Description
George Frideric Handel's Organ Concertos Op.4 and Op.7 were originally composed as musical interludes performed during the intervals of Oratorios. Handel chose to use the organ, an instrument hitherto only used in liturgical service, to emancipate it and give it a new character, more brilliant and appealing to the public. These concertos do not require a large instrument, sporadically requiring the use of the pedal board and thus making the concertos also playable on the harpsichord. Transcriptions, or rather the art of transcribing both vocal and instrumental repertoire, are an integral part of the boundless organ and keyboard literature that has its beginnings from as far back as the Renaissance to the present day. This recording presents the transcription for organ solo of Handel's organ concertos by Clément Loret, a late Romantic organist and composer belonging to the great French school of Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens. Loret intervenes on Handel's work without any scruple, offering dense contrapuntal writing that incorporates both the organ and orchestral parts, always preserving the brilliance and vivacity that characterize the original, fully using the immense possibilities of the modern symphonic organ. Played by Italian master organist Ivan Ronda, internationally acclaimed by guest appearances in such venues as Westminster Abbey and King's College Cambridge. He recorded the complete organ works by Mozart for Brilliant Classics.
