Saint-Saëns : L’œuvre pour orgue seul. Van Oosten.

   in Choir & Organ (Jan, 2013)
Hot on the heels of the completion of Andrew-John Smith’s full Saint-Saens survey on Hyperion comes another overview of the composer’s solo organ music courtesy of Ben van Oosten, which joins integrale offerings already available by Gerard Brooks (Priory), Vincent Genvrin (Editions Hortus) and Stefan Johannes Bleicher (Arte nova).

Also entering the fray is a single-disc compendium from Magne H. Draagen recorded on the modern III/62 Van den Heuvel organ in Stockholm’s Katarina Church and centred on the two sets of Preludes & Fugues, the two Fantaisies and a brace of Guilmant transcriptions.

A note of caution first about Van Oosten’s claim to completeness: included on his three-disc recital are only …