Thomas Trotter * * * *
at St Laurence's Church, Ludlow
Review by David Hart

Ludlow’s much-admired parish church – one of the largest and finest in the land – is fortunate to posses a Snetzler organ.

Of course the 1764 instrument has been renovated and enlarged over the years, but it still retains many original features, including its magnificent case.

The latest refurbishment, by Nicholson of Malvern, has now added new pistons and computer aids to facilitate complex registration changes. A Snetzler Cornet stop, removed in 1883 as "unfashionable", has also been restored.

Thomas Trotter’s re-inauguration recital made use of this authentically voiced addition in Handel’s Concerto No 16 in F and, through a video link (such a boon in churches where the console is hidden from the audience), gave a light-hearted tutorial on the instrument’s mechanics before playing a group of 16th century pieces to show off its tonal characteristics.

In Bach’s G minor Fantasia and Fugue, he took a rather more circumspect approach to registration, relying mostly on Baroque timbres of swell reeds coupled to great and alternating manuals for dynamic contrast.

Durufle’s Prelude et Fugue sur le nom d’Alain was an interesting example of French music with an English accent (it didn’t come over too clearly though), while SS Wesley’s uneventful Holsworthy Church Bells and Ligeti’s Hungarian Rock, an extended jazz riff over a syncopated chaconne-like ostinato, were little more than pleasant novelties.

Trotter the showman emerged more spectacularly in the Lemare arrangement of Bizet’s Carmen Suite. It actually offered the greatest exploration of the organ’s resources, and with Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No 4, splendidly played as an encore for St George’s Day, put the icing on this very enjoyable Sunday afternoon musical cake.