Peter Stevens (organ of Buckfast Abbey)

Peter Stevens plays works by three towering figures of the French organ world. Charles-Marie Widor’s Symphonie Romane is a radiant meditation on the Gregorian chants of Easter Sunday, and the Fantaisie-Choral from Tournemire’s L’Orgue Mystique is a deeply spiritual reflection on two of the best-known chants of Pentecost: Veni Sancte Spiritus and Veni Creator Spiritus. Two contrasting pieces by Marcel Dupré bookend the programme: his Cortège et Litanie is probably his best-loved work for the organ, while the uninhibited confidence of the Deuxième Symphonie shows a different side of the composer’s personality; its visceral and hard-hitting textures given electrifying voice by the Ruffatti organ of Buckfast Abbey.