Simon Preston

Messiaen Organ Works (2CD)

Simon Preston’s complete recordings of Messiaen for Argo and Decca, newly remastered and compiled for the first time in a 2CD release.

Preston championed Messiaen’s organ works both in recital and on disc, at a time when they were relatively unknown in England. Incredibly, he made his first Messiaen recording – of "L’Ascension" – at only a week’s notice, in August 1962. The venue was the great vaulted chapel of King’s College, Cambridge where he had been organ scholar for the best part of five years under the tuition of C.H. Trevor. Three years later, there followed what is now the most popular of the composer’s organ cycles, "La Nativité du Seigneur," recorded in Westminster Abbey where he was by now sub-organist: still an astonishingly precocious achievement.

TRACK LIST

OLIVIER MESSIAEN
Le Banquet céleste
La Nativité du Seigneur
L’Ascension
Les Corps glorieux

Simon Preston, organ
Organ of the Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge (L’Ascension)
Organ of Westminster Abbey (La Nativité du Seigneur)
Organ of St. Albans Cathedral (Le Banquet celeste, Les Corps glorieux)