Harpsichord News

Broadening a harpsichordist’s 

horizons: Remembering the East Texas Pipe Organ Festival,

November 2014

It was a somewhat unusual beginning for a fascinating week in November: a two-hour Sunday-morning drive from west Dallas to the east Texas town of Kilgore, with my 1939 John Challis clavichord occupying the car’s back seat. The purpose of the trip: to present a program inaugurating the downtown office space for the East Texas Pipe Organ Festival, with a short recital and brief preview of a work by Herbert Howells scheduled to be sung during the festival’s day trip to Dallas! After my quiet clavichord opening, the rousing Sunday evening concert by duo-organists Elizabeth and Raymond Chenault was a complete contrast. The Chenaults performed on the magnificent Aeolian-Skinner organ of Kilgore’s First Presbyterian Church, the professional home of Roy Perry (1906–78), whose life and work provides the focus for these annual gatherings.

Monday’s schedule began in nearby Tyler, Texas, with some welcome insights into Jewish worship music (Ann Frohbieter) and a riveting presentation by local author Jan Statman. Statman read from her book Raisins and Almonds . . . and Texas Oil: Jewish Life in the Great East Texas Oil Field (Austin, Texas: Sunbelt Eakin Press, 2004), relating the background story of the 1930s economic boom that provided the funds for purchasing the outstanding American Classic pipe organs to be found in this part of Texas. Further down the road, George Bozeman demonstrated several historic organs in Palestine. The evening program, back in Kilgore, offered choral repertory from the Aeolian-Skinner recording Music of the Church, a much-praised 1950s disc recorded by Roy Perry and his choir.

A briskly cold day in Dallas produced some of the hottest musical performances of the festival, especially in the flawless playing of three Leo Sowerby masterpieces by festival director Lorenz Maycher on the Aeolian-Skinner chancel organ in Lovers Lane United Methodist Church and the perfectly planned and executed Evensong at the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation, where organist Graham Schulz and music director Scott Dettra offered incandescent renderings of the Dallas Canticles by Herbert Howells as well as a new prelude by Dallas organist and composer George Baker on Howells’s hymn tune Michael. There were exciting surprises even for longtime residents of Big D. For instance, I had never heard recital programs on two of the city’s outstanding Aeolian-Skinner organs at Kessler Park United Methodist Church and at the Fifth Church of Christ, Scientist, lacunae ably remedied by organists Casey Cantwell and Joby Bell. Many festival attendees were heard to opine that a “Dallas Day” would be well received as an annual event, even though the round trip to and from the city takes four hours!

Bookending Wednesday’s events were two highly contrasting musical offerings. An early morning recital by David Baskeyfield on Roy Perry’s Presbyterian masterpiece displayed lovely registration choices and musical suavity in two Mozart pieces originally composed for mechanical clock organ and stunning virtuosity in works by Tournemire and Widor. In the evening, a brilliant accompaniment by Walt Strony for Buster Keaton’s hilarious silent film The General was very much appreciated by the capacity audience.  

Thursday’s excursion to Shreveport, Louisiana, and the neo-Gothic splendor of St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral was another “embarrassment of riches,” with a trio of superb organists making memorable music on the magnificent instrument there. Michael Kleinschmidt’s performance of Duruflé’s Prelude and Fugue on the Name ALAIN and his architectural mastery of Widor’s final organ symphony (“Romane”) particularly stand out in memory, but Frederick Swann and Richard Elliott gave memorable recitals as well.

Not to be forgotten were the “words of wisdom” delivered by veteran Shreveport organist William Teague in conversation with Lorenz Maycher—a charming (and practical) interlude. Listed in the program book as “Little Nuggets I Have Picked Up Along the Way,” Teague reminded his listeners to “always check the pistons; play for God and not yourself; [do] not  . . . play too fast because in the details one hears the music.” He reminded us of Dora Poteet [Barclay]’s quote from Marcel Dupré: “Find the fastest it can go, and play less fast.” Other reminders were: employ meditative music for church, rather than recital repertoire; do not forget that hymns belong to the congregation; and, perhaps most important as advice for male organists: never wear tails if the organ bench has a back!

Aural (or at least “organ-al”) fatigue was setting in by Friday, the final day, but Jeremy Filsell’s concert at First Baptist Church in Longview was made memorable when he mistakenly stepped into the baptismal font on his way to the organ console in this stunningly original sanctuary! All was made better by that day’s lunch at Longview’s Johnny Cace’s Seafood and Steak House, a soothing organ and harp recital by Charles Callahan and Stephen Hartman, and a brilliant closing concert by Mark Dwyer (both concerts at First Presbyterian, Kilgore). Dwyer’s program was the fourth annual concert in honor of James Lynn (“Jimmy”) Culp, organist emeritus of the church.

The 120-page spiral-bound festival program book sported a genial photograph of Roy Perry on its front cover. Special guest of honor for 2014, Frederick Swann, was portrayed in multiple photographs and program facsimiles from various stages of his life and illustrious career. The book, available through the ETPOF website, would be worth its price even if it contained nothing more than the fascinating “Reminiscences” (1989) by Robert Owen, another iconic organist remembered for his recordings. Of interest to harpsichordists is a short reference to Owen’s study in France with Landowska student Marcelle de Lacour, as well as his delightful memories of Dupré, Marchal, Demessieux, Noelie Perront, and other mid-20th-century French musical luminaries.

I am pleased to report that, among the “goodies” included in the registration packet presented to each participant, there was a pristine “just-off-the-press” copy of The Diapason for November 2014. It was a much-discussed item at the popular evening “After-Glow” camaraderie that marked the end of each musically rewarding day. 

2014 artists who will return for the November 2015 festival include David Baskeyfield, Charles Callahan, and Mark Dwyer; they will be joined by Bradley Welch, Todd Wilson, Scott Dettra, Adam Pajan, Caroline Robinson, Jelani Eddington, and Ken Cowan. Special guest of honor will be Albert Russell, whose Kilgore residency coincides with the release of digital discs produced from the original tapes of his two Aeolian-Skinner recordings.

I highly recommend this regional festival. Travel to Texas and marvel at
G. Donald Harrison’s and Roy Perry’s legacy of American Classic organs as found in these charming and hospitable East Texas venues. Most guests who attended one of these musical feasts have returned in succeeding years, for second, third, fourth, and now, fifth helpings.

Neal Campbell has been director of music and organist of St. Luke’s Parish, Darien, Connecticut, since 2006. Prior to that he held church, synagogue, and college positions in Washington, Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey, and Virginia. Growing up in Washington as a student of William Watkins, he first met Roy Perry in 1972 when he was a finalist in the AGO National Organ Playing Competition in Dallas. He continued his association with Perry during the years Perry presided over the work at Washington National Cathedral and he played and recorded on the Kilgore organ several times. For a fuller account of the festival, including complete programs and stoplists, the reader is referred to Neal’s blog at http://nealfcampbell.wordpress.com.

Background

For the second time in as many years, I attended the East Texas Pipe Organ Festival held November 12–15, 2012, honoring the life and work of Roy Perry (1906–1978), featuring four organs built by Aeolian-Skinner that Perry designed and finished. The rationale for such an event is best summed up in Roy Perry’s own words in a brochure he wrote in 1952, shortly after the organs in First Presbyterian Church and St. Luke’s Methodist Church in Kilgore, and First Baptist Church in Longview were built:

A decade and a half ago the tonal designs of G. Donald Harrison were considered revolutionary, mostly because of the considerable publicity given a few of his organs built in the so-called Baroque style. At the present time, when tastes range all the way from extreme Romanticism . . . to the bleak austerities of the Baroque, his tonal ideas represent a temperate middle-of-the-road. The flexibility of his thinking is well demonstrated in the three organs considered in this booklet. None of these organs is extreme in any direction. They are alike only by way of family resemblance, but each in its way is a work of art. They provide a generous education in contemporary organ building as interpreted by this great artist, and are happily concentrated in a small geographical area.

It is clear from his own words that Roy considered G. Donald Harrison, and not himself, to be the designer of these organs. This raises the question: did Perry design these (or any other) A-S organs? Roy himself would have been the first to say it was GDH, whom he revered during their association. But it is also true that Roy had a lot of design control over the organs he sold for A-S and that GDH relied heavily on Perry’s knowledge in setting parameters. In the last fifteen years of A-S’s existence following Harrison’s death, Roy’s influence over “his” organs was even greater, sometimes even surreptitiously so!

