An Organ at the Crossroads

September 29–October 2, 2013

Marijim Thoene and Gale Kramer

Thanks to Gale Kramer for his review of the student recital on September 30.

Marijim Thoene, a student of Marilyn Mason, received a DMA in organ performance/church music from the University of Michigan in 1984. An active recitalist, her two CDs, Mystics and Spirits and Wind Song, are available through Raven Recordings. She is a frequent presenter at medieval conferences on the topic of the image of the pipe organ in medieval manuscripts.  

Gale Kramer, DMA, is organist emeritus of Metropolitan United Methodist Church in Detroit, Michigan, and a former assistant professor of organ at Wayne State University. A graduate of the University of Michigan, he is a regular reviewer and occasional contributor to The Diapason. His article, “Food References in the Short Chorales of Clavierübung III,” appeared in the April 1984 issue of The Diapason.

Marilyn Mason—legend in her own time, musician and teacher of international renown, torchbearer for composers, organ builders, and students, ground breaker, and pioneer—was honored in this year’s 53rd Conference on Organ Music. Mason has been consumed by a magnificent obsession, and has shared her mantra “eat, sleep, and practice” with hundreds of students at the University of Michigan. The Victorian writer Walter Pater encapsulated her life: “To burn always with this hard, gem-like flame, to maintain this ecstasy, is success in life.” 

The principal business of this annual conference was the celebration of Marilyn Mason’s 66 years at the helm of the organ department of the University of Michigan. Following this year of furlough she will say goodbye to the full-time employment that has occupied her since her organ teacher, Professor Palmer Christian, hired her on to the faculty of the School of Music. Over the course of the conference many of her attributes came to the fore: loyalty to the University of Michigan, excellence in performance all over the world, practical concern for scholarships and employment for her students, and perseverance in making things happen, not just once, but over many years. The organ conference itself embodies one of many events she saw a need for, initiated, and perpetuated over time, in this case for 53 years. Other long-term projects to which she devoted her energies include a large repertoire of commissioned organ works, and 56 Historical Organ Tours sponsored by the University of Michigan, which she initiated in order to enable students to experience the sound and touch of historic European instruments.

 

Sunday, September 29, 2013

The music of the first event of the conference, “A Grand Night for Singing,” featuring all of the choral groups at the University of Michigan—the Chamber Choir, the Orpheus Singers, Men’s Glee Club, and Women’s Glee Club, totaling 357 young singers—took place in Hill Auditorium and was filled with energy and beauty. The concert—the perfect way to begin a celebration of Marilyn Mason’s life’s work—was the first of the season, and also celebrated the one-hundredth anniversary of Hill Auditorium. The singers entered from the back of the auditorium and the audience of over a thousand fell silent as hundreds of singers walked briskly down the aisles and took their places on the risers. The repertoire ranged from secular to sacred: from scenes from Rossini’s The Barber of Seville to Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, from Baroque to contemporary, from a cappella to that accompanied by the Frieze Memorial Organ, Steinway, or Baroque ensemble. The level of performance of these choirs was truly remarkable, especially since they had been prepared in only nineteen days. Vocal blend, whether from a small ensemble or a choir of over three hundred, was rich, the range of dynamics was kaleidoscopic, attacks were precise, phrases were controlled, but most impressive was the power to communicate deep emotion that transported the audience. This was apparent especially in the University Choir’s performance of Stephen Paulus’s The Road Home, conducted by Eugene Rogers and featuring soprano soloist Shenika John Jordan. Ms. Jordan became an actress and transported us with her soaring voice.  

Several works were accompanied on the Frieze Memorial Organ and harpsichord played by Scott Van Ornum, former student of Professor Mason. In both Benjamin Britten’s Festival Te Deum and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ O clap your hands we heard a sampling of the vast color palette of the organ, from soft flutes to thundering reeds. Van Ornum deftly exploited the dramatic power of the organ to soothe, exhilarate, and transport. The hosts of the concert, Melody Racine and Jerry Blackstone, reveled in the music, especially in the grand finale, It’s a grand night for singing, during which they danced and sang. The audience was invited to join in singing with all the choirs directed by Blackstone, and accompanied by organist Scott Van Ornum and pianists Samantha Beresford and David Gilliland. 

