PRESSE・PRESS

DAVELUY : CINQ SONATES POUR ORGUE・CBC Records/Les Disques SRC
(…) c’est la marque canadienne Les Disques SRC/CBC Records qui prend l’initiative d’un enregistrement réunissant les cinq Sonates que Raymond Daveluy, titulaire de l’orgue de l’Oratoire depuis plus de 35 ans, a composées pour son instrument. Les cinq Sonates complètes, doit-on préciser. Une sixième est en préparation, avec un premier mouvement terminé et créé l’été dernier par l’auteur aux récitals du mercredi soir de l’Oratoire. Occupé à ce sixième opus et, par ailleurs, n’ayant pas joué les cinq Sonates depuis un certain temps, M. Daveluy a préféré en laisser l’enregistrement à sa disciple Rachel Laurin. (…) L’intégrale des Sonates pour orgue de Raymond Daveluy – disons plutôt «Intégrale, volume 1» puisqu’il reste à venir une autre sonate, peut-être même davantage – est une magistrale réussite, et ce à tous égards. Car il y a la musique et il y a la façon de la transmettre. (…) Conçue principalement sur un instrument de tradition germanique, la musique pour orgue de Daveluy s’inscrit nettement dans cette esthétique : elle est massive, sévère même, elle s’exprime avec facilité dans le langage fugué, comme chez Bach, et reprend, en les transformant, les procédés harmoniques propres à Hindemith. Et Rachel Laurin possède toutes les qualités requises pour la bien traduire : la technique puissante et libre de toute contrainte, l’imagination dans la registration, l’envergure de musicienne et d’interprète. De plus, étant elle-même compositrice, elle montre une totale compréhension de la construction même de cette musique très écrite et souvent fort complexe. Elle a d’ailleurs signé les excellents commentaires accompagnant le coffret. Dans cette réussite, il faut aussi compter le travail du réalisateur, Jacques Boucher. Lui-même organiste, Boucher a résolu tous les problèmes que posait l’acoustique très réverbérée de l’Oratoire et redonné au Beckerath sa sonorité naturelle, tant dans la puissance que dans le détail et la couleur. D’une certaine façon, il a servi la pensée de Raymond Daveluy aussi bien que l’interprète elle-même.
La Presse (Montréal), 1 février 1997

DAVELUY: FIVE ORGAN SONATAS・CBC Records/Les Disques SRC
Although Raymond Daveluy probably has been more famous over the years as a virtuoso organist and improviser than a composer, he has produced one of the most substantial bodies of organ music of any Canadian composer since Healey Willan, including large-scale sonatas brought together on this disc. Rachel Laurin, no mean organist herself (and one of the Montréal master’s pupils), has wisely gone to Daveluy’s own instrument, the Rudolf von Beckerath organ of St. Joseph’s Oratory, to record them. Here is a case of the music and the instrument seeming to belong to each other.
The Toronto Star  (Toronto), 5 July 1997

BACH TRANSCRIPTIONS POUR ORGUE・Musicus (réédité par Pro Organo)
Sur le Beckerath de même type, mais deux fois plus gros (78 jeux), de l’Oratoire Saint-Joseph, Rachel Laurin propose un Bach fort différent : des transcriptions de pages instrumentales et vocales du Cantor réalisées en style symphonique par Dupré, Duruflé, E. Power Biggs et elle-même. Laurin justifie son geste en incluant quatre des chorals Schübler qui sont eux-mêmes des adaptations que Bach fit d’autres pièces de lui. Indépendamment de ce qu’on peut penser de tels exercices, il faut bien reconnaître que la jeune organiste est une parfaite virtuose et qu’elle registre avec une grande imagination.
La Presse (Montréal), 2 mai 1999

RACHEL LAURIN JOUE LISZT & BRAHMS・Motette
Cette année encore, la consigne est de s’en tenir à cinq choix. Moins grave, ici, d’éliminer quelques candidats sérieux que d’ignorer cette exceptionnelle réussite qu’est le disque de Rachel Laurin jouant au Beckerath de l’Oratoire ses propres transcriptions pour orgue de la Sonate de Liszt et des Variations «Handel» de Brahms. Exécutions d’une prodigieuse virtuosité, avec des registrations extrêmement colorées et parfaitement rendues par le preneur de son Jean de la Durantaye. Rien d’étonnant à ce que la marque allemande Motette ait voulu ajouter ce disque à son catalogue!
La Presse (Montréal), 24 décembre 1999

