It is a magnificent instrument and its wide range of colouring, which Simon Preston draws on with characteristic flair, is highly suited to the orchestral transcriptions included in the present programme. Ingeniously, Preston's registration gives the opening Stars and Stripes a gaudy, carousel-like brilliance, but in Ives's gleefully disrespectful Variations on ''America'' (which of course has the same melody as our own national anthem) Preston is even more obviously in his element, finding an ideal balance between mock-solemn sonority and brilliance. Donald Buck was the resident organist in Boston from 1872 onwards and his elaborate set of Variations on ''The Last Rose of Summer'' is characteristic of the era, a bit long-winded, and a good deal more conventional than Ives's piece. Lemare's Andantino is a mildly sentimental morceau, which became famous in the 1920s when lyrics were added and the tune became Moonlight and roses.

The rest of the programme offers plenty of rhetoric and dashing passagework: the finale of Guilmant's Sonata is quite dazzling. The recording is splendid, showing the acoustical skill of the architect, Henry Vaughan, who produced a large hall for the sole purpose of flattering the organ which it was to house. The Argo engineers provide spectacle and ambience, good definition and presence.

-- Ivan March, Gramophone [11/1990]