40th Conference on Organ Music

Herman D. Taylor is Professor of Music at Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, Illinois. /p>

Donald W. Williams is on the faculty of Concordia College, AnnArbor, Michigan.

The University of Michigan's 41st Conference on Organ Music, October 7-10, 2001, under the direction of Marilyn Mason, featured the music of France with the theme, "The French Connection." Most of the music presented was French or French-connected.

The conference opened at Hill Auditorium with a splendid performance of Johannes Brahms' "Ein Deutsches Requiem," featuring a choir of 300 from the University of Michigan Women's and Men's Glee Clubs and the Smith College Glee Club, conducted, respectively, by Sandra Snow, Jerry Blackstone, and Jonathan Hirsh. Stephen Lusmann, baritone, and Kimberley Dolan-ski, soprano, were the soloists along with the Brahms Festival Orchestra. Each conductor took his/her turn conducting.

On Sunday night graduate students in the School of Music, representing  the studios of Robert Glasgow, James Kibbie, and Marilyn Mason, performed works by Bolcom, Vierne, Duruflé, Hakim, Messiaen, and Widor at Hill Auditorium. The organists featured were Gregory Hand, David Dockery, David Saunders, Noriko Ernst, Jean Randall, and Brennan Szafron.

James Wagner, candidate for the A. Mus. D. degree at Michigan, presented a lecture/recital: "The French Influence in Bach: Parallel, Contrary, and Oblique Motion." Mr. Wagner effectively mixed the lecture with performances on the C. B. Fisk organ in Blanche Anderson Moore Hall, and included works by Titelouze, Raison, de Grigny, and three works by J.S. Bach.

Robert Bates, associate professor of organ, Moore School of Music at the University of Houston, presented two sessions. The first, "Early French Organ Music," included works by Caurroy, Titelouze, Racquet, Louis and François Couperin, Guilain, Louis-Claude Da-quin, and two anonymous composers. Cantor David Troiano sang alternatim chants. During the second session, "Alternation Practice in Early French Organ Music," Dr. Bates took us beyond what is generally covered in a typical medieval music course! Providing various examples of chant, he worked with a group of better-than-usual sight-readers. Bates revealed himself to be a relaxed player and thoroughly knowledgeable about his subject matter.

Ralph Kneeream, organist and music director, Temple Sinai, Delray Beach, Florida, presented two lectures on Tournemire's Sept Chorals Poèmesd'Orgue pour les sept paroles du Xrist, Op. 67 and l'Orgue Mystique. Dr. Kneeream's admiration for Tournemire was clear as he showed him to be a great teacher as well as a prolific composer. We were given a notable insight into Tournemire's use of the chorale in the manner of Franck, as well as his use of simple meters and tempo changes. Organist Jean Randall performed Tournemire's Dominca X Post Pentecosten (#36) and the Paraphrase Carillon, In Assumptione B.M.V. (#35) (l'Orgue Mystique).

The conference was treated to a delightful, spontaneous, and informative lecture by Marie-Claire Alain on aspects of the life of her brother, Jehan Alain. Mme. Alain played passages of music as she discussed members of her family and provided other invaluable insights into their music. On Tuesday evening Mme. Alain  presented a recital at the First Congregational Church on the Wilhelm organ featuring works by de Grigny, Marchand, Balbastre, J. S. Bach, Albert Alain, and five compositions by Jehan Alain, concluding with Litanies.

Jean-Pierre Lecaudey, organist at St. Martin, Saint-Remy-de-Provence, France, played a challenging program of the Three Chorals of Cesar Franck and the Suite, Op. 5, by Duruflé. A very accurate player, he was at home with these works and took the Duruflé Toccata at a breathtaking tempo.

Lecaudey was heard in an informative and helpful session, "Franck's Chorales: Tournemire, the Third Hand at the Piano with his Master." His handouts were of particular value as they dealt with important matters of registration and interpretation. This writer found his knowledge of the registers and couplers on the organ at St. Clotilde, the church in Paris where Franck presided, to be extremely useful.

Dr. Jesse Eschbach, chair, keyboard studies division, University of North Texas, presented an enlightening lecture on "Tournemire's Teaching Methods." He offered a detailed handout with such salient materials as: Significant Biographical Dates in the Life of Charles A. Tournemire; Principal Works for Organ of Charles Tournemire, a compilation from The New Grove (Darasse) and Catalogue (Fauquet); along with the specifications of six instruments that figured prominently in Tournemire's life. Armed with these and other materials and data, Dr. Eschbach proceeded to speak about Tournemire's perspective on such matters as organ building, technical preparation, and improvisation.

On Wednesday, October 10, the second lecture by Eschbach, "Rousseau, Revolution and Restoration," covered the historical setting and the influence of French culture upon the arts.  Rousseau, commenting on imagination writes: "The world of reality has its limits but the world of imagination is boundless."

Michele Johns in her "Choral Reading Session" offered a varied packet of music by Charpentier, Vierne, Jordan, and included two published works by Michigan graduates Larry Visser and Kevin Hildebrand.

Three alums of the doctoral program were heard on the Wilhelm organ. Darlene Kuperas played de Grigny's Pangua Lingua and a Dandrieu Noël with careful articulations; Michael Elsbernde sang the alternatim. Huw Lewis gave us a broad palette of many colors in works by Gounod, Vierne, and Lefébure-Wély. Evelyn Lim evidenced solid understanding of the French manner with stylish articulations and inégales in the de Grigny Veni Creator, and David Troiano provided a satisfying alternatim to the five versets.

