Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Complete Organ Sonatas
Sonata Nos. 1-6 Op 65 (1844-5)
Samuel Bristow (organ)
rec. 2025, Chelmsford Cathedral, UK
First Hand Records FHR180 [68]

Mendelssohn’s six Organ Sonatas Op. 65 could hardly have been better designed for a single CD programme, ticking that ‘complete’ box and offering a full spectrum of expression and sonority for organists and recording labels keen to flex their chops. As a result, this release joins a catalogue with no shortage of this repertoire, and it’s hard to know where to begin if one is to find a true winner as a recommendation.

This particular recording has an arguable advantage in having been recorded on two different instruments in the same location. Chelmsford Cathedral has two mechanically linked organs, both of which are capable of filling the acoustic in their own right, though the Chancel organ has fewer stops and is smaller than the Nave organ. All specifications are printed in the booklet, which tells us that sonatas 2, 3 and 5 were recorded on the Nave organ, 4 and 6 on the Chancel organ and 1 using the combined forces of both. In terms of listening there is a consistency in sound quality that means you don’t really hear a great deal of difference moving between these instruments, though with headphones there is a bit more spaciousness from the larger instrument. Both have plenty of bass wallop with their 16’ stops, and in any case the acoustic is not so huge that we’re swimming in resonance from either end of the space.

This review has been made from the CD, but the booklet tells us we can find a surround sound, Dolby atmos spatial audio mix on streaming services. The present version is made with 24bit, 96kHz high resolution for anyone interested. It certainly sounds very good, with plenty of colour from the instruments without an overdose of detail or mechanical noises. Samuel Bristow released his own recording of Liszt and Wagner (review) while still a student back in 2020, and is now Assistant Director of Music at Chelmsford Cathedral, which makes him its principal organist for all services and a central part of all musical activities, so he is both a safe pair of hands and feet, and of course knows this venue as well as anyone.

Mendelssohn’s Organ Sonatas Op. 65 bring his fascination with J.S. Bach and his Romantic sensibilities together into a very approachable and attractive package, and this is a set that I have greatly enjoyed. Samuel Bristow is rhythmically precise in his playing while allowing the music to breathe expressively. He is generally fairly brisk in the quicker movements but with no sense of rushing, and he doesn’t wallow in the slower movements while at the same time relishing the rounder and more mellow sonorities of the instruments at his disposal. Picking an alternative almost at random, William Whitehead on the Chandos label (review) is a little grander in scale with more expansive durations in general, but much of this kind of variation is connected with the instrument and acoustic into which the music is being played. If you want a fuller and more meaty organ experience then there is Ullrich Böhme on the Capriccio label playing the Sauer organ in the Thomaskirche in Leipzig. The Chelmsford venue creates a more ‘chamber music’ effect by comparison, but this is more in terms of the acoustic than anything else. With its full sonic range and excellent musicality this First hand Records release offers pretty much all you could ask for from these works.

Dominy Clements

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