28th International Organ and Church Music Institute, The University of Michigan

Marijim Thoene is a native Californian. She received a B.M. degree in Liturgical Music from Peabody Conservatory, an M.M. in Organ Performance from the University of Southern California, and an M.M and D.M.A. in Church Music/Organ Performance from the University of Michigan. She has also studied at the Queen’s College and University College in Oxford, the Organ Academy in Pistoia, Italy, and at the University of Salamanca. She has been director of music at churches in Baltimore, Oxfordshire, San Diego, Ann Arbor and New Orleans, and has been on the faculty at the University of New Orleans, and Our Lady of Holy Cross College in New Orleans. Her CD, Mystics and Spirits, was recorded on the Dobson organ at St. Joseph Abbey in St. Benedict, Louisiana. Her second CD, Wind Song: Music for Organ and Flute, has just been released and was also recorded at St. Joseph Abbey. Among her favorite topics is “Fierce Beasts and Gentle Creatures Who Play the Organ in Medieval Manuscripts.”

Sublimity flashing forth at the right moment scatters everything before it like a thunderbolt…
—Longinus

As scholars and musicians celebrate the music of Buxtehude three hundred years after his death, I ask myself, as an organist, how would I describe the drawing power of his organ music? What is it that speaks to me and draws me to his music? To be perfectly candid, I ask a lot from the music I choose to learn. I want high drama. Give me Longinus’s aesthetic of great art: “It must have something of the sublime in it.” Great music must have epic qualities like Virgil’s Aeneid or Homer’s Odyssey; in short, it must describe the human condition with tragedy and comedy, tension and release, despair and hope, and it must have the essence of a dance. I chose Buxtehude’s Ciacona in C minor because it contains all of the qualities mentioned above, and all of them occur within the structure of a dance form that Buxtehude calls a “ciacona.”
I think that the greatness of Buxtehude’s writing is based in part on his ability to borrow from the techniques of Frescobaldi and Froberger, and to incorporate them into his own work. Using imitation, Buxtehude follows what Longinus deemed a natural process to attain greatness: “Greatness of soul must be fed and developed by an enthusiastic imitation and emulation of previous great poets and writers.” The similarities in form and motifs of Buxtehude’s Ciacona in C minor and in works by Frescobaldi and Froberger are compelling. The most dramatic “borrowing” apparent in Buxtehude’s Ciacona in C minor is his use of the ostinato ground, as found in Frescobaldi’s Cento Partite sopra Passacagli. By extension, Buxtehude’s use of repetition of a melodic motif as the structural basis of his composition is found in Froberger’s Canzona VII. Frescobaldi’s use of the ostinato ground, and Froberger’s use of a melodic motif, repetition of a harmonic pattern and melodic pattern are fused in Buxtehude’s Ciacona in C minor. His ciacona’s basso ostinato (ground), which occurs sometimes in succession, sometimes intermittently, is the unifying element within the composition. (See Example 1.) As in J. S. Bach’s Passacaglia in C minor, the ostinato pattern is the foundation of the composition. Frescobaldi’s use of ostinato and Froberger’s use of a repeated motif are transformed in Buxtehude’s Ciacona in C minor.

The significance of the Ciacona in C minor, BuxWV 159
Philipp Spitta placed Buxtehude’s Passacaglia in D minor and the two ciaconas in C minor and E minor at the beginning of the first volume of his edition of Buxtehude’s organ works, which was published in 1875. Spitta, in his letter to Brahms, says of these three works: “For beauty and importance [they] take the precedence of all the works of this kind at the time, and are in the first rank of Buxtehude’s compositions.”1 After seeing the D-minor passacaglia, Brahms wrote to Spitta: “ . . . when I become acquainted with such a beautiful piece as the Ciacona in D minor by Buxtehude, I can hardly resist sharing it with a publisher, simply for the purpose of creating joy for others . . . ”2
Kerala Snyder, in her book, Dieterich Buxtehude: Organist in Lübeck, notes that Brahms referred to Buxtehude’s Passacaglia in D minor as the Ciacona in D minor. She makes the observation that in Brahms’s time as well as Buxtehude’s, the terms ciacona or chaconne and passacaglia were interchangeable. Buxtehude himself titles his works ciacona and passacaglia.3
The Ciacona in C minor contains a microcosm of Buxtehude’s compositional devices, which can be found in Frescobaldi and Froberger. In addition to mirroring their form, he quotes rhythmic motifs. The dotted eighth-note followed by a sixteenth and vice versa are prominent motifs in Frescobaldi. See Example 2 from his Toccatas Terza (Per l’Organo da sonarsi all levatione), Quarta, and Sesta from Book II of his Toccatas and Canzonas, etc. of 1637. While Frescobaldi uses these rhythmic patterns sparingly, Buxtehude repeats them throughout a section. (See Example 3, measures 17–20, 21–24, 25–28, 114–117, and 118–121.) Frescobaldi’s dramatic use of suspensions, which dominate the Toccata per Elevatione from Messa delli Apostoli in his Fiori Musicali, is mirrored briefly in Buxtehude’s Ciacona in C in measures 3 and 7. Buxtehude’s mercurial shift in mood from sorrow to joy, the latter characterized by triplet figures, can also be found in the abrupt shifts in mood in Frescobaldi’s Toccata Prima (Book II of Toccatas and Partitas), as well as in Froberger’s Toccata I, II, IV, XII, XIII, XVI XIX, XXV, XXVI; Froberger’s Fantasia I; Froberger’s Canzona III, IV, V, VI; and Froberger’s Capriccio I, II, IV, VII,VIII, X, XII, XIV, and XVIII. Froberger’s burst of joy, a dance section, contrasting with more somber sections, appears in Buxtehude’s Ciacona in C minor in the 9/8 section, measures 122–137.
Using Buxtehude’s Ciacona in C minor as a focus, the following topics will be addressed:
(1) What is the structure of his Ciacona in C minor? (2) How did this Italian ostinato form and the overall persistence of repeated motifs that characterize the canzonas of Froberger reach Buxtehude? The ostinato form is Italian in origin and its first appearance in North German repertoire (with the exception of Martin Radeck, active 1623–83) is in Buxtehude’s ostinato organ works. (3) What elements of form of Frescobaldi’s Cento Partite sopra Passacagli and Froberger’s Canzona VI in A minor are found in Buxtehude? (4) What clues in performance practices can be applied to Buxtehude’s Ciacona in C minor from Italian sources? (5) What elements of Buxtehude’s Ciacona can be seen in J. S. Bach’s Passacaglia in C Minor? (6) What is the significance of repetition in this work?

1. The structure of Buxtehude’s Ciacona in C minor
The structure is succinctly analyzed in Willi Apel’s The History of Keyboard Music to 1700:

The Ciacona in C minor consists of 38 variations on the ostinato subject which is heard in the bass unchanged for the first seven variations and then freely varied in other voices. Sometimes the transformation of the subject goes so far that its contour is entirely lost and only the harmonic scheme remains, as, for example, in variations VIII, IX, and X. . . . Variation XX is also very free, as Buxtehude modulates to G minor. In order to return to C minor, he inserts a fifth measure. Beginning with variation XXI each variation is literally or almost literally repeated (XXI=XXII, XXIII=XXIV, etc). Thus the chaconne falls into three main sections of seven, thirteen, and eighteen variations, respectively, the first marked by a strict ostinato, the second by a particularly free treatment of the subject, and the third by paired variations.4

The Ciacona is mercurial in its moods, beginning in a somber, serious mood and altering to a light, dance-like mood. Then in variations XVII through XXII a dotted eighth and sixteenth note motif dominates, and in variation XXIX through XXX the reverse of that rhythmic figure is heard: the sixteenth note followed by the eighth note. Buxtehude’s meter is in 3/4 throughout, with the exception of variations XXXI–XXXIV, which are in 9/8.
It is this juxtaposition of contrasting moods, i.e., dark versus light, a sort of exaggerated formality with the dotted rhythms versus a rather unbridled exuberance, which makes for high drama in the work. Buxtehude was no stranger to drama. So popular were Buxtehude’s Abendmusiken, an annual concert series of musical drama, sponsored by business men of Lübeck and open to the public free of charge, that in 1682 police were hired to ensure the peace.5 The dramatic flavor of his Abendmusiken is seen in the summary of the libretto of 1684:

Heavenly Joy of the Spirit on Earth over the Incarnation and Birth of Our Dearest Savior Jesus Christ, in separate acts, in opera style, with many arias and ritornelli, brought into a musical harmony for six concerted voices, various instruments and cappella voices.
The Most Frightful and Most Joyful; Namely, the End of Time and Beginning of Eternity, in dialogue style, also shown in five scenes, for five concerted voices, instruments, etc.6

His sense of the dramatic as well as his gift for comedy is seen in a work dated 1688, Wacht! Euch zum Streit, a work originally thought to be by Buxtehude but now in question. Its text is made up of biblical quotations, chorale verses, and new poetry, with the main emphasis on the new strophic poetry. It is scored for five or six vocal soloists, two violins, two violas, and continuo, with a brief and optional appearance for trombones. The characters are all allegorical. In the prologue, Avarice, Wantonness, and Pride (three sopranos) argue among themselves as to who is the most powerful, and the Divine Voice (bass) denounces them all with biblical words.7

2. How was the music of Frescobaldi and Froberger transmitted to Buxtehude?
As mentioned previously, Buxtehude was, with the exception of Martin Radeck, the only north German composer to write keyboard ostinato pieces. They were composed primarily in Italy and South Germany. Although Buxtehude never visited Italy, Italian musicians were engaged at the Marienkirche in Lübeck during Buxtehude’s tenure as organist—an Italian castrato in 1672, the singer ‘Longlio’ in 1687 and another unnamed Italian in 1693.8 It is thought that Buxtehude was introduced to Frescobaldi and Froberger through Matthias Weckmann (1619–1674), organist at the St. Jacobi Church in Hamburg from 1655 who met Froberger in the Dresden court about 1653.9 Weckmann was married in Lübeck and Tunder was his best man. It is important to note that Matthias Weckmann founded a collegium musicum in 1660 in Hamburg. They performed “pieces from Venice, Rome, Vienna, Munich, Dresden, etc. indeed, this collegium attained such fame, that the greatest composers tried to attach their names to it.”10
Buxtehude may have had access to Frescobaldi’s music through the music library of Tunder’s in the Marienkirche in Lübeck, which had the largest collection of Italian publications of church music in Germany. Granted, there are many motives and styles of figuration of Frescobaldi that appear in Buxtehude as mentioned previously.

