Widor: Symphonie IV

Charles-Marie Widor established the organ symphony as a genre with his first four Symphonies pour orgue, opus 13 (1872). The introduction to this edition of Widor's Symphonie IV includes a list of the sources, a statement of editorial policies, and information about Widor's registrations. Symphonie IV in F Minor, in six movements, pays homage to Bach in movements one and two, evoking the baroque styles of the toccata and fugue, respectively; the rest of the symphony honors Mendelssohn, and its elfin scherzo and majestic finale are not unlike the Scherzo and Wedding March from A Midsummer Night's Dream. Also included in this edition are four appendices containing selected principal variants from the finale.