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ARTISTS: Track 1: Marlies Giesen (soprano) - Students at the Cologne College of Music - Oskar Gottlieb Blarr (line) Track 2: Students of Cologne University of Music Track 3: Alfonso Kontarsky, Aloys Kontarsky, Bernhard Kontarsky (piano) Track 4: Franz Josef Maier (violin) - Johannes Fritsch (viola) - Siegfried Palm (cello) - Paul Breuer (bass)- Bernhard Kontarsky (piano) Track 5: Lesley Olson (flute) - Susanne Achilles (piano) Track 6: Siegfried Palm (cello) - Aloys Kontarsky ( piano)

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ARTISTS: Track 1: Johannes Fritsch (viola) Track 2: Lothar Faber (oboe) Track 3: Patricio Cadiz (violin) - Rhenish Chamber Orchestra - Thomas Baldner (lead) – Johannes Fritsch (Sound Design) Track 4: Johannes Fritsch (viola) - Rolf Gehlhaar (Player 1) - Alfred Alings (Player 2) – Karlheinz Stockhausen (Player 3) Track 5: Dieter Wernecke (Speaker) - Michael Ranta (drums) - Volker Müller (sound) Booklet

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ARTISTS: Track 1: Akkobasso Trio (Amy K. Goeser, oboe - Heike Storm, accordion - Eberhard Maldfeld, double bass) Track 2: Dieter Wernecke (Speaker), Bernhard Haas (organ) Track 3: Stephen Grant (baritone), Camilla Hoitenga (alto flute ), Jonny Axelsson (drums)

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51 OFFICES DE L’ANNÉE LITURGIQUE INSPIRÉS DU CHANT GRÉGORIEN ET LIBREMENT PARAPHRASÉS EDITION INTÉGRALE
Office No. 40 – Cycle après la Pentecote, Op. 57
Office No. 34 - Cycle après la Pentecote, Op. 57
Office No. 35 - Cycle après la Pentecote, Op. 57

Sandro R. Muller, organ
The organ cycle L’Orgue Mystique by Charles Tournemire (1870-1939) – pupil of César Franck and Charles Marie Widor and also teacher of Olivier Messiaen – belongs to the most extensive collections in which Gregorian plainsong is part of compositional works. In this mighty cycle the Gregorian does not only appear in single associations as e.g. in the much better known organ symphonies Gothiques by Widor or Boëllmann, but is the only purely liturgical basis of an entire work cycle.
In the six years from 1927 to 1932 Tournemire composed 51 masses for the liturgical year (for performance within the Sunday and Holy Day Masses in the Roman Catholic rites), which are divided into the three cycles, Christmas, Easter and Pentecost.
It is not intended that all these recordings should use a typical Cavaillé-Coll instrument in France (Tournemire was organist on a Cavaillé-Coll organ in Ste. Clothilde in Paris) but to use various instruments which appear at first sight unsuitable in order to achieve as nearly as possible the ideal sound strived for by Tournemire and thus also to do justice to the wide sound range of the L’Orgue Mystique cycle. Although several organs are used within this series, we take care to ensure that the cycle nevertheless remains as compact and homogeneous as possible. For the first time this monument to the organ will be obtainable in its entirety on approximately 15 CDs. This project is supported by the Kunststiftung NRW (Northrhine-Westphalian Foundation for Art and Culture).
Instrument: Rieger Organ (3 manuals, 63 stops, 1969/70), Marienstatt Monastery in Westerwald

Label: CYBELE RECORDS 050104
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51 OFFICES DE L’ANNÉE LITURGIQUE INSPIRÉS DU CHANT GRÉGORIEN ET LIBREMENT PARAPHRASÉS EDITION INTÉGRALE
Office No. 44 – Cycle après la Pentecote, Op. 57
Office No. 38 – Cycle après la Pentecote, Op. 57
Office No. 21 – Cycle de Paques, Op. 56
Office No. 49 – Cycle après la Pentecote, Op. 57

