I saw Bruhns have been discussed several times but not Lubeck. I find his compositions quite penetrating while only few of his works have survived. I like the recordings below. The both are virtuoso performances though the Coudurier disc has a better recording sound. Does anybody know about these organs?? Any opinions?
Massive organ nerd here!
The organ in the 1st disc is the organ in St. Ludger's Church (Ludgerikirche) in Norden, Germany. It's an exceptional, but quirkily shaped organ, since the church itself is so strangely shaped and if it were to be placed in a "standard" position, half of the congregation wouldn't be able to hear it!
It started out as a Rennaissance instrument built in 1618 incorporating 16th-century pipework, but was extensively rebuilt by the famous Northern German maker Schnitger (who monopolized organ-building, an industry of scale, in Northern Germany, built Lubeck's organs in Hamburg and Stade, and whom Buxtehude knew well). After being mindlessly altered in the 19th century, it was restored back to full glory by the Ahrends.
Here's a video featuring it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmQ2OIMYsjsSome other excellent recordings featuring it I can think of are Foccroulle's Tunder, Bob van Asperen's Froberger, Leonhardt's disc "Northern German organ works," and of course MDG's series featuring this organ.
The other organ is the Treutmann in Grauhof, an organ that was built later in the 1730's. This is the Central-German (as opossed to Schnitger's Norther German) type that Bach, but not Lubeck, would be familiar with -- compared to the relatively conservative Northern Organs, it has many more string stops and strove for a milder, more colorful sound. It also shows influences of different organ schools; there are french influences and also Italian ones (the Oberwerk, played through the 3rd manual, sounds like an Italian organ!) But this can be a hit-or-miss in Lubeck's works - sometimes, I like the gravitas and color it has, but other times, I miss the screaming, blinding mixtures of a great Northern organ.
Can't think of recordings played on this organ that impress me too much, but Messori's Bach played on this organ is quite nice. So are the few All-of-Bach selections played on it
http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-615/As for the playing, Coudurier is quite nice and uses the organ well, although there are some clunky moments here and there. For Vincent Lubeck, I think I like Bocker's double album of his works (May be OOP), or Kelemen, who plays on Lubeck's own Schnitger organ in Stade. (I don't usually tend to like Kelemen, but he is pretty darn exciting in this disc!). Jacques van Oortmerssen has an excellent recording of the C Major Prelude on his recording "The Arp Schnitger organ at the St. Cosmae Church in Stade" on denon.
Flamme's playing can be a hit-or-miss, although I like this Lubeck disc. His Schildt is also pretty cool, too.