The lecture with Marie-Claire Alain and Norma Stevlingson focused on their work on the Alain Compendium. Mme. Alain's master class on Couperin's Convent Mass was inspiring and thorough.

On Wednesday evening, Christian Teeuwsen provided imaginative programming at the Fisk organ in the School of Music. Bach's Pièce d'Orgue,  imitating with its shape the Offertoires of de Grigny and Couperin, is unique in its formal structure--it has no relatives in the Bach canon. Teeuwsen's registrations were imaginative, and utilized the many possibilities of the Marilyn Mason Organ.

 This was an altogether wonderful conference with fine players and informed presenters who delighted attendees.

--Herman D. Taylor

Professor of Music

Eastern Illinois University

Charleston, Illinois

--Donald W. Williams

Faculty, Concordia College

Ann Arbor, Michigan

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

Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra  is Associate Professor of Music & University Organist at Eastern Michigan University.

The University of Michigan's 38th Annual Conference on Organ Music took place October 11-13, 1998. The conference began with three consecutive organ degree recitals performed in Hill Auditorium by U of M graduate students David Hufford, Edward Maki-Schramm, and Jeffrey Blersch. Hufford performed the Ann Arbor premiere of William Albright's Flights of Fancy and dedicated the performance to the memory of Albright, who had coached him on the piece.

Paul Collins, Organist of Holy Cross Church in Dublin, Ireland, began the October 12 morning session with a lecture entitled, "The North German Organ School--Diligent Fantasy Makers?" Collins presented the concept of stylus phantasticus by making comparisons in North German repertoire and by discussing the treatises of 17th-century Athanasius Kircher and 18th century Johann Mattheson. He then played a recital of North German organ works (Scheidemann, Hasse, Weckmann, Ritter, Buxtehude, Böhm, Bruhns) on the Fisk Silbermann-style organ in Blanche Anderson Moore Hall at the School of Music.

The afternoon session featured a concert of music by composer Daniel Pinkham, who also delivered a lecture, "Reflections on Composing for the Organ." Pinkham provided humorous anecdotes from his career, and urged other composers to be attentive to and specific about sound character. He suggested giving general registrations such as soft flute or aggressive reed to accommodate different instruments and settings.

The final afternoon event spotlighted U of M graduate students (Stephen J. Warner, Scott Hanoian, Hae-Jin Kim, Jeremy Tarrant, Noriko Ernst, Jeffrey Blersch, and David Hufford) in an organ recital followed by a reception. As a prelude to the evening recitals, Todd Fair, acting University Carillonist at the University of Michigan, and Dennis Curry, Associate Organist and Carillonist, Kirk in the Hills, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, each performed a carillon recital at Burton Tower. Both recitals included works by Daniel Pinkham.

James Kibbie was the featured faculty recitalist on Monday evening. His program included the Tournemire Cinq Improvisations, William Albright's Sweet Sixteenths (in tribute to the late composer), and a series of pieces based on Christmas tunes (Gigout, Rhapsody on Noëls; Purvis, Greensleeves; Milford, Pastoral Dance on "On Christmas Night"), which are featured on his CD recording, Merrily on Hill: Christmas Organ Music at Hill Auditorium.

A substantial component of the conference, the Sixth Annual Jean & Broadus Staley Hymn-Playing Competition, was held on October 13 on the Wilhelm organ at First Congregational Church. The finalists selected from the first round on October 10 included Jeremy Chesman, David Henning, Shawn McDonald, Richard Schneider, Joy Schroeder, and Rose van Mersbergen. Each of the finalists was required to perform two hymns and one repertoire piece. David Henning was named first prize winner.

Irene Greulich, concert organist in Naumburg, Germany, lectured on the pipe organs of Zacharias Hildebrandt, highlighted by details of the Naumburg organ restored by Hildebrandt. The two recitals on Tuesday afternoon featured music of Bach. Greulich performed the A-minor Concerto, chorales from Clavierübung III and from the Leipzig chorales, the B-minor Prelude and Fugue, and the Passacaglia on the Wilhelm organ at First Congregational Church. Harpsichordist Edward Parmentier performed Bach's Partita IV in D, BWV 828, and the Rameau Suite in E/e.

Marilou Kratzenstein presented a lecture, "Movable Feast: Mexico's Processional Organs," relating Mexican culture, history, and her travel experiences related to recent research. She acknowledged Susan Tattershall's collaboration in her research. Visually and aurally colorful and spontaneous, the processional organs reveal a new dimension to the vast possibilities available on a single manual divided stop instrument.

Topping off the conference was Thomas Trotter's recital Tuesday evening at Hill Auditorium, which included Bach, Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542; Howells, Master Tallis' Testament; Parry, Fantasia and Fugue in G; Schumann, Two Canons, Op. 56, Nos. 4 & 5; Liszt, Fantasia and Fugue on BACH; Lemare, Rondo Capriccio; and Prokofiev, Toccata for Piano, arr. Guillou.

Thanks to the organizers of the conference, U of M professors Marilyn Mason, Robert Glasgow, James Kibbie, and Michele Johns, and to the presenters for a successful conference.

