Description

The pipe organ at Chester Cathedral was originally built by Whiteley of Chester and was rebuilt, under the direction of Roger Fisher, by Rushworth and Dreaper of Liverpool in 1969/70. It is on this pipe organ that Roger Fisher recorded the organ works of Harold Darke. Darke was born in 1888, studied organ with Walter Parratt and Charles Villiers Stanford, served as organist at St. Michael’s Cornhill from 1916 to 1966. His numerous compositions show the contrapuntal influence of Bach and Mendelssohn. Roger Fisher retired in 1966 as Organist and Master of the Choristers at Chester. Today he concentrates on his career as a recitalist, teacher and advisor on organ construction. Darke’s organ music presented on this disc is symphonic, romantic and contrapuntal by nature. The recording quality reproduces the organ with great clarity but also vividly captures the ambiance of this great cathedral. This recording comes with extensive documentation: an essay about the pipe organ, notes on the music, stoplist and numerous photos.