Sandro R. Muller, organ
The organ cycle L’Orgue Mystique by Charles Tournemire (1870-1939) – pupil of César Franck and Charles Marie Widor and also teacher of Olivier Messiaen – belongs to the most extensive collections in which Gregorian plainsong is part of compositional works. In this mighty cycle the Gregorian does not only appear in single associations as e.g. in the much better known organ symphonies Gothiques by Widor or Boëllmann, but is the only purely liturgical basis of an entire work cycle.
In the six years from 1927 to 1932 Tournemire composed 51 masses for the liturgical year (for performance within the Sunday and Holy Day Masses in the Roman Catholic rites), which are divided into the three cycles, Christmas, Easter and Pentecost.
It is not intended that all these recordings should use a typical Cavaillé-Coll instrument in France (Tournemire was organist on a Cavaillé-Coll organ in Ste. Clothilde in Paris) but to use various instruments which appear at first sight unsuitable in order to achieve as nearly as possible the ideal sound strived for by Tournemire and thus also to do justice to the wide sound range of the L’Orgue Mystique cycle. Although several organs are used within this series, we take care to ensure that the cycle nevertheless remains as compact and homogeneous as possible. For the first time this monument to the organ will be obtainable in its entirety on approximately 15 CDs. This project is supported by the Kunststiftung NRW (Northrhine-Westphalian Foundation for Art and Culture).
Instrument: Rieger Organ (3 manuals, 63 stops, 1969/70), Marienstatt Monastery in Westerwald

Label: CYBELE RECORDS 050107
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CHARLES TOURNEMIRE (1870 – 1939) – L’ORGUE MYSTIQUE, VOLUME 7
51 OFFICES DE L’ANNÉE LITURGIQUE INSPIRÉS DU CHANT GRÉGORIEN ET LIBREMENT PARAPHRASÉS EDITION INTÉGRALE
Office No. 36 – Cycle après la Pentecôte, Op. 57 (1931)
Office No. 20 – Cycle de Pâques, Op. 56 (1930)
Office No. 37 – Cycle après la Pentecôte, Op. 57 (1931)
Office No. 23 – Cycle de Pâques, Op. 56 (1928)

Sandro R. Muller, organ
The organ cycle L’Orgue Mystique by Charles Tournemire (1870-1939) – pupil of César Franck and Charles Marie Widor and also teacher of Olivier Messiaen – belongs to the most extensive collections in which Gregorian plainsong is part of compositional works. In this mighty cycle the Gregorian does not only appear in single associations as e.g. in the much better known organ symphonies Gothiques by Widor or Boëllmann, but is the only purely liturgical basis of an entire work cycle.
In the six years from 1927 to 1932 Tournemire composed 51 masses for the liturgical year (for performance within the Sunday and Holy Day Masses in the Roman Catholic rites), which are divided into the three cycles, Christmas, Easter and Pentecost.
It is not intended that all these recordings should use a typical Cavaillé-Coll instrument in France (Tournemire was organist on a Cavaillé-Coll organ in Ste. Clothilde in Paris) but to use various instruments which appear at first sight unsuitable in order to achieve as nearly as possible the ideal sound strived for by Tournemire and thus also to do justice to the wide sound range of the L’Orgue Mystique cycle. Although several organs are used within this series, we take care to ensure that the cycle nevertheless remains as compact and homogeneous as possible. For the first time this monument to the organ will be obtainable in its entirety on approximately 15 CDs. This project is supported by the Kunststiftung NRW (Northrhine-Westphalian Foundation for Art and Culture).
Instrument: Rieger Organ (3 Manuale, 45 Register, 1992), Stifts- und Propsteikirche St. Mariä Himmelfahrt, Kleve.

Label: CYBELE RECORDS 050108
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51 OFFICES DE L’ANNÉE LITURGIQUE INSPIRÉS DU CHANT GRÉGORIEN ET LIBREMENT PARAPHRASÉS EDITION INTÉGRALE
Office No. 39 - Cycle après la Pentecote, Op. 57
Office No. 45 - Cycle après la Pentecote, Op. 57
Office No. 50 - Cycle après la Pentecote, Op. 57
Office No. 24 – Cycle de Paques, Op. 56