3. What formal elements of Frescobaldi and Froberger are found in Buxtehude?
Frescobaldi’s monumental harpsichord work, Cento Partite sopra Passacagli, published in 1637, the year of Buxtehude’s birth, contains compositional techniques that are mirrored in some degree in Buxtehude’s C-minor Ciacona. The work is analyzed in detail in Frederick Hammond’s book, Girolamo Frescobaldi: His Life and Music. Hammond summarizes the tonal centers, mensuration and form of each section.11 Both works, for the most part, are based on a repeated harmonic structure.
Frescobaldi’s Cento begins with a Passacaglia that is constructed on a descending tetrachord (D to A). Frescobaldi immediately sets up, within the large construct of a repeated harmonic framework, a series of short melodic motives that add cohesion to the Passacaglia. Following the Passacaglia is a Corrente, then a Ciacona in F major built on this harmonic progression: I-V-vi-I6, IV, VI. (See Example 4.) Here one sees Frescobaldi’s use of an ostinato ground, which forms the foundation for his Ciacona in F within the Cento. In this section, measures 133–140, the harmonic progression is repeated four times.
Compare Example 4 with Example 1 to note the differences between Frescobaldi’s ostinato bass with Buxtehude’s. Here one sees a technique that undergoes transformation in Buxtehude. The rhythm of Buxtehude’s bass-line remains constant, Frescobaldi’s does not, Buxtehude’s is memorable and Frescobaldi’s is not! For Buxtehude the ostinato harmonic structure is inviolable; he may depart from it briefly, but always returns to it. Unlike Frescobaldi’s Cento, the entire composition rests on this hauntingly beautiful bass line while above it soar contrapuntal dialogues, spirited dances, and flights of fantasy.
Yet, no matter how different Frescobaldi is from Buxtehude the compositional technique is the same. Returning to the structure of Cento, following the Ciacona in F major is a Passacaglia in C major characterized by dotted rhythms as in Buxtehude’s C-minor Ciacona; then a C-major Ciacona, a Passacaglia in A minor, another Ciacona in A minor. The Cento ends with a Passacaglia in D minor. In Frescobaldi there are dramatic shifts in mood within sections as in Buxtehude, but in a more diffuse way.
Elements of the remarkable ostinato C-minor Ciacona may also be found in the canzonas of Froberger, which no doubt were influenced, in part, by Frescobaldi. In 1637 Froberger was court organist for Emperor Ferdinand III in Vienna and he was granted leave to study with Frescobaldi in Rome. He studied there until 1640.12 The documents are scant regarding the life of Froberger; however, it is known that he returned to Italy some time before 1649 and may have studied with Carissimi. In a letter to Kircher he mentioned performing in the courts of Florence and Mantua.13 The year 1637 also marks the year of the publication of Frescobaldi’s Second Book of Toccatas, Canzoni, etc. The imitative counterpoint ever present in Frescobaldi’s canzonas is at the heart of Froberger’s canzonas. In Froberger’s Canzona in A minor, a single motif is the basis of the whole composition. See Example 5 showing the opening theme of Froberger’s Canzona VI and its rhythmical transformation. The motif undergoes rhythmical transformation, but is ever present, much like Buxtehude’s ostinato bass line. At the core of Froberger’s Canzona VI is a theme that undergoes transformation but remains singable and memorable.

4. Performance practices
Buxtehude’s Ciacona in C minor is sectional and moves from darkness to light. Is it appropriate to change tempi? In answering that question it may be appropriate to take Frescobaldi’s words to heart. Under the title of “Cento Partite sopra Passacagli” Frescobaldi offers these words: “The Passacaglias may be played separately, like the chaconnes, according to the performer’s wishes, whilst adjusting the movement from one variation to the next.”14 Certainly, one should consider the suspensions at the beginning of Buxtehude's Ciacona and choose a tempo that would not obscure the suspensions. If one must play Buxtehude on a tracker organ with a heavy action, one can look to Girolamo Diruta, who addressed how to approach the sometimes formidable task of playing on such an instrument. Diruta says: Let the arm guide the hand. In other words, use the weight of the arm to depress the keys. He also says that one must press and not strike the keys, one must caress the keys as though one were caressing a child.15

5. Buxtehude’s influence on Bach’s Passacaglia
All of Buxtehude’s ostinato works are found in the Andreas Bach Book,16 an anthology compiled before 1700 by Johann Christoph Bach of Ohrdruf, Johann Sebastian Bach’s older brother and teacher.17 In all probability Bach knew Buxtehude’s Ciacona in C minor in 1705, when at age 20 he received permission to leave his post as organist at the New Church at Arnstadt to travel on foot 250 miles to Lübeck to hear Dieterich Buxtehude. He was there for almost a quarter of a year, staying three times longer than his four weeks of granted leave time. As Christoph Wolff comments, “From Bach’s vantage point in 1705, there was simply no other musician who could offer him so much.”18
Bach’s monumental Passacaglia in C minor, BWV 582, with its twenty variations over its eight measure ground, is reminiscent of Buxtehude’s Ciacona in C minor. As Peter Williams points out, “a series of conventional figurae are used (one after the other) in a texture varying from one to five parts.”19
No autograph of BWV 582 survives; however, an early copy exists and Williams comments that “the earlier the Passacaglia was composed, the more it can be seen as a deliberate essay in genre-composition, very likely under the influence of Buxtehude.”20 Bach emancipates the form, but always, as in Buxtehude, the theme of the Passacaglia is ever present, singable and memorable. Unlike Buxtehude, Bach presents the ostinato bass line first as a solo voice in the pedal, giving emphasis to its importance as the foundation of the entire work.

6. The significance of repetition
Repetition occurs on many levels. In Buxtehude’s Ciacona in C minor, first the ostinato theme in the pedal recurs, unchanging in pitch, sometimes slightly altered rhythmically; variations are repeated, and on a detailed level, motives are repeated within a variation. All of this serves the purpose of creating a unified, organic whole. In repeating a variation he allows the listener to savor music for the second time. At the core of fine art is “artful” repetition . . . it promotes symmetry and patterns that give pleasure to the eye and ear. Buxtehude’s Ciacona in C minor is like a stage on which the characters experience sorrow, joy, conflict and resolution and the conclusion seems to be an affirmation of cosmic harmony.
One has only to look in Corliss Arnold’s Organ Literature: A Comprehensive Survey to see that the ciacona/passacaglia is alive and well. On May 16, 2007, I was in the Duomo in Florence and heard Jean Guillou play a brilliant, memorized recital. He concluded his recital with his transcription of Modest Moussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, with no fewer than five movements entitled Promenade (“Passeggiata”). How refreshing to hear this majestic and joyous theme recur over and over again. See Example 6 for the opening of the passacaglia. This recurring theme is an “artful” repetition, giving the listener a talisman for his journey, like a stone worn smooth by his touch, something that brings comfort because it is always there. ■

This paper was presented on June 26, 2007 at the 28th International Organ and Church Music Institute, celebrating “Buxtehude and Liturgical Music,” at the University of Michigan.

Diana L. Akers is adjunct professor of organ at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida. She has studied privately with Marie-Louise Langlais and is presently pursuing a Ph.D. in Comparative Studies in Fine and Performing Arts with a primary emphasis on the 20th-century French organ school of composition. To heighten awareness of the pipe organ, she has created and maintains , a website/calendar and e-mail notification service for organ, music, and arts events.

The 29th International Organ and Church Music Institute was presented June 15–17 by the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance and directed by Marilyn Mason, University Organist and Chair of the Organ Department. The institute was devoted to the study of music by César Franck and Olivier Messiaen, Gregorian, Anglican and responsorial chant, Martin Luther’s musical thinking, hymn improvisation, and pipe organs around the world. Sessions were presented by Gordon Atkinson, Ralph Kneeream, Andrew Mead, Helmut Schick, Erven Thoma, and Steven Hoffman. A concert of works for violin and organ opened the institute, and two organ recitals, one of works by César Franck and one of works by Olivier Messiaen, were presented the following two evenings.

Opening concert
The opening concert was part of the Ann Arbor Summer Festival Classical Music Series and was held at Blanche Anderson Moore Hall. Pierre Darchambeau, violin, and Marilyn Mason, organ, performed works for violin and organ by Handel, Bach, Ysaÿe, Mozart, and Rheinberger. The “Marilyn Mason Organ,” Fisk opus 87, is modeled after the medium-sized organs of Gottfried Silbermann and most closely resembles the Silbermann organ in the Georgenkirche in Rötha, Germany (www.milandigitalaudio.com/silbermannstgeorge.htm).
Two early works of J. S. Bach were heard: Partita, “O Gott, du Frommer Gott,” BWV 767, and Pedal-Exercitium, BWV 598, along with Mozart’s Andante für eine Walze in eine Kleine Orgel, KV 616. The Fisk organ, with its one-fifth-comma modified meantone temperament, was the perfect instrument for the performance of this charming piece. Belgian violinist Pierre Darchambeau displayed brilliant technique and musicianship in the performance of the demanding Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, op. 27, no. 3, for violin alone, by Eugene Ysaÿe (1858–1931). Josef Rheinberger (1839–1901) composed several pieces for violin and organ, including the Suite in C Major, op. 166, which concluded the program. Working together as one, the two soloists achieved a finely tuned balance between the instruments, which inspired the audience to call for an encore, the Arioso by J. S. Bach.

Chant
Gordon Atkinson, visiting scholar from Victoria, Australia, conducted two sessions on chant. Born in Melbourne, he spent much of his life in England and North America. He attended the Royal College of Music in London, and was organist at St. John the Baptist in Kensington, where two of his predecessors were Healey Willan and William Harris. Past president of the Royal Canadian College of Organists, Atkinson has composed a number of Mass settings, choral and organ works, including Celebration, commissioned by Marilyn Mason. It appears on a CD played by Marijim Thoene at St. Joseph Abbey, St. Benedict, Louisiana. Dr. Atkinson’s experience as composer, music director, university instructor, and organist provided the group with meaningful, musical and proper methods of singing Gregorian, Anglican and responsorial chant. He provided diverse musical samples, including his own compositions, and opportunities were given to lead as soloist and cantor and to sing with and direct the group. The session concluded with a rendition of the hymn of praise, Atkinson, O God of Light.
Dr. Atkinson later offered a rare and entertaining presentation of “Australia’s Organ Heritage.” Tracing the history of the pipe organ in Australia, he discussed the organ builders who were German emigrants—Daniel Lemke, Carl Krüger, and Johann Wolff. Significant imports came from E. F. Walcker and others, followed by von Beckerath, Jürgen Ahrend, and others. Slides of various organs were displayed, along with recordings of a range of music, from the Gigout Toccata to Waltzing Matilda.

