Ken Cowan - Ken Cowan Plays Romantic Masterworks: Schoenstein Pipe Organ, 110 ranks (2009)

Reviews Martin Clarke in Organists' Review:

". . . Ken Cowan . . . plays with verve and energy and exploits the rich symphonic palette of the vast Lincoln Schoenstein instrument. This has an extremely warm, rounded tone, and is capable of lengthy and seamless crescendos as Cowan amply demonstrates on this recording, while also possessing numerous colourful solo stops at different dynamic levels. The programme is pleasantly varied, the Karg-Elert pieces providing welcome contrast from the substantial and serious works by Reger and Reubke. Cowan's own transcription [of Liszt] . . . is highly effective and is given a dramatic performance, drawing on several solo orechstral stops. The Karg-Elert pieces allow the instrument's softer stops to come to the fore; cowan's interpretation is suitably delicate and playful. His performance of the Valse Mignonne includes effective use of the organ's quirky "Pizzicato Pedal" effect. The Rondo alla Campanella is a moto perpetuo study of harmonic and timbral exploration, bristling with energy and unpredictability . . . The final two works are given commanding performances; while the Reger showcases an astonishing array of sounds, these never take precedence over the communication of the musical sense of the piece. Although both are staples of the German Romantic repertoire, Cowan succeeds in making them sound fresh, through his energetic and controlled playing and his command of this remarkable instrument. . . .