brief Postludes for antiphons of the Magnificat round out this deeply reflective disc.