Sandro R. Muller, organ
The organ cycle L’Orgue Mystique by Charles Tournemire (1870-1939) – pupil of César Franck and Charles Marie Widor and also teacher of Olivier Messiaen – belongs to the most extensive collections in which Gregorian plainsong is part of compositional works. In this mighty cycle the Gregorian does not only appear in single associations as e.g. in the much better known organ symphonies Gothiques by Widor or Boëllmann, but is the only purely liturgical basis of an entire work cycle.
In the six years from 1927 to 1932 Tournemire composed 51 masses for the liturgical year (for performance within the Sunday and Holy Day Masses in the Roman Catholic rites), which are divided into the three cycles, Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. It is not intended that all these recordings should use a typical Cavaillé-Coll instrument in France (Tournemire was organist on a Cavaillé-Coll organ in Ste. Clothilde in Paris) but to use various instruments which appear at first sight unsuitable in order to achieve as nearly as possible the ideal sound strived for by Tournemire and thus also to do justice to the wide sound range of the L’Orgue Mystique cycle. Although several organs are used within this series, we take care to ensure that the cycle nevertheless remains as compact and homogeneous as possible. For the first time this monument to the organ will be obtainable in its entirety on approximately 15 CDs. This project is supported by the Kunststiftung NRW (Northrhine-Westphalian Foundation for Art and Culture).
Instrument: Rieger Organ (3 Manuale, 45 Register, 1992), Stifts- und Propsteikirche St. Mariä Himmelfahrt, Kleve

Label: CYBELE RECORDS 050201
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Passacaglia in D minor
Konzert über ein Thema von Johann Sebastian Bach
Kanonische Fantasie über BACH und Fuge über 4 Themen von J. S. Bach

Gisbert Schneider, organ (Great Alexander Schuke Organ (1992), Erfurt Cathedral)
Wilhelm Middelschulte was born on 3 April, 1863 in Werve, today Kamen/Heeren in the administrative district of Unna in Westphalia. After passing his teaching finals and teaching for a short time in Gohfeld/Herford, he began to study music at the ”Königliches Akademisches Institut für Kirchenmusik” (Royal Academic Institute for Church Music) in Berlin (1886). After a two-year course of study Middelschulte took up a position as choir master and organist at the Lukas Church in Berlin in 1888. In 1891 he went to Chicago. In America, where he intensified his music theory studies under Bernhard Ziehn from 1891 to 1894, he came to people’s attention as a result of, amongst other things, three organ concerts which aroused much public attention at the World Exhibition in Chicago. His field of activity was considerably expanded as a result of this. He was appointed organist to the Thomas Orchestra, the future Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and, in addition, to several churches and seats of learning, among others the Roman Catholic Church of St. James, the Cathedral of the Holy Name, both in Chicago; to a synagogue; he was also appointed director of the Wisconsin Conservatory, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Professor of Organ and Theory at the Detroit Conservatory, Michigan; Professor of Organ at the American Conservatory in Chicago and Professor of Organ at Notre Dame University in Indiana. The latter honoured him by bestowing on him the honorary title of Doctor of Law in 1922. In February, 1910, Busoni published an article: ”The Gothics of Chicago, Illinois”, in which he referred to the significance of the two musicians, Bernhard Ziehn and Wilhelm Middelschulte. In addition, Busoni dedicated the first version of his Fantasia contrappuntistica, an attempt to complete Bach’s last unfinished fugue, to Middelschulte – ”the master of counterpoint”. Middelschulte wrote an organ version of this at Busoni’s request. Middelschulte composed only for the organ. All his works honour J. S. Bach, whose world of form, topic and ”name” he adopted in order to combine them with his extraordinary wealth of contrapuntal ideas.
The Passacaglia in D minor is probably Middelschulte’s most widely-known work. In total, this passacaglia has 62 variations in a constant bass, always 4 bars in length, namely ascending and descending chromatically in three-four time. The Konzert über ein Thema von Joh. Seb. Bach (Concert about a theme by J. S. Bach) was published in 1906. The theme is that of the fugue from ”Praeludium und Fuge e-moll” BWV 548 (Prelude and Fugue in E minor), in which Middelschulte adopts the idea of this theme: the chromatic tones, which include a latent polyphony, extending bilaterally outwards. The work is a concert for the organ alone, an unusual title, with which, however, Middelschulte precisely describes the huge technical and mental interpretative demands.
The Kanonische Fantasie über BACH und Fuge über 4 Themen von Joh. Seb. Bach (Fantasia in canon on BACH and fugue on 4 themes by J. S. Bach) was also published in 1906. Middelschulte tries here to exhaust the most diverse contrapuntal combinations. The work has three parts: 1) Andante con moto; 2) Introduction; 3) Fugue on 4 themes by Joh. Seb. Bach.
Instrument: Alexander Schuke Organ, (3 manuals, 63 stops, 1992), cathedral of Erfurt

