 Event reviews Scroll down the page for earlier reviews _________________________________________  Bill Stevenson and Choir of St Salvator's Chapel, St Andrews University Keyboards and me Bill Stevenson formerly University Organist, University of St Andrews Tuesday 16 February 2010 Meadowside St Paul's Church, Dundee Review by Peter Thornton  Organ, Harpsichord and Piano Duets Graeme Stevenson and Andrew Macintosh Wednesday 13 January 2010 Chaplaincy Centre, University of Dundee Review by Robert Lightband  John Kitchen Lecture-recital on Mendelssohn's organ music John Kitchen University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh City Organist Saturday 14 November 2009 St Mary Magdalene's Church, Dundee Review by Peter Thornton One might be forgiven for thinking that everything that could be said about Mendelssohn had already been said in this, his bicentennial, year. Not so! Whether it was a little-known snippet of information about Mendelssohn's formative years or his life as a performer and composer, or whether it was an insight into some of his organ works through explanation or demonstration, I'm sure that everyone who attended John Kitchen's lecture-recital in St Mary Magdalene's Church, Dundee on Saturday 14th November will have come away with something that was fresh and new. This was no dry and stuffy lecture-room session. John Kitchen's effervescent personality and style always illuminate even the most academic material in a way that makes it relevant to both expert and novice. On this occasion, the character and the music of Mendelssohn were brought alive in a programme peppered with anecdotes that set the composer's genius in a personal context. It was perhaps something of a surprise that the first piece of the afternoon was not by Mendelssohn, but by J S Bach - the Prelude and fugue in E minor BWV 533. On the back of the printed programme there was a reproduction of a manuscript copy of the music in Mendelssohn's neat hand. The explanation was that, at a time when printed music was not readily available, and long before the days of (legal or illegal!) photocopying, the usual way of obtaining access to a piece was to borrow someone else's copy and write it out oneself. The patience required would be rewarded with an intimate knowledge of the music, even before one got anywhere near striking a note! John stressed the discipline in learning the theory of harmony and counterpoint that is reflected in the maturity of the teenage Mendelssohn's compositions, and hinted at a wish that his own students in Edinburgh possessed such dedication to their studies. He demonstrated the fourteen year old Mendelssohn's skill by playing the Chorale mit variationen on Wie groß ist der Allmächt'gen Güte (How great is the Almighty's goodness). In further tribute to Mendelssohn's devotion to Bach's music, he followed with two organ chorales: Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele BVW 654 and Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ BVW 639. This background about Mendelssohn's musical development gave a context for the pieces from his more mature years - the Prelude and fugue in D minor, Op 37 and the Sonata No. 2 in C minor / major. It was fascinating to see how the Allegro had been developed from the first section of the Nachtspiel that Mendelssohn had composed ten or more years earlier. The fine organ of St Mary Magdalene's, built by Peter Conacher just twenty years after Mendelssohn's death (subsequently rebuilt by Rothwell and then Nicholson) was the perfect instrument on which to hear these works played. John's engaging "lecture" and his committed and stylish playing continued the high standard already set by the earlier meetings in this season's Society programme. _______________________________________________________________________  Andrew Caskie & John Lightbown at Carnoustie "The Life of an Organ Builder" Talk by John Lightbown (John R Lightbown & Sons, Morpeth) and Recital by Andrew Caskie (Palmerston Place Church, Edinburgh) Wednesday 7 October 2009 Carnoustie Church Review by David M Smith The Society's second meeting of the 2009-2010 session was planned to mark the forthcoming retirement of John Lightbown as Head of the family firm which he established on Tyneside 32 years ago. The venue for the meeting was chosen because the 32-stop, 3-manual and pedal organ in Carnoustie provides a fine example of Lightbown and Sons' restoration work; and the choice of Andrew Caskie as the recitalist was also appropriate, since it was on the Carnoustie instrument that, as a teenager, Andrew received his first organ lessons from (the late) Gordon Simpson. Two welcome features of the evening were the attractively produced brochure, which not only gave details of the recital programme but also brief biographies of the two guests and the specification of the organ; and the closed-circuit television which enabled the audience to watch the recitalist in action. John's fascinating and enjoyable talk traced his whole career in organ-building - starting from his apprenticeship in Newcastle. The incidents he described served as a timely reminder of the many and diverse skills (not all of them musical!) which are the stock-in-trade of the successful organ-builder. Andrew's skills, coupled with his knowledge of, and love for, the instrument produced a recital of considerable variety, one which showed off the organ's wide range