RACHEL LAURIN JOUE LISZT & BRAHMS・Motette
Hat man die Haas-Orgelfassung von Liszts h-Moll Sonate im Ohr, die respektvoll versucht, ein exzeptionelles Original-Klavierwerk fürs Orgelspiel zu übertragen, was aber vielfach eher kurios anmuten mag, überrascht die 1991 von ihr erstellte und bis 1997 erfeinerte Transkription und (zusammen mit Variationen und Fuge über ein Thema von Händel von Johannes Brahms) m April 1997 mit leichtem aber nicht verschwimmendem Kirchenhall entstandene Aufnahme der 1961 in Kanada geborenen Organistin Rachel Laurin. Sie überrascht einerseits durch die noch orgelgerechtere Registrierung, die allfällig parodistisch oder zirkushaft Assoziierbares minimiert. Und sie überrascht andererseits interpretatorisch, weil Rachel Laurin mit ihrem Orgelspiel suggeriert, hier handle es sich um ein Original-Orgelwerk. Sie lässt Phrasen konsequent bis zum Ende des jeweiligen Nachhalls ausklingen, als wären es spezielle Orgelmusikphrasen und ihr präziser, differenzierter Orgelanschlag (vielfach wird bei Klavieraufnahmen über so manches hinweggespielt, was hier ganz deutlich herausgearbeitet erscheint – das Mitlesen in der Henle-Klaviernotenausgabe offenbart es) schafft es, niemals buchstabierend zu wirken, sondern immer orgelmusikalisch inspirativ. Liszts h-Moll Sonate – als wäre sie ein Orgelwerk!
Capriccio Kulturforum (Hamburg), Mai 2019

FESTIVALS・Atma Classique
La première réussite du disque est le Trio en mi majeur op. 17 pour flûte, alto et piano, de 1991. Je l’avais entendu deux fois en concert ; il m’a laissé une impression meilleure encore dans la présente réalisation, réunissant d’autres exécutants. Il y a là de jolis thèmes, des élans dramatiques marqués, et l’auteur développe adroitement un motif rythmique qui ressemble étrangement à celui des Ruines d’Athènes de Beethoven. L’exécution est de tout premier plan : Michel Bellavance à la flûte, Véronique Potvin à l’alto et Marc Bourdeau au piano. On a donné au disque le titre de la première œuvre entendue : Festivals. Il s’agit d’une suite de six pièces où Rachel Laurin, fière Québécoise, s’inspire de quelques-unes de nos manifestations populaires : Festival de jazz de Montréal (avec syncopes et glissements d’archet), Montgolfières, Folklore de Drummondville, etc. Avec Bourdeau au piano, Anne Robert s’affirme encore une fois habile technicienne du violon et interprète imaginative. (…) La Sonate pour flûte et piano, avec Bellavance et Bourdeau déjà nommés, et écrite pour eux, est égale à bien d’autres œuvres du répertoire international pour cette combinaison d’instruments ; on comprend qu’elle ait été jouée aux États-Unis, en Europe, en Amérique du Sud et en Asie. Il y a là des échos de Jacques Ibert ; il y a surtout de bonnes idées, une forte partie de piano et une longue cadence pour la flûte seule.
La Presse (Montréal), 15 avril 2006

