ARTS DIARY: MUSIC REVIEW Matthew Owens, Liverpool Cathedral.

Byline: PHILIP KEY'S GLYN M'N HUGHES

THERE was a time when organ transcriptions were somewhat frowned upon.

It probably stemmed from that period when everything authentic was fashionable. Bachcould only be played on original instruments. Beethoven piano concertos could only be performed on instruments which the great maestro himself might have played.

There's still a little bit of that sentiment around but it's waning. And that is good, since it is easy to forget that, were it not for the people who transcribed orchestral works for the organ - common at the end of the 19th century and into the early part of the 20th - many people would never have heard those works.

That's why Matthew Owens' choice of programme for his Liverpool Cathedralorgan recital was so interesting: it was half original organ pieces and half transcriptions.

He opened with Bach's Sinfonia to Cantata 29, arranged by NoelRawsthorne. It's a familiar work - Bach,after all, used the melody in several other works - and madeagood curtain raiser. Pachelbel's haunting and highly inventive F minor Chaconne was an inspired choice,giving the audience the chance to hear some of the subtle flutes and mutations available on the instrument. This is a charming, gentle set of variations.

By complete contrast, Mr Owens chose to finish his recital with threeFrench works. Guillou's famous Toccata is a great showpiece, very much following in the tradition of Messiaen and showing off the departments - and sheer power - of the organ to great effect. It was a blinding performance. The finale to Vierne's First Symphonie was equally powerful,if rather slow, while Frederic Blanc's transcription of Pierre Cochereau's Berceuse was a serene, almost soporific, piece very much modelled on Vierne's piece of the same name.

Add to that a joyous version of Grainger's Handel in the Strand and a wellbalanced, thoughtful performance of Handel's Tenth Concerto, and this was recital which combined the simple with the hugely complex, the contemplative with the thunderously bloodthirsty.