Marcia Van Oyen is Director of Music Ministry at First United Methodist Church, Plymouth, Michigan, and continues to serve as Director for the National AGO Committee for Membership Development and Chapter Support. She received her master’s and doctoral degrees at the University of Michigan, where she studied organ with Robert Glasgow.

The 46th University of Michigan Conference on Organ Music took place October 1–4, 2006. The event focused on music of Germany, France and the USA, featuring performances by Marie-Claire Alain, Michigan faculty members Marilyn Mason, James Kibbie, and Michele Johns, and a slate of lectures on a variety of topics. The majority of events took place at Hill Auditorium, home of the 4-manual, 124-rank Frieze Memorial Organ.

Children’s choir festival

The conference opened with a children’s choir festival organized by the Ann Arbor Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Thomas Strode, AGO board member and director of the Ann Arbor Boy Choir, gathered over 85 children from six area churches and schools to sing together. Approximately half the program featured music sung by the combined choir directed by Strode; several groups sang individually as well, including the Messias Temple Youth Choir, whose inspired performance brought the audience to its feet. Charles Kennedy skillfully accompanied the choir, and played three Sketches and a Canon by Schumann. The audience of several hundred comprised largely families with young children, and I was glad to see them exposed to the sounds of both well-trained children’s voices and the pipe organ. Given the disposition of the audience, the stage was perfectly set to engage the multi-generational crowd with organ repertoire or a demonstration designed for such a purpose. Tom Strode did give some impromptu remarks about the organ, which seemed to pique the interest of the adults seated near me, but the program would have had greater impact had it included one of the many light-hearted, educational organ demonstration pieces of recent vintage. Based on the interest of more choirs in participating, the Ann Arbor AGO plans to continue this event in the future. I encourage them to make the most of the opportunity to educate young people about the pipe organ.

Michigan faculty performances

Sunday evening, Marilyn Mason and flautist Donald Fishel gave the Ann Arbor premiere of Breath of the Spirit—Pentecost for flute, organ, and narrators, composed by Michigan graduate Gregory Hamilton, based on poetry by Kenneth Gaertner. The pattern of the work was inspired by Dupré’s La Chemin de la Croix, with the ten sections of the work musically interpreting and commenting upon the poetry. In her opening remarks, Marilyn Mason noted that this concert was one of the first events to take place following the official renaming of the music school. In collegial spirit, she appropriately included two members of the theatre department as narrators in this performance presented by the School of Music, Theatre and Dance.
Here is a brief synopsis of the work, with a few noteworthy quotes from the poetry:
1. Overture—organ alone, featuring big solo trumpet melody.
2. Annunciation—the organ and flute trade motifs, suggesting a dialogue between Mary and the Angel Gabriel, the rounded sounds of the Hill organ blending beautifully with the flute.
3. Children in Praise—children caught up in the excitement and wonder of the quiet Rabbi Jesus healing a crippled man and a man with a withered hand. The flute introduces a sprightly theme, which is echoed by the organ, spiced with mild dissonance.
4. Herod—the poem speculates on Herod’s thoughts about John contrasted with those about his lover Herodias. He is simultaneously upset and intrigued by John, comforted and attracted to Herodias. Unaccompanied flute plays long passages in the low register contrasted with passages in the instrument’s uppermost register.
5. Mary Dancing—the story of Jesus changing water into wine at the wedding in Cana and the dancing at the wedding. For solo flute, nearly moto perpetuo.
6. Judas—for organ solo, beginning with a crashing chord and descending pedal solos, then a decrescendo to a sighing Bach-like fugue section. The movement ends with more clashing dissonance alternating with a funereal fugue. “Mankind’s future is mankind’s sin.”
7. Mary Magdalene/Doubting Thomas—the extended poem is followed by long flowing melodies portraying gentle happiness.
8. Poverty Shared—illustrates the experience of a poor man listening to Jesus preach. It begins seething with tension, then eases and flows into comforting, surging waves of lovely harmonies. The poetry preceding the movement offers these paradoxical thoughts: “Listening to the Rabbi preach, shedding the shroud of poverty, words flew into the ears of his poverty’s corpse. Had not his curse always been his salvation?” The initial tension returns to close the movement.
9. Desert Grief—Jesus appearing to Mary, resurrected. An oboe solo on organ alternates with the flute melody, perhaps indicating an undulating, leaping soul—“the burned sins of the world fell in gray ashes.”
10. Pentecost—recaps the overture, framing the work. Several strong poetic phrases wrap up the ideas in earlier poems: “delusions were ashes,” “truth cut through the oppression of their past,” “died and could not die again.”
Mason and Fishel proved themselves well-synchronized partners performing Breath of the Spirit, deftly navigating the work’s changing rhythmic landscape. For an extended work, it is easy to grasp and enjoyable on first hearing. Its accessible, attractive music would no doubt be enhanced by a church setting to give it a sacred context. The work will be published in the near future, perhaps with some of the movements simplified to promote more performance, especially in a liturgical setting.