FESTIVALS・Atma Classique
As a composer the Montréal organist Rachel Laurin is primarily known for her sacred works, but this new ATMA CD is a testament to the fact that her gift does not stop there. I first heard Ms Laurin’s secular music in an inspired performance of Festivals for violin and piano by the Tsang-Leblanc Duo here in Toronto back in 2003. This new disc presents a cross-section of her chamber works in which that very piece holds pride of place. From relatively early in Laurin’s output comes Fables, for voice and piano. Based on the writings of Jean de La Fontaine, particularly the first of the two songs evokes a certain nostalgia for France, before 1914. Sonate for flute and piano is a recent work, commissioned by the players on this disc. Bellavance and Bourdeau show their expertise in a smooth, polished performance. Le Bestiaire is another vocal work, a setting of words from the surrealist poet Guillaume Apollinaire. The best, however, is saved for the last. The 1990 Trio for flute, viola and piano is a major work, over twenty-five minutes long. Laurin worked for over a year on the Trio, the score sprawling over 65 pages. It is a tour de force of writing, and Potvin, Bellavance and Bourdeau give their utmost to it. This is a piece I return to with each listening, and you will do this too, I’m certain.
The Whole Note (Toronto), March/April 2006

MUSIC BY RACHEL LAURIN・Raven Recordings
One need only listen to the Epilogue, Op. 50, to conclude that Rachel Laurin is not an organist who merely dabbles in composition, but rather a solid composer who also happens to be a fine organist. It’s built around three main ideas led by a turbulent and agitated introduction, a beautifully melodic second subject, and a hymn-like progression of broad chords that expose Laurin’s French Roman Catholic upbringing, that all merge into one heck of a piece of music that would put any organist to the challenge. And at the other end of the spectrum lies the strangely compelling Fantasia for Organ and Harp, Op. 52, in which harpist Caroline Léonardelli and organist Rachel Laurin weave together beautiful sounds from both instruments producing a wide gamut of effects and colors reinforced by the quality of the writing. Each and every piece on this new CD has something different and substantial to say. From the deeply expressive slow movement of the Sonata for Organ and Horn, Op. 60, to the quirky Fuga Comica from the Twelve Short Pieces [Vol. 2] where the joke is on the poor organist who has to learn how to play it, everyone has a character all its own and the stamp of a great composer.
Classical Music Sentinel (Canada), June 2013

PILGRIMAGES・Raven Recordings
Rachel Laurin is a prolific Canadian composer who specializes in organ and choral music. Her style is described as ‘primarily symphonic, rooted in traditional forms and structures, using a tonal-modal language coloured by chromaticism’, which means, among other things, that it is free from the harsh and dissonant sounds heard all too often in modern organ music. (…) The first piece, Acclamations, is a march for a major ceremony and is constructed on a symphonic scale. The Petite Suite has three contrasting movements, the last a vigorous toccata. The Quatre Pèlerinages has four movements based on Gregorian themes, each representing one of the four regions of Lorraine. The Poème Symphonique is inspired by the text of the hymn for Vespers on the First Sunday in Advent, Creator Alme Siderum and is a set of variations on the principal theme. Beelzebub’s Laugh is a scherzo; Beelzebub is not only another name for the Devil but also the name of a giant fly and this piece combines the laugh with interruptions of the fly. The Fantasy and Fugue is based on Psalm 47: ‘Nations, clap your hands; shout with joy…’. None of this, of course, describes the music: for that, you must listen for yourself. Brenda Portman is an enthusiastic advocate of Laurin’s music. She is titulaire of this fine instrument: all her performances reveal the quality of the music, the skilful writing and the myriad tone qualities available from this organ. I have enjoyed getting to know this music through repeated listening and I commend it to you. To quote Dr Portman, ‘I am convinced that we are only beginning to see the enormous legacy Rachel Laurin is creating through her compositional art’.
Organists’ Review (United Kingdom), September 2016

PILGRIMAGES・Raven Recordings
Pilgrimages presents six major works by the Canadian organist/composer Rachel Laurin. The music is well crafted in a kind of New World fusion of musical styles from France, Germany and England. Many of the works are character pieces, especially the Étude-Caprice ‘Beelzebub’s Laugh’ or the Quatre pèlerinages en Lorraine where French sonorities clearly prevail. A particular highlight is the Fantasy and Fugue on the Genevan Psalm 47 for organ duet, in which Portman is joined at the organ by the composer. Portman delivers flawless performances throughout with plenty of flair, bringing to life Laurin’s imaginative and demanding scores.
Choir & Organ (United Kingdom), October 2016

