Mozart: Church ‘Epistle’ Sonatas Nos 1-11; No. 15; No. 17; Church Sonata in G (K274/271d), Fantasias in F Minor (K594, K608), Andante in F, K616
Anders Eidsten Dahl (organ), Arvid Engegård, Atle Sponberg (violin), Embrik Snerte (bassoon)
Lawo Classics LWC1257 71:07 mins
The organ was not high on Mozart’s list of favourite instruments: if we are to believe a letter he wrote to his wife Constanze, the commission to write for a mechanical organ in a Vienna mausoleum in 1791 gave him a lot of trouble, and he did it only for the money. However, the result – at least as reworked for a full-sized organ with a real player – is sober and impressive. Anders Eidsten Dahl’s performance of this
F minor Fantasia, K608 on the Tomaź Močnik organ in the Swedish Church, Oslo, is the highlight of this album: its swirling turns lead to a Baroque fugue which, after a quiet central interlude here on transparent flute, returns with a thrilling counter-subject. While Dahl does not have the throwaway exuberant virtuosity of Simon Preston, the crisp and reedy sound of his instrument is compelling. The Adagio and Allegro, also in F minor, is by contrast too leaden and moves too slowly. For those who relish these details, the temperament of the organ is that of Neidhardt III from 1724.
The earlier Church Sonatas, written to fill a gap in Salzburg Masses between the Epistle and Gospel, are very different: these are light-hearted chirpy interludes that rather irreligiously breathe the spirit of opera buffa. There are a couple (K278 and 329) that make use of more instruments, but they are omitted here. So apart from the last, K336, which sounds like an amiable organ concerto, the organ mainly fulfils a role of continuo player, and is pretty inaudible here. The string and bassoon players are lively and incisive, but this unbroken sequence of two- to four-minute pieces is unsatisfying. Nicholas Kenyon