The four symphonies of the Op 13 set originated in 1872. Nowadays we hear them – 24 movements in all – in the revised versions that Widor made decades later. Suites in all but name, they betray a range of influences. In No 1, for instance, we hear Bach in the opening ‘Prélude’, Wagner in the chromatic Adagio and Meyerbeer in the ‘Marche pontificale’, the symphony’s best-known movement. The third (Intermezzo) is a toccata, a prototype for the famous one in Op 42 No 1. Widor’s slow movements can descend into ruminative post-communion musings and Op 13 No 2 has five of them, rescued here by the range of colours on offer in St Ouen. Its most striking sections are the ‘Pastorale’, reminiscent of Franck, and the finale (allegro vivace, fff) with its exciting, motoric pedal figure. The highlights of No 3 are the delightful dialogue in the ‘Minuetto’ between the solo flute and oboe, and a toccata-like finale built on galloping triplets; No 4 has the popular Andante cantabile movement often heard on its own, and a brilliant Scherzo à la Mendelssohn with a Schumannesque canonic central section.

St Ouen’s instrument was described by Widor when he gave the inaugural recital in 1890 as ‘an organ for Michelangelo’ and it’s the perfect instrument on which to hear his music, if, that is, you don’t mind missing much detail in fast/loud passages – the dotted right-hand figure in the central A flat section of the ‘Marche pontificale’, for example, or the clear pulse of the triplets in the finale of No 3. Throughout, Christian Schmitt takes a far broader view of tempi than, say, Günther Kaunzinger (Novalis, 10/90 – nla), whose ‘Marche pontificale’ is positively jaunty (7'53") compared to Schmitt’s speaker-crunching spectacular (9'47"), with his deployment of an awesome 32ft Contra Bombarde that will put a smile on your face. While Schmitt’s pacing takes account of the spacious acoustic, the trade-off leaves you wanting him to get a move on and inject some Gallic élan into the music.