Rheinberger: Complete 20 Organ Sonatas

Featuring

Christian von Blohn
Josef Gabriel Rheinberger

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Composer Biography

Josef Rheinberger, the composer of these organ sonatas, was highly appreciated during his lifetime, a fact evidenced by a letter from Alexandre Guilmant, a French organist and composer, expressing admiration for Rheinberger's work.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Rheinberger's organ sonatas were originally conceived as a cycle of 24 works covering all major and minor keys, similar to Johann Sebastian Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, but the project remained unfinished due to Rheinberger's early death.

Performer Biography

Christian von Blohn, the organist on this album, has been the deanery cantor for the diocese of Speyer, based in St. Ingbert, since 1993 and is also a lecturer at the Saar University of Music.

Instruments

The organ used for this recording is in the Josefskirche St. Ingbert, Germany, and primarily utilizes the remaining tonal substance of the original Voit organ from 1894, which was later expanded and renovated.

Composition History

Rheinberger's first organ sonata, published in 1868, contributed to a revival of the organ sonata form, which had been re-energized by Felix Mendelssohn's publication of his Six Organ Sonatas in 1845.

Critical Reception

Despite their compositional quality, most of Rheinberger's organ sonatas are rarely heard in concerts and have a reputation for being well-crafted but uninspired and stylistically 'outdated'.

Compositional Technique

Rheinberger's organ works often have scarce registration markings, suggesting he adopted a 'conservative' approach to the organ, possibly believing constant changes were unnecessary or disruptive for the organ builders he favored.