Vol. 4 - Four Biblical Dances, Little Chorale Partita, Hommages, Versetti

Gunther Rost at the Rieger organ in Fulda cathedral
(Motette 2006, a co-production with Bavarian Radio Bayerischer Rundfunk)

Vol. 4 of Gunther Rost's complete recording with Eben's organ works (again a co-production with the Bayerischer Rundfunk in multi-channel technology) contains along with the more frequently played Four Biblical Dances and the two Hommages à Dietrich Buxtehude / à Henry Purcell Eben's Little Chorale Partita on "O Jesu, all mein Leben bist Du" and the two Versetti (Ad Offertorium / Ad Communionem super "Adoro Te"). The SACD had been recorded in 2005 in the Fulda cathedral.

- Comprehensive booklet with commentary on the works and music examples,
in German and English -

organ         review        tracklist

Four Biblical Dances

Petr Eben comments the origin of his Four Biblical Dances (1990-91) as follows: "After the Job cycle, which sounds more tragic and introverted, I wanted to write something lighter with my next cycle. Since I have always been inspired by the rhythmic moment of the organ, I chose the dance, a genre which is used less frequently in organ literature. The organ as an instrument of the church induced me to keep to its sacral character; that's why I chose dances from biblical tales."

Eben used the organ in four quite different biblical scenes: King David, dancing exuberantly before the Ark of the Covenant, Shulammite's sensual Dance from the Song of Songs, Jephtha's fated daughter's dance, and last the merry goings-on of the wedding at Kana.

Hommage à Dietrich Buxtehude / à Henry Purcell

In 1987 Petr Eben wrote his Hommage à Dietrich Buxtehude on the occasion of Buxtehude's 350th birthday, commissioned by the Ministry of Education of Schleswig-Holstein. By choosing the toccata-fuge the composer paid homage to Buxtehude, the master of the North German organ toccata.

The Hommage à Henry Purcell had been commissioned for the Internationale Orgelwoche Nürnberg (Nuremberg International Organ Week). It was written in 1995 in memory of the 300th anniversary of Purcell's death.

Inspired by Purcell's originality and melodic pattern, Eben uses well-known, typical motifs of the English composer. It was his main concern to "express the flashing atmosphere of Purcell's music in our contemporary language."

SACD

SACDs, Super Audio CDs, are a special type of DVD developed by Sony and Philips. SACDs carry only tonal information (music, language, sounds) and are thus the successor medium of the conventional audio CD.

With high-quality headphones or loudspeakers, SACDs achieve noticeably better sound reproduction than digital audio CDs thanks to significantly higher sampling frequencies, broader frequency spectrum and expanded dynamics.

The Super Audio CD format utilizes multichannel Surround Sound and Dolby Digital with up to six channels. As so-called hybrid discs, SACDs can be played on conventional CD players, with reproduction reduced to CD quality.

Gunther Rost, Orgel / organ
(Rieger-Orgel im Hohen Dom zu Fulde)

PETR EBEN: DAS ORGELWERK IV / ORGAN WORKS VOL. 4