The first part of a three-piece suite of delightful miniatures by Marcel Dupré - played by English organist Dr. Julie Ainscough upon the magnificent 1889 Father Willis organ of the Parish Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, Ewell, Surrey, details of which can be found here: http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D08165
The organ, which is tonally completely unaltered, is a rare and precious survivor of Father Willis' work, suffers somewhat from its present location (it is too large for its current and acoustically dry home) and was last restored - not very well - in 1975. The electro-pneumatic action installed at that time has not proved as durable or responsive as that which it replaced (Vincent Willis' patent pneumatic lever action, an ingenious mechanism which gave the player the ability to control the speed and attack of pipe speech, as with mechanical "tracker" action).
However, the instrument is much appreciated and has been kept fully playable, despite wind leakage, and still sounds heroic. If you have enjoyed this recording and others of this organ, please consider making a donation to the organ fund: contact details can be found at http://www.stmarysewell.com/music/index.html
There is also a regular recital series: see http://www.organrecitals.com/1/recitals0.php?venue=smtve for any forthcoming recitals. These are all entirely for the benefit of the organ fund, so if it is within reach, please do support them.
This is an amateur recording made by Jonathan Holmes of a live recital performance in 2006. Apologies for any sound intrusions!
Please also visit Dr. Julie Ainscough's website: http://www.organum.org.uk
