Transports de joie

All of the composers on this recording (except for Jehan Alain whose life was tragically cut short by World War II) worked in Parisian churches which are little more than a stone's throw from each other; and significantly, they all would have played organs which were built by the same man (some of them Sunday by Sunday over a long period of time). It is perhaps this last factor which gives French organ music its remarkably distinctive flavour and the influence of the great organ builder Aristide Cavaillé-Coll in creating a whole new sound world cannot be underestimated.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II laid the foundation stone of Wellington's new Anglican Cathedral during her coronation tour in 1954. The first stage of the building was completed ten years later when the old pro-Cathedral (dating from 1866) was closed and the new Cathedral dedicated. The Cathedral has grown in two further stages since that time and in May 1998 the completed building was finally dedicated by the Bishop of Wellington. It is of an uncomplicated form evoking recollections of solid Byzantine style and provides an inspiring space for the atmosphere of worship.

The Cathedral's large and impressive acoustics make it one of the prime venues for choral and organ music in New Zealand. The Cathedral organ was originally built by the English firm of T. C. Lewis and Company and was installed in Old St. Paul's (the pro-Cathedral) in 1877. It was a fine example of that famous builder's work and was a two-manual tracker instrument blown by a water engine.

The instrument was rebuilt and enlarged in the 1930s by Lawton and Osborne of Auckland. A new choir organ was added, and the tracker action was replaced by exhaust pneumatic.

In 1964 the organ was moved to the new Cathedral by George Croft and Son of Auckland where it served the Cathedral music until 1976 when Crofts were entrusted with the work of rebuilding and enlarging the instrument to cathedral proportions. Most of the original pipework was incorporated into the new organ. All new pipework was imported from England with the exception of the Pedal Bombarde unit, the Trompette en Chamade and the Great reeds which came from Germany.

The organ has two consoles - a small mobile console of two manuals can be located anywhere in the choir and compliments the four manual master console.

The rebuilt organ was re-opened in 1980, and in 1992 the South Island Organ Company, Timaru, completed a tonal revision, upgrading of the capture system and enhancements to the mobile console.