Michael Murray - Franck: The Complete Masterworks for Organ (1990)

As a beneficiary of the French organ tradition -- passed on from one teacher to the next, each a luminary -- Michael Murray is keen to make his recordings as educational as they are enjoyable. In his informative liner notes, Murray describes in detail the important contribution César Franck made to French music; and his survey of the organ masterpieces shows how Franck expanded the instrument's expressive range and introduced to its literature a symphonic approach that has influenced composers from d'Indy to Messiaen. The somber Fantasy in A and the rather slight Cantabile may not impress, but the highly dramatic Pièce Héroïque gives an indication of Franck's progress toward more expansive structures. The Pièces (6), Opp. 16-21, exploit the organ's registration and dynamic possibilities as never before. Of this series, the most magnificent work is the Grande pièce symphonique, a precursor to the later organ symphonies of Widor and Vierne. Yet of all the set's selections, the Chorales (3) stand as Franck's most profound testament, a work that approaches the greatness of Bach in both contrapuntal mastery and formal design. Murray performs on the Cavaillé-Coll organ at Saint Sernin in Toulouse, an instrument that is similar in character to Franck's organ at Saint Clotilde.

Review by Blair Sanderson