Recordings

ORGAN CLASSICS by Gerard Brooks
On the historic 1877 Forster & Andrews Organ before its restoration and relocation to The Wesley Centre, Malton

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Enjoy the splendour of the historic 1877 Forster & Andrews Organ in this new ‘pre-restoration’ recording of organ classics, by international concert organist Gerard Brooks.  The three manual 31 stop pipe organ was originally built for the Gardner Concert Hall of the Royal Normal College for the Blind in south London. 

It was the instrument on which blind-from-birth Yorkshireman Alfred Hollins first learned to play the organ, and on which he later taught others, before becoming the international virtuoso of the instrument, and a gifted composer of the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.

Following a comprehensive restoration programme and re-building of the Forster & Andrews instrument between the spring of 2018 and late 2019 by Henry Willis & Sons of Liverpool – one of Britain’s greatest organ builders since 1845 – the organ will be installed in the historic Wesley Centre building, in Malton, North Yorkshire, saved from redundancy and preserved for future generations to come.   

The historic 1877 Forster & Andrews pipe organ in Hailsham Parish Church, East Sussex, prior to its restoration and relocation to the Wesley Centre in Malton, North Yorkshire

Track List

1. Nun Danket alle Gott op.65.no.59, Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877-1933)
2. Fanfare, Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens (1823-81)
3. Trumpet Voluntary, Jeremiah Clarke (c.1674-1707) arr. Ratcliffe
4. Hornpipe from The Water Music George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) arr.Peasgood
5. Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) arr. Brooks
6. Hallelujah Chorus, George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) arr. Dubois
7. Jesus, Joy of Man’s Desiring, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1759) arr. Grace
8. Rondeau (La Musette), François Dandrieu (1684-1740) arr. Wall
9. A Trumpet Minuet, Alfred Hollins (1865-1942)
10. In Springtime, Alfred Hollins (1865-1942)
11. Four sketches: Robert Schumann (1810-56) arr. Trevor, No.1 in C minor
12. Four sketches: Robert Schumann (1810-56) arr. Trevor, No.2 in C major
13. Four sketches: Robert Schumann (1810-56) arr. Trevor, No.3 in F minor
14. Four sketches: Robert Schumann (1810-56) arr. Trevor, No.4 in Db major
15. Prière à Notre Dame (from Suite Gothique) Léon Boëllmann (1862-97)
16. Andante Cantabile (from Symphony no.4), Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937)
17. Toccata, Théodore Dubois (1837-1924)

Please Support the Organ Appeal - listen to a sample of track 4 - 

Hornpipe from Handel's Water Music