When Mendelssohn first played the organ in England, he surprised his public with his virtuosity, which was completely unknown to the British on this instrument. His pedal playing was particularly impressive, and as a consequence England’s extremely conservative organ building experienced an unprecedented innovative drive. The organ built by Thomas Hill attests to this watershed development. It was saved from demolition in St.John’s Church in London and – only recently freshly restored – can now be experienced as a choir organ in St. Peter’s Church in Leiden in Holland. Leo van Doeselaar is now presenting this marvel of English organ design for the first time on SACD – of course with works by Mendelssohn.

The Six Sonatas certainly number among Mendelssohn’s best-known organ works. However, it is not so widely known that these sonatas actually represent a collection of études for organ and were compiled especially for English organists.