However, the real signature that manifests itself in each of Roy Perry’s organs is the result of the finishing process in which he and the Williams family of technicians brought the factory-completed instruments to their full flower through installing and tonal finishing on site. (See Lorenz Maycher, “The Williams Family of New Orleans: Installing and Maintaining Aeolian-Skinner Organs,” The Diapason, May 2006.) This, multiplied over the span of his 20-plus-year career with A-S, puts a musical imprimatur on Roy’s organs that is hard to miss, although difficult to quantify by means of scientific measurement. Writing to Henry Willis III in 1955, Donald Harrison says that Roy 

. . . has supervised, with the aid of Jack Williams [sometimes known as T. J.] and his son [Jim or J. C.], most of our important installations in Texas. He is an accomplished organist and has a wonderful ear. He is a top notch finisher and during my periodic visits to Texas I cannot remember a time when I have had to suggest that something might have been done a little differently. He just has that kind of organ sense.

Festival itinerary

Unlike AGO conventions and denominational conferences with which I personally have been involved, these festivals were my first experiences with a topic-specific conference, and the rewards for those who love these organs were enormous. All of the playing was memorable and the organs were in excellent condition, which made for an exhilarating week. [For an account of last year’s festival, readers are referred to Michael Fox’s review in the February 2012 issue of The Diapason.] 

My complete participation was somewhat compromised by having to play services in Connecticut on Sunday morning, so I missed the pre-festival recital by Bradley Welch on Sunday evening in Longview. Further, part of my mission in attending was to provide transportation and note-holding for organ technician Stephen Emery. But I did attend all of the recitals on the four Aeolian-Skinner organs—the three in Kilgore and Longview, and one in Nacogdoches.

In addition to honoring the legacy of Roy Perry, this year the life and career of Alexander Boggs Ryan, noted teacher and performer from Longview, was commemorated in the Wednesday afternoon and evening sessions in Longview when the program departed from its A-S-centric (and even its organ-centric) scheme in an organ recital and a program of harpsichord music in Trinity Episcopal Church, the Ryan family church and organ. There was also a display of memorabilia on the lives of Perry and Ryan at the Gregg County Historical Museum.

Just as no discussion of these organs in their earlier generation would be complete without mention of the Williams family of organ technicians from New Orleans who installed and maintained them, so the work of Steve Emery was central to the success of this festival. For a week prior to the festival itself, and throughout the week of events, Steve gave these four organs the type of careful, knowledgeable, sympathetic attention that has earned him his reputation as an expert on the maintenance and restoration of these types of organs. 

This circuit-rider approach to organ maintenance is not unlike what took place in the years following these organs’ initial installations and on other A-S installations throughout the region: the Williamses—T. J. and Sally, Jim and Nora, or some combination—would arrive on site, check into a motel and stay for a week or ten days once a year at the most! to do a thorough tuning and some planned repairs. Between these annual visits Roy Perry, assisted by locals, would tune and make minor repairs. 

Monday

Before the festival officially opened, there was an opportunity in the afternoon to gather in St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Kilgore for a demonstration of the organ and for some reminiscences and conversation with Charles Callahan and Larry Palmer on composers they had known and with whom they had worked. 

Larry offered remembrances of his several commissions from and first performances of the works of Gerald Near, and Charlie told of his encounters with Leo Sowerby, David McK. Williams, and Thomas Matthews. Of particular interest, however, were his remembrances of visiting with Alexander Schreiner, pupil of Widor and Vierne, whom we know primarily as the organist of the Mormon Tabernacle immediately prior to and following the installation of A-S’s legendary five-manual organ. But Schreiner’s Ph.D. degree was in composition and he composed a lot of music, most of which is unknown. 

The opening recital of the festival was given by Thomas Murray at the First Presbyterian Church in Kilgore on Monday evening and was the second annual recital honoring James Lynn Culp, organist emeritus of the church. At the mid-point in the evening a plaque was shown honoring Culp’s thirty years of service to the church, which will be placed in the chancel along with those to Roy Perry and G. Donald Harrison.

Murray’s use of the organ was the most conservative of the week and the organ obliged completely and effectively in replicating a sound more typical of the house of Skinner in its pre-Harrison days, even in his hefty dose of Bach—the Concerto in C after Ernst, and the Passacaglia. The rest of the program, and particularly the Franck Grande pièce symphonique, was informed by a 19th-century aesthetic. In the scherzo of the Franck, in particular, Professor Murray’s solid and assured technique was put to good use. 

Tuesday

The morning recital was again at First Presbyterian Church and could not have been in greater contrast to the use of the organ the previous evening. I had not heard Walt Strony previously, although I had known his name and—erroneously, as it turns out—had assumed he was strictly a theatre organist. What I quickly learned was that his approach, technique, and style defies description in typical academic terms; Strony seems completely at home in concert, theatre, and church settings. It must have been this type of all-commanding wizardry put to solid musical principles that led throngs to hear organists Edwin H. Lemare and Archer Gibson in the early 20th century.

He used the organ in all of its permutations and possibilities. The standard groupings of organ tone and registration were clearly evident, but the imaginative exploitative quest for color and drama was also always apparent, and tastefully so. Walt’s biography in the program booklet says that he has written a book on theatre organ registration, which has become a standard reference work for theatre organists. I wish he would write one for classical organists, too. We have a lot to learn from him, especially those who attempt effective transcriptions. 

Walt’s program was an eclectic mix of original works for organ, transcriptions, paraphrases of classical standards, and some dazzling arrangements of his own. His hymn arrangements made me ache for the pre-praise-band days when the organ was still the instrument of choice in evangelical churches. I particularly liked his inclusion of an arrangement of a Fats Waller piece, reminding us that Waller was an organist and knew Dupré! His performance of Lemare’s transcription of the Liebestod easily stood its own with Virgil Fox’s recording at Wanamaker’s. The Carmen Fantasy and closing Kismet suite on music by Borodin were the organist’s counterpart to a standard 19th- and 20th-century piano virtuoso’s staple—the symphonic paraphrase. In this case Walt struck me as being the Horowitz of the organ! Richard Purvis’s music (Capriccio on the Notes of the Cuckoo, and Thanksgiving from Four Prayers in Tone) captured the essence of the Kilgore organ, which was easily the equal of its slightly older and larger cousin, Grace Cathedral, the organ for which it was conceived. 

I was impressed most of all by the fact that Walt Strony seemed comfortable in stepping aside and letting the organ take center stage in its own right. He did not try to mold it into his preconceived notion, or filter it through any established aesthetic. He didn’t attempt to make it sound like a theatre organ, or a so-called symphonic organ, or a classic organ, although elements of each were clearly present. It was simply the modern American organ playing music—and, in a word Roy Perry liked to use in describing this very organ, it was “deluxe!”

Tuesday afternoon the conference moved to Longview, about a ten-minute drive from Kilgore, and was devoted to a visit to Trinity Episcopal Church in Longview, the Ryan family church. Jeremy Bruns demonstrated the Ryan Family Organ built by Ross King, and Larry Palmer played a harpsichord recital featuring several works—modern works by Near, Martinu, Howells, and arrangements of Duke Ellington—which I was particularly sorry not to hear, but Steve Emery and I had our work cut out for us in tuning the large organ in the First Baptist Church. (See “Harpsichord News,” page 20.)

The history and aesthetic of the First Baptist Church in Longview is the stuff of legend. Its complete history is far too rich to adequately tell here. Suffice it to say that it could only have taken place due to three important and independent factors: the oil-rich location in East Texas, the population boom of the post-World War II era, and the visionary leadership of its pastor from 1945–1971, the Rev. Dr. W. Morris Ford. 

Unlike some so-called “high” ecumenical Baptist churches in the South with impressive music programs and facilities to match—such as Myers Park in Charlotte, or River Road in Richmond (or even Riverside in New York)—First Baptist in Longview was always more or less a typical Southern Baptist church. 

Dr. Ford was a cultured man with an earned doctorate, a love of music, and a fine singing and speaking voice. He sang both as soloist and with the church choir, and it was he who infused the church and its services with an innate sense of classical dignity in all things, which was his authentic response to the calling of the Gospel. This he did without diminishing the essential tenets or manifestations of the Baptist tradition. 