CELEBRATING CANADIAN WOMEN!・Independent
Flutist and University of Guelph flute professor Laurel Swinden and pianist Stephanie Mara have teamed up to record this new CD of music by Canadian women, introducing composers and music new to many of us. Swinden’s playing is consistently first-class – great sound with flawless intonation and articulation. Mara is her equal all the way, playing like a soloist when that is required – and there are at times some devilishly difficult solos for the pianist – and stepping back when needed. The program includes two sonatas, one by Québec composer and organist extraordinaire Rachel Laurin, the other by composer and pianist Heather Schmidt. Both sonatas, oddly enough, have cadenzas which are, in my opinion, some of the best writing in these pieces, and which Swinden plays with great confidence and verve. (…) This CD brings together artistry and artistic leadership. Well done!
The Whole Note (Toronto), August 2017

THE CHICAGO RECITAL・Acis
Isabelle Demers is a Québec-born organist who revels in the music she plays and the sounds she can produce by way of pipes and air. Her new recording, ‘The Chicago Recital’, goes to glorious extremes, exploring the colouristic and expressive possibilities of the 1928 Ernest M Skinner organ known as Opus 634 at the University of Chicago’s Rockefeller Memorial Chapel. From the most delicate phrases to massive sonorities that shake ground and ears, the 8565-pipe Skinner comes across as a symphonic wonder, thanks to Demers’s inspired hands, feet and musical acumen. Her choice of repertoire has a lot to do with the recital’s success. (…) She applies the same shining musicality to the remaining works, from Ernest Macmillan’s imperial Cortège académique and Rachel Laurin’s witty Three Short Studies, Op 68, including two delightful bird musings, to Marcel Dupré’s exuberant Prelude and Fugue in B, Op 7 No 1. Acis captures these performances in vibrant sound: those who listen through speakers should expect their walls to vibrate when Demers and Skinner conspire with thunderous alacrity.
Gramophone (United Kingdom), November 2020

THE CHICAGO RECITAL・Acis
(…) Demers’ geboorteland wordt vertegenwoordigd door de componisten Ernest Macmillan en Rachel Laurin. De Cortège Académique van Macmillan, zijn bekendste werk, doet een beetje denken aan Engelse pomp and circumstance. Niet heel diepgaand, maar wel effectief geschreven en plezierig om naar te luisteren. Interessanter is zijn de Three Short Studies van Rachel Laurin, van wier werk Isabelle Demers een enthousiast pleitbezorger is. Na een pedaalmonoloog volgt een impressionistische knipoog naar de vliegende hommel van Rimsky-Korsakov. In het laatste deeltje voert Laurin twee spotlijsters ten tonele. De ene wil de andere een nieuwe melodie aanleren, maar die heeft daar duidelijk minder zin in en verstiert de boel door telkens een heel ander wijsje te fluiten, waarbij we diverse bekende orgelthema’s voorbij horen komen. Muzikale humor op hoog niveau!
Orgel Nieuws (The Netherlands), 7 December 2020

THE CHICAGO RECITAL・Acis
A five-star recording that casts a spell on the listener straight away. The quality, ambience and balance the sound engineers have captured is superb, transporting the listener instantly to the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel. Isabelle Demers’ playing is accomplished and, not only that, the carefully chosen repertoire demonstrated all the fine qualities of this Ernest M. Skinner instrument with its 132 ranks and 8565 pipes. (…) There are numerous highlights, including, for this reviewer, Rachel Laurin’s Three Short Studies, written in 2014. The first one of the set is a pedal solo and the last two showcase Laurin’s love of the animal world. Flight of the Hummingbird is an impressionistic take on Rimsky-Korsakov’s bumblebee whilst Dialogue of the Mockingbirds stems from a rather unusual quality of these birds, namely their ability to learn new songs throughout their lives. In Laurin’s setting, the first bird, played on the trumpet, constantly repeats the initial tune – albeit with some variation – while the second one constantly segues into other tunes, many of them from famous compositions.
Organists’ Review (United Kingdom), December 2020

