Notes and Editorial Reviews
It's good to report Naxos again sweeping aside the competition not only in price, but in the quality of both performance and recording as well. Not that Brahms's organ works have received quite as much exposure on CD as one would have expected. The 11 Chorale Preludes, Brahms's swan-song (the cynics would describe it as a deathbed conversion), for all their popularity are elusive works attempting a synthesis between the essentially functional chorale prelude form and the intimate, personal language of an impromptu. They may well be "a high point in German Romantic organ literature" (to quote Parkins's own note) but their curious blend of impersonal formality and deep emotion renders really satisfying performances something of a
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rarity.
Robert Parkins hits the nail absolutely on the head. He paces each one perfectly, the second "Herzlich tut mich verlangen (No. 9) seems almost to float on air while "0 Welt, ich muss dich lassen" (No. 3) avoids any hint of self-indulgence in its heartfelt statement of impending death, Of course this excellent instrument helps. Registrations have to be subtle rather than obtrusive with a strong bias towards unadorned eight-foot tone. Parkins chooses his stops with care and sensitivity—the gentle caressing of a Tremulant throughout "Schmiicke dich, o liebe Seele" (No. 5) transforms a pleasant sound into a ravishing one.
The whole disc (the four early works fare equally well) is a significant addition to the recorded literature of both the organ and Brahms.
-- Gramophone [12/1994]
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Works on This Recording
1.
Prelude and Fugue for Organ in G minor, WoO 10 by Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Robert Parkins (Organ)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1856-1857; Germany
Date of Recording: 01/1994
Venue: Duke Chapel, Duke University, Durham
Length: 7 Minutes 20 Secs.
2.
Fugue for Organ in A flat minor, WoO 8 by Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Robert Parkins (Organ)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1856; Germany
Date of Recording: 01/1994
Venue: Duke Chapel, Duke University, Durham
Length: 7 Minutes 47 Secs.
3.
Chorale Preludes (11) for Organ, Op. 122: no 1, Mein Jesu, der du dich by Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Robert Parkins (Organ)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1896; Austria
Date of Recording: 01/1994
Venue: Duke Chapel, Duke University, Durham
Length: 6 Minutes 14 Secs.
4.
Chorale Preludes (11) for Organ, Op. 122: no 2, Herzliebster Jesu by Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Robert Parkins (Organ)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1896; Austria
Date of Recording: 01/1994
Venue: Duke Chapel, Duke University, Durham
Length: 3 Minutes 42 Secs.
5.
Chorale Preludes (11) for Organ, Op. 122: no 3, O Welt, ich muss dich lassen by Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Robert Parkins (Organ)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1896; Austria
Date of Recording: 01/1994
Venue: Duke Chapel, Duke University, Durham
Length: 3 Minutes 36 Secs.
6.
Chorale Preludes (11) for Organ, Op. 122: no 4, Herzlich tut mich erfreuen by Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Robert Parkins (Organ)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1896; Austria
Date of Recording: 01/1994
Venue: Duke Chapel, Duke University, Durham
Length: 2 Minutes 15 Secs.
7.
Chorale Preludes (11) for Organ, Op. 122: no 6, O wie selig seid ihr doch by Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Robert Parkins (Organ)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1896; Austria
Date of Recording: 01/1994
Venue: Duke Chapel, Duke University, Durham
Length: 1 Minutes 55 Secs.
8.
Chorale Preludes (11) for Organ, Op. 122: no 7, O Gott, du frommer Gott by Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Robert Parkins (Organ)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1896; Austria
Date of Recording: 01/1994
Venue: Duke Chapel, Duke University, Durham
Length: 6 Minutes 14 Secs.
9.
Chorale Preludes (11) for Organ, Op. 122: no 8, Es ist ein Ros entsprungen by Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Robert Parkins (Organ)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1896; Austria
Date of Recording: 01/1994
Venue: Duke Chapel, Duke University, Durham
Length: 2 Minutes 32 Secs.
10.
Chorale Preludes (11) for Organ, Op. 122: no 9, Herzlich tut mich verlangen by Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Robert Parkins (Organ)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1896; Austria
Date of Recording: 01/1994
Venue: Duke Chapel, Duke University, Durham
Length: 2 Minutes 29 Secs.
11.
Chorale Preludes (11) for Organ, Op. 122: no 10, Herzlich tut mich verlangen by Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Robert Parkins (Organ)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1896; Austria
Date of Recording: 01/1994
Venue: Duke Chapel, Duke University, Durham
Length: 4 Minutes 13 Secs.
12.
Chorale Preludes (11) for Organ, Op. 122: no 11, O Welt, ich muss dich lassen by Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Robert Parkins (Organ)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1896; Austria
Date of Recording: 01/1994
Venue: Duke Chapel, Duke University, Durham
Length: 3 Minutes 23 Secs.
13.
Chorale Prelude and Fugue for Organ, WoO 7 "O Traurigkeit" by Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Robert Parkins (Organ)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1858; Germany
Date of Recording: 01/1994
Venue: Duke Chapel, Duke University, Durham
Length: 8 Minutes 53 Secs.
14.
Prelude and Fugue for Organ in A minor, WoO 9 by Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Robert Parkins (Organ)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1856-1857; Germany
Date of Recording: 01/1994
Venue: Duke Chapel, Duke University, Durham
Length: 6 Minutes 2 Secs.
15.
Chorale Preludes (11) for Organ, Op. 122: no 5, Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele by Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Robert Parkins (Organ)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1896; Austria
Date of Recording: 01/1994
Venue: Duke Chapel, Duke University, Durham
Length: 2 Minutes 43 Secs.
16.
Chorale Preludes (11) for Organ, Op. 122 by Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Robert Parkins (Organ)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1896; Austria
Sound Samples
Prelude and Fugue in G minor, WoO 10: Prelude and Fugue in G minor
Fugue in A flat minor, WoO 8: Fugue in A flat minor
11 Chorale Preludes, Op. 122: Mein Jesu, der du mich
11 Chorale Preludes, Op. 122: Herzliebster Jesu
11 Chorale Preludes, Op. 122: O Welt, ich muss dich lassen
11 Chorale Preludes, Op. 122: Herzlich tut mich erfreuen
11 Chorale Preludes, Op. 122: Schmucke dich, o liebe Seele
11 Chorale Preludes, Op. 122: O wie selig seid ihr doch
11 Chorale Preludes, Op. 122: O Gott, du frommer Gott
11 Chorale Preludes, Op. 122: Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen
11 Chorale Preludes, Op. 122: Herzlich tut mich verlangen
11 Chorale Preludes, Op. 122: Herzlich tut mich verlangen
11 Chorale Preludes, Op. 122: O Welt, ich muss dich lassen
Chorale Prelude and Fugue on "O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid": Chorale Prelude and Fugue on 'O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid'
Prelude and Fugue in A minor, WoO 9: Prelude and Fugue in A minor
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