The Skinner Organ performed by Tom Winpenny on the cover of the album being discussed
Almost exactly two months ago, Naxos American Classics released its latest album of music by Florence Prince, devoted entirely to her choral works. Apparently, the Price repertoire is on a roll, because the next Naxos release, which will be this coming Friday, will present eight of her organ compositions performed by Tom Winpenny on the Skinner Organ of the Saalkirche in Ingelheim am Rhein in Germany. (As of this writing, the only Wikipedia account of this church is in German.)
The selections date back to 1927 with a “Passacaglia and Fugue,” which the back cover of the album describes as “while clearly indebted to Bach, reveals personal ideas of her own.” Those following this site will probably be familiar with “Adoration,” which violinist Randall Goosby performed with his own orchestral arrangement on one of the “live HD webcast” offerings by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra this past March. This album provides an opportunity to listen to the composition in its original version for organ.
The entire album is framed by the first organ sonata, composed in 1927, at the beginning and the first organ suite, composed in 1942, at the end. Between these “bookends,” the most imaginative selection is Price’s set of variations on the folksong “Peter, go ring dem bells.” Many readers probably know by now that, ever since I wrote about Rae Linda Brown’s biography of Price, The Heart of a Woman, I have tried to do my best to inform myself of the works in her catalog. Winpenny’s account of her organ works is a satisfying one, even if that debt to Bach is more than “intuitively obvious to the most casual observer!” Nevertheless, while the engineering of the album is satisfying, where the organ is involved, there is no substitute to listening to the instrument in its presence!
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