Organ history
Two lectures on pipe organs, “Ancient Organs through Freiburg” and “Poitiers through Contemporary Organ Building,” were presented by organ historians Helmut Schick and Erven Thoma. The historical development of the instrument was documented through ancient diagrams and writings. Mechanical developments were explained and related to performance and compositional development. Audio soundtracks were matched with photos of actual instruments so that one could hear the difference in voicing and organ specifications. Photos showcased the beauty and artwork of the organ cases.

Franck
“Organ Music of Franck (1822–1890), Photographs, Documents, Texts, Scores, Live and Recorded Performances,” was presented by Ralph Kneeream. Preceding the lecture, Dr. Kneeream shared personal memories and photographs of composers such as the Duruflés, Dupré, and Tournemire, and the 19th-century organ builder Aristide Cavaillé-Coll.
Beginning with the history of Sainte Clotilde, the life and works of César Franck were presented through the interpretations of Charles Tournemire and Maurice Duruflé. Dr. Kneeream stated that Cavaillé-Coll changed the French classical organ by reducing the number of flutes and mutations and by adding stops such as harmonic flutes. He was the first to place the Grand Orgue as the lowest manual instead of the Positif, and he included couplers so that the entire organ could be played from the Grand Orgue.
An expert on the life of Charles Tournemire, Kneeream translated and edited Tournemire’s book César Franck (1930). For performance and registration information, he referred the institute attendees to this volume, citing such quotations as “modulate, modulate, modulate” and the recommendation to “play the room” by allowing endings to naturally decay instead of by counting.
Dr. Kneeream noted that Arbiter Records has recently (May 2008) reissued the original Tournemire recordings of the works of Franck on the Ste. Clotilde organ (1930–31). Kneeream wrote the liner notes and recommended that attendees listen to this CD for performance interpretation and to hear the authentic sounds of the Franck organ, before the Tournemire alteration of the organ in 1933 (www.arbiterrecords.com).
According to Kneeream, within the Ste. Clotilde tradition one can hear the lineage of the great organ composers. For example, in Franck’s Choral en la mineur one can hear the influence of Bach’s Prelude in A Minor, BWV 543. The key link among French composers such as Franck, Tournemire and Olivier Messiaen is mysticism.

Franck masterclass and recital
Masterclass performances were given by U of M students Christopher Reynolds, Jason Branham, and Aaron Tan. Institute attendees were later treated to an all-Franck recital by graduate students of Marilyn Mason on the Frieze Memorial Organ in Hill Auditorium (www.umich.edu/~urel/hill/organ.html): Pièce Héroïque, Jason Branham; Cantabile, Christopher Reynolds; Choral in E Major, Paul Haebig; Choral in B Minor, Andrew Meagher; and Choral in A Minor, Aaron Tan.

Messiaen
Professor Andrew Mead, former chair of the music theory department, presented two sessions on Messiaen: “Visions of Glory: An Introduction to Olivier Messiaen’s Works for Organ” and “Olivier Messiaen’s Works for Organ.”
Somewhat demystifying the music of Messiaen, Mead explained that precedents for several of Messiaen’s compositional ideas and colors can be found in the works of composers such as Bach and Berlioz. Trio texture dominates many of Messiaen’s works. For contrast, as in Baroque literature, three very different registrations are used for each of the three voices and, similar to a cantus firmus in chorale preludes, 4-foot registrations are sometimes used for the melody. Like the trios found in the Bach F-Major Toccata, BWV 540, many times all possible combinations of voices are presented. This concept of using all possible combinations was also used in rhythmic and pitch variations. Another Messiaen technique was to contrast a low fundamental with high registration. Preceding Messiaen in French music, Berlioz contrasted six trombones with three flutes in his Requiem.
Dr. Mead explained many of the techniques that contribute to the sense of infinity or timelessness in the music of Messiaen. His music is not about development, but rather about return and reflection. One should look for recurrent motivic spans, both identical and similar, and techniques such as stretching and contraction and non-retrogradable rhythms. Mead also explained many of the pitch techniques and sources that Messiaen used in his compositions. Modes of limited transposition and chords of the dominant are all explained in Messiaen’s book, The Technique of My Musical Language. Chords of the resonance, based on the overtone series, parallel motion in the modes and in transposed scales, and combinations of scales all contribute to the sense of timelessness in this music, which moves slowly with contrasting, ever-changing colors and rhythm.

Martin Luther
Pulling together all aspects of the institute, Steven Hoffman’s lecture and demonstration, “Next to Theology . . . Music: Luther’s Musical Thinking and Hymn Improvisation,” combined chant, textual meaning, improvisation from organ literature, and inspirational organ playing. Theology first and music second was the focus of Luther’s musical thinking. Choosing several hymns from the Lutheran hymnal, Dr. Hoffman examined the texts first, then the musical sources, and then creatively improvised introductions that portrayed the meaning of the texts. One of his most dramatic improvisations was from Messiaen’s L’Apparition de l’Église Éternelle introducing the hymn, “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence.” Citing Luther’s quotation, “Next to theology, God’s greatest gift is music,” Hoffman demonstrated how the gifts of the human voice, text, and musical skill and knowledge all can be used to celebrate the glory of God. The lecture then concluded with the uplifting, rhythmic version of “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” (Ein Feste Burg), text by Martin Luther.

Messiaen recital
Topping the final day was an all-Messiaen recital on the Frieze Memorial Organ in Hill Auditorium. Graduate students Christopher Reynolds, Jason Branham, Andrew Meagher, Christopher Urbiel, Richard Newman, and Paul Haebig performed Le Banquet Céleste, Apparition de l’Église Éternelle, “Alléluias sereins” (L’Ascension), “Adoro te” (Livre du Saint Sacrement), “Les Mains de l’abîme” (Livre d’Orgue), and “Joie et clarté des corps glorieux” (Les Corps Glorieux). Dr. Mason performed Verset pour la fête de la Dédicace, a later work of chant and birdsong, and Dr. Mead performed three movements from Messe de la Pentecôte.
The recital was a brilliant ending to three days of a well-conceived interdisciplinary study of the pipe organ and church music. If there were one recurrent theme throughout the various sessions of the institute, it would be a sense of élan, or a call from the soul, and mysticism. In this music, reaching toward the beyond is essential for the composers, the organbuilders, the performers, and the listeners. ■

Diana L. Akers is adjunct professor of organ at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida. She has studied privately with Marie-Louise Langlais and is presently pursuing a Ph.D. in Comparative Studies in Fine and Performing Arts with a primary emphasis on the 20th-century French organ school of composition. To heighten awareness of the pipe organ, she has created and maintains <www.Organiste.net&gt;, a website/calendar and e-mail notification service for organ, music, and arts events.

The 29th International Organ and Church Music Institute was presented June 15–17 by the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance and directed by Marilyn Mason, University Organist and Chair of the Organ Department. The institute was devoted to the study of music by César Franck and Olivier Messiaen, Gregorian, Anglican and responsorial chant, Martin Luther’s musical thinking, hymn improvisation, and pipe organs around the world. Sessions were presented by Gordon Atkinson, Ralph Kneeream, Andrew Mead, Helmut Schick, Erven Thoma, and Steven Hoffman. A concert of works for violin and organ opened the institute, and two organ recitals, one of works by César Franck and one of works by Olivier Messiaen, were presented the following two evenings.

Opening concert
The opening concert was part of the Ann Arbor Summer Festival Classical Music Series and was held at Blanche Anderson Moore Hall. Pierre Darchambeau, violin, and Marilyn Mason, organ, performed works for violin and organ by Handel, Bach, Ysaÿe, Mozart, and Rheinberger. The “Marilyn Mason Organ,” Fisk opus 87, is modeled after the medium-sized organs of Gottfried Silbermann and most closely resembles the Silbermann organ in the Georgenkirche in Rötha, Germany (www.milandigitalaudio.com/silbermannstgeorge.htm).
Two early works of J. S. Bach were heard: Partita, “O Gott, du Frommer Gott,” BWV 767, and Pedal-Exercitium, BWV 598, along with Mozart’s Andante für eine Walze in eine Kleine Orgel, KV 616. The Fisk organ, with its one-fifth-comma modified meantone temperament, was the perfect instrument for the performance of this charming piece. Belgian violinist Pierre Darchambeau displayed brilliant technique and musicianship in the performance of the demanding Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, op. 27, no. 3, for violin alone, by Eugene Ysaÿe (1858–1931). Josef Rheinberger (1839–1901) composed several pieces for violin and organ, including the Suite in C Major, op. 166, which concluded the program. Working together as one, the two soloists achieved a finely tuned balance between the instruments, which inspired the audience to call for an encore, the Arioso by J. S. Bach.

Chant
Gordon Atkinson, visiting scholar from Victoria, Australia, conducted two sessions on chant. Born in Melbourne, he spent much of his life in England and North America. He attended the Royal College of Music in London, and was organist at St. John the Baptist in Kensington, where two of his predecessors were Healey Willan and William Harris. Past president of the Royal Canadian College of Organists, Atkinson has composed a number of Mass settings, choral and organ works, including Celebration, commissioned by Marilyn Mason. It appears on a CD played by Marijim Thoene at St. Joseph Abbey, St. Benedict, Louisiana. Dr. Atkinson’s experience as composer, music director, university instructor, and organist provided the group with meaningful, musical and proper methods of singing Gregorian, Anglican and responsorial chant. He provided diverse musical samples, including his own compositions, and opportunities were given to lead as soloist and cantor and to sing with and direct the group. The session concluded with a rendition of the hymn of praise, Atkinson, O God of Light.
Dr. Atkinson later offered a rare and entertaining presentation of “Australia’s Organ Heritage.” Tracing the history of the pipe organ in Australia, he discussed the organ builders who were German emigrants—Daniel Lemke, Carl Krüger, and Johann Wolff. Significant imports came from E. F. Walcker and others, followed by von Beckerath, Jürgen Ahrend, and others. Slides of various organs were displayed, along with recordings of a range of music, from the Gigout Toccata to Waltzing Matilda.

Organ history
Two lectures on pipe organs, “Ancient Organs through Freiburg” and “Poitiers through Contemporary Organ Building,” were presented by organ historians Helmut Schick and Erven Thoma. The historical development of the instrument was documented through ancient diagrams and writings. Mechanical developments were explained and related to performance and compositional development. Audio soundtracks were matched with photos of actual instruments so that one could hear the difference in voicing and organ specifications. Photos showcased the beauty and artwork of the organ cases.

