Move Records Australian classical & art music, est. 1968
Front cover art for Organs of the Ballarat Goldfields

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.

Sergio de Pieriorgan Laura Cantagalliorgan Rosalie Bonightonorgan John O'Donnellorgan Ryoko Moriorgan Rhys Boakorgan
  • CatalogueMD 3294
  • Released2005
  • Playing time70 minutes 38 seconds

Listen & tracks

3 of 17 tracks have a preview · 17 works · 70:38

  1. 1 Scherzo in G minor Marco Enrico Bossi 7:12
  2. 2 Canzonetta Dieterich Buxtehude 2:00
  3. 3 Fugue in G minor, BWV 542 Johann Sebastian Bach 6:25
  4. 4 Toccata No. 3 Georg Muffat 5:18
  5. 5 Chant de Paix Jean Langlais 3:40
  6. 6 Fugue in C minor Felix Mendelssohn 4:20
  7. 7 Sonata No. 6 Felix Mendelssohn Andante 2:15
  8. 8 Chorale Prelude "Aus Meine Herzens Grunde" Sigfrid Karg-Elert 2:04
  9. 9 Chorale Prelude "Liebster Jesu" Sigfrid Karg-Elert 1:19
  10. 10 Toccata on "Puer Nobis" Rosalie Bonighton 2:15
  11. 11 "Joshua fought the battle of Jericho" Rosalie Bonighton 2:11
  12. 12 Sonata No. 8 Josef Gabriel Rheinberger Intermezzo 4:06
  13. 13 Intermezzo Op. 98 Josef Gabriel Rheinberger ii. 4:54
  14. 14 Sonata in C minor Giovanni Battista Pescetti Andante 4:07
  15. 15 Canon No. 5 in G minor Robert Schumann 3:05
  16. 16 Esquisse No. 1 in C major, Op. 58 Robert Schumann 2:42
  17. 17 Chorale No. 2 in B minor César Franck 12:45

Visiting Ballarat in late 1995, Italian organist Sergio de Pieri discovered that within the heritage churches of the goldfields were many beautiful pipe organs, several built by George Fincham, others imported from England or with origin unknown. Some were treasured and kept in good repair, their mechanical action and their beautifully stencilled façade pipes retained. Others were unused, sometimes in disused buildings and occupied by borers or a possum or two.

Sergio de Pieri immediately created a festival, the Organs of the Ballarat Goldfields, ten days of classical music throughout the goldfields each January, having as its central theme the bringing to life of the heritage instruments but also bringing many highly regarded singers, instrumentalists and chamber groups to the region in a wide-ranging classical music programme.

This CD celebrates the festival's tenth year. You will hear a great variety of music played on 15 of the Ballarat region's organs. The festival has brought music to many people who flock to the festival each year, enjoying not only the music but the exploration of heritage buildings in the beautiful countryside, the shared picnics and pasta and the discovery of beautiful, heritage instruments.

There is a fully illustrated 16-page booklet which surveys the organ builders, churches and their organs, the music, and the performers.

Performers include Laura Cantagalli, Rosalie Bonighton, Ryoko Mori, Rhys Boak, John O'Donnell, and Sergio de Pieri.

Reviews

...the entire project has been put together with such loving attention to detail and such devotion to an important part of Australia's musical heritage, that what emerges is a peculiar little gem ...

While the performance standards are uniformly high, the real stars, and equal villains, are the 15 Ballarat organs themselves...

If you close your eyes, you can imagine yourself back three or four generations, listening to music making the way Australia's earlier generations experienced it – on small church instruments played by musicians with evangelical fervour.

— Martin Buzacott, Limelight

Artists

Photograph of Sergio de Pieri

Sergio de Pieri

organ

Born in Treviso, Italy, well-known organist Sergio de Pieri emigrated to Australia in the 1960s and was chiefly responsible for reviving local interest in the organ and its true repertoire. He was organist at the Basilica of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne, Chief Study Organ Lecturer at the University of Melbourne and still regularly performs throughout Australia, Europe, USA and Canada.

 Photograph of Laura Cantagalli

Laura Cantagalli

organ

Laura Cantagalli was born in Florence and studied music at the Venice Conservatoire including organ studies with Sergio de Pieri. She completed further studies at the Geneva Conservatoire, organ with Lionel Rogg and vocal studies. Laura is now organist at the Eglise Reformee de Courtelarty, one of the rare churches that has two organs the same size.