When it was decided to build a new church, the vision was big and bold. The local architect B. F. Crain, who trained at Harvard, and built several notable buildings in the area, was selected and the style of the new church was determined to be “Modern Gothic.” To be frank, there is little that is Gothic about it in the textbook sense, but the scale and towering spaciousness—even its domination of its local surroundings—is obviously inspired by the Gothic aesthetic stripped to its essential unadorned lines. It seats 1,700 and was designed with the organ’s success in mind from the beginning. Taken in this light, the 87-rank organ seems modest, at least on paper. But its tonal impact is comprehensive and monumental. Writing in the aforementioned booklet about the organ when it was new, Roy Perry says:

Although this organ leans toward the Classic style, it affords five pairs of strings, a Vox Humana, and percussions, not to mention the wonderful flutes and small reeds. It will do justice to any music, even the humblest; in grandeur it holds its own with the great organs of the world.

The organ seems to have suited the needs and vision of the church perfectly; it was appreciated as an asset to the community and was played by the great organists of the day. Virgil Fox inaugurated the organ and ultimately played there several times, and Catharine Crozier made two notable LP recordings on it, which were iconic in publicizing and documenting the organ when new. 

In the ensuing years recitals and concerts took place with regularity in the yearly round of church services and activities, including a performance in 1962 of the Bach St. John Passion sung by the Robert Shaw Chorale, of which by this time Dr. Ford’s son, David, was a member. The church may not have styled itself as anything but a typical Southern Baptist church, but during Dr. Ford’s tenure as pastor there were many opportunities to be presented with world-class music, in nearly perfect acoustical surroundings, by well-known recitalists and ensembles.

Richard Elliott, organist of the Mormon Tabernacle, played the Alexander Boggs Ryan Memorial Concert at First Baptist Church on Tuesday evening. The recital featured several pieces from various eras and genres, which presented the organ to excellent effect. Ryan had played a recital at the church in 1959 that included three pieces sung by the Rev. Dr. Morris Ford. These three songs (The Heavens Are Telling, op. 48—Beethoven; Panis Angelicus—Franck; and Recessional—Reginald De Koven) were here sung by David Ford, and it was good to hear the organ in its role as accompanist, which was a significant part of the organ’s duty in the normal round of services. 

Richard played the technically demanding program with the ease and confidence audiences are accustomed to from his weekly broadcasts. The concluding work was the familiar Vierne Carillon de Westminster, which was characterized by an intense rhythmic drive throughout, and the gradual building up of dynamic forces, which continued throughout the piece until the very end. Elliott obviously knew how to elicit the most drama out of the organ. Many an organist wouldn’t be able to resist pulling out all the stops too soon; here the various climaxes were gauged and measured, saving something for the final few bars. It reminded me of the old Columbia recording of Alexander Schreiner playing this work at the Tabernacle, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Richard had patterned his scheme on it.

Wednesday

The first event of the day was a delightful program by Charles Callahan at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church that consisted of lesser-known gems by Bach, Fiocco, Charles and Samuel Wesley—honoring our host denomination—Peace, Wolstenholme, and three of his own compositions. The program was carefully chosen to highlight the great variety and nuance of this remarkable organ, and were played with charm, elegance, and lyricism. I sat in the back of the full, completely carpeted church and the organ had remarkable presence in the room, which itself was completely devoid of reverberation. This is a testament to the success of the organbuilder’s art.

Before lunch we walked the few blocks to First Presbyterian Church for Ann Frohbieter’s well-chosen program, which, with the exception of Houston composer Michael Horvit’s The Red Sea, consisted of standard, well-known organ repertoire by Reger, Vivaldi-Bach, Ives, Barber, Vierne, and Liszt. But the playing was anything but standard! Each piece was thrillingly played with an obvious affinity and understanding of the inherent resources and beauty of the organ. To me it was the perfect foil to Strony’s program the previous morning, showing the same thrilling approach to the organ via the repertoire. The Red Sea is a programmatic work of eleven sections that depicts the biblical drama of the escape and deliverance of the Israelites from the Egyptians through the Red Sea. 

After lunch we walked back to St. Luke’s for a recital by Christopher Houlihan. The program was heroic for the small organ and room, but consistently well played from memory. Having heard the Bach Passacaglia on Monday evening, it was interesting to hear it again on this organ. Christopher’s interpretation sounded more at home in this setting. Houlihan has made a specialty of the Vierne symphonies, playing all six in marathon sessions around the country. Here he planned three movements (including the Final) from the Sixth, but after practicing at the organ, substituted three movements from the Second, which was a wise move. 

I particularly liked the Bach trio sonata (C major) and his transcription of the slow movement of Debussy’s opus 10 string quartet. Each seemed to capture the chamber-music aspect of the music, which ideally suited this organ and this room. Christopher is certain to have a bright career ahead of him, and it was good to have someone from the younger generation on the festival roster. Incidentally, there were a good number of young people at the festival for individual events, and Joby Bell’s entire studio from Appalachian State University in North Carolina attended the entire week.

Wednesday evening was movie night at First Presbyterian Church as Brett Valliant accompanied the silent classic “The Phantom of the Opera.” Brett’s accompaniment was lyrical and lush and may have been inspired by the theatre organists of the past, but this, like Walt Strony’s program Tuesday morning, was simply the Kilgore organ rising to yet another musical task with satisfying musical results.

Thursday

Thursday morning the festival moved to Nacogdoches, where the smallest of the four A-S organs—located in the First Baptist Church—was featured. The worship space here is slightly larger than St. Luke’s in Kilgore and the factors involving the acoustics are much more favorable. The organ is a model of careful voicing, scaling, and finishing, is ideally suited to its surroundings, and is entirely satisfying on its own, in spite of its small size. 

The program began with Scott Davis leading the audience in singing a hymn, with his improvised introduction, an interlude, and concluding stanza. Scott also concluded the program with an extended multi-movement improvisation in the style of his late teacher Gerre Hancock. These—the hymn singing and improvising—were the only nods during the week to the liturgical effectiveness these organs also possess.

The centerpiece of the program was another of Charlie Callahan’s signature programs of interesting, lesser-known works, which were carefully selected and performed to present the organ in its most favorable light—works by Clarence Dickinson, Nathaniel Dett, Joseph Clokey, and Richard Purvis’s Melody in Mauve, a harmonically rich and evocative gem. Charlie also played two recent compositions of his own: Alleluia (an energetic miniature, similar in feel to his more virtuosic Fanfares and Riffs) and Festival Voluntary on “St. Anne” for Horn and Organ, which received its first performance.

Charlie also spoke at some length about Roy Perry and the Williams family, and some of the other Aeolian-Skinner personalities he has known over the years growing up in Boston, particularly Arthur Birchall, for whom as a young man he held notes on tuning and finishing jobs. This was a valuable spoken addition to the otherwise instrumental nature of the week’s events.

Back to Kilgore for the afternoon recital by Christopher Jennings for what was anticipated as a highlight of the week: the complete performance of Clarence Dickinson’s Storm King Symphony at First Presbyterian. We know that Dickinson played individual movements from among the five, but there is no documentation of his (or anyone else’s) ever playing the entire work, and this was one of several times this season when Christopher has played it in its entirety. The program notes told us that the symphony “reflects impressions made on the composer by the varying moods of the stately Storm King mountain, which stands guard over the Highlands of the Hudson” near Dickinson’s home.

It is a pity that in most circles Dickinson’s compositions aren’t taken very seriously today. He wrote so many small works and carol arrangements that are so accessible that the larger forms, which require significant technical prowess, are basically unknown. Taken as a whole, the entire symphony could easily supplant the effect and aura of either the Reubke Sonata or Liszt Ad nos on a recital program.

Christopher’s use of the organ was informed by the early 20th-century organs that Dickinson would have known, but in a commanding and vivid way that did not sound retrospective. The natural power and expressiveness of the organ was entirely satisfying and there was not the impression that he was under-using the organ, even though he elected to leave out most of the upperwork. On occasion he used the famous Trompette-en-Chamade in chorus, Bombarde-wise, and it was very effective. The sound is not as ferocious as it looks, at least out in the church. In fact, it is one of the standard A-S Trompette Harmonique designs mounted horizontally, on reasonable wind pressure, which can in fact function as a chorus reed capping the full ensemble when called upon to do so.

I regretted that I could not attend the second half of the program, consisting of works by New York composers Alec Wyton, Calvin Hampton, and Gerre Hancock, as Steve Emery and I had to get over to Longview to touch up the tuning.

Ken Cowan played the concluding recital at First Baptist Church. In advance publicity on its Facebook page, festival director Lorenz Maycher wrote: “On the questionnaire, where his manager asked what kind of program we’d like, I put HEAVY DUTY. That’s exactly what we got. I love it when that happens!” There’s really not a lot that I can add to that. It was a huge program, played from memory, characterized by effortless technique in the service of the music, and impeccable use of the organ’s vast resources. It was epic and (sorry Virgil Fox) I don’t recall a better organ recital in my life.