Franck
“Organ Music of Franck (1822–1890), Photographs, Documents, Texts, Scores, Live and Recorded Performances,” was presented by Ralph Kneeream. Preceding the lecture, Dr. Kneeream shared personal memories and photographs of composers such as the Duruflés, Dupré, and Tournemire, and the 19th-century organ builder Aristide Cavaillé-Coll.
Beginning with the history of Sainte Clotilde, the life and works of César Franck were presented through the interpretations of Charles Tournemire and Maurice Duruflé. Dr. Kneeream stated that Cavaillé-Coll changed the French classical organ by reducing the number of flutes and mutations and by adding stops such as harmonic flutes. He was the first to place the Grand Orgue as the lowest manual instead of the Positif, and he included couplers so that the entire organ could be played from the Grand Orgue.
An expert on the life of Charles Tournemire, Kneeream translated and edited Tournemire’s book César Franck (1930). For performance and registration information, he referred the institute attendees to this volume, citing such quotations as “modulate, modulate, modulate” and the recommendation to “play the room” by allowing endings to naturally decay instead of by counting.
Dr. Kneeream noted that Arbiter Records has recently (May 2008) reissued the original Tournemire recordings of the works of Franck on the Ste. Clotilde organ (1930–31). Kneeream wrote the liner notes and recommended that attendees listen to this CD for performance interpretation and to hear the authentic sounds of the Franck organ, before the Tournemire alteration of the organ in 1933 (www.arbiterrecords.com).
According to Kneeream, within the Ste. Clotilde tradition one can hear the lineage of the great organ composers. For example, in Franck’s Choral en la mineur one can hear the influence of Bach’s Prelude in A Minor, BWV 543. The key link among French composers such as Franck, Tournemire and Olivier Messiaen is mysticism.

Franck masterclass and recital
Masterclass performances were given by U of M students Christopher Reynolds, Jason Branham, and Aaron Tan. Institute attendees were later treated to an all-Franck recital by graduate students of Marilyn Mason on the Frieze Memorial Organ in Hill Auditorium (www.umich.edu/~urel/hill/organ.html): Pièce Héroïque, Jason Branham; Cantabile, Christopher Reynolds; Choral in E Major, Paul Haebig; Choral in B Minor, Andrew Meagher; and Choral in A Minor, Aaron Tan.

Messiaen
Professor Andrew Mead, former chair of the music theory department, presented two sessions on Messiaen: “Visions of Glory: An Introduction to Olivier Messiaen’s Works for Organ” and “Olivier Messiaen’s Works for Organ.”
Somewhat demystifying the music of Messiaen, Mead explained that precedents for several of Messiaen’s compositional ideas and colors can be found in the works of composers such as Bach and Berlioz. Trio texture dominates many of Messiaen’s works. For contrast, as in Baroque literature, three very different registrations are used for each of the three voices and, similar to a cantus firmus in chorale preludes, 4-foot registrations are sometimes used for the melody. Like the trios found in the Bach F-Major Toccata, BWV 540, many times all possible combinations of voices are presented. This concept of using all possible combinations was also used in rhythmic and pitch variations. Another Messiaen technique was to contrast a low fundamental with high registration. Preceding Messiaen in French music, Berlioz contrasted six trombones with three flutes in his Requiem.
Dr. Mead explained many of the techniques that contribute to the sense of infinity or timelessness in the music of Messiaen. His music is not about development, but rather about return and reflection. One should look for recurrent motivic spans, both identical and similar, and techniques such as stretching and contraction and non-retrogradable rhythms. Mead also explained many of the pitch techniques and sources that Messiaen used in his compositions. Modes of limited transposition and chords of the dominant are all explained in Messiaen’s book, The Technique of My Musical Language. Chords of the resonance, based on the overtone series, parallel motion in the modes and in transposed scales, and combinations of scales all contribute to the sense of timelessness in this music, which moves slowly with contrasting, ever-changing colors and rhythm.

Martin Luther
Pulling together all aspects of the institute, Steven Hoffman’s lecture and demonstration, “Next to Theology . . . Music: Luther’s Musical Thinking and Hymn Improvisation,” combined chant, textual meaning, improvisation from organ literature, and inspirational organ playing. Theology first and music second was the focus of Luther’s musical thinking. Choosing several hymns from the Lutheran hymnal, Dr. Hoffman examined the texts first, then the musical sources, and then creatively improvised introductions that portrayed the meaning of the texts. One of his most dramatic improvisations was from Messiaen’s L’Apparition de l’Église Éternelle introducing the hymn, “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence.” Citing Luther’s quotation, “Next to theology, God’s greatest gift is music,” Hoffman demonstrated how the gifts of the human voice, text, and musical skill and knowledge all can be used to celebrate the glory of God. The lecture then concluded with the uplifting, rhythmic version of “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” (Ein Feste Burg), text by Martin Luther.

Messiaen recital
Topping the final day was an all-Messiaen recital on the Frieze Memorial Organ in Hill Auditorium. Graduate students Christopher Reynolds, Jason Branham, Andrew Meagher, Christopher Urbiel, Richard Newman, and Paul Haebig performed Le Banquet Céleste, Apparition de l’Église Éternelle, “Alléluias sereins” (L’Ascension), “Adoro te” (Livre du Saint Sacrement), “Les Mains de l’abîme” (Livre d’Orgue), and “Joie et clarté des corps glorieux” (Les Corps Glorieux). Dr. Mason performed Verset pour la fête de la Dédicace, a later work of chant and birdsong, and Dr. Mead performed three movements from Messe de la Pentecôte.
The recital was a brilliant ending to three days of a well-conceived interdisciplinary study of the pipe organ and church music. If there were one recurrent theme throughout the various sessions of the institute, it would be a sense of élan, or a call from the soul, and mysticism. In this music, reaching toward the beyond is essential for the composers, the organbuilders, the performers, and the listeners.

Marijim Thoene received a D.M.A. in Organ Performance/Church Music from the University of Michigan in 1984. She is an active recitalist and director of music at St. John Lutheran Church in Dundee, Michigan. Her two CDs, Mystics and Spirits and Wind Song are available through Raven Recordings. She is a frequent presenter at medieval conferences on the topic of the image of the pipe organ in medieval manuscripts. Lisa Byers received master’s degrees in music education and organ performance from the University of Michigan, and a J.D. from the University of Toledo, Ohio. She is retired from teaching music in the Jefferson Public Schools in Monroe, Michigan, as well as from her position as organist/choir director at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Tecumseh, Michigan. She currently subs as organist in the Monroe area.

This year’s gathering marked the fiftieth anniversary of the University of Michigan Conference on Organ Music, directed by its creator, Marilyn Mason. Organists from France, Germany, Poland, and the U.S. performed on the Aeolian-Skinner on the stage of Hill Auditorium. The shimmering golden pipes of this organ made this year’s theme especially appropriate: “Pure Gold: Music of Poland, France and Germany.” The conference was dedicated to the memories of Erven Thoma, a Michigan DMA graduate in church music, and William Steinhoff, Professor Emeritus of English at U-M and husband of Marilyn Mason.

Sunday, October 3
Frédéric Blanc, 43-year-old native of Angoulême, opened the conference with a program of all-French music. He introduced his program by saying that Fauré, Ravel, and Debussy are never far away in nineteenth and twentieth-century French organ music. Their influence was undeniable in the works Blanc performed, a mix of well-known and loved repertoire—Franck, Choral in A Minor and Cantabile; Vierne, Carillon de Westminster and Méditation Improvisée (reconstructed by Duruflé), repertoire that is occasionally heard—Prelude in E-flat Minor (from Suite, op. 5) by Duruflé and Allegro (from Symphony VI) by Widor, and repertoire that is rarely heard—Introduction et Aria by Jean-Jacques Gruenwald, Toccata (from Le Tombeau de Titelouze, on Placare Christe Servulis) by Dupré, and Prelude (from the suite Pélleas et Mélisande) by Debussy, transcribed by Duruflé.
Blanc’s technique is formidable and his choice of registration was both poetic and daring; however, his playing became more impassioned and inspired in his improvisation—a Triptych Symphony based on three submitted themes: Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, Hail to the Chief, and Somewhere Over the Rainbow. His imagination and creativity were dazzling as he altered rhythms and keys of the submitted themes, seamlessly moved from dark and somber to warm and brilliant colors, from pensive to ebullient moods, and ending with a bombastic pedal toccata. He delighted in making the instrument hum, growl, and break forth in glorious trumpeting.

Monday, October 4
On Monday afternoon Frederic Blanc gave a lecture entitled “A Mind’s Eye.” He spoke informally of how his life as a musician has been shaped and influenced by unique circumstances, his teachers, and his views on improvisation. While he was a student at the Bordeaux Conservatory, Xavier Durasse heard him play and persuaded him to come to Toulouse, where he was then asked to be organist at St. Sernin. There he had all his nights to play the organ, and there he met Jean-Louis Florentz, André Fleury, and Madame Duruflé. When she heard him improvise, she said, “I will take you to Paris and I will make you work very hard.” He told how he was not prepared to play Dupré’s Variations on a Noël, one of the required pieces for the Chartres competition, and she told him he had to be able to play it from memory in fifteen days or she would never see him again. She was delighted when he came back in fifteen days and played it from memory. Blanc said that the most important thing he learned from her was that “each piece has its own way to be played, you must express yourself, your sensitivity must flow through the music.”
Blanc’s candid answers to questions about his own improvisation left me feeling that here is a man whose life is charmed, who is fully conscious of the rare gift he has been given, and is fully committed to nurturing it. When asked who taught him how to improvise, he answered: “I wasn’t. I listened to Madame Duruflé, Pierre Cochereau, Jean Langlais, and to recordings of Tournemire. Nobody can give you the gift. If you are not given the gift you will never be able to improvise a symphony . . . I heard Cochereau at Notre Dame and it was like magic, like being pierced by a sword, raised to heaven. He was at one with the organ.”
When asked about the state of organ building in France today, Blanc lamented that there are no organs in concert halls, and the organist cannot be seen in the lofts in churches. He commented that Cavaillé-Coll was a builder who turned toward the future and restored his own organs for new music, especially those organs in Notre Dame and Sacré Coeur.
Blanc’s final dictum concerning how to play French organ music: “After historicism, it must be the music and what you have inside.”
Charles Echols, Professor Emeritus of St. Cloud State University, lectured on “Observations on American Organ Music 1900–1950,” covering a large variety of topics: the movement of American composers to create “American” music; changes in musical style and organ building between 1930–1950; approaches to researching organ music by American composers; and an introduction to the organ music of René Louis Becker, whose scores have been given to the University of Michigan by his family, who were present at the lecture.
On Monday evening Martin Bambauer, 40-year-old organist and choirmaster at the Konstantin Basilika in Trier, played Dupré’s Poème héroïque, op. 33; Tournemire’s Triple Choral, op. 41; Liszt’s Eglogue (from Années de Pèlerinage), transcribed for organ by Bambauer; Karg-Elert’s Partita Retrospettiva, op. 151; Iain Farrington’s Fiesta!, plus his own improvisation. He played with great precision and refinement. His performance of Tournemire’s Triple Choral, op. 41 was an Ann Arbor premiere. Farrington’s four-movement work, Fiesta!, was a bit of fresh air, conjuring up all sorts of secular venues, from a stripper’s stage to a cocktail lounge.