James Kibbie: Leipzig Chorales

James Kibbie played all of Bach’s Leipzig Chorales in two sessions, the first on the Fisk organ at Blanche Anderson Moore Hall at the School of Music, and the second on the Wilhelm organ at First Congregational Church of Ann Arbor. Kibbie takes a natural approach to these chorales—his playing is unfussy and elegant. He works with the organ’s natural articulation, adding his own subtle touches, all in keeping with the musical flow and not distracting from the overall effect. His pacing of the chorales is cohesive and appropriate, each tempo and transition carefully considered, and the registrations are apt, tastefully chosen for color and not solely dramatic effect.
The audience sang each chorale tune before Kibbie played Bach’s settings, having been provided with a booklet including the chorales. The booklet also contained comprehensive notes written by Larry Visser in 1992 when he performed the Leipzig Chorales as part of his doctoral studies at Michigan.
James Kibbie is on sabbatical leave during winter term to begin a three-year project to record the complete organ works of J. S. Bach on historic organs in Germany. During 2007, he will record approximately one third of the Bach organ works, including the Leipzig Chorales on the Silbermann organ of Dresden Cathedral and the Kirnberger Chorales on the Silbermann organs in Rötha.

Michele Johns and Kristen Johns

Michele Johns and her daughter Kristen performed a delightful concert of music for horn and organ on Monday afternoon. Kristen Johns has recently earned a DMA in horn performance, and has compiled a list of over 100 pieces originally composed for horn and organ as part of her research. The program included a selection of works composed in the last third of the 20th-century, opening with the fanfare-filled Celebration for Horn and Organ by Randall Faust. Next, Craig Phillips’ tuneful Serenade for Horn and Organ was filled with the composer’s signature harmonies, while Dutch composer Jan Koetsier’s Choral-Fantasie on Gib dich zufrieden un sei stille reminds one of Mendelssohn or Rheinberger. Daniel Pinkham’s The Salutation of Gabriel was commissioned by Joan Lippincott in honor of Karen McFarlane’s retirement. It is a programmatic work in three continuous sections—Gabriel delivers the message, Mary replies, Gabriel departs. Pinkham effectively portrays both the excitement and weightiness of the message, going so far as to instruct the performer to walk off-stage before playing the closing notes of the piece to signify Gabriel departing. Arnatt’s Variations on Divinum Mysterium is a beautifully composed work, keeping the familiar chant tune prominent most of the time. Works by Paul Basler and Gunther Marks rounded out this enjoyable mother/daughter collaboration.

Student performances

Students of Marilyn Mason and James Kibbie performed in several concerts during the conference. Monday morning, doctoral candidate Seth Nelson gave an excellent lecture-recital on Mozart’s flute clock pieces. The temperament of the Fisk organ brought out the character and color of these pieces, particularly the F-minor Fantasy. Doctoral students Marcia Heirman, Andrew Meagher, Alan Knight, Christine Chun, Susan De Kam, and master’s student Thomas Kean performed works ranging from Messiaen to Brahms to Vierne on Monday afternoon. Undergraduate Joseph Balistreri, master’s student Paul Haebig, doctoral student Michael Stefanek, and returning DMA graduates Shin-Ae Chun and Seth Nelson played works by Le Bègue, Langlais, Franck, Sowerby, Bolcom, and Dupré on Wednesday afternoon. Following the organ program, Christine Chun performed her first dissertation recital as pianist of the Michigan Trio, performing chamber works with cellist Amar Basu and violinist Jane Yu. David Saunders gave his second doctoral recital on Wednesday evening, playing music of DeGrigny, Guilain, Franck and Grandjany. Carillonneur Steven Ball gave a short carillon concert prior to the evening event.

Mozart lecture

Music theory professor Ellwood Derr gave an outstanding lecture on Mozart on Tuesday morning. He began by offering a Native American saying, “It is good for the living to perform ceremonies for the dead,” and invited his audience to actively participate in the lecture. Comparing Mozart to Michelangelo and Shakespeare, Derr asserted that Mozart is a magician, a freak due to his unusually high level of skill and his ability to innately and directly communicate with his audience, whether or not they are educated. His corpus of works, which Derr believes to be technically perfect, is so vast it is nearly impossible to listen to it all.
Derr has done research that identifies more than 80 Mozart works that borrow material from J. C. Bach, whom Mozart greatly admired. He recognizes three ways in which existing material can be incorporated into new works: reuse of thematic material, a technique so widely used as to be in common domain; unadorned borrowing for effect; and material retrieved from memory, the most common method of borrowing. He discussed examples from the Great Mass in C minor and the Requiem. In connection with remarks on the high quality of Mozart’s unfinished works, he played a selection from a recent recording of a gorgeous unfinished aria from Davide Penitente. Following the conference, Derr was slated to give this lecture and two additional lectures as part of a series of events celebrating Mozart, his era and his influence.

Classical French music

Monday afternoon, Susanne Diederich and Jean Randall offered a session on the Classical French organ and its music. Using the Frieze organ in Hill Auditorium, Randall demonstrated at the console and Diederich spoke. The main points of the lecture were the importance of stylistic specialties in giving character to French classic music, and that this period represents a rare confluence of instrument, music, style, and performance practice all working together. This era is unique in history; organ builders and organists worked closely together, and the organ was participating in the general development of music. Following this lecture, Stephanie Nofar gave a lecture-recital, “The Other France: Tribute to Unknown Masters.”

