Mendelssohn's organ sonatas have long been underestimated and still divide opinions, though less marginally today.
Performer Biography
Nicolas Bucher has served as titular organist at Saint-Séverin in Paris from 2002 to 2012 and currently plays the Couperin organ in Saint-Gervais, Paris.
Performer Biography
Nicolas Bucher, the organist on this recording, is the General Director of the Centre for Baroque Music in Versailles.
Compositional Technique
Mendelssohn's organ sonatas introduced many new ways of writing for the pipe organ that were later adopted by composers like César Franck and Franz Liszt.
Instruments
The album features the Cavaillé-Coll organ of the Saint-Omer Cathedral, built in 1855 by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, a renowned organ builder.
Compositional Technique
Felix Mendelssohn's organ sonatas, written in 1845, are considered the first monument of 19th-century organ music and were deeply innovative.
Interpretation
The performer, Nicolas Bucher, chose the Saint-Omer organ because he finds German music, including Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Liszt, sounds particularly clear and luminous on it.
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