The first recording of the Kenneth Tickell organ in Little Saint Mary’s Church, Cambridge, played by Anne Page.
The beautiful organ, installed in 2007, has a surprising range of tone colours in a relatively small number of stops, and in a wide-ranging programme of works from the sixteenth century to the present day, organist Anne Page shows off the amazing versatility of the instrument.
In keeping with the dedication of the Church, the programme is constructed around works dedicated to the Virgin Mary, beginning and ending with extended settings for solo organ of the Magnificat - the Song of Mary.
Other works by Bach and Mendelssohn show off the Baroque and Classical voices of the organ.
The recording includes first recordings of works by David Apprahamiam Liddle, and Ian de Massini - the latter composer a former Director of Music at the church - and the first recording by a British organist of “Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält BWV 1128” - a recently-discovered Chorale Fantasia by Bach.
Anne Page is one the UK’s most respected solo organists and teachers. Born in Perth, Australia, she won a scholarship to study in Europe and spent two years in the class of Marie-Claire Alain at the Conservatory of Rueil-Malmaison in Paris. Further study followed with Peter Hurford in Cambridge, and then two years with Jacques van Oortmerssen at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam brought a deeper awareness of historically informed performance. She has taught generations of organ scholars at Cambridge, and is one of the founders of the Cambridge Academy of Organ Studies. She has also been at the forefront of the revival of interest in the harmonium.
In the last few years Kenneth Tickell emerged as one of the UK’s most in-demand organ builders, building highly-respected instruments in Worcester Cathedral (the Quire organ - his largest instrument), Newcastle RC Cathedral, and Cheltenham Ladies College. His sudden death in June 2014 robbed the organ world of one of its greatest builders.
This recording is dedicated to the memory of Kenneth Tickell (1956–2014).