Maurice Clerc recital

Maurice Clerc played a recital featuring several transcriptions at Hill Auditorium on Monday evening. Having played at several previous conferences, Clerc seemed at home at the console and utilized the organ’s resources to great effect, preferring full registrations such as he can create at his home church, Notre-Dame in Paris. He began the program with his own bombastic transcription from Verdi’s Don Carlos, and moved on to Franck’s Pièce Héroïque, playing it with a very legato touch. He captured the excitement of the piece effectively, adding an arpeggiated fanfare before the closing chords. His transcription of a suite of character pieces by Fauré provided enjoyable listening, enlivened by colorful registrations. He followed with the Suite Medievale by Langlais, and closed the program with his transcription of a scherzo improvised by Pierre Cochereau in 1974.

Clerc: The art of transcription

On Tuesday afternoon, Maurice Clerc gave a lecture on preparing transcriptions. He cited transcription practices in the 18th century—Bach’s Schübler Chorales, Rameau’s arrangements of his own operas, and Balbastre’s transcriptions of his own works. After being abandoned for a time, transcription again became popular in the latter half of the 19th-century. Liszt arranged favorite orchestral and choral works for organ, and is known to have played the Kyrie from Mozart’s Requiem and transcriptions of classics for Widor. Karg-Elert made arrangements of Wagner’s works, using every possible technique available on the organ. Organ performance was very popular at the time, giving people the opportunity to hear great orchestral works performed on the instrument, since they would have had little or no opportunity to hear the likes of Wagner otherwise. Many composers did not write for the organ at all, deterred by having secular works performed in a sacred space, since most organs are located in churches.
Transcriptions allow us to play works by composers who didn’t write for the organ. The body of organ repertoire can be increased, and allow us to study a composer’s techniques. In addition, Clerc believes organists make transcriptions for their own enjoyment, giving the examples of David Briggs and Daniel Roth, as well as Jean Guillou, who made transcriptions when it wasn’t considered a legitimate art. Clerc discussed two types of transcriptions: adaptations of existing works to the language of the organ, and notations of improvisations. Both Dupré’s and Tournemire’s improvisations have been notated, allowing us to observe their improvisation styles. Clerc has transcribed works of Pierre Coche-reau, whom he describes as “having sparkling musicality, and endowed with staggering speed and an innate ability to use the whole organ from soft to loud.” Transcribing these improvisations captures a moment in time and preserves the uniqueness of the improviser’s art.

Michael Barone

Michael Barone opened his session with this statement: “We think we know everything, but if we don’t know history, we’re destined to repeat it.” His goal was to give a survey of how performers have approached French music over the years. Tinkering patiently with recalcitrant hi-fi equipment, he began with the first recording of early French music, a disc recorded by André Marchal on a Gonzales/Beckerath at Attignon in 1936, wondering “Can we play this music any better today?” Barone created a pastiche of Franck’s Pièce Héroïque, alternating passages played in 1929 by Marcel Dupré and in 1962 by E. Power Biggs, and offered a composite of several recordings of Gigout playing his own B-minor Toccata. He offered 15 examples of the opening section of Franck’s B-minor Choral, noting the balance shift between the manuals and the pedal among the various recordings.
Barone’s open-minded approach allows his audiences to be exposed to many performers and performances that might be ruled out in narrower definitions of what is worthwhile. He chooses recordings of instruments or performances that he deems so beguiling or interesting that they deserve a hearing, and to his credit is not bound by fashionable definitions of authenticity or correctness. He encouraged the audience to spend time listening to how our predecessors performed, noting that any organist worth his or her salt “speaks French.” Known for closing his sessions with a memorable aural example, Barone did not disappoint. He closed with a recording of Messiaen’s La Nativité by a Russian accordion player.

Marie-Claire Alain

When Marie-Claire Alain stepped onto the platform to perform her concert Tuesday evening, she was greeted by an extended ovation from the capacity audience of conference attendees, church members, and locals. She had given a masterclass on the music of Jehan Alain that afternoon, and the evening’s event only seemed to bring forth more energy in her. She began with a set of guitar pieces by Campion transcribed for organ, which showed off the colors of the instrument, followed by two settings of Schmücke dich by Bach. She took the familiar BWV 654 at a lively pace, and deftly negotiated handfuls of notes in BWV 759. Closing a set of three Bach works, the C-major prelude and fugue, BWV 547, sparkled in her hands. This work too often suffers from plodding and heavy rendition, but Marie Claire moved it along under perfect control, clearly feeling very comfortable with the piece and the instrument.
The second half included Dupré’s Virgo Mater, op. 40, which is dedicated in memory of Jehan Alain, followed by three pieces by her father, Albert Alain. Though written in the 20th century, these pieces hark back to earlier styles, and are particularly akin to the works of Vierne and Widor. The contrast between Albert’s music and Jehan’s is interesting, the former steeped in French tradition, and the latter unbound by tradition. The younger Alain’s Deux Danses and Suite bring this point home. Marie-Claire had played well all evening, but her performance really caught fire performing her brother’s works. Following a long standing ovation and her 85-minute program, she tossed off a riveting performance of “Litanies” as an encore as if it was the first piece of the evening.
Brandon Spence: multi-cultural worship
Brandon Spence, a Michigan graduate, is director of music at St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This parish is home to people who speak English, Spanish, and Polish, as well as some who neither speak English nor are able to read. Spence approaches his task by asking two questions: who is present in worship? What are your musical resources? How do we make the music relevant? He cleverly illustrated with the movie “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?” asserting that there is a parallel between preparing a meal according to the needs of diverse guests and preparing music for worship. For Spence, the main issues are inclusiveness, enculturation, and fidelity to tradition. Worship should be inclusive, inviting, and engaging. Worship works best when people can feel that they belong and feel invited. With the assistance of a cantor from St. Andrew’s, he demonstrated using settings of Psalm 34 in different styles ranging from the Basilican Psalter to jazz and gospel in order to reach the various sectors of his diverse congregation.