Tuesday, October 5
On Tuesday, Martin Bambauer began his lecture, “Tournemire’s Triple Choral,” by saying that it was Tournemire’s first major organ work, and he had learned it in a week (!) and played it for the fourth time in public yesterday, and that it was not a very popular piece. Truly, I would have thought he had been playing the piece for years. This early work of Tournemire is introspective and cerebral, and at the same time hints at the other-worldliness that would characterize his later work. Bambauer mentioned that in 1896 the Liber Usualis became Tournemire’s constant companion, and when he became Franck’s successor at the Basilica of St. Clotilde in 1898 he only improvised on chant in the services. He thought sacred music was the only music worthy of the name, and when Langlais questioned him, asking what about the music of Debussy, Ravel, and Stravinsky, he said it didn’t matter! Bambauer recommended listening to Tournemire’s eight symphonies, among them Search for the Holy Grail and Apocalypse of St. John. Tournemire was drawn to the mysterious and supernatural, apparent not only in his music, but in his biography of Franck in 1931, and the naming of his two cottages “Tristan” and “Isolde”—his Opus 53 bears those names.
Bambauer pointed out that Tournemire was recognized as a great improviser, and Vierne described him as being “impulsive, enthusiastic, erratic, and a born improviser.” Tournemire’s Five Improvisations, recorded in 1930 at St. Clotilde and transcribed by his student, Duruflé, are his most popular works. His L’Orgue Mystique, fifty-one liturgical sets of five pieces each, was composed between 1927–1932 and is the Catholic counterpart to Bach’s Orgelbüchlein. Bambauer explained that the first edition of L’Orgue Mystique was dedicated to César Franck and states in the preface that the performer is free to choose the registration; however, in the second edition Duruflé includes registration and manual changes.
Bambauer’s insightful analysis of Tournemire’s Triple Choral not only focused on his compositional techniques—use of imitation, paraphrase, and inversion—but how and when Tournemire used the same harmonic vocabulary as Franck. Bambauer illustrated the meticulous craftsmanship in this early work of Tournemire based on his newly created chorals entitled “The Father,” “The Son,” and “The Holy Spirit,” and discussed how the prose with which Tournemire prefaced each choral was mirrored in the music. Tournemire’s prose offers a poignant testimony of his profound faith and allows the listener to participate in Tournemire’s personal vision.
Bambauer commented that the highlight of the piece occurs at the end as the three chorals softly merge together. Bambauer treated us to another performance of Tournemire’s Triple Choral and “the knowing made all the difference.”
Tuesday evening James Kibbie, Professor of Organ at U-M, presented a stunning memorized recital. He has a special affinity for the music of Marcel Dupré, Jehan Alain, Dan Locklair, and Jirí Ropek. He played Dupré’s Prelude and Fugue in B Major, op. 7, no. 1, with conviction and assurance. The pleasure of hearing Alain’s rarely played Two Preludes was heightened by being able to read the texts that accompany them. Kibbie’s sensitive interpretation made the images of the text take on a life of their own.
Dan Locklair’s Voyage was another kind of tone poem, providing a journey to fantasy lands filled with sounds of the ebb and flow of tides, jazz, bird song, chimes, and billowing waves evoked by hand glissandi. Kibbie managed to weave together these disparate elements into a fabulous and entertaining voyage.
It was a pleasure to hear Kibbie speak of his meeting Jirí Ropek when he won the Prague Organ Competition in 1979 and of his continuing friendship with this celebrated organist/composer who suffered greatly during the Communist oppression. Kibbie related conversations he had had with Ropek that offered insight into his music. Of the three Ropek pieces on the program, Kibbie said that the Toccata and Fugue (dedicated to Kibbie) was the most complex and dissonant, and mirrored in the work is Ropek’s philosophy: “Life is not only one melody, but many and dissonances, but in general I’m quite melodious. No frightening the audience.” To hear this account made Ropek’s Toccata and Fugue, filled with haunting and aggressive motives, a kind of musical autobiography. Kibbie also explained the compositional process of Ropek’s Fantasy on Mozart’s Theme. In 1775 Mozart improvised a work in a monastery, and only the first 57 measures were written down. Ropek was asked to play it and he added a cadenza. He worked on it over the years and finally he attached his own music to Mozart’s original piece. It was one of the last things he wrote before he died and is dedicated to the students of James Kibbie at the University of Michigan. It was published in 2009.
Kibbie mentioned that he had just played Ropek’s Variations on “Victimae Paschali Laudes” in Prague the week before and made a recording for the radio at the Basilica of St. James where Ropek was organist for 35 years. This beautiful work has become a signature piece for Kibbie.

Wednesday, October 6
Five recitals were performed on Wednesday, an intense day of listening.
The first recital of the day was played by Andrew Lang on the Létourneau organ in the School of Public Health. Lang is a student of James Kibbie and commutes from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. His program was well suited for the room and instrument: “The Primitives” and “Those Americans” (from Five Dances for Organ) by Calvin Hampton; Dies sind die heiligen zehen Gebot, BWV 678, Fughetta super Dies sind die heiligen zehen Gebot, BWV 679, and Prelude and Fugue in B Minor, BWV 544, by Bach. Lang played with verve and energy; the contrapuntal lines were electric with clarity and precision.
The day’s second recital was played at Hill Auditorium by Józef Kotowicz, who received his doctoral degree in 2001 from the Music Academy in Warsaw. He is active, playing recitals in music festivals throughout Europe, producing a radio program devoted to organs of northeast Poland, recording on the organ in the Cathedral Basilica (Bialystok), and teaching and serving as organist at St. Adalbertus Church. Two of the most interesting pieces of his ambitious program were works by Mieczyslaw Surzynski (1886–1924), Improvisation on the Polish Sacred Song “Swiety Boze,” and Stefan Lindblad (b. 1958), Espanordica. Kotowicz explained to me that “Swiety Boze” is a very popular hymn in Poland and is sung often during funeral services. A translation of the first line reads: “Holy God, Holy [and] Mighty, Holy [and] Immortal, have mercy on us.” The hymn has inspired many composers.
After hearing the performance of Surzynski’s Improvisation, it is easily understood why he is the most revered Polish composer of organ music. The work began with a statement of the hymn, and six dramatic variations followed, with variations one and five being the most riveting. In variation one, thundering chords are played in the manuals while the cantus firmus is heard in the pedals. In variation five, a fiery toccata is in the manuals while the cantus firmus thunders in the pedals.
Kotowicz’s performance of Lindblad’s Espanordica was electrifying. Each of the three movements—Rhapsodia, Nocturno, and Litanies—is built on Spanish dance motifs. Kotowicz told me that Stefan Lindblad lives in Göteborg, Sweden. Lindblad has composed two large works for organ, Hommages and Espanordica, which Kotowicz has performed in Ann Arbor. Both of these pieces have never been printed and he is the only Polish organist who has the scores. He also commented, “It’s interesting that Lindblad is almost completely unknown in Sweden, so I feel like his promoter. I know him personally because I often play in Sweden.”
In honor of Chopin’s 200th birth year, Arthur Greene, Professor of Piano at U-M, performed an all-Chopin recital. It was truly a gift to hear such great artistry.
His program provided a rich and tantalizing view of Chopin’s brilliant oeuvre. Greene drew sounds out of the piano like a magician—singing, soaring, langorous melodies, and thunderous, tumultuous chords. Greene is a master in knowing how to use his body in eliciting such sounds, and in controlling the exact timing of each key and creating suspense through poignant pauses. The audience was captivated by the huge gamut of emotions, from laughter to dark despair, that were portrayed in Greene’s memorized recital. In his hands each piece became a sort of microcosm of its own, glowing with its own unique beauty. His program included three short Mazurkas (op. 67, no. 3; op. 24, no. 3; op. 24, no. 4), the well-known Nocturne in E-flat Major, op. 9, no. 2, Écossaise, op. 72, and four Ballades (op. 23, op. 38, op. 47, and op. 52).
The 4 o’clock recital featured graduate students of James Kibbie and Marilyn Mason. Each performer played with such artistry, conviction, and joy. Their discipline and dedication to their art was obvious. Those performing from Kibbie’s studio included Joseph Balistreri (In Organ, Chordis et Choro by Naji Hakim); Susan De Kam (Partita sopra “Nun freut euch” by Lionel Rogg), and Richard Newman (Final from Symphony No. 5, op. 47, by Louis Vierne). Mason’s students included Timothy Tikker (Pièce Héroïque by César Franck) and Louis Canter (Adagio, Fugue from The 94th Psalm by Julius Reubke).
The final concert of the conference was played by Charles Echols. His entire program was devoted to the music of René Louis Becker (1882–1956). In his notes, Professor Echols described Becker’s career as a musician in the Midwest, and commented that among the many churches Becker served as organist were Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in Detroit and St. Alphonsus Church in Dearborn, Michigan. Echols also indicated those pieces that have been published and those that are in manuscript form. Echols’s playing was flawless, and he is to be thanked for advancing this composer’s work, which recalls the music of Mendelssohn.
Professor Marilyn Mason has been responsible for the organ conference at the University of Michigan, a “happening” in Ann Arbor for 50 years. When I asked her what inspired her to begin this incredible conference she told me: “I began the conference for our students; my then manager, Lillian Murtagh, urged me to sponsor Anton Heiller, who had never played in Ann Arbor. Further, I realized since the students could not have a European experience there, we could provide it for them here: especially to hear organists who had not played in Ann Arbor. Some firsts in Ann Arbor were the Duruflés, Mlle Alain, Anton Heiller, and many more. This contact also provided a window of opportunity for the students, many of whom went on to study with the Europeans after having met them here.” This gathering together of world-class performers and teachers continues to nurture and inspire. We are indebted to Marilyn Mason for literally bringing the world to us.