THE CHICAGO RECITAL・Acis
Recently released, this thrilling new recording from the “diminutive dynamo” doesn’t disappoint. Demers delivers in this varied program what all good performances should: she steps aside and gives voice to those upon whom she stands – in this case, six fabulous composers and one genius organ builder, E.M. Skinner, not to mention the sensitive restoration work (2006-2008) of the Shantz Organ Company. (…) There’s also a puckishness about Rachel Laurin’s Three Short Studies, Op. 68, albeit one of a more sinister variety than Mendelssohn’s. Here, the language of Vierne, Dupré, Langlais (and a couple of others, fleetingly) are synthesized in these humorous little pieces. The organ “speaks French” very well under Demers’s tutelage even if the cheekiness of the music goads it to occasionally talk back to its maître!
Organ Canada (Toronto), 2021

CANADIAN ORGAN MUSIC・Delphian Records
(…) Rachel Mahon is a Canadian organist who is currently based at Coventry Cathedral as assistant director of music, and combines her knowledge and background in Canadian organ music with her knowledge and understanding of the magnificent Harrison and Harrison instrument in Coventry. (…) Thoroughly rooted in the French tradition is the most recent work on the disc, the Symphony No 1 for organ of 2008 by Rachel Laurin. She takes the Franck/Widor concept of the solo organ symphony and uses its four movements to explore the full colouristic scope of a modern organ. The second movement is a Scherzo thoroughly in the mould of Vierne, while the closing Toccata bears remarkable similarities to that by Marcel Lanquetuit. But this is nevertheless a fine and distinctive work, greatly enhanced by this splendid performance. Rachel Mahon has done Canadian organ music proud in this outstanding recording.
Gramophone (United Kingdom), March 2020

CANADIAN ORGAN MUSIC・Delphian Records
(…) It is with this historical backdrop in mind that organist Rachel Mahon selected her program. The first work, Healey Willan’s monumental Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue bridges both countries; born in England, Willan later moved to Canada and eventually became known as the “Dean of Canadian composers”. Mahon treats this tripartite tome with the focus it requires, blending rhapsodic virtuosity with careful attention towards the structure of the composition. Gerald Bales’ Petite Suite and Ruth Watson Henderson’s Chromatic Partita are smaller pieces, but no less satisfying to hear on this magnificent organ, while Rachel Laurin’s Symphony No. 1 is simply breathtaking in its immensity and dramatic content. This disc merits repeated listening for numerous reasons, both historical and immediately practical. Mahon, recently appointed the next director of music at Coventry, is a superb performer with a keen ability to craft a satisfying program, and her debut recording is highly recommended.
The Whole Note (Toronto), March 2020

CANADIAN ORGAN MUSIC・Delphian Records
(…) Sinds 2018 is Rachel Mahon assistent-organist van de kathedraal van Coventry. En alsof dat niet genoeg is, ze is er zeer onlangs benoemd tot Director of Music. Dat gaat in op 1 september 2020. (…) Componiste Rachel Laurin leeft en werkt in de Québec, de Franstalige provincie van Canada. Het is ook niet verbazend dat haar werk Franse invloeden vertoont. Haar vierdelige Symphony No 1 for organ (Prelude, Scherzo, Aria en Toccata – elk deel duurt ongeveer zesenhalve minuut) waarmee de cd afsluit, doet denken aan Widor en vooral Vierne, maar ook latere Parijse grootmeesters. De wervelende Toccata is waanzinnig.
Orgel Nieuws (The Netherlands), 8 May 2020

CANADIAN ORGAN MUSIC・Delphian Records
No disc of Canadian organ music would be complete without Healey Willan’s Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue, and it is fitting that this recording from Coventry Cathedral opens with it. The Canadian organist Rachel Mahon is assistant director of music at Coventry, where as part of the famous post-war construction the organ was paid for largely by Canadian contributions raised by Willan himself. (…) Piquant harmonies in the Symphony No. 1 by Rachel Laurin are handled with light virtuosity before the work ends with a blazing toccata.
BBC Music Magazine (United Kingdom), August 2020

