The Planets for organ

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Hardly an unsung piece - but this version is, I believe, quite novel. A few days ago I read, with growing interest, the review by Dominy Clements on MusicWeb of an Oehms CD of a transcription for organ of Holst's The Planets.

I have an insatiable curiosity (and of course a perilous bank balance) for this CD just had to be got. Wow! Like Clements I was bowled over. What quite amazes me is how the piece works and sounds a fully unified piece. As Clements puts it, you sense the whole work is being pushed along by a powerful juggernaut rather than (in its orchestral version) by a team of Ferraris. The way the organ is used brings quite astonishingly rich and varied colour to this well known score. Recommended to all.

But hugely serious grumbles about the booklet notes, written (in German and translated into English) by the organist in the recording, Hansjorg Albrecht. Or rather, given that his notes dealing with Holst's composition of the piece and its individual movements are detailed and often illuminating, the grumble is directed more towards Oehms and the lack of any other information. For example, the performance is of a "transcription by Peter Sykes". Maybe I'm plain ignorant, but who is Peter Sykes? Should we not be told? And on what basis has he made his transcription? We know Holst originally wrote the work, in his music room at St Paul's Girls' School in Hammersmith, for two pianos. Does that two piano version form the basis of the transcription by Peter Sykes? Or has he somehow reduced the orchestral version? Again we should know. And again we should know just how the transcription was performed. I'm confused by the booklet notes. They mention two distinct organs, both in St Nikolai in Kiel. Were the two organs used separately for individual movements? Was, for example, Hansjorg Albrecht, kept busy running down the aisle in the church between different movements so that he could get from one organ to the other? Or with a clever bit of recording technology was the recording of one organ grafted onto the other? These sound like silly questions, but in the absence of further information, they become perfectly serious ones.

Argh, maybe this curmudgeonly commentator on the CD should just shut up and simply encourage others to sample the disc! But whoosh, it does annoy me when record companies simply spoil their product by not providing such information, the lack of which is hugely obvious in this case. I also suspect Oehms have been remarkably rude in not telling us about Peter Sykes.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Try this, Peter: http://www.petersykes.com/

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Many thanks, Gareth - it is kind of you.

I suspected if I went e-hunting I would find something about Peter Sykes - but I considered that a duty incumbent on Oehms, and got grumpy about it.

There are some very interesting things on the Peter Sykes site. I was rather amused by one reviewer of the Holst transcription telling us the hairs on his arms stood on end. Now that's a new one on me!