Maurice Ravel: Boléro
Stephen Paulus: Paean
Igor Stravinsky: The Firebird

I've always believed that a good organist playing on a well-built pipe organ equipped with a full arsenal of stops and pistons can easily become a one-man symphony orchestra. A case in point is a previous impressive recording featuring transcriptions for organ of orchestral works by Wagner. So what happens when you have two good organists playing duet transcriptions of great orchestral works? Well, twice the fun of course.

For starters, the 1969 Walker Blackburn Cathedral Organ is definitely a pipe organ equipped with a full arsenal of stops and pistons ranging from a 1' Octavin to a 32' Serpent, with everything in between including an Imperial Trumpet stop en chamade. The only thing missing is percussion, and of course the ubiquitous kitchen sink. And organists Julian Collings and Benedict Lewis-Smith who combine forces as the Oxbridge Organ Duo both come with impressive backgrounds in music, including playing, touring, teaching and directing. "They formed the duo in 2015 to explore the unusual and somewhat neglected repertoire for organ duet" (Booklet notes). 'Neglected' is an understatement since there are hundreds if not thousands of piano duets available and barely anything in the way of organ duets.

You know how the Introduction of The Firebird ballet by Igor Stravinsky has a certain ominous, creepy atmosphere to it in the orchestral version scored for low double basses and snarly brass ... well its double the sinistrous effect in this apt organ transcription by Guy Bovet. Many segments of the score are so well adapted and so well "custom-stopped" to this organ by the Oxbridge Duo that at certain moments you would swear you're listening to an orchestra. The Berceuse and the Firebird's Supplications in particular are very effective. The work titled Paean by American composer Stephen Paulus (1949-2014) is one of those 'concert' works specifically created to show off the versatility, dynamic range and power of an instrument exactly like this one in Blackburn. How the two players hands and feet didn't lock-up on this one I'll never understand. It has a pulse and momentum that simply will not quit, and a massive final chord that could be measured on the Richter scale.

The piece on this CD that I just can't stop playing over and over again is the Boléro by Maurice Ravel, transcribed for organ by Andrew Senn. Despite not hearing the snare drum that is an integral part of the orchestral version, this adaptation is so clever that it makes you forget that the drum isn't there. And the Oxbridge Duo's clever use of a variety of stops along the way is sonically so accurate as to be uncanny. But most impressive is their ever so patient, ever so gradual crescendo from start to finish. So much so that by the time they reach the end and make that sudden, magical key change, I've got a big smile on my face. I can count on one hand how many recordings produce that effect.

Highly recommended! If you're looking for one of this year's best organ recordings, this is it.