Apart from a small handful of pieces, the works of Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877-
1933) tend to be on the fringes of the standard organ repertory--far more so 
than those of his contemporary, Max Reger (1873-1916), whose overall stylistic 
diction is very similar. I was surprised at how few recordings of Karg-Elert's 
works are listed in the ARG cumulative index.

It could be that his stock is on the rise. Priory is in the process of bringing 
out recordings of his complete organ works played by Karg-Elert specialist 
Stephan Engels. The present disc is the third in a series played by Elke Volker 
for Aeolus. The series bears the title "Ultimate Organ Works", but there is not 
a clue in the accompanying booklet as to what the title may signify.

Donald Metz reviewed the first two volumes in the series (Aeolus 10121 & 10171; 
March/April 2007) together with a volume in the Engels series (Priory 830). He 
praised Volker's performance and the quality of the recorded sound, but he 
characterized the music itself as "murky", a verdict seconded by David Mulbury. 
I suppose I was already prepared for Karg-Elert's overripe post-Wagnerian 
harmonic diction, so the density of the music did not bother me. (Of course, my 
task was to sit through one disc, not three.) On the contrary, given the 
composer's idiom, I found the music cleanly etched and persuasively performed by 
Volker and her colleagues.

The instrument in this case is a four-manual by Georg Stahlhuth at St Martin's 
Church, Dudelange, dating from 1912. A failed attempt in 1962 to turn it into a 
baroque organ was remedied in 2001-2 by a restoration of the German romantic 
Stahlhuth tonal design, together with voices from the French and English 
romantic traditions. I find the recorded sound dazzlingly beautiful. It is rich 
and uncompromisingly romantic but not at all turgid or unclear, even with the 
sumptuous room reverberation. Volker's performances are passionate but 
consummately disciplined. They convey an intensity and urgency that is intrinsic 
to the music, and sometimes an atmosphere of serenity tinged with melancholy, 
but never merely a self-indulgent wallowing in sentiment.

I must confess that all these works are new to me. The Three Symphonic Chorales, 
Op. 87 (1911) are based on familiar Lutheran hymns. The first ('Ach Bleib mit 
Deiner Gnade') is a set of variations. The second ('Jesu, Meine Freude') is a 
substantial three-movement structure whose opening movement is subtitled 
'Inferno'. II is a canzona, and III a fugue with chorale. The third symphonic 
chorale ('Nun Ruhen Alle Walder') begins as an organ solo, but about half way 
through a solo violin enters with the chorale melody followed soon after by the 
solo soprano. The two songs from the Op. 66 set of three (1906 and 1909) also 
include the violin. The program ends with an extended setting of Psalm 1 (c 
1915) for high voice and organ. Breitkopf & Hartel declined to publish it at the 
time, and it did not appear in print until 1996. It is a discursive but 
broodingly impassioned setting with a vehement organ introduction.

In the works involving voice and violin I suspect that some of the levels may 
have been artificially manipulated, as it is so easy for a large pipe organ to 
swamp a single violin or solo voice. Be that as it may, everything is distinctly 
audible. Soprano Andrea Reuter and violinist Robert Frank are excellent. I would 
not hesitate to recommend this recording to anyone interested in the repertory. 

  --William Gatens