Sonata On The 94th Psalm - Reubke

With the death of 24-year-old Julius Reubke, in 1858, Germany lost one of its most promising composers. He was highly esteemed by Liszt, whose disciple he was, and while his two most remarkable compositions are sonatas in the mould of his master, they show genuine individuality. The Sonata On The 94th Psalm is one of the most striking organ compositions of the mid-19th century. (The other sonata is for piano.) Its exact relationship to the nine quoted verses of the psalm is unspecified, and that openness increases its expressive possibilities - and its challenges.

Caroline Cutliffe is the organ scholar at the Pro-Cathedral, and the Reubke was the sole item in her recital there last Wednesday lunchtime.

While it was a respectable performance, it did not have the command of structure for three connected movements, lasting nearly half an hour. This sonata is a series of arches, and like many of the improvisatory compositions of Liszt, it drives towards goals that often are deflected at the last moment.

It calls for a stronger awareness of those properties and of rhythmic sweep. Nor was the performance helped by persistently dense registration, which limited the work's enormous possibilities for contrast.

Cutliffe's playing had enough technical security, and there were some nice points of detail.

This was a brave recital, but overambitious.

Gerard Gillen plays at the Pro-Cathedral on Wednesday, September 19th, at 1.15 p.m.