Photograph of Rosalie Bonighton

Rosalie Bonighton

organ

Rosalie Bonighton was employed as a 'house composer' by music publishers Kevin Mayhew, Ltd (UK), and had an extensive list of publications with them. She was also the organist of St. John's Anglican Church, Soldiers Hill, Ballarat.

 Photograph of John O'Donnell

John O'Donnell

organ

John O’Donnell, Director of Ensemble Gombert, studied at the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music in Sydney and at the University of Durham. After performing Bach’s complete organ works in 1974, he built an international reputation as an organist and harpsichordist.

 Photograph of Ryoko Mori

Ryoko Mori

organ

Ryoko Mori was born in Tokyo, Japan. From an early age she studied piano and soon developed an interest in the organ. She studied organ at Ferris University, and the Tokyo University of Fine Arts. She also completed further studies at Baylor University, in Dallas, Texas.

Photograph of Rhys Boak

Rhys Boak

organ

Rhys Boak is a Melbourne organist and accompanist, active as a recitalist on historic instruments and with Australian choirs. He is organist and manager of music at St Michael's Church, Melbourne.

 Photograph of Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach

composer

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) was a German composer and organist of the late Baroque. His sacred and secular music for choir, orchestra, organ and solo instruments remains among the foundations of the Western concert and church repertory.

 Photograph of Marco Enrico Bossi

Marco Enrico Bossi

composer

Marco Enrico Bossi (1861–1925) was an Italian organist, composer, improviser and teacher, best known for his organ music and for the lasting standards he set for organ study in Italy.

 Photograph of Dieterich Buxtehude

Dieterich Buxtehude

composer

Dieterich Buxtehude (c. 1637–1707) was a Danish-born organist and composer of the middle Baroque, long based at Lübeck. His organ works remain central to the standard repertoire.

 Photograph of César Franck

César Franck

composer

César Franck’s music carries the weight and colour of the Romantic organ loft into symphony, chamber music and song. The Violin Sonata, Symphony in D minor, organ Chorales and Pièce héroïque, and the serene Panis angelicus remain central to the repertoire he shaped.

 Photograph of Jean Langlais

Jean Langlais

composer

Jean Langlais wrote organ and sacred choral music of rich, complex harmony and overlapping modes, shot through with an earthy Celtic folkiness that sits beside Franck, Tournemire and the mid-century French school.

 Photograph of Felix Mendelssohn

Felix Mendelssohn

composer

Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809–1847) was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. His works include symphonies, concertos, oratorios, piano music and chamber music.

 Photograph of Josef Gabriel Rheinberger

Josef Gabriel Rheinberger

composer

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.

 Photograph of Robert Schumann

Robert Schumann

composer

Robert Schumann (1810–1856) was a German composer and music critic of the early Romantic era. His piano works and songs remain among the most enduring of the period.

 No photograph: Sigfrid Karg-Elert

Sigfrid Karg-Elert

composer

Sigfrid Karg-Elert wrote extensively for organ and harmonium in a late-Romantic vein touched by impressionism and expressionism. His chorale preludes and atmospheric pieces such as Harmonies du Soir still turn up on recital programmes.

 No photograph: Georg Muffat

Georg Muffat

composer

 No photograph: Giovanni Battista Pescetti

Giovanni Battista Pescetti

composer

Digital booklet

Digital booklet Notes, texts and credits — read online or download the PDF Download the PDF

Buy now

$25.00 AUD

Compact disc

Buywell Music Australian Music Centre

Stream now

Apple Music

Also available to download from the iTunes Store.

Performers

Technical credits

  • Recording Engineer Alessandro Servadei
    Kym Wilson
    Martin Wright
  • Editing Engineer Rhys Boak
    Vaughan McAlley

Details

List price
$25.00 AUD
Total playing time
70 minutes 38 seconds
Release date
Categories
Classical, Organ
Genres
Organ, Romantic & Impressionist
Musical work copyright
© 2005 Move Records
Sound recording copyright
℗ 2005 Move Records
Catalogue
MD 3294
EAN
9314574329421

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