Label: CYBELE RECORDS 060301
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Imaginary Day – 21 Fantasies for organ

Willem Tanke, organ
Between 1996 and 2001, I composed a number of pieces for organ. The first collection is titled Imaginary Day, the second Meditations. These pieces were recorded in the Saint Willibrorduskerk in Berkel-Enschot, where I was organist from 1989 until 2003, and other churches, where I gave concerts. However, it was not easy to create a collage for Imaginary Day which would be coherent and logical. Not only the diversity of organs had to be considered, but also the differences in character, tonality, texture and colours produced by the chosen registration.
The pieces have been recorded in single takes, without any editing. On tracks 11, 12, 16, 17 and 20 I also play some percussion instruments. All the pieces have been designed to be played without the use of assistants.
Generally the pieces evolved from a useful idea, an "invention", emerging from improvisation. This is elaborated upon and leads to some sketches. A second "invention" may be added to provide contrast or to enhance the structure. Then the improvisation, played repeatedly from the sketches, slowly crystallizes into a composition. This process could last several weeks, sometimes several years, the sketches becoming increasingly detailed. Ultimately each piece may be entirely composed or may permit some improvisation. All the pieces have evolved in this manner, excepting "For a Child" and "Bagpipes," which were composed from the start.

Label: CYBELE RECORDS 130101
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Sonata No. 60 in C major Hob. XVI/50
Sonata No. 61 in D major Hob. XVI/51
Sonata No. 62 in E flat major Hob. XVI/52

Thomas Leander, piano
ng his 18-month-long second sojourn in Great Britain (1794–95), Joseph Haydn wrote his three last piano sonatas for the German pianist, Theresa Jansen, who was living there. Haydn is to be seen almost as a revolutionary because of his exact articulation directions. The abundance of harmonic aberrations, changes of shade, dynamic expressions only became natural in Beethoven’s piano movements. He needs, and uses, the articulation terms to lead us into the nature of his themes, into the moods and atmospheres of his achievement, into the capriciousness and joy of narration of his works, and to let us share their enjoyment. In the sonata Hob. XVI/50 he also uses innovative pedal instructions in the first movement, which twice even deliberately achieve new shade mixtures through the introduction of harmony alternations into the ”open pedal”. Haydn is equally famous for his almost proverbial humour. The means he employs are varied: he often surprises the listener with harmonic changes or with formal violations of what was normal up to that time. Much of his music sounds simple, naive or even unprofessional. Thus he always lets us share the enjoyment which he must have felt. His slow movements are grave, perhaps even serious and solemn, but are, because of their speech in sound, as in a dialogue, a discussion full of meaning and drama; one can almost hear words as music sounding through their rhythm.

Label: CYBELE RECORDS 140201
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Sonata in A minor, Op. 143 (D 784)
Sonata in B flat major, Op. posth. (D 960)

Bernd F. Marseille, piano
Schubert wrote his A minor piano sonata Op. 143 (D 784) in 1823 after a break of several years from composing piano sonatas – a break often described in literature as his “crisis years”. Schubert does not deal with his material in the sense of motif-thematic work, but makes his motifs and themes appear in a constantly changing light, in varying colors. Schubert invades the deepest dimensions of music with harmony and timbre, opens up new areas and balances them in all directions. He often interrupts the continuity, the pulse of the music – going as far as to create the impression of complete standstill.
Schubert completed the Sonata in B flat major on 26 September, 1828, barely two months before his death. Therefore many performers try to interpret the piece as one being marked by resignation and hopelessness, a musical legacy pervaded by the foreboding of death and full of the atmosphere of farewell. This sonata is, however, in comparison to the other two from 1828 – C minor, Op. posthumous (D 958) and A major, Op. posthumous (D 959) – almost light-heartedly mellow and in its emotional spectrum balanced as no other of Schubert’s sonatas.