Conclusion

The varied events of the 46th annual organ conference once again combined to provide current students and attendees with an excellent opportunity to delve into the riches of pipe organ repertoire and performance. Many thanks to Marilyn Mason and her colleagues who organize this valuable conference each year.

Each registrant was presented with a 232-page book entitled "Reflections." Included in the book are over 30 essays under the subject headings "History of the Organ Department," "Scholarly Articles," "Historic Organ Tours," and "Remembrances," along with a faculty discography, lists of organ department courses and awards, organ graduates, DMA documents, compositions commissioned by Marilyn Mason, and
organs at the university. An added bonus is a CD recording by Dr. Mason, made
at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC.

The festivities began on Sunday afternoon with the Autumn
Festival of Choirs at Hill Auditorium, sponsored by the American Center of
Church Music. Over 15 local churches and 200 singers participated. The festival
included the premiere of the hymn, "Come, Celebrate God's Gifts Made
Known," written by Larry Visser in honor of Marilyn Mason's 50th
anniversary, and published by Wayne Leupold Editions.

On Sunday evening a special concert of African-American
organ music was played by present and former Michigan students who are of African-American heritage. All pieces were written in this century and provided much diversity of style.

Monday morning featured five brief sessions at the School of
Music. Jane Schatkin Hettrick of Rider University led a discussion and premiere
performance of a recently-discovered concerto by Pietro Sales (just published
by Vivace Press). Former faculty member Robert Clark (now at Arizona State
University) presented an encouraging lecture on the future of organ education
as we enter the 21st century. Jerry Blackstone of the U-M choral department
presented a practical workshop on the production of good choral tone. Robert
Glasgow led a discussion of Widor's Symphony VII, which he played later that evening. James Kibbie, with the help of
Larry Visser, demonstrated the new Walgreen Organ which was built by Fernand
Létourneau for Dr. Kibbie's studio.

Monday afternoon events took place on the Wilhelm organ at
First Congregational Church. James Hammann of New Orleans, LA, presented a
lecture-recital of some of the recently-discovered works of Mendelssohn, which
have been edited by William Little and published in a five-volume set by
Novello. Delbert Disselhorst, of the University of Iowa, performed a memorized
recital of six works of J.S. Bach. The conference then moved to Hill Auditorium
for the traditional student recital. Music of Bach, Dandrieu, Vierne,
Dupré, Bairstow, and Widor was heard.

The Marilyn Mason celebration dinner was held in the foyer
of Hill Auditorium on Monday evening. The festivities began with a presentation
hosted by popular WQRS radio personality David Wagner, who is a 1980 DMA
graduate. At this session, as well as one on the following day, many accolades
and awards were presented to Dr. Mason to honor her many years of teaching at
Michigan.

Monday evening concluded with a recital entitled "Ann
Arbor Night Celebration." Works by Willan, Dupré, Geoffrey Bush,
and Widor were played by current and former faculty members Robert Clark,
Michele Johns, James Kibbie, and Robert Glasgow. The concert featured the world
premiere of a work commissioned by the Ann Arbor AGO in recognition of Marilyn
Mason. Entitled "Retablo III: Victimae Paschali," the work was
written by Pamela Decker and played by Ann Arbor organist Janice Beck.

The fifth annual Jean & Broadus Staley Hymn-Playing
Competition was the first event Tuesday morning, held at the First Baptist
Church. Kenneth Logan, a 1992 DMA graduate, was named winner. Duo
harpsichordists Thomas Marshall and Allen Shaffer, "Les Deux
Clavecins," of Williamsburg and Norfolk, VA, played a delightful program
of music by Vivaldi, Herman Schroeder, Couperin, and W.F. Bach.

On Tuesday afternoon four DMA graduates representing four
different decades played a concert at Hill Auditorium entitled "Michigan
Revisited." Donald Williams (1969), Dennis Schmidt (1978), Joseph Galema
(1982), and Ronald Prowse (1992) played music of Bach, Franck, Vierne, and
Persichetti.

The most unusual of the recitals was played at Hill
Auditorium on Tuesday evening by Alexander Frey, a U-M graduate who now lives
in Berlin, Germany. It was a recital of both organ and piano music, but the
choices seemed to be a bizarre combination of actual organ pieces,
transcriptions, and an organ/piano duet he was able to play using the new
performance-recording system on the Hill organ. The program ended with the
virtuosic "Toccata" from Jongen's Symphonie Concertante
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All in all, this was a wonderful conference in tribute to a
remarkable woman who has established enduring legacies of organ teaching,
commissioning organ works, and leading historic organ tours. Brava! to Marilyn
Mason on your 50 years of teaching at the University of Michigan.