CANADIAN ORGAN MUSIC・Delphian Records
In the Winter 2020 issue of Organ Canada, Rachel Mahon described the historic links between the Canadian organ community and Coventry Cathedral. Destroyed by Luftwaffe bombers in 1940, the cathedral was rebuilt in 1962 with an eye-catching modernist building and a pipe organ paid for in large part by donations from members and friends of the Canadian College of Organists, organized by then-president Healey Willan. The Canadian connection makes the Harrison & Harrison organ at Coventry an especially appropriate venue for this recital of all-Canadian repertoire by Mahon, a Toronto native recently appointed as director of music at the cathedral. (…) Last on the program is Rachel Laurin’s First Symphony (2008), a technically assured large-scale work by one of North America’s leading organ composers. Mahon’s performance brings out the work’s indebtedness to the symphonies of Vierne as well as its range of emotions, from the dusky, almost Brucknerian, slow movement to the jubilant finale.
Organ Canada (Toronto), 2021

INSPIRATIONS・Pro Organo
This is another top-drawer recording from one of our brightest rising stars. Indeed, “rising star” may no longer apply: Katelyn Emerson is already above the horizon, shining brilliantly. (…) The program opens with a recent work by Rachel Laurin, one of the most important organ composers on the current scene. Finale, Op. 78, was commissioned by the Washington, D.C., AGO Foundation and premiered in 2017. (The title alludes to the cessation of the foundation – this commission was its swan song). Emerson opens the work – and the CD – with an arresting, thrilling plunge directly into this piece. The rush of positive energy is exhilarating. Here, as elsewhere in the program, Emerson presents us with the music itself. There are no gimmicks, no conceptual agendas to deal with. There is just the music, running joyously.
The American Organist (USA), June 2020

ORGAN MUSIC FOR TWO, VOLUME 5・Gothic
Finally, the Chenaults treat us to two fabulous new works by Rachel Laurin. Hailing from French Canada, Laurin is one of the finest composers of organ (and other) music on the current scene. Cantabile à Deux, Op. 99 is a nine-minute work that contrasts an opening misterioso theme with an “anxious” motive building to full organ, gradually returning to the peacefulness of the opening. The eleven-minute Fantaisie à Deux, Op. 88, likewise contains a variety of contrasting musical elements, including fanfare (an opportunity to show off the organ’s big reeds), toccata, scherzando, moto perpetuo, and aria. Through it all, the music displays Laurin’s creative genius, clear formal design, and superb musical craftsmanship. The Fantaisie ends in a blaze of glory.
The American Organist (USA), January 2022

SYMPHONY HALL SORCERY・Regent Records
Apart from his association with St Margaret’s, Westminster – the parliament church – Thomas Trotter’s domestic base for nigh on four decades has been Birmingham: primarily at the town hall, having succeeded George Thalben-Ball in 1983, but also as a frequent guest artist at Symphony Hall. (…) All else comes from the original organ repertoire and includes a commission from the French-Canadian organist Rachel Laurin to mark Thomas Trotter’s 800th recital as Birmingham City Organist in 2020. Her Sweelinck Variations (…) via 10 variations, we are treated to yet another virtuosic display which offers proof of why Laurin’s music is gaining popularity in UK recitals and fits so comfortably as a progression into what has gone before (there is an absolute superb YouTube recording splicing works by Laurin and Duruflé, made by Trotter in the wonderful acoustic of King’s College, Cambridge).
Organists’ Review (United Kingdom), May 2022

SYMPHONY HALL SORCERY・Regent Records
Rachel Laurin’s sophisticated Sweelinck Variations celebrate Thomas Trotter’s 800th recital as Birmingham City Organist. The piece was premiered shortly before lockdown in February 2020. Laurin’s theme comes from Ballo del Granduca for harpsichord or organ by Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621). The piece may have been by his pupil Samuel Scheidt. In any case, the actual melody was composed in Italy in 1589 by a certain Emilio di Cavalieri. No matter. The Variations explore a vast range of musical “texture mood and colour”. It has moments “that are light, humorous, meditative, expressive, impressionistic, exuberant, and dramatic”. The work concludes with a massive fugue. (…) Thomas Trotter has devised a splendidly diverse programme. I have noted above the impressive and creative registrations that he has chosen for these pieces. Equally extraordinary is his technique and his irrepressible enthusiasm apparent in every bar that he plays.
MusicWeb International (United Kingdom), August 2023