When the Kilgore organ was new, one of the first players to present a recital on it was William Watkins, then not 30 years old. He had just won the Young Artist Award of the National Federation of Music Clubs, at the time the most prestigious competition to which any young musician could aspire; it was open to all instrumentalists. Watkins was the first organist to win it, and Roy Perry wisely brought him to play the new organ to a full church. The review in the Kilgore News Herald of February 17, 1950, which Watkins used in his publicity for many years, was written by Roy Perry himself, concluding “This boy is one of the great interpretive artists of the century.” The same can truthfully be said of Ken Cowan in this century. ν

All recent photography is by Bill Leazer and Paul Marchesano.

Broadening a harpsichordist’s horizons: East Texas Pipe Organ Festival 5 continues tradition

A stunning series of pictures by photographer David Brown provided the thematic and artistic background for the opening reception of the 2015 East Texas Pipe Organ Festival on Sunday afternoon, November 8, 2015. Brown’s new book comprising photographs of the Aeolian-Skinner organs featured at these annual East Texas celebrations was available at the gala event. Titled An American Classic: Roy Perry and the American Classic Organ, this volume is available as a print-on-demand item from www.blurb.com (www.blurb.com/b/6530916-an-american-classic).

Perry’s own organ at First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore (Aeolian-Skinner’s famous Opus 1173), was the most frequently heard of the Texas treasures, utilized first in Sunday’s vibrant opening recital by Damin Spritzer (works by Benoit, Dallier, Oldroyd, Larry King, Alkan, J. S. Bach, Howells, and Spritzer’s unique specialty, multiple pieces by French-American composer René Louis Becker); continuing on Monday with a thematic program of music associated with the instrument played by festival director and current organist-choirmaster Lorenz Maycher (the finest performance I’ve heard of Sowerby’s Carillon, made unforgettable by the perfect balance of the organ’s chimes and celesta), plus Perry’s own composition Christos Patterakis and three pieces from Callahan’s Kilgore Suite, followed by Charles Callahan himself playing the first performance of his Celtic Suite: four selections commissioned by the festival in honor of this year’s honored guest, organist Albert Russell.

Also playing Opus 1173 on Monday evening, Todd Wilson gave stellar performances of Bach, Widor, and his own transcriptions of three improvisations by Gerre Hancock, culminating in a riveting performance of Reger’s Fantasia and Fugue on BACH. Wednesday began with a program by Adam Pajan, but the day’s most memorable sounds from this versatile instrument were heard by an audibly delighted capacity audience when Jelani Eddington provided his masterfully coordinated accompaniment to the silent film Hot Water, starring comic actor Harold Lloyd. Finally, Ken Cowan made magical music in Thursday’s closing concert, applying his seemingly effortless virtuosity to works by Bach, Karg-Elert, Dupré, culminating in a gripping dramatic performance of Reubke’s Sonata on the 94th Psalm.

Within easy walking distance of First Presbyterian Church, St. Luke’s United Methodist is home to Roy Perry’s smaller masterwork, Opus 1175, a two-manual instrument of 28 stops (plus four borrowed voices to flesh out the Pedal division), and with the added resource of a partially enclosed Great division. One of Maycher’s stated objectives for his fifth festival was to show the extraordinary versatility of this superbly voiced instrument and its ability to encompass the performance of large major works from the solo organ repertory. Bradley Hunter Welch’s impeccable performances of the complete Sixth Symphony of Widor and Liszt’s Prelude and Fugue on BACH certainly put to rest any doubts that might have been harbored by any audience member. Additionally, Welch explored the organ’s lovely individual voices in Max Drischner’s Variations on O Run, Ye Shepherds and all six of J. S. Bach’s Schübler Chorales, cleverly dividing these beloved transcriptions into two groups of three and programming them on either side of the Liszt.

Also playing Opus 1175, young Caroline Robinson presented an eclectic program (Brahms, Vierne, Nico Muhly, Boëly, Alain, Schumann, and Howells, with Sowerby’s Requiescat in Pace sounding particularly appropriate to this instrument). Ms. Robinson was also the inspired presenter of the festival’s free outreach programs for elementary school students and was praised in the local newspaper (Kilgore News Herald, November 14) for her audience-building skills as demonstrated in the two sessions presented at St. Luke’s. 

To experience the region’s other two large Aeolian-Skinner organs of national repute required travelling: on Tuesday morning, November 10, two chartered busses departed at 8:30 for a full day’s excursion to Shreveport, Louisiana. Our schedule began at St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral with a 10 a.m. recital by David Baskeyfield. This unflappable young artist showcased the glories of Aeolian-Skinner Opus 1308 in the most generous acoustical environment of the churches that house these treasured instruments with a bracing program comprising works by Whitlock, Saint-Saëns, Dupré (Symphonie II), and a stirring performance of Liszt’s mighty Fantasy and Fugue on Ad nos, ad salutarum undam. After a superb lunch at Ristorante Giuseppe and an eye-opening, leg-stretching visit to the R. W. Norton Art Gallery, the refreshed group assembled at Shreveport’s First Baptist Church (another acoustically live building) to hear Charles Callahan’s demonstration of the fine Williams organ (voiced by Roy Perry), then returned to St. Mark’s for Scott Dettra’s much-anticipated program (Lemare’s organ transcription of Wagner’s Meistersinger Overture, Sowerby’s Arioso, a welcome hearing of Seth Bingham’s Passacaglia in E Minor, op. 40, and Stanford’s Fantasia and Toccata, op. 57—all dispatched with panache and musical grace). Capping the day with a buffet dinner in the uppermost reaches of Shreveport’s Artspace Gallery and a comfortable trip back to Kilgore, weary travelers either engaged in the nightly gathering at Kilgore Comfort Suites (this year titled Owls Paradise, or, in honor of honoree Russell, Al’s Paradise) or simply skittered off to get a good night’s sleep.

The second, much shorter excursion was Thursday’s trip to nearby Longview, where Monica Czausz completely captivated her audience with deftly delivered verbal program notes and supremely confident, musical playing (from memory) of Dvorák’s Carnival Overture (another Lemare-based transcription), shorter works by Bach, Widor, Alkan, and Parker, and a resounding traversal of Reger’s Chorale Fantasia on Halleluja! Gott zu loben—all thrilling on Opus 1174, the Perry-voiced organ housed front and center in the spacious contemporary architecture of First Baptist Church. After another memorable lunch at the Summit Club, Matthew Lewis played a recital of Franck, Vierne, Tournemire, Dupré, the rarely programmed Diptych of Messiaen, and a traversal, both intense and rousing, of Duruflé’s Suite, op. 5.

Evening social times, the famous “After-Glow” sessions at the Kilgore Comfort Suites Inn rounded off each music-filled day. Comfortable transportation on chartered buses also gave the occasional opportunity for such unexpected connections as that between Dallas organist Graham Clarke and Bellevue, Washington, physician Gordon Hale, who discovered their mutually similar experiences from military service during the Vietnam conflict.

ETPOF director Maycher has assembled another stellar group of artists to showcase East Texas’s treasure-trove of American Classic pipe organs for Festival Six (November 6–10, 2016). Book soon (the hotel fills quickly) and join the select 100-plus registrants who will thrill to the musical legacy of the legendary Roy Perry and his magnificently voiced East Texas wonders.

Michael Alan Fox is a retired bookseller and publisher who reviewed organ records for The Absolute Sound for 15 years. Growing up in San Francisco, he fell in love with Aeolian-Skinners while listening to Richard Purvis at Grace Cathedral; and as a disciple of Maurice John Forshaw—Jean Langlais’ first American pupil—he has an unshakable faith in seamless legato. He is organist of All Saints Episcopal Church in Hillsboro, Oregon.

The East Texas Pipe Organ Festival took place November 14–17 in and around Kilgore, Texas, and was one of the best organ-related gatherings I have ever attended. This was largely because of two men: Roy Perry, the former organist-choirmaster of the First Presbyterian Church of Kilgore, and Texas representative for Aeolian-Skinner; and Lorenz Maycher, the current Kilgore incumbent, and devoted historian of Aeolian-Skinner, who decided that Perry’s achievements deserved wider recognition.

