4 Part Music Blog

Last night I was in Bath for the last in this years series of Saturday evening organ recitals at Bath Abbey. This final recital was given by none other than the Abbey Organist and Director of Music Peter King. The combination of the Klais organ and the mastery of Peter King is an attraction that no lover of organ music should miss! The abbey was not surprisingly full for this occasion and with free admission (albeit with a £5 per head donation on exit) this recital series is excellent value!

The recital programme was as follows:

Excelsior! – Franz Liszt

Excelsior! is an organ arrangement of the prelude from “The bells of strasbourg minster” one of Liszts impressive choral works written in 1874. The theme from this short prelude was later used by Wagner in his opera Parsifal.

Prelude and Fugue in A Minor, BWV 543 – Johann Sebastian Bach

This “Great” prelude and fugue of Bach’s cannot be dated with any certainty but most likely falls somewhere between the early improvisatory works and the later mature masterpieces. The prelude has a largely improvisatory flavour and forms a very grand introduction to the melodic fugue. Unlike some later works the fugue does not end with a final grand entry on the pedals but returns to the free style of the prelude.

Concerto in D minor, BWV 596, Antonio Vivaldi / JS Bach

This work was long believed to be an original composition of Bach’s son Friedemann but is infact an arrangement by JS Bach of the Concerto for 2 violins op.3, no.11 by Vivaldi. It begins with a lively canonic duet above insistent pedal notes, and then a few full chords lead into an energetic fugue. The slow movement is a lilting siciliano and the concerto ends in a vigorous finale with a pungent chromatic ritornello.

Two legends – Franz Liszt

St Francis of Assis preaching to the birds (arr. Saint-Saens)

St Francis of Paola walking on the water (arr. Reger/King)

Liszt’s two Franciscan Legends for piano date from 1863 which is when Liszt was increasingly preoccupied by religious subjects.  The first of these two pieces predates Messiaen’s musical aviaries by nearly a century and is an amazingly original piece of musical picture painting.

A Song of Sunshine – Alfred Hollins

This is one of Hollins’ most popular pieces which follows his usual ABA form.  His compositions appeal to a wide audience due to the inexhaustible melodies and effortless mastery of modulation.

Homage to Handel – Sigfrid Karg-Elert

This fantastic piece is based around a short four bar motif from the theme of Handel’s Seventh Harpsichord Suite and was written following Karg-Elert’s election as Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Organists in 1914.  In total there are 54 variations on this simple theme and monotony is avoided by the huge range of textures and colours which Karg Elert employs.    This piece was an excellent way of showcasing not only the mighty Klais organ but also the phenomenal skill of Peter King. In the words of David Gammie “the final page is very, very grand: Karg-Elert’s tempo marking is trionfante e gigantica.”

Having missed the last couple of lunchtime recitals I managed to get along to todays performance at Bath Abbey and I am extremely glad that I did.

Steven Grahl has been Organist and Director of Music at St Marylebone Church since 2001 which houses a four manual Rieger Organ which was the result of a collaboration between St Marylebone and the Royal Academy of Music.  Since 2007 Steven has also held the post of Assistant Organist at New College Oxford where he plays for daily chapel services and accompanies the choir in a busy schedule of tours, broadcasts and CD recordings.

Today’s recital was a perfect illustration of why Steven was an award winning graduate of Magdalen College, Oxford and gained the coveted Limpus and Dixon prizes in his FRCO examination.  His performance was not only faultless throughout but he conveyed a wonderful sense of musicianship through his playing. The programme was as follows:

Steven Grahl

Allegro maestoso (Organ Sonata in G) – Edward Elgar

Fantasia in A – William Byrd

Scherzetto (Organ Sonata) – Percy Whitlock

Litanies – Jehan Alain

Recit de tierce en taille – Nicolas de Grigny

Scherzo – Maurice Durufle

Finale from Symphony no. 6 in G – Charles-Marie Widor

I particularly enjoyed the Widor – the last time I heard it was walking out of Mary Magdalen Chapel after getting married in May this year.  After the recital I went for lunch with Peter King – who knows maybe one day we might get to record in Bath Abbey.

I’m sorry it’s a little late in arriving but last week I attended the weekly organ recital at Bath Abbey which was given by Gary Desmond who is assistant organist there.

The recital opened with Hendrik Andriessen’s Theme and Variations.  Andriessen was a Dutch composer and organist, born in Haarlem in 1892.  He is remembered most of all for his improvisation at the organ and for the renewal of Catholic liturgical music in the Netherlands. Andriessen composed in a musical idiom that revealed strong French influences.

This was followed by Johann Gottfried Walther’s Concerto in B minor.  Walther ( 1684 – 1748) was a German music theorist, organist, composer, and lexicographer of the Baroque era. Not only was his life almost exactly contemporaneous to that of Johann Sebastian Bach, he was the famous composer’s cousin.

Following this we were treated to three movements from the ‘Suite’ by Malcolm Archer.  Archer is an English organist, conductor and composer. He is widely renowned as one of the foremost church musicians of his generation and combines this work with an extensive recital career. He was formerly Organist and Director of Music at St Paul’s Cathedral, and is now Director of Chapel Music at Winchester College.

Desmond concluded his recital with two movements from Symphonie de Boston by Pierre Cochereau.