HYMNUS - ORGAN MUSIC BY CARSON COOMAN played by Erik Simmons

I received a link to this form Divine Art ( a CD company)

HYMNUS - ORGAN MUSIC BY CARSON COOMAN
ERIK SIMMONS
Enormously prolific and prodigiously talented, American composer Carson Cooman is a bright star in modern music for works which are always approachable and understandable yet never simplistic or shallow. They range from Romantic and lush works for string orchestra, to sharper pieces for chamber ensembeles with brass, to song cycles of a wholly up to date flavor. As a concert organist, Cooman naturally specializes in works for the instrument and these too cover a wide spectrum - from rich and intense symphonies, to works inspired by the renaissance, and all forms between. This album like the previous release 'Litany' focuses on tonal, accessible works suitable for concert or liturgical use, and again is briliantly performed by Erik Simmons, this time presenting the beautiful organ of Ss. Peter and Paul, Weissenau.

The review makes interesting reading too...

[I'm sure everyone would agree that there's nothing quite as sonically impressive as hearing a mighty J.S. Bach Prelude and Fugue, or a Widor Toccata played on a powerful pipe organ with all stops open, including the 32' Bombarde pedal stops. In the appropriate acoustics you can practically feel the air displacement. But nothing beats the sound of a pipe organ displaying its "quiet" side. One or two single stops per manual always reveal the beautiful tone, the soul, of a well built instrument. This recording contains a variety of short, quiet works for organ written by Carson Cooman over the period from 1999 to 2015. Most of the pieces were written in memory of various individuals and are therefore mostly serene and contemplative, and make full use of the 1787, Johann Nepomuk Holzhey organ of St. Peter & Paul, Weissenau, Germany's beautiful registration. It's plain to see that I've been rather impressed by some other recordings of organist Erik Simmons performing the organ music of Carson Cooman, and this one is no exception. Simmons instinctively knows which combination of stops is best suited to each individual piece based on its style, solemnity or character, and therefore brings together the organ's tonal qualities and the music's anima to create an image of lasting impression.

This recording was produced in live performance via the Hauptwerk system, which involves MIDI and virtual models of actual instruments. It would take too long to explain clearly how this works, but it is certainly worth your time to investigate it further. It's almost like being in two places at once, or rather like playing an instrument remotely in real-time. Quite fascinating!
Jean-Yves Duperron

Iain

Thanks for the mention, Iain. It's been a great project recording these CDs of Carson's music.

The classical CD market is not what it was a few decades ago. Anyone who is considering a purchase should understand that every single CD sold makes a difference to the CD labels these days. So, if you're inclined, consider these for yourselves or for your friends.

For the record, I get exactly $0.00 out of this. My purpose in doing these recordings is to keep organ music thriving and to create awareness of the wonderful talent that Carson possesses. It has also been good to make more people aware of Hauptwerk, which is great too.

Hauptwerk enthusiasts and model makers can take pride in the reception of the technology in these recordings. Many reviewers comment on the clarity, presence, and outstanding overall quality of the sound itself. Of course, there have been some people who dismiss Hauptwerk, but the general reception has been wonderful. These recordings would not have been possible without Hauptwerk. I could not have afforded to do the travel, facility and equipment rental, sound engineer contract, etc. Full stop, the CDs would not exist. Hauptwerk, and the models where commercial recordings are permitted, have been essential.

Hymnus is the latest CD in the series. Here are links to it and the others before it going back to 2012:
Canzona (2012, Krzeszów model): http://kunaki.com/Sales.asp?PID=PX0020T5IX
Planctus (2013, Utrecht model): http://kunaki.com/sales.asp?PID=PX00ZWXVLP
Litany (2014, Rotterdam hoofdorgel model): http://www.divineartrecords.com/CD/25116info.htm
Masque (2015, Rotterdam hoofdorgel model): http://www.divineartrecords.com/CD/25127info.htm
Preludio (2CDs, 2016, Krzeszów model): http://www.divineartrecords.com/CD/21229info.htm
Hymnus (2017, Weissenau model): http://www.divineartrecords.com/CD/25147info.htm

Next in the series will be Exordium, which will be released this summer by Divine Arts and is recorded on the St. Omer model. Litany, the first broad commercial release with Divine Arts, was very well received by critics - see the reviews on the Divine Arts page. It would be an understatement to say that I was thrilled to see the response.

I also did a CD of the music of American composer James Woodman on the Soundspells label:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/eriksimmons. It is done on the Rotterdam hoofdorgel model.

So, Hauptwerk is winning hearts, minds, and ears, sometimes in surprising places. If you can, support the music and keep classical CDs, and organ CDs in particular, alive.

Thanks,
Erik

Just purchased Hymnus on iTunes. Very good! I think the Weissenau organ is very well suited to the repertoire. There should be more commercial recordings by the talented members of the Hauptwerk community!

Just purchased Hymnus on iTunes. Very good!

Thank you very much for your support. I'm happy you enjoy the recording.

I've just posted the opening track of Exordium on the Concert Hall for a hint of what is coming next in July: http://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/24354.

Erik

Another review just out, extolling the audio quality that we can achieve in recordings using Hauptwerk.

Excerpt:

Producers of organ recordings have always wrestled with microphone placement in the quest for the right balance of acoustic space and the instrument’s presence. The problem becomes more complex when organ pipes are located in different places throughout a building. Enter digital technology... Every actual sound from the initial speaking attack of a pipe to its final decay and slight pitch drop is captured faithfully with every note. The authenticity of the performance location sounds so complete, it makes the likelihood of the recording being done in the comfort of his living room, even more astounding.

It’s a terrific recording for three reasons: superb playing, fine composition and technological astonishment.

Everyone involved in producing Hauptwerk and such excellent models, please take a bow.

Erik

Full review: https://www.thewholenote.com/index.php/booksrecords2/classicalabeyond/26618-keyed-in-march-2017