Harrison & Perry

Admirers of the company know that
G. Donald Harrison held Perry’s work—and zany humor—in high esteem, and the Texas instruments that were installed by the Williams family of New Orleans and finished by Perry have a special place in the hierarchy of Aeolian-Skinner organs. (See “The Williams Family of New Orleans: Installing and Maintaining Aeolian-Skinner Organs,” by Lorenz Maycher, The Diapason, May 2006.) Perry’s own organ in Kilgore was featured prominently in the King of Instruments recordings that the company released to promote its organs, and the slightly larger sister organ in Longview was used by Catharine Crozier to make two important recordings of American organ music. If for no other reason, the Kilgore organ would have its place in history as the organ that introduced the chamade trumpet to America, perhaps a cause for sorrowful head-shaking to many.

Fashions changed in the following decades, and many regarded the American Classic ideal as unsatisfactory eclecticism, and it must be said that even before Harrison’s death that approach seemed to be narrowing its scope even as it was narrowing its scales, and some notable instruments came to be deprecated or ignored—or, worse, rebuilt.

Through these decades, some organists continued to maintain that the Roy Perry organs were very special. He figured prominently in Charles Callahan’s histories of Aeolian-Skinner, with letters to and from G. Donald Harrison. Inevitably, tastes changed yet again, and some of the Romantic aspects of Perry’s designs once again could be seen as reflections of a good musical sense rather than deviations from classical ideals. But the piney woods of east Texas are a long way from big musical centers, and mostly the instruments sat ignored by the larger world. One of them had even fallen on hard times, and due to changing worship styles was sitting unused.

I was enough of a dedicated admirer of G. Donald Harrison organs that I had occasional retirement fantasies about jumping in the car and heading on a long diagonal trek from the Douglas firs of the Northwest to the loblolly pines of Texas and actually hearing those two organs. For one reason or another, the fantasy trek never happened; and so when I read the announcement of this East Texas Pipe Organ Festival I signed up immediately. It ran from a Monday evening opening concert through Thursday evening, three non-stop days and nights.

The festival was essentially on the scale of an unusually good AGO regional, but it really was the work of one man with whatever support he may have asked for and received from others; those are details of which I know nothing. But however Lorenz Maycher made it happen, the organization was impressive. There were 50 or 60 attendees, a comfortable and convenient headquarters hotel, a
giant bus, catered meals that were never less than good and in the case of a gumbo dinner, just terrific, organs that had been freshly tuned (and because of some odd swings in the weather, even retuned), hospitable churches, and first-rate recitalists. For arranging this tribute to Roy Perry, Lorenz Maycher undoubtedly earned himself a place in the ongoing Aeolian-Skinner saga.

Opening concert

The opening concert was at First Presbyterian in Kilgore, and the program repeated the content of Roy Perry’s original recording, “Music of the Church,” Volume Ten in the King of Instruments series. A choir of some 30 voices was conducted by Frances Anderson, who as an Austin College student had sung on the original record. After the appropriate opening hymn (Engelberg), the choir, accompanied by Robert Brewer, sang Parry’s I Was Glad, Ireland’s Greater Love Hath No Man, and Vaughan Williams’s setting of Old Hundredth. Practical considerations led to the substitution of Elgar’s The Spirit of the Lord Is upon Me for David McK. Williams’s In the Year That King Uzziah Died, and following the congregational singing of St. Clement, Lorenz Maycher played Bruce Simonds’s Iam sol recedit igneus, the only organ solo on the original record. 

The concert set the tone for the festival perfectly. First Presbyterian is not a huge church—I’d guess that it seats around 300—and even though seat cushions had been removed, it is not a particularly live room. It is not a hostile building: music is clear and well balanced there, but it gets very little enhancement, so the organ’s glory is of its own making. It didn’t take long for that glory to be evident, as Robert Brewer accompanied the choir superbly. The Parry was tremendously exciting, even without the “Vivats”, and that first Trompette-en-chamade is still one of the very best examples, a well-nigh perfect balance of brilliance and body, just loud enough to dominate.

As I heard throughout that concert, and in the succeeding events in that church, Roy Perry’s own organ, Aeolian-Skinner opus 1173, embodies that kind of musical balance in any number of voices. Uniquely, I think, among instruments carrying the G. Donald Harrison signature plate, it is only “rebuilt” by Harrison, since it started life as a Möller, and much of the structure and even pipework (including the notable French Horn) remains from its origin. This perhaps makes Roy Perry’s achievement as a tonal finisher even more notable, because this instrument of 69 ranks is versatile and elegant beyond description. Other Harrisons that I have heard and loved—Grace Cathedral, Church of the Advent, St. John the Divine, etc.—owe something of their effect to their glorious buildings. Kilgore does it all on its own, and I left the concert convinced that I had just heard one of the world’s truly great organs.

Tuesday, November 15

The following day offered more opportunities to hear just how versatile the Kilgore organ is, as Maycher, former organist Jimmy Culp (who two days later was honored by the grateful church as its Organist Emeritus), and Casey Cantwell played organ works particularly associated with Opus 1173: Dreams, by Hugh McAmis; Christos Patterakis, by Roy Perry; A Solemn Melody, by Walford Davies; Nun komm der Heiden Heiland, by Bach; Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue, by Healey Willan; Alleluia, by Charles Callahan; Songs of Faith and Penitence, and Requiescat in Pace, by Leo Sowerby; and The Way to Emmaus, by Jaromir Weinberger.

There were also reminiscences of Roy Perry, as there were later in the week; by my reckoning he would have emerged as the undisputed champion in an all-time contest of Readers’ Digest Most Unforgettable Characters. Attendees learned that his lovely Christos Patterakis was named not for some obscure Orthodox melody, but for an obscure name he saw on a local election campaign poster in California; his irreverence and impishness were as fully developed as his ear for proper pipe speech. For me the highlight among all this music-making was the performance of Weinberger’s solo cantata The Way to Emmaus for soprano and organ. Anneliese von Goerken did a lovely job on the demanding vocal part (it concludes on a pianissimo high A after 22 pages of very chromatic writing); Maycher showed off opus 1173 as no less spectacular an accompanying instrument. 

The Weinberger cantata for years was a tradition on Easter afternoon at Riverside Church, and I have retained a vivid memory of hearing Louise Natale and Fred Swann perform it in the late 1970s. The Kilgore organ was easily the equal of the Riverside giant in providing all of the color required. (I missed only the few Chimes strikes that Swann added; Maycher was faithful to Weinberger’s score.) Part of the magic and the versatility comes from the enclosure of most of the Great, which is both a Great (a splendid Principal chorus, with three mixtures including one that caps full organ in much the same way as the famous
Terzzymbel at Washington Cathedral) and a Solo, with an English Horn and a French Horn to go with an eloquent Flute Harmonique. With some very imaginative thinking, Roy Perry transcended the limits of the usual three-manual instrument and enabled it to be a giant in flexibility.

Later in the afternoon, Casey Cantwell demonstrated another approach Roy Perry took: at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Kilgore, opus 1175, he designed a very substantial instrument in a smallish room, but laid it out on two very complete manuals rather than the expected three. The Great, again partially enclosed, is almost enormous at 18 ranks; and the Swell has a chamade Trompette in addition to the usual reed chorus. In a dead room it seems like a recipe for disaster, but Casey Cantwell, moving on from having played the Willan Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue on Opus 1173 in the morning, demonstrated that Perry knew what he was doing. It played the Bach Prelude and Fugue in E-flat well enough for these ears, and did a thrilling job with the John Cook Fanfare. The program also included Harold Darke’s Meditation on “Brother James’s Air,” Two Meditations on “Herzliebster Jesu” by Mark Jones, and Bach’s Adagio Cantabile arranged by Roy Perry. Cantwell improvised on some hymns, giving the attendees a chance to sing along as the themes were presented, and it was a model church organ in supporting congregational singing. And my fears at seeing those trumpets aimed at us were unfounded; they, and the organ, were just right. In an ideal world you might hope for a livelier room, but working in the real world Perry delivered a very satisfying and completely musical organ.

In the evening, Brett Valliant demonstrated further capabilities of Opus 1173 by using it to accompany a Harold Lloyd film, but I can’t comment on whether that worked or not, since I decided to save my energy for the late night cash bar, where more Roy Perry stories abounded. There sure are some great storytellers in Texas.

Wednesday, November 16

The following day the giant bus made the 70-mile trip east to Shreveport, where the group enjoyed the hospitality of the historic Shreveport Scottish Rite Temple, having lunch and dinner in a distinguished dining room. Upstairs in the 500-seat auditorium we heard Charles Callahan demonstrate the sounds of the 1917–1921 four-manual Pilcher, some voices of which weren’t available. Like all such fraternal orders, it faces an aging and declining membership; the preservation of their remarkable buildings, which are usually among the notable structures in every city where they are found, should be yet another cause to which organists might rally.