•

These articles represent the ten sessions that I reviewed (each session is designated by roman numerals I–X).
I. Sunday, October 3, 4 pm, A Grand Night for Singing, Hill Auditorium
This inaugural event was a multi-choir extravaganza led by conductor and artistic director Professor Jerry Blackstone. He was assisted by other U of M faculty conductors, vocalists and instrumentalists. Six U of M student auditioned groups participated, with approximately 650 students. Composers ranged from Monteverdi to Sondheim, fourteen in all, and many various ensembles, representing a variety of musical genres. Each of the sixteen presentations, including choirs, solos, opera, theater, and musicals, was greatly appreciated by the audience, which rendered a standing ovation.

II. Monday, October 4, 10:30 am, dissertation recital by Jason Branham, at Moore Hall, the School of Music, on the Marilyn Mason Organ built by Fisk
Branham’s recital featured Buxtehude’s Praeludium in E Major, BuxWV 141, Bach’s Liebster Jesu, wir sind heir, BWV 731, and Trio Sonata No. 5 in C Major, BWV 529, Clerambault’s Suite du deuxième ton, and Mendelssohn’s Sonata No. 4 in B-flat Major, op. 65. Branham performed with an understanding of musical forms, in a sensitive and confident manner. The variety of works presented allowed him to demonstrate well many registration possibilities of this unique instrument. This performance was acknowledged with great applause.

III. Monday, October 4, 4 pm, dissertation recital by Christopher Reynolds at Hill Auditorium
Cantabile by Franck, Passion, op. 145, No. 4 by Reger, Prelude on Picardy by Near, Meditation on Sacramentum Unitatis by Sowerby, Elegy in B-flat by Thalben-Ball, Praeludium in g, BuxWV 149 by Buxtehude, from Zehn Charakteristische Tonstücke, op. 86, Prologus tragicus by Karg-Elert, and Concert Variations on The Star-Spangled Banner, op. 23 by Buck. Reynolds appropriately approached and performed well the pieces that required a reflective and meditative interpretation. His registrations, musical sensitivity, and facility made his selections interesting for the listeners who aptly responded with approval.

IV. Tuesday, October 5, 9:30 am, Organs of France
IX. Wednesday, October 6, 9:30 am, Organs of Bach Country
X. Wednesday, October 6, 10:30 am, Organs of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
Janice and Bela Feher presented three narrated photographic summaries of the European pipe organs visited and played on University of Michigan Historic Organ Tours, 2005–2009.
Organs of France were viewed via a PowerPoint presentation of pipe organs from various regions of France. The Fehers showed examples of French Baroque, Classic, Romantic, and Symphonic organs, and they highlighted sites and instruments associated with important organists and composers. Instruments included organs built by Dom Bedos, François-Henry, Louis-Alexandre, and Robert Clicquot; Jean-Pierre Cavaillé (grandfather), Dominique (father) and Aristide Cavaillé-Coll (son); and Moucherel. The photographs of the organs were enhanced by illustrations of their settings; highlights of the organs included historical cases, consoles, and principal internal components.
Organs of Bach Country traced the life of Bach, with photographs of the places where he grew up, the churches where he worked, and the organs he designed and played, along with additional photographic documentation of the organs of Andreas and Gottfried Silbermann, and Arp Schnitger.
Organs of the Austro-Hungarian Empire included pipe organs of Hungary (Budapest, Esztergom, Tihany, Zirc), Austria (Vienna, Melk, St. Florian, and Salzburg), and the Czech Republic (Prague). Historic and modern organs were presented from a variety of churches, cathedrals, abbeys, and concert halls. The photographs showed churches and organs associated with Mozart, Bruckner, Haydn, and Liszt. The photographs and information about these organs and their sites will be available in the near future from the University of Michigan Organ Department website.
The photographs described above and information are contained in several books available through <blurb.com>. The Fehers, along with Marilyn Mason, have produced a photo book about historical organs of Germany and Demark related to Bach and Buxtehude, entitled Sacred Spaces of Germany and Denmark. Their second book on the organs of Hungary, Austria, and the Czech Republic is entitled Sacred Spaces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. They are beginning to work on another book about the organs of France and Northern Spain. All books may be previewed and ordered from <blurb.com>.

V. Tuesday, October 5, 10:30 am, lecture by Christopher Urbiel, “The History of the Frieze Memorial Organ at Hill Auditorium, The University of Michigan”
Urbiel’s interesting history of this grand organ housed in Hill Auditorium began with the early instrument at Festival Hall at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Farrand & Votey organ, 1876 and 1893. Albert Stanley purchased the instrument for $15,000 during U of M President Angel’s tenure. It was placed in University Hall and named for Professor Frieze, founder of the University Musical Society and Choral Union, in 1894. In 1912 it was moved from University Hall. The organ has been changed, modified, and “rebuilt” through the years: Hutchings (1913), Moore, Palmer Christian, E.M. Skinner (1928), G. Donald Harrison, Noehren/Aeolian-Skinner (1955), Koontz (1980), renovated in 1900s, and rededicated to Frieze in 1994. Urbiel was very detailed and thorough in his presentation on the Hill Organ, a large unique instrument, and the audience showed great appreciation for his informative and delightful lecture and pictures.

VI. Tuesday, October 5, 11:30 am, lecture by Michael Barone, “Louis Vierne (1870–1937): The ‘Other’ Music (songs, piano pieces, chamber and orchestral works).”
Michael Barone presented the audience with a detailed listing (seven pages), containing comments, performers’ names, disc identification, and other information of Vierne’s “other” music as described in his lecture title. He discussed Vierne’s life and provided insight into the interpretation of his music based on the tragedies and pain Vierne suffered in the losses of his brother and son, coupled with the difficulties Vierne endured in his career, health, and home life. Barone provided more than 20 recorded excerpts, with verbal descriptions and information in an entertaining and interesting manner. Near the end of the seven-page compilation, Barone listed a disc summary of Vierne’s non-organ repertoire. The audience appreciated Barone’s thorough work, sense of humor, and sensitive presentation.

VII. Tuesday, October 5, 1:30 pm, lecture/demonstration by Michele Johns, “Organ ‘Plus’”
Dr. Johns began her lecture/demonstration by sharing some down-to-earth tips when deciding to use the organ with other instruments in services and concerts. She discussed conducting from the organ, getting funding, how to pay performers, ways to obtain band and orchestra members, vocalists, planning rehearsals, and rehearsing. Her program featured three pieces written for organ, two trumpets and two trombones, which she conducted from the organ. In celebration of this 50th annual University of Michigan Conference on Organ Music and in honor of the Organ Department, an arrangement of “Angels We Have Heard on High” for congregation, brass quartet, tympani and organ was premiered. This was a welcomed and enjoyed opportunity for the conferees to participate in this rousing and exciting setting written by Scott M. Hyslop. Dr. Johns received thanks for her expertise.

VIII. Tuesday, October 5, 2:30 pm, lecture by Steven Ball, “Music of René Becker”
Dr. Ball gave a brief history of René Becker, son of Edouard, who was an organist at Chartres Cathedral. Born in 1882, Becker and his four siblings trained at Strasbourg’s Conservatory of Music. In 1904, Becker moved from France to St. Louis and taught piano, organ, and composition at the Becker Conservatory of Music, which he formed with his brothers. He later taught at St. Louis University and Kendride Seminary. In 1912, Becker and his wife moved to Belleville, Illinois, where he became organist at St. Peter and Paul Cathedral. It was at this time that son Julius was born, the only living child of René. Julius, a retired banker, presently lives in Birmingham, Michigan.
René Becker became the first organist of the newly built Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in Detroit in 1930; an AGO member, he helped to establish the Catholic Organists Guild, and with his son founded the Palestrina Institute. Becker retired in 1952 at the age of 70 from St. Alphonsus Church in Detroit. He left over 160 compositions for organ when he died in 1956. Dr. Ball shared some pictures of René Becker and introduced Becker’s son Julius and his family to the conferees. It was a delight to see Julius Becker (keeper of some of Becker’s compositions) in person. Steven Ball received a four-year grant to record René Becker’s compositions. 

23rd International Organ and Church Music Institute

The 23rd International Organ and Church Music Institute was held at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor June 23-25. The institute began with a recital of music for violin and organ presented by U-M alums Tapani Yrjölä and Michele Johns, who also taught an improvisation class in addition to performing and organ teaching. The recital included Finnish music for violin and organ by Toivo Kuula and Franz Linnavuori, in addition to works by Bach, Buxtehude, and Vivaldi.

Marilyn Mason conducted an excellent masterclass on the Bach Neumeister Chorales, providing insight into these recently-discovered works. James Kibbie provided a thorough examination of the Bach Clavierübung, part III, in his masterclass. Robert Glasgow presented a very informative session on the interpretation of the organ works of César Franck.

One of the highlights of the festival was a recital by doctoral student William Jean Randall of Baroque music from France and Germany, which included a setting of the Titelouze Magnificat primi toni and the Marchand Te Deum, complete with plainchant sung in alternatim by Chris Meerdink. The last day of the institute included a three-hour masterclass on organ construction and design by Helmut Schick, which was then followed by a closing recital by students of Dr. Mason and Dr. Kibbie, featuring works by Bach, Buxtehude, and Lübeck.

--John C. Bostron

Organist, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Boise, Idaho

Organ Faculty, Boise State University

42nd Annual Conference on Organ Music

The University of Michigan's 42nd annual Conference on Organ Music  took place October 6-9, 2002, entitled "The European Connection," and featured the music of Germany, France, and the United States. Hill Auditorium, one of the usual venues for recitals and other events, is being renovated and was not available during this conference; however, Ann Arbor and the surrounding areas are replete with a wonderful variety of fine pipe organs.

The gala opening concert was held in the new sanctuary of Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, Plymouth, Michigan, and featured the new Casavant organ of 31 stops (42 ranks) on three manuals and pedal. The church sanctuary is spacious and the organ speaks effectively. It is an instrument with a rich palette of colors,  accommodates literature from all the periods, and is in a fine acoustical environment. Featured performers for the gala concert were guest organists from the Ann Arbor Chapter, American Guild of Organists, Donald Williams and Edward Maki-Schramm; from the Detroit Chapter, Scott van Ornum and Tom Trenney; from the Toledo Chapter, Brian Rotz and Barbara Dulmage. They performed works by Bach, Clérambault, Dudley Buck, Franck, and Duruflé.

