Complete Organ Works, Vol. 5

This disc contains a single work: the epic Organ Symphony No. 8. As Ben van Oosten performs it, including the prelude from the 1887 version of the piece, the work is nearly an hour long, though it isn't really a symphony in the traditional sense. For Widor, the "symphonic" concept resided in his exploitation of the almost orchestral colors of the great Cavaille-Coll organs of late-19th-century France. Musically, the work is an extended suite in seven movements, including an extensive set of variations, two adagios, and a typically zippy finale. Widor's Organ Symphonies remain one of the great legacies of 19th-century French music, and they deserve to be better known. This series is uniformly excellent. --David Hurwitz