The major attraction in Shreveport was St. Mark’s Cathedral, Roy Perry’s largest installation. It was designed by G. Donald Harrison in conjunction with Perry and William Teague, then fresh out of the Curtis Institute and embarking on a long career at the cathedral, but it was not built until the Whiteford years. The festival’s visit to the cathedral was preceded by a session of further reminiscences of Perry at St. Mark’s former building, now the Church of the Holy Cross, where a 1920 E. M. Skinner was rebuilt by Aeolian-Skinner in 1949. William Teague—“Uncle Billy” to Roy Perry, and I suppose now about 90 (see “William Teague awarded Doctor of Fine Arts degree by Centenary College,” The Diapason, October 2011, p. 10)—was the star of the show, with a flood of stories that illustrated both Perry’s care for music, as when he sent pipes from the Kilgore strings back to Boston so that the scales could be duplicated for Teague’s organ then in the shop, and his wild sense of humor.

The St. Mark’s organ sounded particularly lovely in Charles Callahan’s prelude to the Evensong service, an atmospheric improvisation that hung in the air like wisps of incense. Following Evensong, Robert McCormick played a recital that started with a particularly colorful performance of the Elgar Sonata, and included three improvisations by Pierre Cochereau, reconstructed by Jeanne Joulain; McNeil Robinson’s Prelude on Llanfair, and Larry King’s Fanfares to the Tongues of Fire; the program ended with an improvisation on submitted themes. The cathedral has a generous acoustic, and the organ sounds like a vintage Perry right up to the point that the big reeds come on. I may be in a minority, but the Solo Major Trumpet unit was the first less-than-beautiful reed I had heard, and the Trompette-en-chamade in the Gallery ranks with that thing at the back of Riverside Church as the ugliest specimen I’ve experienced, and although I wasn’t carrying an SPL meter to be exact about it, I think it was brighter and nastier. I’ll bet Roy Perry would have agreed with me. But the unpleasantness was washed away later back at the hotel by an excellent martini—“Mother’s Milk” in Perry-speak. 

Thursday, November 17

The third day started with a little jewel, the 22-rank opus 1153A in the First Baptist Church of Nacogdoches. Roy Perry priorities are made clear by the presence of two celestes in a small two-manual, and again the organ fits the church like a dream. The church itself was an odd amalgam: distinctive stained glass windows and this vintage American Classic organ on the one hand, a full drum kit opposite the console and a light bridge that would be adequate for a good regional theatre on the other. In any case, Joseph Causby did a great job with a varied program from Bach to Locklair—that last being a substitution that allowed us to hear some very nice Chimes, again a voice found in most Perry organs. No snob, he . . . The program: Bach, Pièce d’Orgue, BWV 572, O Mensch bewein dein Sünde gross; Hindemith, Sonata I; Thalben-Ball, Tune in E; Duruflé, Scherzo, op. 2; Howells, Psalm Prelude, set 1, no. 3; and Guilmant, Final (Symphony No. 1 in D Minor). 

And the day continued in glory. I had gotten Catharine Crozier’s recordings from Longview in my teen years, but I wasn’t prepared for the size and magnificence of the building. It is like no other church I have seen, Gothic stripped down to the essential pointed arch and built in yellow brick on a grand scale. The window at the east end of the church is 66′ high by 16′ wide, and that reflects the sheer verticality of the design. The organ, Opus 1174, sits in chambers on either side of that lofty chancel, and Charles Callahan demonstrated its 85 ranks in a fascinating recital, mostly of unfamiliar pieces that I’m sure were chosen to show off every aspect of the organ: Wallace Sabin, Bourée in the olden style; Bach, Fantasie con Imitazione, All glory be to God on high, Lord God, now open wide Thy heavens, We all believe in one God; Cimarosa, Sonata IX; Handel, Andante; Paradies, Sicilienne; Gounod, Marche Nuptiale; Salomé, Villanelle; Jongen, Pastorale; Foote, Night–A Meditation, op. 61; Callahan, Three Gospel Preludes, Three Spirituals from Spiritual Suite, Fanfares and Riffs. It sounded wonderful in that huge room, a more sympathetic acoustic than Kilgore, and Opus 1174, wide open, filled it perfectly, the 8′ and 4′ Trompettes and Cornet of the Bombarde division being ideal climax reeds—but its quiet Romantic voices were just as effective. It is sad to think that the organ had fallen into disuse for some years and then was severely damaged by catastrophic leaks, but it is a cause for rejoicing that the church repaired and restored one of the real monuments of American Classic organbuilding.

The final event was a recital back at Kilgore by Richard Elliott, one of the masters of the Mormon Tabernacle Organ: Handel, La Rejouissance (Music for the Royal Fireworks); Bach, In dir ist Freude, BWV 615, Passacaglia in C Minor, BWV 582; Daquin, The Cuckoo; Widor, Andante sostenuto (Symphonie gothique, op. 70); Gawthrop, Sketchbook I; Elliot, Sing praise to God who reigns above, Be Thou my vision, Swing low, sweet chariot; Wagner, arr. Lemare, The Ride of the Valkyries. I’m sure the church elders were gratified to hear someone who daily plays an organ almost three times the size speak of how thrilled he was to be playing the Kilgore organ for the first time! In turn he managed to thrill the large audience, first with a superb performance of the Bach Passacaglia in the grand manner (every line of counterpoint there to be heard, but also every ounce of drama and passion—not the sort of effect you can get from a start-to-finish forte plenum), and finally with an all-out Ride of the Valkyries, with that miraculous Trompette-en-chamade spurring the riders on. Very exciting stuff—an over-the-top ending to an exciting week.

I am boundlessly grateful to Lorenz Maycher for organizing this heartfelt tribute to Roy Perry and his instruments. I can’t imagine how many hours’ work must have gone into planning all of the necessary arrangements and making everything work so smoothly. The music came first, but it was accompanied by good food and comfortable accommodations, and lots and lots of late-night stories. If the festival is repeated, I’ll sign up the day it’s announced, and you should, too.

Amidst the glorious music and the fun, there was an occasion for solemn reflection when the bus en route to Shreveport stopped to visit Roy Perry’s grave. His last years were difficult, and his death was tragic. His final resting place is in the family cemetery of the Crims, the local eminences who had built the church, donated the organ, and supported Perry’s musical education. His gravestone reads, “Music, once admitted to a soul, becomes a spirit and never dies.” Amen! 

According to Janus

The ancient Romans worshipped many gods. Janus, who provided the name for our first month of the year, had two faces, which allowed him to look in both directions: back to the past and forward to the future. Thus, a Janusian column seems appropriate for the first month of a new year.

Looking Back: Topics of the
2016 Harpsichord News
Columns

January: Buried Treasures: The Harpsichord Pages in Retrospect (2006–2015); Something New: Mysteries with Musical References

March: William Bolcom’s Compositions for Solo Harpsichord

April: More Duphly; Two Additional Mystery Novels; Semibrevity Website

May: Historical Keyboard Society of North America Conference at Oberlin College: Duphly, Skowroneck, Leonhardt, and Kreisler—A Twisted Tale

June: Tempi in Early Music from Beverly Jerold Scheibert; Two Clavichords at the Oberlin HKSNA

July: In Memoriam: Drawings by Jane Johnson (A Retrospective Feature Article)

August: Broadening a Harpsichordist’s Horizon: The Fifth East Texas Pipe Organ Festival Continues Tradition

September: Striking Gold: Some Thoughts on Performing Bach’s Goldberg Variations

October: Well-Tempered: Lou Harrison and the Harpsichord

November: Some Thoughts on Programming

December: Christmas Musings: Joseph Wechsberg’s The Best Things in Life; Recordings of the complete harpsichord works of Marchand and Clérambault on compact disc and 21st-century solos on another from the British Harpsichord Society; plus a Christmas Vignette (excerpted from Palmer: Letters from Salzburg).