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Davidsbundlertanze, Op. 6
Waldszenen, Op. 82

Bernd F. Marseille, piano
In his life and even more so in his art Robert Schumann embodied, like no other composer of his day, the image of the romantic genius. Yet romanticism is also capable, apparently, of appealing to a wider public. Opulently presented in the style of literary journalism and orchestrated with trivialities it seems to offer the possibility of personal identification and empathy by virtue of its supposedly easy emotional accessibility. The ambivalence of this appeal seems to correspond to an internal contradiction in romanticism as a whole. A corresponding ambivalence runs through the life and work of Schumann.
Corresponding to Schumann’s habit of inventing characters and introducing them as personifications of his own self is the idea of the League of David. In it we find again that mysterious league which, in its mystical form, sprang solely from Schumann’s imagination: the Davidsbündlertänze op. 6, sketched out between 1834 and 1836 were composed in the summer of 1837.For the first ten years of his career as a composer Schumann concentrated exclusively on works for the piano; but in 1840, the year of his wedding, he began to turn to other musical forms. The turmoil and despair of his youth, circumstances for which Schumann always found compensation in playing the piano and composing, seemed to have been overcome, and after a long fight his love for Clara was at last fulfilled. A life of emotional extremes was now replaced by a somewhat unspectacular everyday existence represented by wedlock and family life. The Forest Scenes op. 82, composed at “Dresden, 29 Dec. 1848 to 6 January 1849”, like the other piano compositions of his late period, is a work that stands in isolation, without any particular relationship to the mass of piano compositions dating from the period up to 1840.

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Das Buch deer Lieder für Piano allein, Band I & II

Thomas Hitzlberger, piano (Original Steingraeber grand piano from 1873, “Piano Liszt”)
Franz Liszt’s transcriptions of his own piano songs
In the last third of the 20th century, a movement arose, which – satiated by the only too opulent performances of baroque music, then common – aimed to reconstruct the sound picture of former performances: i.e. to reconstruct the original sound. This seeking after historical authenticity continued through elaborating a different view of the compositions of the Vienna School and of Franz Schubert and has now reached the Romantic period. Oddly enough, since then it has been the piano transcription (the former symbol of the historically incorrect sound picture) which has been helped to a new right of existence, for today this is no longer regarded as a senseless (possibly only to demonstrate one’s own virtuosity) misrepresentation of original thoughts, but it itself is judged to be an interesting witness to the spirit of that time. Just one example: nowadays the reproduction of Beethoven’s symphonies in the form of the Liszt piano solo arrangements is today no longer regarded as a sacrilege in the search for new openings in the market but as the expression of a changed attitude towards the phenomenon transcription.
As on this CD, the question as to whether it is permissible to transcribe, and thus distort, an original is irrelevant in regard to Liszt’s transcriptions of his own works – any independent life, which, in this way, newly created works develop, will hardly run counter to the composer’s original intentions …
In this album most of the songs presented in their piano transcriptions were composed in 1843/44. Liszt started to transcribe them only a short time later into, as it were, autarkic piano pieces but managed to achieve a halfway final version only with the ”Erstes Buch der Lieder” (First book of Songs).
The Steingraeber Grand Piano from 1873 (”Liszt’s Piano”):
Franz Liszt was connected to the Steingraeber firm for years. From the 1840’s on, Eduard Steingraeber attended the master’s concerts as piano mechanic – so, besides other duties, during the intervals he had to replace the strings that could not sustain the power of the young piano revolutionary. In 1873, Eduard Steingraeber built the grand piano you are listening to on the present recording. In those days, the instrument (which was designed in such a way that the housing would match the Rococo style of the concert hall in the Steingraeber house in Bayreuth) was the last word in modernity, equipped with a cast iron plate, correspondingly strong strings and a repetition lever. During his many stays in Bayreuth, Franz Liszt played this instrument, the last time a few days before his death in July, 1886.
When it comes to the Liszt piano transcriptions, what other instrument would be more suitable for reproducing the original sound, mentioned at the beginning of this booklet? Nothing else but this Steingraeber Grand Piano, on which the composer often played his own works …

