Christopher Herrick - Organ Fireworks, Vol. 10 - Letourneau Organ of the Winspear Centre, Edmonton, Canada

Christopher Herrick�s ongoing tour of the world�s greatest organs gives rise here to a truly glorious disc from Canada. The 96-stop, 6,551-pipe 2002 Letourneau organ of The Winspear Centre, Edmonton, Canada�a veritable beast of an instrument, described by Herrick as �terrific � fantastic � a very fine instrument��produces a sound which is, in every sense, awesome. Hyperion�s engineers have captured the pyrotechnics in all their devastating glory.The programme is varied, starting with an unashamedly jazzy Blues-Toccata and Behnke�s version of the South African �freedom song� We are marching in the light of God, progressing through works by Mulet, Johnson, Durufle and Bonnet, to movements from Iain Farrington�s Fiesta!, written for Herrick�s sixtieth birthday celebrations last year. Crowning proceedings is Liszt�s epic Fantasia and Fugue on �Ad nos, ad salutarem undam�, a half-hour extemporization on Meyerbeer�s theme and one of those organ works which finally won for the instrument a place of its own in the musical firmament, finally emancipated from the church loft and taking centre-stage on the concert platform.For John Rutter�s Variations on an Easter Theme, Herrick is joined by the Canadian organist Jeremy Spurgeon, here making his debut on Hyperion.