Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

First the good news: this is a splendid recital played by an accomplished organist on a superb instrument. Next the details: the organist is Carleton Etherington, organist of Tewkesbury Abbey since 1996. He is playing the restored Milton organ at Tewkesbury for which technical details are supplied within the CD booklet. All the works in the programme are variations taken from the late-romantic and early-20th century repertoire; chronologically from Alexandre Guilmant to Jean Langlais. And now the bad news: there is little or no discernible Christian content. This is an observation rather than a criticism and a warning for those who might wish to use this as an aid to meditation or worship. If this is what you are looking for you will need to go elsewhere. Listened to only as an instrumental recital it is excellent. My favourites are Max Reger’s “Introduction And Passacaglia In D Minor” and Arno Landmann’s “Variations On A Theme By Handel”.

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