Organ Reflections: Mozart, Franck & Reger

Featuring

Ariel Lanyi
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
César Franck
Max Reger

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Composer's Artistic Vision

Mozart, one of the composers on this album, called the organ the 'King of Instruments'.

Composer Biography

Max Reger, a composer, organist, and pianist, was considered a formidable musical presence in his time, with Stefan Zweig describing him as 'the greatest living composer after Richard Strauss'.

Performer Biography

Ariel Lanyi, the pianist on this album, was awarded the Prix Serdang in 2023, a Swiss prize recognizing a young pianist's achievements, by Austrian pianist Rudolf Buchbinder.

Composer Biography

The three composers featured on this album — Mozart, César Franck, and Max Reger — were all virtuoso organists.

Compositional Technique

Max Reger's Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Bach, Op. 81, is based on an aria from Bach's Cantata BWV 128, titled 'Sein Allmacht zu ergründen' (To Fathom His Omnipotence).

Composition History

Mozart's Andante in F major, K. 616, was originally composed in his last year of life for a mechanical organ, not a pipe organ or fortepiano.

Compositional Technique

In César Franck's Prélude, Aria et Final, the influence of the organ is evident in the piano writing, with the left hand often evoking both the manual and pedals of an organ.