The Britannic Organ, Vol. 3 - The Welte-Philharmonie Organ in the Museum for Mechanical Musical Instruments, Seewen, Switzerland. New Recordings (David Rumsey [organist]): BACH: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, LOWELL MASON (1792-1872): Bethany, ARTHUR SULLIVAN (1842-1900): Propior Deo, JOHN BACCHUS DYKES (1823-1876): Horbury, Eternal Father strong to save..., WILLIAM HENRY MONK (1823-1889): Abide with me (4 verses) (Harry Goss-Custard [1871-1964]), THÉODORE DUBOIS (1837-1924): Toccata in G, Welte Rolls: JOSEPH BONNET (1884-1944): In Memoriam Titanic (Bonnet [organist]), CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862-1918): La Cathédrale engloutie (attr. Bernard ten Cate [1879-after 1930), FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN (1810-1849): Piano Sonata No. 2 in B Flat Minor, Op. 35 - March funèbre (Marco Enrico Bossi [1861-1925]), FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847): Meeresstille und glückliche Farht (Harry Goss-Custard), FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797-1828): Meerestille (Franz Philipp [1890-1972]), RICHARD WAGNER (1813-1883): Selections from Der fliegende Holländer (Franz Xaver Franz [1857-1920]), HEINRICH HOFMANN (1842-1902): Barcarole, Op. 46 (Edwin Lemare [1865-1934]), JACQUES-NICOLAS LEMMENS (1823-1881): Grand Fantasia in E Minor "The Storm" (Goss-Custard), WILLIAM WOLSTENHOLME (1865-1931): Barcarolle (Wolstenholme), ANTONÍN DVORÁK (1841-1904): Symphony No. 9 - first movement (prob. F.X. Franz), JOSEPH LANNER (1801-1843): Alt-Wiener Walzer (piano - Artur Schnabel), TRAD.: Song of the Volga Boatmen (Paul Mania [1882-1938]), E. MALDEREN: Le Tango du Rêve, W. BLAUFUCHS: My Isle of Golden dreams, SILVIO HEIN (1879-1928): Pawnee, OSMAN PÉREZ FREIRE (1880-1930): Ting-a-Ling, Ay-Ay-Ay, Serenata Criolla (all "Hans Häuser").
Catalogue Number: 04N097
Label: Oehms Classics
Reference: OC 841-2
Format: CD
Price: $34.98
Description: This pipe organ was originally ordered to be installed on the Olympic-Class sister ship of the Titanic, to be named Gigantic. After the Titanic went down, though, they changed the name to Britannic. But the organ never got installed because, as soon as the ship was finished, World War I broke out and the ship was taken over by the Royal Navy for use as a hospital ship and was sunk in 1916 in the Aegean Sea. The organ eventually found its way into the museum where it now rests although it was not identified until 2007. The majority of this program features famous organists and composer-organists playing a wide variety of repertoire captured up to a century ago on Welte-rolls but its efficacy as a stand-alone organ in its own right is also demonstrated in a handful of new recordings. 2 CDs.