--Dennis Schmidt, DMA

Bach Festival of Philadelphia

Dr. Gordon Atkinson is a Past President of the Royal Canadian College of Organists. His latest composition, Soliloquy No. 2, was premiered by Dr. Barrie Cabena at St. James’ Cathedral, Toronto, on September 24, 2004, with other pieces from an album written in memory of Gerald Bales, a former organist and director of music at St. Mark’s Cathedral, Minneapolis.

The University of Michigan School of Music held its 44th Conference on Organ Music October 3-6, 2004, under the direction of Dr. Marilyn Mason, Chairman of the Organ Department. This year’s conference featured the organ music of France, focusing primarily on the later 19th to mid-20th centuries, and offered the 12 major organ works of Franck and all ten organ symphonies of Widor. Hill Auditorium was the perfect venue, having recently undergone a total refurbishing throughout, with considerable work being done on the organ, on which this music can be faithfully realized with fidelity to the composers’ intentions.

Sunday

Dr. James Kibbie, organ professor at Michigan, opened the conference on Sunday afternoon performing Trois Pièces by César Franck and Symphonie VI en sol mineur, Op. 32/2, by Charles-Marie Widor. In his usual manner, Kibbie performed flawlessly without score and with ultimate grace and ease, fulfilling the demands of this repertoire. He knows the Hill Auditorium organ intimately so that Widor’s intentions were faithfully realized.

Sunday evening’s recital featured the Widor Symphonie VIII en si majeur, Op. 42, no. 4. This six-movement work was shared by organ students of Michigan Professor Robert Glasgow: Susan De Kam performing the first three movements and Elizabeth Claar the last three. Both performers acquitted themselves admirably.

Monday

Monday’s events began with Seth Nelson, a doctoral student of Dr. Mason, performing the Widor Symphonie I, en ut mineur, Op. 13. Mr. Nelson was able to realize all the intricacies of this composition with a solid technique and full utilization of the organ’s considerable resources. It was refreshing for performers to have at their disposal an instrument that could realize everything indicated by the composer without compromise.

Dr. John Near, Professor of Music and College Organist at Principia College, is perhaps the leading authority on Widor, as is reflected in his 1984 doctoral dissertation, “The Life and Work of Charles-Marie Widor,” and his many publications, including a ten-volume annotated edition of the Widor organ symphonies. His presentation was replete with all manner of interesting and fascinating details about metronomic and tempo markings, touches and rubato. This kind of detail gave valuable insights into 19th-century French organ music in general and Widor in particular.

We were feted in the early afternoon by Dr. Marilyn Mason and two of her students, Shin-Ae Chun and James Wagner, performing Trois Chorals by Franck. These well-known compositions received scrupulous attention to every detail in terms of phrasing, registration and style. There was not a hint of the sameness one might expect from Professor Mason and her young charges. Instead, each placed her/his own stamp of individuality on each chorale in a convincing way.

Later in the afternoon Dr. Carolyn Shuster Fournier performed a recital of well-known works, which included Berceuse and Final (Symphony I) by Vierne; Prélude, Fugue et Variation by Franck, and Guilmant’s Grand Choeur in re majeur, among others. Dr. Fournier performs with a decidedly tasteful flair, élan, and elegance that demand her listeners’ attention. Her intimate knowledge and understanding of the music was immediately transmitted to the audience as her playing ranged from a barely audible whisper to thunderous outbursts. Hers was a thoroughly enjoyable recital and musical experience.

Due to time constraints, Mr. James Wagner, doctoral candidate in church music/organ performance, gave an abbreviated, but very fine lecture on “A foretaste of things to come,” which focused on César Franck’s Grande Pièce Symphonique, Op. 17. He had compiled a thoroughly detailed handout that included a quite useful bibliography. We even had the opportunity to sing a number of the nine themes to which Mr. Wagner had creatively assigned appropriately descriptive and colorful names.

To close the day, Jean-Pierre Lecaudey, an organist of international repute who performs at major festivals in Europe and North America, performed with absolute aplomb the Widor Symphonie Gothique, Op. 70; Prélude and Fugue on the Name of Alain, Op. 7, by Maurice Duruflé; and the Grand Pièce Symphonique, Op. 17, by César Franck. One very impressed conferee described his playing as “effortless, elegant, with great ease, with fidelity to the music, and with wonderful style.” Fine praise, indeed.

All performers are to be highly praised and roundly applauded for consistently fine performances despite severely restricted practice time. Organ technicians stood at the ready at all times to touch-up here and there, and a marvelous spirit of cooperation, tolerance and understanding was the order of the day among all concerned. The end result was a conference absolutely second to none!

--Herman D. Taylor

Professor Emeritus of Music

Eastern Illinois University,

Charleston, Illinois

Director of Music and Organist

Church of the Immaculate Conception,

 Mattoon, Illinois

Tuesday

On Tuesday, October 5, students of Marilyn Mason played Widor’s Symphony VII. Luke Davis, Abigail Woods, Christine Chun, Kirsten Hellman and David Saunders all demonstrated  knowledge of the required style in the movements played.

In his lecture, “Franck’s Grand Pièce Symphonique,” Jean-Pierre Lecaudey, St. Rémy Cathedral, France, provided in fine detail his examination of the structure. The excellent handout showed the four movements of the work with its classic and traditional harmonic form, illustrating Franck’s genius in his use of themes in this creation of a real symphony.