In the evening, Andrew Herbruck played music by Leo Sowerby for his Master of Music recital at Hill Auditorium, offering an interesting survey of Sowerby’s forms and styles. Comes Autumn Time reflected Sowerby’s fascination with blues and his preference for solo reeds. It was a treat to hear movements two and three from the seldom-played Suite for Organ. In the second movement, Fantasy for Flute Stops, Herbruck played the repeated motif (which sounded much like a forerunner of Philip Glass) with amazing dexterity and control. The third movement, Air with Variations, showed Herbruck’s careful phrasing of the passages for solo clarinet. He played the Passacaglia from Symphony for Organ with a combination of restraint and gusto and made the performance electric.

Festival Musick (I. Fanfare, II. Chorale, and III. Toccata on “A.G.O.”)filled the second half of the recital and provided a glimpse into Sowerby’s ability to combine unusual timbres in dialogue with the organ. 

 

Monday, September 30, 2013

The conference opened with a program by pupils of James Kibbie: Andrew Lang (Praeambulum in E Major, LübWV 7, Lübeck), David Banas (Premier Livre d’orgue: Récit de Tierce en taille, Offertoire sur les grands jeux, de Grigny), Mary Zelinski (Prelude and Fugue in G Major, BWV 550, Bach), Paul Giessner (Organ Trio, no. 1, Lucas Grant), Elliot Krasny (his own Ascension, Descention), and Jenna Moon (Sonata IV in B-Flat Major, Mendelssohn). They brought out the best in the Marilyn Mason Organ, conceived by Charles Fisk and others in collaboration with Marilyn Mason in the years just before 1985.

Department Chair Kibbie introduced Dr. Karl Schrock, Visiting Faculty Member in Organ for the 2013–2014 academic year, and announced the appointment of Vincent Dubois and Daniel Roth as Visiting Artists, one in each of the two academic terms. They will each teach private lessons to all organ students and present a public masterclass and recital.

The afternoon session, featuring the students of Marilyn Mason, was held at the First Congregational Church, home of the 1985 Karl Wilhelm organ, Opus 97. When Marilyn Mason entered the church everyone spontaneously rose to their feet and clapped. She introduced Andrew Meagher, saying, “I admire Andrew a lot. He is the only student I have ever had who studied Schoenberg’s Variations on a Recitative with me and memorized it. I watched the score and he played it right!” (Schoenberg consulted with Mason during the writing of this work.) Meagher is a DMA graduate and played Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in A Minor, BWV 543, from memory. The other students are currently enrolled and played the following pieces with conviction and energy: Regan Chuhran, Prelude in F Minor, BWV 534; Renate McLaughlin, Le petit pêcheur rusé—Air and three variations from Air and Variations for Pedal Solo by Flor Peeters; Joshua Boyd, Jubilate, op. 67, no. 2, and Recessional, op. 96, no. 4, by William Mathias; Glenn Tucker, Trio Sonata No. 1 in E-flat Major, BWV 525 (played from memory); and Kipp Cortez, Fantasie and Fugue in G Minor, BWV 542.

The recital was immediately followed by Stephen Warner’s discussion of the history of the organs at First Congregational Church, with special emphasis on the current Karl Wilhelm organ. He gave some practical and useful advice on organ maintenance. 

Next we heard repertoire for organ and other instruments. Sipkje Pes-nichak, oboist, and Tim Huth, organist, performed Aria by Jehan Alain. We also heard music for organ and handbells directed by Michele Johns and performed by Joshua Boyd and ringers from St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church. 

The evening festivities began in the banquet hall of the Michigan League, packed with well-wishers whose lives have been profoundly touched by Marilyn Mason. She was congratulated and paid tribute to by David C. Munson, master of ceremonies and dean of engineering and computer science; Lester P. Monts, senior vice provost for academic affairs; and Arthur F. Thurnau, professor of music (ethnomusicology). The Reverend Dr. Robert K. Livingston, senior minister at the First Congregational Church in Ann Arbor where Marilyn Mason is organist, praised her, saying: “Her life is a model of a life lived with compassion and loving kindness, and dedication and desire to help mentor. She has followed the advice of Stephen King, ‘Make your life one long gift to others—the rest is smoke and mirrors.’ She has made a lasting difference to each one of us and the world.” Short reminiscences were given by some of her former students, including Michele Johns, adjunct professor of organ and church music. Carolyn Thibideau, dean of the Detroit AGO chapter, quoted Mason’s sayings: “A recital date always arrives” and “If you have a task that needs to be done, just do it and get it over with!” Tim Huth, dean of the Ann Arbor AGO chapter, said he thinks of the organ conference as “soul juice.” He thanked her for enriching his life, commenting that she helped found the Ann Arbor AGO chapter, which now offers scholarships in her name and has made her an honorary member. In thanking her, Tim quoted Meister Eckhart: “If the only prayer you say in life is thank you, that will suffice.” Mary Ida Yost, professor emerita of organ at Eastern Michigan University, recalled Mason’s raucous laughter, and jokes from her little black book. She remarked how Marilyn Mason is one of the most celebrated performers and teachers of the world. She is larger than life. She has changed the world of organ music for life. She is a living example of unending generosity, genuine respect, and kindness. Her greatest legacy is about the future and not the past—through former students of hers who play in churches and teach, generation through generation. 

