Videos

Charles Maxtone-Smith plays Magnificat primi toni (BuxWV 203) by Dieterich Buxtehude. This piece is unusual among Buxtehude’s organ works in that it is neither entirely free nor based on a chorale melody, but is built on a plainchant formula, namely the Magnificat solemn tone of Mode I, often known as the Dorian mode. The alternation of free sections (stylus phantasticus) and fugues (using the plainchant formula) allows the performer to explore a range of colour on the Ruffatti organ of Buckfast Abbey.

Audio & Video: David Hinitt(www.classicalfilms.co.uk)
Executive Producer: Matthew Searles
Recorded on Thursday 6th June 2024

In Andrew Reid’s blistering Exodus Canticle the choral refrain becomes the accompaniment around which the organ directs proceedings. When eventually the choir assumes full melismatic prominence (at the words ‘reign for ever and ever’), the musical space is filled to completeness. To finish, the organ proffers a full stop comprising a paschal bonfire of prominent reeds. This canticle from the Book of Exodus, contains the first mention in the Bible of the act of singing. The Israelites rejoice because they have been freed from slavery, and they celebrate their deliverance by singing; on this night, the Church sings because Christ has passed over from death to life, leading his people from slavery and freeing them from the bonds of death. At the Easter Vigil we learn again the reason behind all singing in the Christian liturgy: we have been redeemed, and so we sing.

Martin Baker plays the Chaconne from J. S. Bach’s Partita in D minor (BWV 1004) in the monumental arrangement for solo organ by Wilhelm Middelschulte. Written between 1717 and 1720, the Chaconne is the final movement of the suite and is written in the form of variations. It lasts approximately as long as the first four movements combined and demonstrates both the sheer virtuosity of the performer alongside the vast array of colour available on the Ruffatti organ of Buckfast Abbey.

Audio & Video: David Hinitt (www.classicalfilms.co.uk)
Executive Producer: Matthew Searles
Recorded on Saturday 19th March 2022

Matthew Searles plays Le jardin féerique (The Fairy Garden) from Maurice Ravel’s Ma mère l'oye (Mother Goose) on the Ruffatti organ of Buckfast Abbey. Evoking a sense of mystery and serenity, the piece starts on the distant, ethereal stops of the solo organ and builds to a thrilling conclusion on the tutti.

Sound: David Hinitt
Video: Michael Davies
Recorded on Sunday 13th September 2020