For a century or so the parts of this organ have been stored in packing cases. Only in 1985–6 were they reassembled by Barthelemy Formentelli of Piedmont to create the fine 17-stop organ demonstrated on this record. It was one of several organs built by Robert Dallam (son of Thomas) while he was a refugee in Brittany during the Commonwealth: originally planned for the church of Ploueguat-Guerand, it turned out to be too tall for that building and was eventually installed in the church of Plestin-les-Greves in 1653; the reconstructed organ is now in Lanvellec.
Kenneth Gilbert had chosen a nicely varied anthology of English keyboard music ranging from the mid-sixteenth century to shortly after the date of the organ to show its range and capabilities. Plainly it is an impressive instrument, ranging from a light flue (used for the Preston Felix namque) in which the chiff almost conceals the pitches being played, through to a bright full organ and a wide variety of sharply individual colours. The fast runs in the Tomkins Ground come through with particular clarity. Within the limitations imposed by the need to demonstrate each and every stop, everything is played with taste and judgement, though some may prefer a less obsessive legato.
The descriptive material is rather less helpful than might be expected for a record of this kind. It is not just that the English translation is entirely chaotic (and the German seems not much better); but even the original French leaves considerable doubt on the important matter of the names of the stops. Still, a full description will presumably be published in due course; and meanwhile the record shows that an important seventeenth-century organ has been reconstructed with splendid results.'