Monday morning's activities were held in the Blanche Anderson Moore Hall of the University of Michigan, which houses the Marilyn Mason Organ, built by C.B. Fisk, which most closely resembles the instrument built by Silbermann for the Georgenkirche in Rotha, Germany. Master's degree student, Kirsten Hellman, performed music of France and Germany which included works by Lübeck, Couperin, and J.S. Bach. She was ably assisted by cantor David Troiano in the Gloria section of the Couperin Messe pour les Convents. Ms. Hellman was very well received as she played comfortably and flawlessly, concluding her program with the Bach Trio Sonata No. 1 and Prelude and Fugue in D Major, BWV 532.

Robert Clark, former Michigan organ faculty member and now Professor Emeritus, Arizona State University, lectured in the morning on the Hildebrandt organ of the Wenzelskirche in Naumburg, and performed the Bach Clavier-übung, Part III, in the afternoon.

The afternoon and evening activities on Monday were held at the First Congregational Church, which houses a fine Wilhelm organ. Graduate students Abigail Woods, Michael Frisch, and Elizabeth Claar, representing the studios of Professors Robert Glasgow, James Kibbie, and Marilyn Mason, gave brief remarks about the composers and music they were about to play, including compositions by Bach and Dupré.

Marilyn Mason blithely stated, as she introduced Susanne Diederich, distinguished German musicologist, that "some Germans love French music, and here is one!" This was an explanation for those wondering why Dr. Diederich was about to present a lecture titled, "Relations Between the Organs and the Music in the Classical French Tradition." Diederich gave lucid explanations of many aspects of French organ music, and her detailed handout provided a wealth of information on instruments, registration, and stoplists. Robert Luther, organist at Zion Lutheran Church in Anoka, Minnesota, played musical examples by Jean Adam Guilain.

Professor Clark's earlier lecture was based on his travels in East Germany and addressed the transitions of the Hildebrandt organ in 1933, 1978, and the restoration of 2000. We were treated with recordings of the present instrument along with a fine, scholarly and illuminating presentation. Mr. Clark played the Clavierübung, Part III, in memory of Robert Noehren, former Michigan organ professor and university organist who died on August 4, 2002. The playing was solid and sure, and the Wilhelm organ was the perfect instrument for this glorious music.

The concluding program for the day was all Bach, performed by Irene Greulich, organist at the Wenzel Church in Naumburg, Germany, since 1971, and included six compositions from the "Leipzig Eighteen," and a prelude and fugue along with the famed Toccata and Fugue in d minor, BWV 565. Her registrations were at times unexpected and effective, particularly in the chorale prelude Komm, heiliger Geist, Herre Gott.

Tuesday morning's activities were held at the First Presbyterian Church, Ann Arbor, with its recently installed Schoenstein organ of three manuals, 33 voices, and 42 ranks, on electric-pneumatic action. This instrument is described as enchambered with great and pedal unenclosed, and swell and choir enclosed. To the eyes and ears of this writer it is a successful instrument on which one is capable of leading church services, accompanying choral and instrumental groups, and performing organ literature of all periods.

Graduate students Luke Davis, Alan Knight, and Paula Seo, all of whom are directors of music at churches in the area, started out the day by presenting a well-performed program of organ music by Mendelssohn, George Thalben-Ball, and John Weaver. Again, the three players represented the three teaching studios of the Michigan organ faculty.

Marilyn Mason opened her lecture, "A Lifetime of New Music," commenting on and performing Prelude (pour Madame) by Gregory Hamilton and Miniature by Jean Langlais. Both compositions were played with verve, assurance, and absolute aplomb. Many of those present yearned for more of her playing; however, we were contented with cogent comments she made prior to each succeeding student performance. Doctoral students from her studio were Shin Ae Chun, Wm. Jean Randall, and David Saunders, performing commissioned works by John Ness Beck, Charles Callahan, Normand Lockwood, and Gordon Young. All of these organ students acquitted themselves splendidly. The brochure detailing the organ works commissioned by Mason through the years numbered over eighty, all of which she has performed. How many present-day organists can perform over eighty works by composers born in the 20th century?

Michael Gailit, distinguished Austrian organist at St. Augustine's Church in Vienna and a member of the faculty at the Vienna Conservatory of Music, presented a recital, "Mendelssohn and the Organ: The Background," which comprised works of Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Franz Schmidt. The entire program was cleanly played, always with tasteful, appropriate registrations and sometimes at breathtaking tempos.

Later in the afternoon, at St. Francis Catholic Church, where there is a three-manual Létourneau organ, Mr. Gailit presented an illuminating and often humorous lecture on his recital theme cited above. We were given a fairly exhaustive handout which included a number of composers and organs of the time, along with a graph which detailed the dates of Mendelssohn's organ compositions, publishers, and other useful information.

Irene Greulich, who performed on Monday night, lectured on the Bach Leipzig Chorales, BWV 651, 658, 659, 662, and 668. She discussed the plan for three settings of three chorales and spoke of the various usages of the settings. She was marvelously and amusingly assisted by Susanne Diederich, who also had lectured the day before, since Ms. Greulich was not always able to easily express herself in English. That, along with the consistent idea of "mystery" were sources of great fun and genuine interest.

One can, perhaps, tire of more and more brass groups endeavoring to play the great organ literature of the 17th and 18th centuries. However, the afternoon performance of the ensemble Today's Brass Quintet was refreshing, adding organ and tympani on this particular day. In their own words, "TBQ programs its original arrangements from a full spectrum of styles, ranging from the sparkling Baroque masterpieces of Bach and Pachelbel to the toe-tapping pleasures of Sousa, Gershwin and Ellington." On this occasion we heard some light fare, but in the main, we were feted with solid brass arrangements solidly played, including chorale preludes and an arrangement from Art of Fugue. Janelle O'Malley, organist at St. Francis, very competently joined the quintet on several compositions.

The long day ended splendidly with a performance of very challenging literature performed by Michigan organ professor James Kibbie. Beginning with the Bach Passacaglia in C minor, Professor Kibbie played compositions by Alain, Dan Locklair, Widor (Finale from Symphony VI in G minor), and Two Incantations for Trombone and Organ by Petr Eben. David Lee Jackson, trombonist, matched the organ in dynamics, expressiveness, and tone color. The Eben was a highlight of the recital. Kibbie plays with grace and ease, and one hears a maturity of expression and a total comfort with literature of all periods.

--Herman D. Taylor

Professor Emeritus

Eastern Illinois University

Charleston, Illinois

On Wednesday, October 9, the last day of the conference, conferees were treated to programs on two magnificent E. M. Skinner organs in Detroit. The morning program was held at the beautiful Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church, which houses a 68-rank Skinner organ. A program of music by Duruflé, Franck, Messiaen and Willan was performed by U of M doctoral students Gregory Hand, James Wagner, and Brennan Szafron, who used the registration possibilities available on the Skinner organ to the fullest.

The conference moved to the Masonic Temple for the afternoon program. After lunch at The Grill at the Temple, conferees gathered in the auditorium to hear the second Skinner organ. Dorothy Holden, internationally renowned E. M. Skinner expert and author of The Life and Work of E. M. Skinner, gave a very informative lecture on the development of the E. M. Skinner organ, illustrated by bits of music recorded on various notable Skinner organs around the country.

Next on the program was Robert Glasgow, U of M Professor of Music. Lecturing from the organ bench, Dr. Glasgow presented a masterclass on the performance of the Fantaisie in A by César Franck. For reference during the class, conferees were given a copy of the music with suggested annotations for performance by Dr. Glasgow.

The program--and the conference--concluded with the third dissertation recital of doctoral student Wm. Jean Randall. Mr. Randall played music of Dupré and selections from L'Orgue Mystique by Tournemire. Mr. Randall's performance of the Tournemire brilliantly demonstrated what an understanding of the previous scholarly talks on the Skinner organ and performance of late 19th-century French music can produce. It was a fitting conclusion to a rich and varied conference. Following the conclusion of the recital, conferees were invited to play the organ and tour the organ chambers.           

--Kathy Woodbury

Organist, First Church of Christ, Scientist, Norwood, Massachusetts

Jerry Jelsema is organist and music director at the First United Methodist Church in Evanston, Illinois. He earned a Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan where he studied with Robert Glasgow, while his undergraduate studies took place at Central College in Pella, Iowa, a liberal arts college affiliated with the Reformed Church of America.