She quoted Mason’s sayings: “Miss one day of practice and you notice, miss two and your friends notice, miss three and the whole world notices.” 

Closing remarks were offered by Christopher Kendall, Dean of the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance: 

Throughout her career she has shattered many glass ceilings. She was the first American woman to play a concert in Westminster Abbey, the first to play in Latin America and Egypt. She has concertized on five continents. On one sabbatical she consulted with Fisk on the building of the facsimile of a Gottfried Silbermann organ for the Blanche Anderson Moore Recital Hall. She has made definitive recordings, consulted with Arnold Schoenberg, commissioned seventy-five organ works, and mentored hundreds of talented students. Her studio will be named the Marilyn Mason Organ Studio.

We were serenaded with a carillon recital as we left the League for Hill Auditorium to hear a concert to be performed by former doctoral students of Marilyn Mason. The joyous music announced the celebration like a high feast day. Patrick Macoska played Menuet Champetre Refondu by Ronald Barnes, Triptich: Intermezzo-Fantasy, and Slavic Dance by John Pozdro, Happy in Eternity (passacaglia) by Ronald Barnes, and Evocation by John Courter. 

At Hill Auditorium, James Kibbie, professor of organ and co-chair of the organ department at the University of Michigan, began his remarks by saying, “Look around and you will see the legacy of Marilyn Mason.” He pointed out that she has brought the best students and helped place them in jobs; led organ tours throughout Europe; created the Organ Institute; built the Scholarship Endowment Fund; and found and unlocked her students’ potential. He noted that the greatest tribute of all is to hear great music performed by her students. “Her greatness was immediately recognized by Palmer Christian, her teacher at the U of M. Upon meeting her he announced that a ‘buzz bomb’ just arrived from Alva, Oklahoma.” 

The concert’s emcee was the witty and loquacious David Wagner, professor of organ at Madonna University and director of the classical music station in Detroit. He regaled us with his unforgettable and hilarious story of his first encounter with the University of Michigan Organ Conference. Sixteen-year-old David read about it in The Diapason, a gift given to him as a reward for a good lesson by his organ teacher in Detroit. David persuaded a pal to borrow his uncle’s Buick and drive around Ann Arbor until they found Hill Auditorium. He had no idea where it was, but was convinced they could find it. They did find it. When David got back to Detroit, the police were ready to arrest his pal for grand theft, because his pal had not told his uncle they were borrowing the car. Such is the lure of the organ conference! 

All of the performers without exception played brilliantly. Each selected masterworks calculated to mesmerize and enthrall. Shin-Ae Chun (2006), a native of Incheon, South Korea, also holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing science. She is an international concert artist, represented by Concert Artist Cooperative, and organist at the First Baptist Church in Ann Arbor. She played Miroir by Ad Wammes and Prelude and Fugue on B-A-C-H by Franz Liszt. Thomas Strode (1981), founder of the Ann Arbor Boy Choir in 1987, teacher of music at St. Paul Lutheran Middle School, is director of music at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Ann Arbor. He played Gaston Dethier’s Christmas (Variations on ‘Adeste Fideles’). Thomas Marshall (1975) has been a member of the music faculty at the College of William and Mary since 1981 and has played harpsichord in an early music ensemble at Williamsburg since 1977. He played Praeludium et Fuga in h, BWV 544 by J.S. Bach and a commissioned work for this concert, Dance of Celebration (“Mambo for Marilyn”) by Joe Utterback. Joseph Galema (1982) received his BM from Calvin College and his MM and DMA from the University of Michigan. He has been organist at the U.S. Air Force Academy since 1982. In 2008, he became an instructor in the Milan Academy in Denver. He is in Who’s Who in America and has toured throughout Europe and the Baltic states. He played Marcel Dupré’s Prelude and Fugue in B Major, op. 7, no. 1, and Allegro Deciso from Evocation, op. 37. 

