Gillian Weir has devised an ingenious programme of 11 toccatas; they come from five countries and span four centuries, so there's plenty of musical variety. One can relish the sparkle and flow of Bach's string-based keyboard writing and his peerless counterpoint in the Dorian Toccata and Fugue. Equally enjoyable are the many contrasting moods during the toccatas by Buxtehude, Muffat and Rossi. It's also a pleasure to hear some rarely performed pieces such as the toccatas by Mushel and Slonimsky with their tongue-in-cheek quality, the majesty and ecstasy of Peeters's plainsong-based work, and Saint-Martin's heroic composition.

All these different elements are superbly conveyed by Gillian Weir who brings a youthful vigour to everything she plays. Only in the toccatas by Heiller and Planyavsky does one wish for more vivid characterisation of the dance/rumba styles and the composers's detailed articulation markings. Birmingham's four-manual 82-stop Klais organ doesn't help as it has a surprising lack of clarity and impact plus an unsatisfying harshness in forte passages. On the credit side, it does possess many delightful quiet registers and it provides huge dynamic changes in Reger's frenetic Toccata followed by an awesome, gigantic crescendo throughout the fugue.

Alongside the 11 toccatas is William McVicker's inventive and witty variations on Youmans's “Tea for Two”; a brilliant essay in musical pastiche. Hopefully Weir's splendid performance will stimulate other recitalists to programme this piece - it should prove an instant hit!

-- Christopher Nickol, Gramophone [1/2007]