Thankfully, two original soundboards were discovered and identified in Suffolk by two organ-builders successively, one by Noel Mander in a farmhouse at Whetheringsett in 1977 and the other by Dominic Gwynn at Wingfield in 1995. Following these important discoveries, the “Early Organ Project” raised the money for the reconstruction of the two instruments using copies of the soundboards as their starting-points. These were built, after extensive research, by Martin Goetze and Dominic Gwynn in 2001-2. Space is too short here to pay due tribute to this remarkable CD which enables one to hear the two Tudor organs as well as contemporary vocal music. For a detailed account of the music – an array of pieces from the pre-Reformation times to the Elizabethan period, including both liturgical material and secular pieces– I refer the reader to the excellent notes by organist and lecturer Magnus Williamson in the accompanying booklet.

The two small organs (Whetheringsett: I, 7 stops; Wingfield: I, 5 stops) sound charmingly soft and clear and are a delight to listen to. Both Williamson and the Choir of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge are accomplished interpreters of this music. This is both an important CD to own for anyone interested in the historical development of the organ and a pure jewel of intelligent and sensitive music-making. PIERRE DUBOIS

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Organs and voices of Tudor England
Geoffrey Webber
The Choir of Gonville and Caius College Cambridge Magnus Williamson
OxRecs Digital OXCD-101
2007 - 76:45 min.