Interspersed among the music were tributes offered by Professor Larry Schou of the University of South Dakota; Eileen Guenther, president of the AGO; and Professor Emeritus Gale Kramer of Wayne State University in Detroit. Larry Schou teaches organ and world music, and as dean of the School of Humanities oversees a faculty and staff of forty-seven. He recalled Marilyn Mason telling him to “Work hard. See life as others might not.” He remembered with fondness her workshops on Alain and Duruflé, and Almut Rössler’s performances and lectures on Messiaen. He thanked her for inviting his father and his colleague to her house for lunch, and for her work of sixty-six years. “Your performances, sense of humor, and prayers have helped so many people—they are to me a living legacy.”

Eileen Guenther’s letter was read. The president of the AGO expressed her congratulations to Mason, saying the lives she touched bear witness to her dedication to education. She thanked her for all she has done for the AGO.

Gale Kramer described Mason with words, varying in number of syllables from six to one, which poignantly captured her essence. 

Six syllables: “Marilyn Mason is indefatigable. Part of being indefatigable means doing something carefully many times without getting tired, whether practicing, repeating a joke, or commissioning an organ work. She has said a good teacher tells a student the same thing over and over in as many different ways as possible. Part of being indefatigable is coming back after a rest—on a pew, in the back of a bus—then climbing to the top of a spiral staircase.”

Five syllables: “Marilyn Mason is multifaceted, a performer, teacher, church musician, bon vivant, tour leader, raconteur, and friend.”

Four syllables: “Marilyn Mason is a visionary, evidenced in 53 organ conferences, 56 historic organ tours, and 70 commissioned works.”

Three syllables: “Marilyn Mason is practical. She realized it takes money to refurbish and maintain the Frieze Memorial Organ and to build and maintain the Fisk organ; it takes money to fund scholarships. And she is concerned that her students find jobs. At the breakfast table on her Historic Organ Tours, she would say, ‘Take some bread for a snack later on, you paid for it!’”

Two syllables: “Marilyn Mason is loyal to her students—that’s why we are here. And she is loyal to the University of Michigan. She belongs to a group of individuals who used their careers to bring esteem and glory to the university, not to people who used the university to further their own careers.” 

One syllable: smile. “We remember her smile, her exuberance.” 

At the end of the concert, Marilyn Mason was surrounded by students past and present whose lives have been profoundly touched by her teaching, joie de vivre, compassion, and kindness. 

 

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

We were privileged to hear Michael Barone of Pipedreams lecture on the topic “As Years Fly By.” It is always illuminating to hear Barone comment on recordings of organ music. He focused on composers whose birthdates can be celebrated in 2013. First on his list was Jean Titelouze (1563–1633) of the French Classical School. 

With the birthday of Johann Ludwig Krebs (1713–1780) we celebrate (maybe) The Little Preludes and Fugues. Barone suggested we check out other of Krebs’s works, including a Fugue in B-flat, which has been recorded by Irmtraud Krüger at Altenburg Cathedral. 

Barone also mentioned Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813–1888), whose set of virtuosic etudes for pedal piano has been recorded by Olivier Latry on Art of Pedal Piano: Alkan, Boëly, Brahms, Liszt, Schumann, issued in 2011. Kevin Bowyer, an English organist, has recorded the music of Alkan in Salisbury Cathedral. 

2013 marks the 150th birthdays of American composer Edgard Varèse (1883–1965), who studied with Widor at the Paris Conservatory, and Horatio Parker (1863–1919), several volumes of whose concert pieces, including the 21 Recital-Pieces, have been reissued. 

2013 also marks the hundredth anniversary of the births of Benjamin Britten (1913–1976), composer of War Requiem and only one organ piece, Prelude and Fugue on a Theme by Vittoria (1946), and Robert Elmore (1913–1985), much of whose music—reminiscent of Sigfrid Karg-Elert and Max Reger—is out of print. His Come to the Holy Mountain and Beneath the Cross of Jesus offer a richly emotional landscape, yet easily approachable. Norman McKenzie has recorded Elmore’s Sonata, written in 1975.

