Holst: The Planets & St. Paul’s Suite
Simon Johnson (organ)
Peter Sykes's organ arrangement, rather like Holst's two-piano version, effectively highlights the work's dissonant harmonies. As performed by Simon Johnson on the Grand Organ of St Paul's Cathedral,...
Holst: The Planets & St. Paul’s Suite
Simon Johnson (organ)
Purchase product
Peter Sykes's organ arrangement, rather like Holst's two-piano version, effectively highlights the work's dissonant harmonies. As performed by Simon Johnson on the Grand Organ of St Paul's Cathedral,...
About
This is one of the most staggering organ recordings ever to have been made! Simon Johnson was originally sceptical about Priory’s Callum Ross suggesting to him that it would make an ideal recording in the vast acoustics of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. The discovery of Peter Sykes’ brilliant arrangement answered all the doubts that Simon Johnson had and he set about learning this incredible score. The organ was of course a willing partner and the notorious acoustic – so often the cause of debate in relation to musical performances – seems to help project the scale and metaphysical properties of Holst’s original conception in a positive and dramatic way.
This is an organ recording not to be missed, captured sensationally by Paul Crichton.
Contents and tracklist
- Simon Johnson
- St. Paul's Cathedral Choristers
Awards and reviews
December 2015
Peter Sykes's organ arrangement, rather like Holst's two-piano version, effectively highlights the work's dissonant harmonies. As performed by Simon Johnson on the Grand Organ of St Paul's Cathedral, with its generous acoustic, 'Mars' sounds exceptionally ferocious. Almost as impressive are 'Saturn', its climax even more inexorable than the orchestral original…and 'Uranus', sounding especially sinister…yet much of the work does not fall naturally into the organ's style, or suffers from poor approcimation of particular instrumental colours.