Two Vignettes from 2016 East

Texas Pipe Organ Festival
(November 6–11)

The most recent pipe organ fest in November followed its traditional, successful schedule, albeit with a bit more time allowed for dining and socializing. After the brilliant Sunday evening opening organ recital by Richard Elliot on Kilgore’s prized Roy Perry-designed Aeolian-Skinner organ (Opus 1173, First Presbyterian Church), Christopher Marks (new to the artist roster) began the first full day of the festival on Monday with a recital on the same instrument. His well-designed program devoted to music by Seth Bingham (1882–1972) showed the conservative American church musician to be a composer consistent in craftsmanship, and one indebted to the French school of organ music as well. Nostalgia welled up when, for the first time since high school, I heard again two pieces from Bingham’s organ suite Harmonies of Florence (1929): Savonarola, and one that was in my repertoire in those youthful years, Twilight at Fiesole. These pieces brought back memories of another outstanding advocate for French music, Oberlin professor of organ Fenner Douglass, with whom I had the great privilege of studying during my senior year. Douglass played French organ music ranging from Titelouze to the most recent works of Messiaen, but an American whom he admired and whose music he performed was none other than . . . Seth Bingham. 

Vignette Two: In Janus-Speak,
Ave atque Vale (Hail and 

Farewell)

I was not particularly looking forward to the fourth organ concert of our annual “day in Shreveport” even though the program was to take place on the grandest of the festival organs (Aeolian-Skinner opus 1308) in the most accommodating acoustic: St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral. Replacing the indisposed Marilyn Keiser as recitalist was the winner of the 2016 Longwood Gardens Competition, Joshua Stafford. His stylishly eclectic program comprised Leo Sowerby’s Comes Autumn Time, Seth Bingham’s Roulade (heard for the second time at this Festival), Lemare’s transcription of Dvorák’s Carnival Overture, a quiet Lied (Douze Pièces) by Gaston Litaize, and, following intermission, Liszt’s lengthy Fantasie and Fugue on the Chorale “Ad nos” from Meyerbeer’s Le Prophète. From the opening notes until the final strains of his patriotic encore, it was apparent that this young man is a stellar musician with a seemingly effortless technique that could encompass anything. But more than that, he demonstrated music-making of the highest order, delivered without affectation, obviously played with delight and musical intensity. At the conclusion of this amazing recital, before the final chord had died away in the reverberant cathedral, the audience, as one, rose to its feet, shouting “Bravo.” My own word choice was “Bravissimo!” Welcome to the company of outstanding artists, Joshua Stafford. I can scarcely wait to hear more from your talented fingers, feet, heart, and soul.

The closing event of the festival on Thursday evening was a recital by Frederick Swann at Kilgore’s First Presbyterian Church. Announced as the veteran artist’s final organ concert (he will continue to play church services), this repeat of the program he had given as a rededication concert for Aeolian-Skinner Opus 1173 following its 1966 revision by Roy Perry, capped Swann’s career of some 3,000 recitals with graceful, intense playing, always offered to the benefit of the music. In a class act that will be remembered for a very long time, the acclaimed organist did not play a traditional “encore” to acknowledge the continuing ovation of the large crowd; instead he instructed us to open our hymn books and sing, supported by his inspired accompaniment, “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation.” These two unforgettable musical events receive my vote for best in show, ETPOF VI. 

The Future: Hello 2017

Billing itself as “the world’s best-selling classical music magazine,” BBC Music is a very good journal. Each monthly copy has affixed to its cover a compact disc, custom-produced to form part of the month’s offerings. For the December 2016 issue the featured composer is Johann Sebastian Bach. Articles discuss “the secret of his genius in ten masterpieces,” attempt to make sense of the extensive Bach family tree, and generally aid the reader/listener in various musical discoveries. This issue also contains 110 reviews of classical music discs by knowledgeable critics. The accompanying CD is of JSB’s final masterpiece, The Art of Fugue, in an orchestration devised by harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani for a substantial baroque instrumental contingent made up of two violins, viola, cello, viola da gamba, violone, two flutes, recorder, oboe, oboe d’amore, oboe da caccia, bassoon, cornetto, and two harpsichords (the players are members of the Academy of Ancient Music). This baroque chamber orchestra version is an attempt to suggest the type of coffee-house performance that Bach might have put together. With some moments of solo harpsichord, but many more with the instrumental band, it is indeed a colorful and unusual performance.

To suggest something for the future, I would like to reference a BBC Music “last page”—one of its “Music That Changed Me” series. In the September 2005 issue, the featured musician was the brilliant, energetic British harpsichordist (and conductor) Richard Egarr. I have been an admirer of his nimble-fingered, exciting playing for quite some time, and a part of what nourishes this spirited musical drive surely could be traced, in part, to the choices he makes for his own listening. Egarr cites six recordings, and I note with interest that only two of them comprise music for a solo keyboard. Both of these discs are historical testaments from unique and path-breaking musical artists. I suspect that many of Egarr’s own savvy musical instincts come from his “listening outside the [keyboard] box,” something I have long advocated, and that I recommend to our readers as a sure path to continuing aural adventures during this new year. My own choices nearly always include vocal works, for listening to good singers or choral ensembles helps incredibly in learning to make our own phrases breathe naturally (a benefit that is also attained by playing, or listening to, wind instruments).

So, for the record (as it were), here are Egarr’s six choices: Music of the Gothic Era (David Munrow); Early Violin Music (Musica Antiqua Köln); Mahler, Symphony I (Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein); Moritz Rosenthal (historical recording of piano music issued by American Columbia’s Biddulph label); Tchaikovsky, Marche Slav (London Symphony Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski); and, as the second keyboard item: Bach’s Goldberg Variations (Glenn Gould, piano), which he cites as a performance style that he has had to overcome in his own study of the monumental work.

Finally, dear readers, a few hints of some developing columns that may appear during the first half of 2017: from a group of colleagues who perform contemporary harpsichord music, some listings of their favorite works; an in-depth examination of a Bach prelude and fugue from the WTC; a guest article about some legendary French harpsichordists; an article on harpsichord pedagogy. Any suggestions for other topics of interest?

Recital programming: Program notes

Seated one day at the harpsichord, I was weary and ill at ease because the mid-July deadline for this column was approaching too rapidly, and my mind, in its summer mode, seemed frail as a lily, too weak for a thought as I searched for a topic. And then, a miracle: the printed program from my harpsichord recital at the 2012 East Texas Pipe Organ Festival fell out of a score. Rereading it brought not only a wave of nostalgia, but also a sense of continued satisfaction at both the balance and variety of the chosen pieces, selected painstakingly to present contrasting musical styles as well as offering a bit of respite to the ears of the festival participants who heard a number of organ recitals each day.

Some vignettes about the unusual logistics required to present this program at Trinity Episcopal Church in Longview on my 74th birthday may be found in The Diapason’s Harpsichord News column published in February 2013 (page 20). If any readers are curious, I refer them to that issue, which also contains Neal Campbell’s thoughtful commentaries on the entire 2012 festival. What follows in this month’s column has not appeared previously in The Diapason. These are my “notes to the program.” I present them now as examples of brief word pictures intended to aid a listener’s understanding of music that, for many, was probably being heard for the first time. As for the selections, I specifically tried to choose at least some works by composers who might be familiar to organists, while offering a variety of musical styles, durations, and tonalities both major and minor. 

The program notes

Introduction to the Program: The Italian composer Giovanni Maria Trabaci wrote in the Preface to Book II of his Pieces ‘per ogni (all) strumenti, ma ispecialmente per i Cimbali e gli Organi’ [1615]: “the harpsichord is the lord of all instruments in the world and on it everything may be played with ease.” [“il Cimbalo è Signor di tutti l’istromenti del mondo, et in lui si possono sonare ogni  cosa con facilità.”]  

While I am not totally convinced of the ease of playing offered by some of these contrasting selections from the contemporary and Baroque repertoires, I do suggest that each one of them has musical interest. The pieces by John Challis and Duke Ellington are probably unique to my repertoire since they remain unpublished.

The program

A Triptych for Harpsichord (1982)—Gerald Near (b. 1942). In addition to writing a wonderful Concerto for Harpsichord and Strings for me to premiere at the American Guild of Organists national convention in the Twin Cities in 1980, Gerald responded to my request for a new work to play at a recital for the Dallas Museum of Art’s major El Greco exhibition in 1983. The three brief contrasting movements suggest bells (“Carillon”), an amorous dance (“Siciliano”), and a homage to the harpsichord works of Domenico Scarlatti and Manuel de Falla (“Final”). 

