Josef Gabriel Rheinberger
Josef Gabriel Rheinberger composed sacred choral works and a large organ repertoire. His music joins Romantic warmth with clear counterpoint, from the motet Abendlied to sonatas and intermezzos for the instrument.
As court conductor in Munich he wrote for the royal chapel: masses, a Requiem, a Stabat Mater and many shorter sacred pieces suited to liturgy rather than the concert stage alone. The organ sonatas sit at the centre of his lasting reputation, twenty works in different keys that ask for real technique yet keep a dignified, playable organ style. Chamber music, secular choral writing and stage works sit beside that sacred and organ output, with Bach and the early Romantics audible in the craft.
Compositions by Josef Gabriel Rheinberger appear on
Organs of the Ballarat Goldfields
Fifteen historic organs from the Ballarat region are heard on this disc, released to mark the 2005 Organs of the Ballarat Goldfields festival. A fully illustrated 16-page booklet surveys the builders, churches, instruments, music and performers.
Beatus Vir
Recorded live on their 1999 European tour, the Choir of Ormond College under Douglas Lawrence presents small-scale sacred works in up to eight parts by Palestrina, Gesualdo, Handl, Gabrieli, Monteverdi, Stanford and Rheinberger.