THOMAS TROTTER: A CELEBRATION・Regent Records
(…) Now for a second dramatic unveiling: the same night, Trotter was able to introduce and sign a new disc from the brilliant Regent Records, issued to celebrate his forty years: ‘Thomas Trotter – A Celebration’ [REGCD 584]. (…) Valse mignonne is by no means Siegfried Karg-Elert’s most effective piece, but it’s a noble attempt at being light-hearted by this eminent German composer (1877-1933). Trotter can appear at his best when he pulls out the Tremulant stop. Somewhere between emotive and sleazy, he is able to use it to make things sound like a cinema organ. That’s the fun bit. Better perhaps, Québec-born composer Rachel Laurin, who died aged sixty-two only two months ago. One wonders if she was able to hear Trotter’s pirouetting performance of her Étude héroïque on this disc, but he’s played it several times before, so maybe she got a glimpse then. There’s a lot of punch in this scintillating work, described in the record’s sleeve notes as ‘exhilarating’; and at eight minutes long on this definitive Regent recording it’s very good news, as it holds you for every second – certainly in Trotter’s brilliantly exciting performance here. Laurin’s striking fifteen-minute Sweelinck Variations – based on the celebrated Dutch composer – form the climax to another Trotter disc, REGCD 566 – as usual, finely recorded.
Classical Music Daily (United Kingdom), 18 October 2023

THOMAS TROTTER: A CELEBRATION・Regent Records
There have been only seven Birmingham City Organists since the post was created in 1834, and just four in the past century. Thomas Trotter has already exceeded by six years the previous longest incumbent, his predecessor George Thalben-Ball. This CD celebrates not only his musicianship but also the great instrument that graces the city’s Town Hall, the four-manual Hills-Willis first installed in 1834 and restored in 2007. (…) With Wolstenholme’s charming The Question and The Answer, Kevin Volans’s infuriatingly catchy and rather too long Walking Song (inspired, apparently, by the music of the Ba-Benzélé pygmies of Central Africa) and ending with Rachel Laurin’s exhilarating Étude héroïque, this expertly recorded recital is a fitting tribute to Britain’s greatest living organist.
Gramophone (United Kingdom), January 2024

THOMAS TROTTER: A CELEBRATION・Regent Records
The ‘Celebration’ marks Thomas Trotter’s fortieth anniversary as City Organist of Birminham, having succeeded Sir George Thalben-Ball in 1983. (…) Trotter concludes with the impressive Étude Héroïque by the gifted Canadian organist Rachel Laurin who died in 2023. This varied programme is yet another example of the breadth of talent and skill of this fine artist.
Cathedral Music (United Kingdom), Spring 2024

MASS OF THE ETERNAL FLAME・Acis
(…) The album closes with the two pieces by Laurin, the first, Dedisti Domine, Op. 85, written for the fiftieth anniversary of her parish in Ottawa, Ontario and in honour of Saint Clement. One of the few choral pieces composed by her, the five-minute motet is performed with consummate grace by the Cathedral Choir with Thomas Marvil at the organ. There are moments that call to mind Fauré’s Requiem in D minor, Op. 48, but Laurin’s wondrous creation doesn’t suffer by the comparison. At the recording’s end, organist Robinson performs her Diptych, Op. 107, and, in fact, it was he who suggested that the two-part piece could be used as Opening and Closing Voluntaries at church or presented as a singular concert piece, obviously the form it takes in this context. The tone of the opening part, “Bucolico”, establishes the work as something of a fantasia as it advances adventurously from one episode to another, the music at one moment pastoral and at another invoking the hymn “How shall I sing that Majesty”. The exuberant second movement, “Con fuoco”, proves a showcase for Robinson’s virtuosity as it progresses through multiple high-velocity sequences and roller coaster-like gestures.
Textura.org (Canada), October 2024