of colours to good advantage. Of the six items in his programme, only two were part of the standard recitalist's repertoire - Buxtehude's Toccata (and Fugue) in F, BuxWV 157 and Kenneth Leighton's Paean. Two others were by composers not usually associated with organ music, but whose names reawakened some boyhood memories for me. York Bowen, whose Fantasia in G minor, op.136 enabled Andrew to explore some of the Romantic colours of the organ, is someone whom I (and others in the audience!) associate with (difficult!) test pieces in the Associated Board piano exams long ago. The name of Easthope Martin took me back even further, to my Primary schooldays and our choir singing Come to the Fair - and Martin's Evensong, which we heard on Wednesday, is a peaceful and charming cantilena - a little "Song without Words". The two remaining pieces in Andrew's recital were both by living composers, neither of whom was previously known to me. George Baker, Texan by birth and a medical doctor by profession, studied the organ in Paris as a young man in the 1970s, and his Berceuse Paraphrase, which Andrew played, was written as a tribute to his erstwhile mentor, Pierre Cochereau of Notre-Dame, in the style of an improvisation such as those for which Cochereau was famous. The recital ended with the Toccata on 'Nu la oss takke Gud' ('Now thank we all our God') by the Norwegian composer Egil Hovland; in this, fragments of the famous chorale melody appear both in the treble and in the pedals, and it provided a rousing conclusion to what was a thoroughly enjoyable evening. _______________________________________________________________________  Frikki Walker Choir and Congregational Accompaniment Frikki Walker Director of Music, St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Glasgow Tuesday 22 September 2009 St Mary Magdalene's Church, Dundee Review by Richard Finch The first meeting of the 2009/10 session was held at St Mary Magdalene's Episcopal Church, Dundee, on 22nd September, and around 25 members attended to hear a talk entitled "Choir and Congregational Accompaniment" given by Frikki Walker. Members were perhaps surprised (or disconcerted) to be handed various sheets of music at the start, and to discover that they were expected to sing! Frikki was introduced with a short outline of his background, from his roots in Iceland, to his present position as Organist and Director of Music at St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow. This included being a Tenor in the choir at Wells Cathedral, organist at Horsham Parish Church, conductor of various choirs in Sussex, to his appointment in Glasgow in 1996. Frikki holds various musical qualifications, and is very active in music and education, being involved with many choirs and schools in the Glasgow area, as well as his duties at St Mary's. Thus Frikki was well qualified to talk to us about a subject he knows intimately. The evening started with a look at Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus, and after several false starts, the ad hoc "choir" managed to sing the beginning of this anthem. The point of this was to demonstrate that the introduction must set the pace and indicate exactly when the singers should start to sing. The false starts were generated by some very disconcerting introductions, and the "choir" soon got the point! This piece was also used to demonstrate how to provide support to singers, by perhaps soloing parts, for example. Moving on to hymns, Frikki proceeded to demonstrate that the playover should not only set the pace and pitch, but also the mood, the words of the hymn being of great importance. Using Let all the world in every corner sing as an example, he clearly showed that a quiet introduction would not get the congregation up and singing, but a more robust start (solo reeds, perhaps) would be much more likely to have the desired result. The "choir" was inveigled into singing again, with some impressive results! The evening moved on to various other methods of playing over, using solo stops, staccato, playing up an octave, to mention but a few. All the while, Frikki emphasised that the words of a hymn should dictate the mood, and thus the accompaniment. For example, the words Tell of that glorious Easter morn would NOT benefit from a subdued accompaniment! On the subject of words, Frikki discussed phrasing, using the hymn How sweet the name of Jesus sounds as an example. Verse 4 has a number of two word phrases, separated by commas, and he proceeded to show that breaking at every comma produced a very disjointed effect, making it difficult to keep a rhythm. By rephrasing, the flow could be maintained, and a more pleasing effect obtained. The "choir" once again demonstrated this. The evening concluded by moving on to alternative, and last verse arrangements. Frikki emphasised that these should be written out beforehand, if necessary, and be well practised. The final item, for "choir" and organ, was Frikki's arrangement of the French Carol Melody set to the words Jesus Christ is waiting, which was sung and played with considerable enthusiasm. The evening was most entertaining and instructive, and provided much food for thought, and it is hoped that the members present will have gained from it. (More work may be needed to bring the "choir" to a professional standard, however!!) _______________________________________________________________________ |