Organist Bernard Foccroulle is a very solid interpreter with an extensive discography. , and , among others , were fully recorded by him. This new CD is the last in a series devoted to Northern German organ composers before Bach. Here we hear the stately organ sounds of Jacob Praetorius, followed by the playful, poetic sounds of Melchior Schildt. Both are not the least of a procession of organists
… who were apprenticed to in Amsterdam. Sweelinck's influence is very recognizable in the second part of Schildt's Magnificat. Canons, playfulness against long lines, echo effects, it's all there. Also special is the Stellwagen organ of the Jacobikirche in Lübeck. Over the centuries this organ has retained much of its original late Gothic character, despite later extensions. At the time it was in particular who brought this organ to international attention with his Bach recordings. (HJ)more