MASS OF THE ETERNAL FLAME・Acis
(…) Music by the Canadian organist and composer Rachel Laurin (1961-2023) completes the disc. I confess both this composer and her music were previously unknown to me. Apparently, she wrote only a few choral pieces. Dedisti Domine [Op. 85] is one of those pieces. It’s sung in Latin by SATB choir with organ accompaniment. The piece is attractively melodious. On this occasion the organ part is played by Thomas Marvel who succeeded Daryl Robinson as Organist of Christ Church Cathedral, Houston in 2023. (…) I assume that Daryl Robinson is at the organ console for Diptych [Op. 107]; that would be logical because Rachel Laurin wrote it for him. At Robinson’s suggestion the work was composed in such a way that it could be performed complete as a recital item or, alternatively, that the two elements could each have a separate function, as opening and closing Voluntaries in a liturgical context. I’ve listened to Diptych as an entity but it’s clear that the two movements will work very well as independent items. The first piece, Bucolico has, as its title suggests, a pastoral feel to it. For the most part, the music is fairly quiet. The thematic foundation is the hymn ‘How shall I sing that Majesty’. The hymn tune first appears at 0:59 and thereafter Laurin weaves in references to it throughout the music in a very inventive way. The second piece is marked Con fuoco. Rachel Laurin’s programme note implies that ‘How shall I sing that Majesty’ plays a part here as well, though I have to confess that if I’ve interpreted her note correctly, I don’t find the melody as easy to spot. This movement is an extrovert display piece which calls upon the full resources of the organ; it also requires significant energy and virtuosity from the organist, which is amply supplied here. Diptych is an impressive composition which here receives a very fine performance. The booklet includes a full specification of the organ of The Church of St John the Divine, Houston. The instrument was built by Orgues Létourneau of Québec; it’s the firm’s Opus 97 (…) From the specification it appears to be a mighty instrument. It certainly sounds very handsome on this CD, especially in the Laurin piece. I enjoyed this CD very much. It contains excellent, attractive music and the two highly accomplished choirs acquit themselves very well indeed, as do the various instrumentalists. The recorded sound is excellent.
MusicWeb International (United Kingdom), January 2025

MASS OF THE ETERNAL FLAME・Acis
(…) Three works of Rachel Laurin conclude this compact disc. The first, Dedisti Domine: Motet in Honour of Saint Clement, opus 85, commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of the Paroisse Saint- Clément in Ottawa, Canada, which was Rachel Laurin’s home parish church. This is one of only a handful of choral pieces that Laurin composed. The track features the Christ Church Choir with Thomas Marvil playing the organ. Floating above a sparkling organ part the choir sings in Vaughan Williams-like harmonies, and the soaring sopranos in particular produce an extremely fine performance. Rachel Laurin’s unpublished organ work, Diptych, opus 107, was written in the summer of 2021 and was commissioned by Charlotte Jones in honor of Daryl Robinson, who plays the organ on this album in its premiere recording. The first movement, “Bucolico”, is a pastorale that reminds me somewhat of the prelude from Bach’s Prelude & Fugue in A Major, BWV 536. The second movement, “Con fuoco”, is, as its name suggests, a fiery piece and reminds me in its chordal sequences of some of the works of George Gershwin. It provides an impressive end to the compact disc.
The Diapason (USA), June 2025

SPARKLING INTENSITY・Raven Recordings
(…) Now when it comes to modern composers producing works equal in stature to music by the great masters of the past, no one quite measures up to Canadian composer and organist Rachel Laurin. Her Three Impressions on “Kingsfold” could very well serve as a masterclass in thematic development. Its inner movement in particular, Berceuse (Lullaby), completely transforms the hymn tune into a lilting, swaying song deploying all of the organ’s gentler registration, guaranteed to send any child to dreamland. And again, organist Stephen Price’s choice of stops is pure perfection.
Classical Music Sentinel (Canada), October 2025

A BLAZE OF SONG・Raven Recordings
The expressive temperatures range from cool to near-red hot on this rich recording by The Choirs of the Episcopal Cathedral of St John in Albuquerque, New Mexico. (…) As Director of Cathedral Music and Organist Maxine Thévenot says in the booklet of the repertoire: ‘The diversity of the music reflects our mission: the program features works by four composers of color, ten female composers, and six male composers, sung in English, Latin, and Spanish’. (…) The solo organ pieces are distinctive, especially as played with seamless authority by Thévenot. (…) Thévenot also revels in Coleridge-Taylor’s lyrical Melody and Rachel Laurin’s hushed Invocation.
Gramophone (United Kingdom), December 2025