David Goode recorded what was described as the first volume in a complete Reger cycle in 2003. Then he produced a three-disc set recorded on the Klais organ of Bath Abbey for the Herald label. Although not billed as such, this is the second volume, and while it also uses an English Klais, both the location and the label have changed. Whatever other changes have occurred in the decade which separates these two recordings, the impressive fluency and technical assurance of Goode’s playing have not undergone any significant alteration – he remains an astute and highly sympathetic advocate for this music.

It takes a peculiar sort of talent both to play Reger’s organ music and to set out to perform every note of it (although the progress thus far suggests it will be well into the next century before Goode completes this project). Goode has that talent in ample measure; and while the earlier volume concentrated on chorale-based works, this second delves into the extremely murky waters of Reger at his most expansive. Indeed, so expansive that we have on the first of these two discs the two longest works Reger wrote for the instrument. To balance this, the second disc is devoted to the ‘Easy’ (but by no means simple) Preludes and Fugues as well as two Bach transcriptions. Goode ably sustains the long works, deftly managing registration to ensure a continual stream of colour and effect to sugar the pill of some pretty hefty textures, while he positively glides over the shorter pieces (lasting between five and 12 minutes, these can hardly be described as miniatures) with their often weird chromatic convolutions and oblique structures.

The two transcriptions from the ‘48’ manage to make Bach sound remarkably like Reger. Through generous use of the swell pedal and warmly cloudy registrations, Goode evokes a style of Bach-playing long abandoned in the interests of historical authenticity without significantly compromising their musical interest.