As Vol. 21 of their Complete Mozart Edition Philips describe the contents of this two-disc set as ''Organ Sonatas and Solos''. Anyone looking for a comprehensive collection of the fragments, arrangements and uncertain pieces which represent the sum total of Mozart's organ music, though, will have to look elsewhere.
The organ solos here are the three pieces Mozart was commissioned to write for a mechanical clock installed by the self-styled 'Count' Joseph Deym in the Mausoleum of Field Marshal Loudon. These pieces were to be played every hour on the hour and were supposed to be funereal in character—a waxwork of Loudon reposing in his coffin was the Mausoleum's centre-piece. A strange commission, indeed, and one which Mozart described in a letter to his wife as ''loathsome work''. But while such a mechanically-propelled instrument would almost certainly have stifled the creative instincts of a lesser composer, Mozart responded to the challenge with some remarkably fine music, and only the solemn K608 or the outer sections of K594 can in any way be described as funereal.
Daniel Chorzempa has caught the rhythmic regularity of a clock mechanism absolutely perfectly. The F minor, K594 unfolds with an inevitability which in its own way is quite captivating, and he carefully avoids excessive use of rubato or rallentando. The organ makes a lovely bright, clear sound and the recording is beautifully crisp and alive. It certainly suits the light character of K594 and 616 splendidly. The more substantial Fantasia (K608) with its Bach-like fugal sections here lacks some of the splendour and majesty given to it by Ian Tracey on Mirabilis/Gamut ((CD) MRCD901, 4/91) and in places Chorzempa's fingerwork is not always as clean as it might be.
The sonatas are, in fact, the 17 Church Sonatas Mozart wrote to be played between the Epistle and Gospel during Mass at Salzburg Cathedral. Of necessity these had to be short pieces, but again Mozart triumphed over a potential adversity and created some wonderfully brief musical cameos. As for describing them as organ music, well that might be taking things a little too far. True the organ plays an integral role in several of them; the final one, for example, is almost a self-contained concertante movement with the organ cast in the solo role. But for the most part the organ's function is little more than a continuo instrument. This is a decidedly grandiose recording. The large orchestra, hefty organ and opulent acoustic give these miniatures a pomposity somewhat at odds with their true character. It must be pointed out, though, that these recordings were made almost 20 years ago, before the use of original instruments and smaller-size orchestral groups became the accepted norm. The King's Consort on Hyperion ((CD) CDA66377, 11/90) provide a more appropriate version for our age of authenticity, but those who still hanker after the big sound of a romantic orchestra playing Mozart will certainly find these performances entirely acceptable.'