Christopher Herrick plays Litanies in St Paul's Cathedral

Jehan Alain's Litanies played by Christopher Herrick on the Willis organ of St Paul's Cathedral in 1969. The LP was released by Vista records VPS 1001, a highly regarded label with recordings recorded and produced by engineer Michael Smythe. He produced countless fine LPs, many of which have been re-released by Priory Records. This recording is for me by far the best interpretation of this piece, the organ, acoustic and player all come together to produce an epic result.

Jehan Alain (1911 - 1940) was born the Saint-Germain-en-Laye, his father Albert was an organist and of course, his sister Marie-Claire, became a pupil of Dupré and went on to have a stellar career. Alain studied at the Paris Conservatoire where his teachers were, Paul Dukas, Roger Ducasse and Marcel Dupré and he gained Premier Prix in each discipline. Litanies was written in August 1937 and first performed by the composer in Ste Trinite, Paris. Alain saw active service during WWII and was killed on the 20th June 1940 whilst defending the French town of Saumur. He was a devout Catholic and prefaced the work with these words...
'When the Christian souls in it's distress finds no new words with which to impore God's mercy, it repeats unceasingly and with vehement faith with the same invocation. Reason having attained its zenith, only Faith continues its ascent.'

Christopher Herrick was just 27 years old when he recorded this LP, certainly for me one of the great organ records ever made on this extraordinary instrument. He was previously a chorister at St Pauls and had been Assistant sub-organist since 1967, but understood the instrument so well, despite that awkward acoustical setting. The organ was by the time of this recording starting to show its age, it had been completely rebuilt in the nave during WWII in an effort to reduce damage from the blitz, and had been unceasingly altered by Willis III for many years. The LP sleeve notes state that the microphones suspended between the 2 dome quarter galleries, where in the Dome Diapson chorus (of old TC Lewis pipes) was in the SE quarter dome and the pedal and tubas in the NE quarter. The fabulous swell sounds amazing despite only have 12 stops. But my memories of this piece consist mainly of the mighty 32' Contra Bomabrde (installed horizontally) firing off directly into the dome. With its characteristic firey tone and those searing tubas, and the dome chorus, the effect is breathtaking.

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• Litanies
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• Pipe
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• Pauls
• Cathedral

[hans2406]

The liking of an organ is purely a private thing. Of course, or maybe, thare are better organs in the world. However, in St Paul's everything comes together, the acoustics, the architecture, the feelings you get, the sound of the organ....in short, and this is very private, I prefer st Paul's. A visit is uplifting indeed, and the organ is fantastic. I had the luck to get a ticket some years ago for the Organ symphony from st Saens, with John scott on the organ. Still thinking about it.

[trompettechamade1]

@EccentricRichard And no one mentioned the Royal Trumpets, placed at the West End to, as my notes on the "Advent at St. Paul's" CD put it, "flood the nave with sound." A very good demonstration of them is on that same CD in the "Toccata on Veni Emanuel" by Sumsion (I may have the composer's name wrong - I am terrible with names!)

[EccentricRichard]

@ds1868 - according to John Mander, the old Dome Tubas had been much damaged by the passage of time, the pipes collapsing, the metal too soft to be of any further use. Nothing short of complete recasting would have fixed them - and that involving a good deal of new metal. Personally, I do rather like the new Tubas, brassier as they are.

[EccentricRichard]

@barumite - Old St Paul's was reduced to a scorched shell, but several architects (including the great Nicholas Hawksmoor IIRC) pronounced it eminently worthy of restoration. Wren's demolition of Old London's churches (and other stone buildings) was far more to do with his personal hatred of Gothic architecture than any structural danger. One day I'd love to take revenge by burning and demolishing one of his miserable little preaching-boxes and replacing it with an ornate High Gothic church...

[a55b47]

You know I'll listen enthusiastically to anything recorded at St. Paul's. But have you heard Jeremy Filsell's interpretation of this piece that I recorded at the National Shrine & uploaded? Jeremy takes a novel approach to the phrasing at about 2:45 that I don't think I've ever heard before, and adds a whole new level of intensity.

[EccentricRichard]

@poopingeneral - St Ouen is stupendous, but its screaming chorus reeds, mounted en chamade, that thunderous 32ft Contre Bombarde and the huge acoustic aren't conducive to great clarity with that organ... St Paul's will do full justice to everything the St Ouen organ can have played on it, and a great deal else besides, because of the clearer acoustic and the way its sound is better balanced, with smoother, warmer chorus reeds and a Contra Bombarde that simply underpins rather than drowning out.

[poopingeneral]

@EccentricRichard I disagree. St. Ouen has the finest built organ built, with nearly perfect acoustics. You can't trump a Cavaille-Coll.

[barumite]

Wren had no choice - the old St. Paul's was burned down in the Great Fire of London!!!

[barumite]

Wren had no choice - the old St Paul's was burned down in the Great Fire of London!!!!!

[EccentricRichard]

St Paul's Cathedral has, I think it is fair to say, the best organ in the world. It is so exciting: it will do pretty much everything any Cavaillé-Coll or Sauer will do and is also one of the best English Cathedral organs anywhere. And that stupendous acoustic... it's funny, I don't even like St Paul's as a building, Wren was an idiot to pull down the old Gothic building, I dislike classical architecture as a rule (especially in an ecclesiastical context), but that organ in THAT acoustic... WOW.