Dupre

A few months ago I was in the upswing of my cyclical obsession with Dupre’s Prelude and Fugue in g minor.  That passed as I was discovering the joys of Mint Royale and Verve remixes on iTunes, punctuated with Portishead’s odd intervals.

Now I am dreaming Dupre’s Prelude and Fugue in f minor all night long.  Mostly the fugue.  Over and over.  Specifically, the opening 4 phrases of Todd Wilson’s interpretation of the piece on disc 2 from the Delos release of “In A Quiet Cathedral”

I can’t say enough about this awesome album.  Wilson’s selection along with quiet, peaceful rendition is simply outstanding.  Add that to Delos’ phenomenal recording techniques and you have something special.  (And 2 discs at $19.99 isn’t bad either! Although I got my copy 9 years ago in Tower Records’ annex for clearing out overstock in St. Mark’s Place, NYC.  Sadly, it’s gone now.)

I love how the prelude has the same gentle arpeggios all throuought the movement, and then gives way to a sentinel principal expressing the theme, with the string stops breathing underneath and then taking the theme again, dueling with the principal pipes.  The Aeolian-Skinner does not disappoint as the artist makes great use of the swell and great.

I bought another interpretation of this piece on iTunes,  from Naxos’ Organ Encyclopedia series.  While Janette Fishell plays well, (Props to anyone who can play Dupre!) she does not have the same fluidity and softness that Wilson achieves.  What’s more, she closes the swell too much at times, and it squeezes the sound.  Other times, she loses momentum and it feels like the fugue is almost lost.

The piece ends gently, with the same ending chord progression, almost exactly like the fugue in g minor.

While the prelude and fugue in g minor are evocative of a rainy day, riding on a train, this piece is more evocative of a botanical garden on spring night, where the clouds are purple and the sun is illuminating the horizon in that honeysuckle orange, pouring through tht trees.

This entry was posted on October 3, 2008 at 12:03 pm and is filed under Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.