Olivier Messiaen’s Complete Works for Organ
Jon Gillock, Organist
In 2014, Jon Gillock began releasing his recordings of Messiaen’s Complete Organ Works on the Raven label. They are being recorded on the new organ by Pascal Quoirin (St. Didier, France) at The Church of the Ascension, NYC. He participated in the design of this French organ, which is ideal for Messiaen’s music. Although the acoustic in the church is excellent and warm, it is not terribly reverberant. This aspect provides an added dimension to this music because one can hear all the detail of the compositions, which are not hidden by an overly reverberant space. This acoustic is similar to that found in concert halls, where orchestras perform Messiaen’s music. These recordings show that this unusual body of music can function in more than one setting.
To date, five volumes have been released. The sixth and last volume will soon be available.
These recordings are obtainable directly from Raven (ravencd.com) and Amazon (amazon.com).
 |
I.
Méditations sur le Mystère
de la Sainte Trinité
RAVEN OAR-981
Five stars Choir & Organ (England)
“Required listening…”
The New York Times
|
 |
II.
Livre du Saint
Sacrement
RAVEN OAR-982
“A triumph…definitive”
The American Organist
|
 |
III.
Prélude • Messe de la Pentecôte L’Ascension
RAVEN OAR-983
“What distinguishes Gillock’s performance is the feeling that he has lived with and thought about this music for a very long time. Not only is the playing impeccable, virtuosic, precise, and throughly attuned to the composer’s aesthetic, but there is an overall warmth, expressiveness, and confident musicality. This is something so often missing in performances of this complex music — it can sound like an exercise in getting all the notes right, counting the Hindu rhythms correctly, and pulling the correct stops.”
American Record Guide
|
 |
IV.
Monodie • Diptyque
Les Corps glorieux
RAVEN OAR-984
|
 |
V.
Le Banquet céleste
La Nativité du Seigneur
RAVEN OAR-985 |
|
VI.
Apparition de l’Eglise éternelle,
Offrande au Saint Sacrement,
Verset pour la Fête de la Dédicace,
Livre d’Orgue
RELEASE DATE TO BE ANNOUNCED |
| Other Recordings |
 |
Diptyque and Les Corps glorieux
Eglise de la Sainte Trinité, Paris
Jade 75321 30299-2
from the Festival:
Olivier Messiaen homme de foi,
Regard sur son oeuvre d’orgue, 1995
“In this album, the organist Jon Gillock performs the pieces Diptyque and Les Corps glorieux on the organ at La Trinité in Paris – the results are quite frankly amazing. I “defy” anyone who has heard Gillock’s performance of Combat de la Mort et de la Vie to find a more beautiful moment in all of the albums (of “any” genre) released this year.”
Christopher Currie, McMaster University, 1996
|
|
 |
Organ and Harp:
Bach, Handel, Soler…
with Kathleen Bride, Harpist
Church of the Ascension (Holtkamp Organ), NYC
Jade 33613-2 (1996) |
|
|
Awards
Preis der Deutschen Schallplatten Kritik (the Grand Prix in Germany)
The “10” of Répertoire, France
The Golden Diapason, France
|