Sonate pour Claveçin (1958)—Bohuslav Martinů (1890–1959). During the final year of his life, in response to a commission from the Swiss harpsichordist Antoinette Vischer, Martinů composed this compact, but major, Sonate. Essentially it is a piece in one movement with three sections: the first and last are kaleidoscopic, filled with brief colorful musical ideas; the second is gentle and nostalgic, as the homesick expatriate composer makes short allusions to two beloved iconic Czech works: the Wenceslaus Chorale and Dvorák’s Cello Concerto. While quite “pianistic” in its demands, the Sonate also allows brilliant use of the harpsichord’s two keyboards in realizing both Martinů’s magical sonorities and his occasional use of bitonality.

“Chaconne in D Minor” (Partita for Solo Violin, BWV 1004)—Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), arranged for harpsichord solo by John Challis (1907–1974). One of Bach’s most-often transcribed works, this particular setting for harpsichord by the pioneering American early instrument maker survives only in a manuscript submitted for copyright (on Bach’s birthday in 1944), now preserved in the Library of Congress, Washington D.C., Challis also was an early advocate of variable tempi in Baroque music, serving as a mentor in that respect to organist E. Power Biggs, who proudly owned one of the builder’s impressive large pedal instruments.¹

A Single Petal of a Rose (1965)—Duke Ellington (1899–1974), edited in 1985 by Igor Kipnis and Dave Brubeck, and by Larry Palmer in 2012. Edward Kennedy Ellington responded to Antoinette Vischer’s request for a piece by sending her a piano transcription of his A Single Petal of a Rose, a work already dedicated to the British monarch Queen Elizabeth II. When American harpsichordist Kipnis asked if I could point him to Ellington’s unique work for harpsichord, I referred him to the facsimile of Ellington’s manuscript published in Ule Troxler’s book Antoinette Vischer, which details the works to be found in the Vischer Collection at the Sacher Foundation in Basel, Switzerland. (See “The A-Team,” The Diapason, February 2017, pp. 12–13.) Years later, Kipnis sent me his one-page transcription for harpsichord, an arrangement made in collaboration with his friend, the jazz great Dave Brubeck. To fit my hands and harpsichord I have made some further adjustments to their arrangement of this lovely, gentle work.²

La D’Héricourt; La Lugeac—Claude-Bénigne Balbastre (1727–1799). These are two of the most idiomatic of French harpsichord works from the eighteenth century, and none is more so than the one honoring M. l’Abbé d’Héricourt, Conseiller de Grand’ Chambre. With the tempo marking “noblement,” this composition stays mostly in the middle range of the harpsichord, a particularly resonant glory of the eighteenth-century French instruments. In contrast, the boisterous, “music-hall” qualities of La Lugeac suggest that it may be named for Charles-Antoine de Guerin, a page to King Louis XV. Known subsequently as the Marquis de Lugeac, the former page became secretary and companion to the Marquis de Valery, the king’s representative to the court of Frederick the Great. The American harpsichordist and conductor Alan Curtis, who edited Balbastre’s keyboard works, noted that “few Italianate jigs—Scarlatti not even excepted—can match the outrageously bumptious and attractive La Lugeac.”

“Lambert’s Fireside,” “De la Mare’s Pavane,” and “Hughes’ Ballet” (from the collection Lambert’s Clavichord, 1926–1928)—Herbert Howells (1892–1983). The composer was the next to youngest person pictured in a 1923 book of Modern British Composers comprising 17 master portraits by the photographer and clavichord maker Herbert Lambert of Bath. As a tangible expression of gratitude for this honor, Howells requested 11 of his fellow sitters each to contribute a short characteristic piece to be presented to the photographer. All acquiesced, but one year later, only Howells had composed anything for the project, so he wrote the additional 11 pieces himself. Issued in 1928 by Oxford University Press, Lambert’s Clavichord was the first new music for clavichord to be published in the twentieth century. Several questions regarding names found in the titles as well as a few printed notes that were suspect led me to schedule a London interview with the composer during a 1974 trip to the UK, a meeting that led ultimately to my commissioning the Dallas Canticles, as well as a respectful, unforgettable friendship with the elderly master.³

Toccata in E Minor, BWV 914—J. S.
Bach. The shortest of the composer’s seven toccatas for harpsichord, the E Minor consists of an introduction (with an organ-pedal-like opening figure insistently repeated six times); a contrapuntal   “poco” Allegro; a dramatic recitative (Adagio); and a driving, perpetual motion three-voice fugue. Musicologist David Schulenberg (in The Keyboard Music of J. S. Bach; Schirmer Books, New York, 1992) noted the close similarity of the fugue’s opening and some subsequent passages to an anonymous work from a Naples manuscript ascribed to Benedetto Marcello. While it was not unusual for Baroque composers to borrow from (and improve upon) existing works, the amount of pre-existing material utilized in this particular fugue is greater than normal; however, as Schulenberg concludes, “[Bach] nevertheless made characteristic alterations.” I would add that in no way do these borrowings detract from the visceral excitement of Bach’s propulsive and dramatic conclusion.

Heads up: Registration for the 2017 ETPOF

According to the East Texas Pipe Organ Festival website there is still an opportunity to register (at discounted prices) for the star-studded programs planned for this year’s festival. But do not delay: the opportunity for savings expires on September 15. Visit: http://easttexaspipeorganfestival.com.

Recent losses 

Elizabeth Chojnacka (born September 10, 1939, in Warsaw) died in Paris on May 28. Celebrated for her virtuosic keyboard technique, Chojnacka was known primarily as an avid and exciting performer of contemporary harpsichord music. Her renderings of all three of the solo harpsichord works by Ligeti are highly lauded, and the composer honored her by dedicating the third, Hungarian Rock, to her.

Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini (born October 7, 1929, in Bologna) died in that Italian city on July 11. Organist, harpsichordist, scholar, and instrument collector, Luigi was well known to us in Dallas, having been a guest at Southern Methodist University on several occasions. Most memorably, he was part of the so-designated “Haarlem Trio” organized by Robert Anderson as a week-long postscript to the 1972 American Guild of Organists convention in Dallas. The three major European visiting artists for that event—Marie-Claire Alain, Anton Heiller, and Tagliavini—each gave daily masterclasses for the large number of participants who remained in Dallas for a second week of study with these annual leaders of the Haarlem Summer Academies in the Netherlands, resulting in what may be the only time in Southern Methodist University history that the organ department achieved a financial surplus rather than a deficit!

Two vignettes from that stellar week have become an unforgettable part of   Dallas’s musical history: Luigi’s chosen workshop topic was the organ music of Girolamo Frescobaldi, and he had assigned to the prize-winning finalists from the AGO Young Organists’ Competition all of the pieces contained in that composer’s liturgical settings for organ, known as Fiori Musicali. One of the finalists who had not won an AGO prize left Dallas in high dudgeon. Unfortunately, this participant had been assigned the very first piece in this set of “Musical Flowers.” Professor Tagliavini began his afternoon class with a brief overview of the work’s history and importance, and then peered over his glasses as he announced, “And now we will hear the first piece, Frescobaldi’s ‘Toccata avanti della Messa’.”

The total lack of response became embarrassing; there was no respondent. So our guest teacher moved on to the next piece. And thus it was that each afternoon session began with the same question from Luigi: “And who will play the ‘Toccata avanti della Messa’?”—always followed by total silence. A stickler for completeness, on the fifth and final day of the course Luigi made his same query, again to no avail. So with his usual smile and slight lisp he intoned, “Then I shall play the ‘Toccata avanti della Messa’!” And so he did with total mastery and grace. And all was well within the Italian Baroque solar system,  for Frescobaldi’s magnum opus was, at last, complete in Dallas!

The second vignette, equally Luigi-esque, occurred when Dr. Anderson, always volatile and energetic, and I were awaiting Tagliavini’s arrival to play an evening organ recital for the workshop audience. It was scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. and by five minutes before that hour Dr. Anderson was pacing the corridor near the door to the Caruth Auditorium stage. With less than two minutes to spare, Luigi ambled down the hallway. Bob called out, “Luigi, hurry!” To which the unflappable Italian stopped walking, carefully placed his leather briefcase on the floor, and, with his characteristically kindly smile, said, “Why, Bob? Has the recital already begun?” ν

Notes

1. For further information see my essay, “John Challis and Bach’s Chaconne in D Minor,” in Music and Its Questions: Essays in Honor of Peter Williams, edited by Thomas Donahue (Organ Historical Society Press, 2007); and my CD recording of the Bach transcription on Hommages for Harpsichord (SoundBoard 2008).

2. Concerning Lambert’s Clavichord, see my chapter on Herbert Howells in Twentieth Century Organ Music, edited by Christopher Anderson (Routledge, 2012).