I first heard Reubke's Piano Sonata at a concert given in 1982 by Jean Guillou. My impression then was of a disjointed work conceived more in terms of the organ than the piano. Hearing Guillou again on this disc, I realize that the fault lies with him rather than Reubke. For this is the piano playing of an organist, concentrating heavily on the release of notes and separating the musical strands as if on the different manuals of an organ. The true measure of the work is better shown in Tanski's performance. He takes an altogether broader overview allowing the music to develop naturally without over-emphasizing minutiae, and making full use of the piano's expressive capabilities. This is a fine performance which goes some way to convincing me that it is a significant work in the nineteenth-century tradition of heroic piano writing.
Guillou's reading of the Organ Sonata is characteristically idiosyncratic, but here, on his 'main' instrument, his playing has more authority. Even his unconventional use of registration (for example the pedal passage between bars 36 and 40 of the Adagio where he uses solo 4-foot, then 8-foot and then 16-foot stops) has total conviction, and his habit of missing out the final half-beat of bars at moments of greatest tension only serves to heighten the excitement. This is an electrifying performance, full of vehement imagery and power. It is greatly enhanced by Dorian's stunning recording which vividly captures the organ's entire dynamic and tonal range with the 32-foot flues in particular shudderingly real. Martin sander s performance is certainly more literal to Reubke's score, but no less committed to the work's character. He measures everything well, and there is excitement and menace in full measure. The organ itself is singularly well suited to this repertoire.
Of the two other CD versions of the Organ Sonata currently available, I cannot accept the clumsiness of Micheline Lagache's playing on Motette/Priory in spite of her very passionate approach to the work as a whole, and I find Simon Preston's DG recording very down to earth. His tempos seem painfully slow, and at 26'12'' his is by far the slowest performance (Sander takes 25'16'' Lagache 23'42'' and Guillou 21'40''). Moreover, the Westminster Abbey organ as it was in 1985 is just too warm and comfortable for a work of such darkness and menace.'