Lefebure-Wely on 1848 Lete organ, Rene Saorgin, 24-bit/44.1 kHz

This is a 24-bit/44.1 kHz transcription using high-end analog equipment of performances by the great French organist René Saorgin of works by Louis James Alfred Lefébure-Wély (1817-1869), played on the organ built in 1848 by Nicolas-Antoine Lété for l'Eglise Abbatiale de Nantua. These performances were recorded in January 1976 by Pierre Studer and René Goiffon, and originally released on LP by Harmonia-Mundi (HMU 1205) in their Orgues Historiques series.



Lété, together with the much more celebrated Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, contributed to the development of the French symphonic organ, and the Nantua organ exhibits an intriguing early form of those innovations. More even than later symphonic organs, the timbres of this organ remind me of early 20th century theater organs such as those made by Wurlitzer. Like those organs, its higher wind pressures produce more complex (and delightfully vulgar) timbres from single stops. The influence of opera in Lefebure-Wely's works further aids the resemblance of these works to silent movie scores.



The LP transcribed for this torrent is in excellent condition all around. The torrent includes a PDF file with scans of the extensive notes in French provided with the LP, including numerous pictures of the organ and its pipes, a list of the organ's stops, and registrations for all tracks but (unaccountably) the Offertoire.



I have recently uploaded several other 24-bit LP transcriptions of comparable quality, and will be doing more in the near future. You can find them by clicking on my user id.



Equipment used for A/D conversion: Lyra Helikon phono cartridge, Linn LP12/Lingo turntable, Linn Ittok tonearm, Audioquest LeoPard tonearm cable, PS Audio PS2 preamplifier, Kimber PBJ interconnect, M-Audio Audiophile USB A/D converter.



01 - Sortie en mi bémol [4:08]

02 - Scène pastorale [10:15]

03 - Marche en mi bémol [7:22]

04 - Marche en ut [4:46]

05 - Verset en sol, Préludes en fa et ré [5:13]

06 - Offertoire en ré [7:14]

07 - Communion [3:51]



NOTE: To the best of my knowledge, this recording is not currently available commercially. If you know otherwise, please let me know ASAP, as I do not wish any artists to be deprived of the royalties that they so richly deserve.