John Near’s lecture, “Charles-Marie Widor: his relation to the French Symphonic organ and Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, ‘the poet-architect of sounds’,” showed the strong relationship between Widor and Cavaillé-Coll that began when Widor’s father was organist at St. François de Salle in Lyon, with its fine Cavaillé-Coll instrument. In his memoirs Widor wrote, “I was born in an organ pipe.” He proceeded to study with Lemmens and Fétis. Cavaillé-Coll sponsored the 25 year-old Widor’s candidacy as organist at St. Sulpice, which resulted in Widor’s 60-year tenure. The symphonic organ, a veritable orchestra with its divided chests, different wind pressures, mechanical action with Barker levers and vast dynamic range was a stimulus to Widor’s writing.

Carolyn Shuster Fournier, organist of the choir organ at La Trinité Church, Paris, in her lecture on Cavaillé-Coll’s secular organs, drew attention to instruments installed in royal palaces, residences, theaters, and concert halls. Cavaillé-Coll wrote letters about organs in order to promote better, high quality music. Among his largest non-church instruments were those at Albert Hall, Sheffield, England with three enclosed divisions, destroyed by fire, and the Trocadero in Paris, to which was added, at a later date, a 10-stop non-expressive solo division. Alexandre Guilmant was titulaire at the Trocadero; 15 concerts were played at the opening celebrations. (James Kibbie replicated one of these programs at the Sunday afternoon recital.) Large choral societies were formed to sing in these halls, and major works were performed, including Bach’s Magnificat, Handel’s Messiah and Israel in Egypt.

Michele Johns performed Widor’s Symphony V, the Allegro Vivace’s heroic opening statement and succeeding variations well-defined. Contrast of color and mood was achieved between the Adagio and the well-known Toccata.

The evening concert was held at the skillfully restored Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in Detroit with its fine acoustics. Olivier Latry of Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, played Vierne’s Symphony III on the 1925 Casavant in the rear choir loft. In his considered and telling performance, the architecture of the symphony was clearly shown, the last three movements--Intermezzo, Adagio and Final--exquisitely drawn. Norah  Duncan IV directed the  Archdiocesan Chorus and Wayne State University Concert Choir in Vierne’s Messe Solennelle for chorus and two organs, with Olivier Latry playing the rear instrument, and Shari Flore playing the 2003 Austin at the front of the cathedral. From the rear organ’s arresting opening chords of the Kyrie eleison, the choirs’  dramatic dynamics and fine shading throughout, and the choir organist’s significant part contributed to a performance of great beauty. M. Latry playing the Austin displayed his enormous improvisational skills in his treatment of Veni, Creator Spiritus.

Wednesday

On Wednesday, October 6, back in Ann Arbor, Widor’s Symphony III was played by James Kibbie’s students. Alan Knight, David Schout, Matthew Bogart, Isaac Brunson and Thomas Kean all showed familiarity with the movements chosen.

In John Near’s authentically stylish playing of Widor’s Symphony X (Romane), the last movement is perhaps the most colorful harmonically in all of Widor’s music. In Near’s lecture he stated that Widor was a constant reviser of his writing, going back to refine and show further thought in many compositions.

At the 2003 conference Joseph Daniel played movements from Widor’s Symphony IV. This year he played the complete work in which the Fugue’s flowing lines and the Scherzo’s delicate rhythmic pulse were well maintained.

Dr. Mason introduced the university’s organ technician Jerry Adams and his associate Gordon Mendenhall and thanked them for returning the Hill Auditorium organ to playing condition after three years’ silence during the renovation of the auditorium.

Prior to a seminar in which Marilyn Mason, Robert Glasgow, James Kibbie, Michele Johns and John Near took part, Dr. Mason asked the audience to stand, remembering Searle Wright (in whose memory the conference was dedicated), Margaret White, a regular conferee, and  Bill Jones. From the discussion, many points were brought forward: Widor played in recital independent movements of the symphonies; the spiritual and serene quality of the Romane was emphasized; the composer’s favorites were Symphony V and the Gothique; and he thought Symphony VIII would be his last in order that he might concentrate on writing theater and ballet music. He arranged the first and last movements of Symphony VI for orchestra and organ, and the first movement of Symphony II went through many revisions.

At a late afternoon reception held at the home of Marilyn Mason and her husband William Steinhoff, players, lecturers and conferees enjoyed fine weather and fine food.

In the evening Franck’s Fantaisie in C, Op. 16, Pastorale, Op. 19, Prière, Op. 20 and Final, Op. 21 were played by Charles Kennedy, David Saunders, Joseph Daniel, and Susan DeKam. Jason Alden played Widor’s Symphony II with great style and assurance bringing this conference to a fine conclusion.

To hear all ten Widor symphonies  and Franck’s twelve pieces in four days is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and thanks must be given to the Organ Department at the University of Michigan, Dr. Marilyn Mason, chair, Dr. Robert Glasgow, Dr. James Kibbie, Dr. Michele Johns, the lecturers, performers and  students of the department. Famed for its acoustics, the refurbished Hill Auditorium, now in glorious blues, greens, red and gilt, added to this unique event; “ . . . like being inside a Fabergé egg,” said one enthusiast.

--Gordon Atkinson