Clarke Gowers HD 1080p

The “Cavaillé-Coll effect”: 'Trumpet Voluntary' (Jeremiah Clarke), followed by 'An Occasional Trumpet Voluntary' (Patrick Gowers, 1995), played by David Briggs on the wondrous 1880 Aristide Cavaillé-Coll organ at the Cathédrale Saint-Croix d'Orléans, France.

I remember experiencing the unique sound of a true French organ for the first time at the Cathédrale de Luçon (Vendée) on a family holiday in 1977 - and it still has the same effect on my system! I was then 14 years old, and I remember my dad clapping loudly in the nave, gesticulating wildly to attract the attention of the guest recitalist (Jean-Louis Gil) who was rehearsing for a concert high up in the west end gallery. I remember the curious mélange of blood-curdling embarrassment and irrepressible, spine-tingling excitement. In his loud (and decidedly dodgy) Franglais, my dad explained that his son was a budding organist and asked if it would be possible to come up and visit the console. We did, and Maitre Gil (who was rehearsing some impossibly dense but totally wondrous Reger) allowed me to stumble my way through “Heut’ triumphiret Gottes Sohn” from the Bach Orgelbüchlein. Although this was my first direct contact with the keys of a Cavaillé-Coll, what I’ll never forget is hearing him play the big Reger on the tutti - I’d never heard anything quite like it and this remains one of those “before-and-after” moments, the like of which happen only rarely in your life.

One of the absolute highlights of my nineteen concerts in Europe this summer was to perform on the stunningly-restored 1880 Aristide Cavaillé-Coll organ at the Cathédrale Saint-êCroix d'Orléans, France. Here is the first piece from the live concert, the iconic Trumpet Voluntary (Jeremiah Clarke ), arranged in a no doubt highly-inauthentic fashion by moi-même, followed by the marvellous 'Occasional Trumpet Voluntary' (Patrick Gowers), a late C20th re-incarnation of the same piece, brimming with colossal energy and creative originality.

I hope you enjoy it. The sound is simply from my ZoomH5 placed on the organ tribune balustrade - admittedly not-optimal, but nevertheless I hope you will agree that the “Cavaillé-Coll effect” is rather addictive, and that once it’s in your veins it’s rather tricky to shake off!