Christopher Herrick - Power of Life (2015)

1. 01. Takle- Festivity - No.1 Power Of Life.mp3
2. 02. Shearing- Sacred Sounds - Amazing Grace.mp3
3. 03. Walton-McKie-Herrick- Orb & Sceptre (Coronation March).mp3
4. 04. Villa-Lobos-Hulse- Bachianas Brasileiras No.5 - Aria (Cantilena).mp3
5. 05. Monnikendam- Toccata No.2.mp3
6. 06. Mozart-Nield- Andante & Variations In G major, K.501.mp3
7. 07. Stamm- Rapsodia alla latina.mp3
8. 08. Dupré- Vêpres de commun des fêtes de la Sainte-Vierge, Op.18 - Nos.6-9 Ave maris stella.mp3
9. 09. Saint-Saëns- Rhapsodies sur des cantiques bretons, Op.7 No.3.mp3
10. 10. Petrali- Messa solenne In F major - Allegro festoso.mp3
11. 11. Warlock-Herrick- Capriol - No.5 Pieds-en-l'air.mp3
12. 12. Franz Wagner- Trionfo della vita, Op.76.mp3

It may not go under the title of ‘Organ Fireworks’ but this latest offering from Christopher Herrick has all the usual ingredients. It features a tremendous instrument and a programme combining tantalising rarities (the title piece by Mons Leidvin Takle is not the best of these, while Dupré’s Ave maris stella sounds like a trial run for his Op 20 Variations) with exuberant transcriptions (including William McKie’s splendid retelling of Walton’s Orb and Sceptre), local flavour (Hans-André Stamm’s flamenco Rapsodia alla latina) and one or two hidden gems (what a superb piece of organ music Mozart’s K501 makes). 

Herrick has no hesitation in setting the stringy reeds of the chamade-only Batalla manual ablaze, while a Zimbelstern intermittently waved across the face of Saint-Saëns’s Rhapsodie sur des cantiques bretons has more the character of a lit sparkler than a tinkling of tiny bells. Add to this Herrick’s brisk speeds and a refusal to indulge in the sentimentality of George Shearing’s lovely take on Amazing Grace or Warlock’s ‘Pieds-en-l’air’, and the disc has the high-octane feel of a full-blown fireworks party. There is more than enough here to excite anyone with a taste for spectacular organ pyrotechnics. 

Something, however, holds me back from recommending it unreservedly. Do I detect the merest whiff of sloppiness in the recording? A rather sour aftertaste is left as Franz Wagner’s Trionfo della vita drifts away into the acoustic smoke, and there is a definite wobble as Petrali’s outrageous Allegro festoso is extinguished. Add to this an unenticing booklet and Herrick’s own factual but impersonal notes, and the impression is of something put together a little too hastily to match the supreme quality of the ‘Organ Fireworks’ discs.

Review by Marc Rochester, Gramophone