Label: CYBELE RECORDS 1801
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MISS PHILHARMONICA (18th Cent.): Divertimento "Sonata prima" for Flute, Violin, Cello and Harpsichord in D minor
ANNA BON DI VENEZIA (ca. 1738 – ca. 1767): Divertimento "Trio III" for Flute, Violin, Cello and Harpsichord in D minor, Op. III/3
FRANZISKA LEBRUN (1756 – 1791): Sonata II for Violin and Harpsichord in E flat major, Op. I/2
CECILIE MARIA BARTHELEMON (ca. 1770 – after 1826): Sonata II for Flute, Cello and Harpsichord in F major, Op. I/2
HELENE LIEBMANN (1796? - ?): Grande Sonate for Cello and Harpsichord in B flat major, Op. 10; Grand Trio for Violin, Cello and Harpsichord in A major, Op. 11

Irene Schmidt, flute

Jaroslav Svecený, violin

Wladimir Kissin, cello

Fine Zimmermann & Ingrid Helena Helmke, harpsichord
Political historians seldom mention the artistic and musical gifts and achievements of those who rule. Yet several queens, princesses and ladies of the nobility were indeed composers. Even in the literature of musical history there is hardly a mention of this. Yet in the 18th century, when Europe was divided between countless ruling houses, the arts of music and dance were not only part of the generally expected culture of the nobility, but contributed to their show of power, rank and pretension.
Aside from the multifariously talented royal ladies who devoted themselves to music, there were lady musicians and composers employed at court. They, like the painters, architects and court officials whose duty it was to apply their specialist abilities to the service of the court, were expected, at the behest of their master, to arrange musical events and to compose works for special occasions: for grand courtly concerts, as well as for more intimate occasions: for evening receptions, as an accompaniment to conversation or the card-game, in private drawing-rooms, summer gardens or in the bedchamber. These were the traditional settings for chamber music, for divertimenti, fantasias, suites, variations and later the early sonatas.
The five lady composers here represented belonged not to the ruling classes, but were each employed as members of the court orchestra, as was Anna Bon; or they worked as singers, and composers at court and in the royal opera house, as did Franziska LeBrun at the start of her career. They wrote at least for court occasions, as is to be presumed in the case of Miss Philharmonica, or, like Helene Liebmann, gradually moved from court into the wider society of progressive Berlin.
It is remarkable that their lives - or periods of productivity - were for the most part very brief. There is no documentation about Miss Philharmonica; there is information covering about 27 years of Anna Bon’s life, and a mere 20 years of Helene Liebmann’s. Franziska LeBrun died at the age of thirty-five. Only Cecilie Maria Barthélemon in England survived her fiftieth year.
In the 18th century it was quite customary to employ women who had been trained as professional musicians. Whether the life of such employed musicians - whether male or female - was glamorous or miserable depended on the means and moods of their employers, and often on contemporary events as well. With the onset of the 19th century and changing attitudes to professional and public music-making by women, the 18th century tradition faded.

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ANNA BON DI VENEZIA (ca. 1738 – ca. 1767) – SECHS SONATEN FUR TRAVERSFLOTE UND VIOLONCELLO ODER CEMBALO, OP. 1
Sonata No. 1 in C major; Sonata No. 2 in F major; Sonata No. 3 in B flat major
Sonata No. 4 in D major; Sonata No. 5 in G minor; Sonata No. 6 in G major

Christiane Meininger, flute

Fine Zimmermann, harpsichord
Apart from Anna Bon´s musical legacy - her compositions for Flute and Continuo, her Harpsichord sonatas and her Divertimenti for two Flutes and Continuo - sadly no personal information is available: no letters, or diaries; not even a portrait.
What little is known of her career unfolded itself during the period of musical and artistic climax of her time, and it would have been interesting to gain some insight into her impressions, perceptions and ambitions. Her birthplace, Venice, ranked in the mid-eighteenth century as a place of outstanding musical culture, and in Italy the latest novelty was the “sonata-form”, so that Anna Bon, in her teenage years - between 1750 and 1760 - must have been composing in forms that were absolutely up to date. In the annals of musical history her name is associated with the important court of Bayreuth, which from 1731, under the rule of Margrave Friedrich and his wife Wilhelmine, became a resplendent centre for music, opera and the theatre in southern Germany.
Anna Bon had been taken to Bayreuth by her parents. Her father, Girolamo Bon, worked as musician and stage-painter, and her mother, Rosa Ruvinetti, as a singer. The Margrave soon appointed their well-educated daughter to the post of Court Harpsichordist, and further dignified her with the title “virtuosa di musica di camera” (Chamber Music Virtuoso).