Search - Corrette, Chapuis :: New Book of Noels

One of the world's great organs.

John Austin | Kangaroo Ground, Australia | 06/29/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When I get to heaven I hope to find that an organ is installed there such as the 1783 Clicquot organ at Souvigny, France, heard on this rare CD featuring Michel Chapuis playing Michel Corrette's First Book of Noels. Organ enthusiasts will know that many French composers wrote collections of pieces based on noels. The noels themselves had tunes of sacred and secular origin that had become familiar to worshippers when sung to celebrate the Nativity. Heard here are Corrette's elaborate settings of ten of them, together with a carillon. Beside appreciating the sonorities of the magnificent Clicquot organ, listen to the snarling sound of the musette (a kind of bagpipe) on Track 10, played by Souvigny's resident organist at the time the recording was made, in duet with the organ. This if 50 minutes of pure delight, well worth a long search."