The 47th annual conference on organ music took place on the University of Michigan campus from September 30 through October 3, with a major emphasis on the life and work of North German composer and organist, Dieterich Buxtehude. Commemorating the 300th anniversary of the composer’s death, numerous recitals featuring his music were presented and the well-known Buxtehude scholar, Kerala J. Snyder, presented a series of lectures concerning his organ music. Her topics included the composer’s origins in Denmark, his move to Lübeck, his contact with other significant composers and organists of the time, as well as source materials and performance options for the contemporary player.
The only all-Buxtehude organ recital of the conference took place at the School of Music on the two-manual Fisk organ, an instrument fashioned on the famed Gottfried Silbermann organ at the Georgenkirche in Rötha, Germany. Marcia Heirman, a doctoral candidate at the school, played a wonderful program of works including several chorale preludes, two large praeludia as well as the Toccata in D Minor and the Ciacona in C Minor.
Polish organist Jozef Kotowicz presented a stunning recital featuring music of Buxtehude, Bach, Petr Eben and contemporary Polish composers on Monday evening. Heard on the Karl Wilhelm organ at the First Congregational Church, Buxtehude’s Prelude and Fugue in F Minor and Bach’s well-known Passacaglia in C Minor were especially suited to this instrument with modified Werckmeister III tuning.
An additional Buxtehude concert of organ and vocal works also took place at the Congregational church on Tuesday evening. Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra and the Collegium Musicum from Eastern Michigan University alternated music for organ with pieces for various voice and stringed instrument combinations.The solo songs accompanied by viola da gamba and organ continuo were especially engaging. This creative and energetic program gave a more complete picture of Buxtehude as composer and church musician.
The final day of the conference began with an elegant recital by Les Deux Clavecins, composed of duo harpsichordists Thomas Marshall and Allen Shaffer, both former students of the university’s music school. They performed transcriptions of Bach’s Suite No. 3 in D Major and Buxtehude’s Fantasia on “Nun freut euch.” The final piece on the program was a work commissioned by the duo from composer Pamela Decker, entitled Portales. Composed in 2000, Portales uses as a springboard a number of Spanish dances including the tango, fandango and charrada. The writing as well as the performance of this piece was virtuosic.
Also part of the conference was a lecture-recital by Timothy J. Tikker on a single work by French composer Jean-Louis Florentz, Debout sur le Soleil: Chant de Resurrection, pour orgue (Standing on the Sun: Song of Resurrection, for organ). A short recital of organ works by American composers was performed by Michele Johns at Bethlehem United Church of Christ on Tuesday. Sowerby’s Comes Autumn Time and Bolcom’s What A Friend We Have in Jesus showed the colors of the Casavant Frères organ of 54 stops. On Wednesday, the final day of the conference, two recitals were presented by students currently in various degree programs at the university, with both events held at Hill Auditorium.
Two lectures complementing the conference’s Buxtehude theme included Bela Feher’s impressive video presentation of churches and organs in Northern Germany and southern Denmark. Based on last summer’s tour of the University of Michigan’s annual organ travels, the presentation followed the steps of Bach and Buxtehude including churches, museums and monuments. An additional session included Pipedreams personality Michael Barone, who detailed the available recordings showcasing the organ works of Dieterich Buxtehude.
The Global Bach Community held an open meeting during the lunch hour on Wednesday, to introduce people to the organization. The GBC was written up in The Diapason in May 2006. Its mission is to foster a sense of community among Bach lovers, performers and scholars worldwide. Formed in 2000, in addition to individual members, about 25 Bach organizations now belong to the GBC, which recently awarded its first small grant. The GBC advisory board includes Christoph Wolff and Helmuth Rilling; its board of directors includes Marilyn Mason and Richard Benedum.
The 47th conference on organ music was especially significant in that it was a celebration of leadership, dedication and artistry embodied in the work and life of Marilyn Mason, who marks her 60th year of teaching at the University of Michigan. Faculty, students (both current and former), and friends gathered for a splendid banquet honoring Dr. Mason on Monday evening. Former students gave testimony to her teaching, her wonderful sense of humor, her commitment to the instrument, her encouragement in careers and her graciousness and generosity. Fellow faculty members also spoke of her dedication to the school of music and to the university itself. The current dean of the school, Christopher Kendall, announced at the end of the ceremonies that Dr. Mason will leave a very generous bequest to the School of Music, which will endow the organ chair in perpetuity. The announcement was followed by a standing ovation and thunderous applause, all in appreciation of a respected and loved organist and musician.
The banquet festivities were followed by an impressive program of great organ favorites, played by former students of Marilyn Mason. Jonathan Tuuk opened the recital with a commanding performance of Tournemire’s Victimae paschali. N. Seth Nelson deftly played the Fantasie, K. 608 of Mozart, followed by an inspired Pièce Héroïque performed by Shin-Ae Chun. Herman Taylor gave us Si bemol-mineur from Deux Esquisses by Dupré, and Joseph Galema stylishly dashed off Naïades and Toccata by Louis Vierne. The program closed with the toe-tapping music of William Albright: Tango and Alla Marcia from his Flights of Fancy, both brilliantly played by Douglas Reed.
The 47th conference on organ music at the University of Michigan was indeed a worthwhile event centered around the life and work of Buxtehude. The additional celebration of the life and work of Dr. Marilyn Mason made the conference even more exciting and wonderful.

Marilyn Mason 60th anniversary tributes
Many tributes on the occasion of Marilyn Mason’s 60th anniversary at the University of Michigan were offered at the banquet Monday evening at the Michigan League. The following is a sampling.

Marilyn Mason. There are few organists and lovers of the instrument who do not know your name. Your influence is far-reaching. Performing over the years on six continents, adjudicating at major competitions, and, importantly, leading the European tours to hear and play historical organs, you have opened the minds and ears of those fortunate to attend.
Wide-ranging in your interests—poetry, English literature—your gift of welcoming with warmth is gratefully remembered. Enthusiastic in all you undertake, be it walking, quoting poetry—yes, and cooking—all is accomplished with an infectious fervor. Your sense of humor, with your bon mots, is memorable.
Congratulations, Marilyn, on the magnificent achievement of 60 years at the University of Michigan, from one who was privileged to be your student. Thousands of students and audience members today say “Thank you.”
—Gordon Atkinson, MMus
formerly of Canada and the USA, now retired in Melbourne

My earliest memory of our class was a party in the MM Organ Studio celebrating the 450th anniversary of the Reformation. In just 10 years we will celebrate the 500th anniversary! We all wore Halloween costumes. I played Ein feste Burg. In those days before the European tours, we traveled with Marilyn around Michigan. We took the trio sonatas and the Clavier-Übung III to Olivet College, Mariner’s Church, and Andrews University.
Our Marilyn is like a “jewel.” She has many facets: the nurturing teacher, the professional, the gourmet, the bon vivant, the raconteur, and the deeply prayerful, reflective and grateful human being. And like a jewel she is precious to us all!
—Gale Kramer, DMA
organist emeritus, Metropolitan
Methodist Church, Detroit

I don’t remember the exact day, time, or place. What I do remember is that during my lesson, as I played, I had the uneasy feeling that Prof. Mason was becoming more and more agitated. After several more pages, she shouted, “Stop, you are working too hard at that piece. Watching you play that is like me trying to eat peas with a knife.” Then she said something that I will always remember: “Let the instrument be your teacher. The instrument will tell you exactly how it wants to be played, if you will just listen.”
I have found that statement to be true; and those of us who have journeyed on the University of Michigan Historic Organ Tours have studied with some of the world’s oldest and greatest teachers. This became clear when in Bologna, Italy, I found myself standing in the magnificent Church of San Petronio. The tour members were to play a recital that afternoon, and the organist asked if I wanted to play the “old” organ or the “new” organ. The old organ was completed around 1470, and the new one somewhere around 1510. I played the old organ and I listened. As it predated Columbus’s voyage, it had a lot to say.
I have been fortunate to tour with Prof. Mason on five Historic Organ Tours. She is always the consummate hostess for her aficionados. She does, however, like to take the occasional nap during the bus tour portions of the day. One particular day, our Italian tour guide stopped the bus in front of a house and proudly said, “This is where Marconi invented the radio.” Roused from her sleep and not yet fully awake, Prof. Mason piped up, “How convenient—the house where macaroni was invented.”
The University of Michigan organ tours allow a student to soak up the sights, sounds, and yes, even smells of a particular region. You hear the music as it would have actually sounded—sometimes sweet, sometimes harsh, and sometimes even out of tune. You just try keeping a 16th-century Trompeta Real in a freezing cold Spanish cathedral in tune sometime! As Prof. Mason would often say to us as we grimaced at the sounds, “It is not out of tune. It is authentic.”
Traveling with her, you will find that in Spain, Tapas, Tia Maria, and Tientos do go nicely together. In Italy it is Pedals, Pipes, and Pizza. And in Germany it is true enough that Beer and Bratwurst do make Bach better. I skipped the French tours and over the years, I have regretted it as I still struggle with the age-old question, “When playing Franck, does one serve red or white wine?”
Prof. Mason has often said that the most important person to know is the man with the key. I once remarked to a gentleman with a huge ring of keys attached to his belt, “Wow, you must be very important.” He replied, “No, if I were important, I would have only one key—the master key.”
Prof. Mason, you are indeed a Master Key. You have unlocked the potential in each person under your tutelage. You have been the key to successful careers in music. And, you continue to unlock a world greater than any we could imagine on our own, or ever experience.
—Philip Burgess, DMA
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Salisbury, NC

When Michele Johns called with the invitation to say a few words about Marilyn this evening, I had just been to the bookstore and gotten Doris Kearns Goodwin’s chronicle of the World War II years of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. I have borrowed the title of her book, No Ordinary Time, because I think that it best describes time with Marilyn, and why generations of students, and hundreds of organ aficionados on her tours have been attracted to her. Ordinary time is also that portion of the church year when there are no large festival times or feast days—but time with Marilyn usually seems like a festival, and often involves a feast.
Three important personality traits stand out whenever I think of Marilyn: her immense vitality, her ability to celebrate and be “in the moment,” and her insatiable curiosity. We students, in my era, had two nicknames of affection for Miss Mason: one was “Our Lady of Perpetual Motion,” and the other was “Ms. Monsoon,” because she truly is a force of nature! This vitality is focused into the joy and importance of the moment, resulting in lessons where it seemed that the most important thing in life was playing and understanding the composition that was being studied. She also makes every second count. No time is wasted, and while “multi-tasking” is a recent buzzword, she has been a master at it for six decades.
Marilyn’s insatiable curiosity has resulted in her having played almost every organ composition of significance. In addition to the many commissions and premiers of new music, her repertoire is voluminous, and covers every era and school of composition. This same curiosity has led to invitations to many renowned performers and scholars related to the organ, and consequently their presentations of recitals and master classes here in Ann Arbor. No one is ever more attentive at these, and a better student, than Marilyn herself. This is evident at lessons when she remarks, “Marie Claire Alain says this or that,” “Maurice Duruflé said to play it this way,” “Anton Heiller suggests this phrasing,” or “Peter Williams advocates this registration.”
Yes, Marilyn, for six decades now, it has been NO ORDINARY TIME, in fact it has been quite an EXTRAORDINARY TIME! Thank you!
—James Hammann, DMA
University of New Orleans
Chapel of the Holy Comforter

The Ann Arbor Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, in response to the generosity of Marilyn Mason over the years, is pleased to announce the establishment of the “Marilyn Mason Young Musicians Scholarship Fund.” This fund will provide financial assistance to pre-college organ students to attend a Pipe Organ Encounter such as will take place in Holland, Michigan during summer 2008. By offering this opportunity to the community, the Ann Arbor AGO hopes to honor one of our founding members who has given so much for the advancement of organ playing.  
—James H. Wagner, A.Mus.D.
Dean, Ann Arbor AGO chapter

Thanks from Marilyn Mason
This is to thank all who participated in my 60th anniversary celebrations during the 47th U-M Conference on Organ Music. I have had, in 60 years of teaching, many distinguished and wonderful students. I have taught future administrators, deans, and chairs of organ departments. BUT, I did not realize that my legacy included a Buxtehude scholar, Kerala Snyder. She reminded me, at the occasion of her four splendid lectures during our conference, that she studied the organ with me at Columbia University during the summers of 1954 and 1955.
—Marilyn Mason
University Organist
Chair, Organ Department
University of Michigan
School of Music