Stefan Kagl - Ireland: Complete Organ Works (2010) [SACD]

John Ireland (1879-1962) is a somewhat shadowy member of a group of English composers who studied at the Royal College of Music with fellow-students Vaughan-Williams and Gustav Holst. Having become the youngest member of the Royal College of Organists at age 18, he took organist positions at several London churches, while writing for piano, orchestra and chorus. His very personal style was based on Beethoven and Brahms, and later he was attracted by the French impressionists, and created a sort of English Impressionism. The impressionism, however, does not really feature in his organ music, of which he wrote surprisingly little, considering the amount of time he must have spent in the organ loft.