It was fitting that Michael Barone, one of the most informed critics of our time of organ repertoire and its discography, be invited to celebrate the accomplishments of Marilyn Mason. He began by saying: “Marilyn Mason has been with us through the ages. We are all her children, celebrators, and her debtors.” He pointed out that she has performed the music of contemporary composers: Searle Wright, Leo Sowerby, Robert Crandell, Virgil Thomson, Normand Lockwood, and Paul Creston (to name only a few) and has commissioned many to compose music for her. Mason was the first to record Arnold Schoenberg’s Variations on a Recitative and has recorded the freely composed works and partitas of Pachelbel on the Fisk organ. Barone played excerpts from her recordings, which included her program performed at the International Congress of Organists in London in 1957: the one solo piece, Concerto by English composer Matthew Camidge (1758–1844) as well as Sowerby’s Classic Concerto and Seth Bingham’s Connecticut Suite, both with orchestra. Barone concluded by playing her recording of a trumpet fanfare by José Lidon (1752–1827). He said: “To Marilyn Mason who has taken us around the world, and given us reason to practice, and given us an example for us all to follow.” With these words we all stood and clapped and cheered while Marilyn Mason gave us one of her unforgettable smiles.

James Hammann, DMA, former Mason student, concert artist, recording artist, scholar, former chair of the music department at the University of New Orleans, and former president of the Organ Historical Society, gave a presentation entitled “History of Farrand & Votey Organ with Videos, Recordings, and Commentary.” He prefaced his lecture saying that “This work was done for my DMA document and was encouraged by Marilyn Mason.” Hammann detailed the mechanical developments during the organ’s transition from mechanical action to electro-pneumatic, pointing out that the Detroit organ company of Farrand & Votey was the first to use intermanual couplers with tilting tablets. Farrand & Votey built Opus 700, now known to us as the Frieze Memorial Organ in Hill Auditorium, for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. It had 63 speaking stops and the same façade that it had when it was placed in University Hall in 1898. University Hall was torn down and replaced with Angell Hall and the organ was moved to Hill Auditorium in 1913. It was considered one of the largest and finest instruments in the country. Farrand & Votey built small organs as well as large; Detroit in the 1890s was an innovative organ-building center.

As we left Hill Auditorium we were treated to a carillon concert: Kipp Cortez, doctoral student of Marilyn Mason,  played Preludio V by Mathias Vanden Gheyn, Chorale Partita IV: ‘St. Anne’ by John Knox, two movements from Gregorian Triptych by John Courter, Image no. 2 by Emilien Allard, and Movement III from Serenade by Ronald Barnes. 

The final round of the Second Annual Organ Improvisation Competition was held at the First Presbyterian Church. Each contestant was given a theme to study for 30 minutes and was then required to improvise a three-movement suite no more than 15 minutes long. Judging criteria included thematic development, form, stylistic consistency, rhythmic interest, and use of the instrument. The judges were Michael Barone, James Hammann, and Christine Clewell. Each contestant played with virtuosic technique, and grasped instantly the possibilities of colors and timbres at their disposal. It was exciting to hear “new works” spun from their imaginations and to hear them played with such passion. It was no wonder the judges deliberated for almost 45 minutes.  

Devon Howard, private teacher and organist at First Presbyterian Church in Longmont, Colorado, and Douglas Murray, professor of English at Belmont University, Nashville, Tennessee, were runners-up. Aaron Tan, organ scholar at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Detroit, received third place. Alejandro D. Consolacion II, director of music and organist at Whitehouse United Methodist Church in Princeton, New Jersey, received second place. Richard Fitzgerald, associate director of music at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., received first place.

Richard Fitzgerald received his undergraduate degree from Westminster and his MM and DMA from Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore; his dissertation was entitled “Method for Improvisation and Pedagogy.” He has studied improvisation with John Walker, Donald Sutherland, Mark Anderson, Ronald Stolk, Rachel Laurin, Jeffry Brillhart, and Peter Latona. 

Special thanks are due to Tom Granum, Director of Music Ministries at First Presbyterian Church for his gracious hospitality, and to Michele Johns, organizer of the competition, and her committee, Marcia Van Oyen, Gale Kramer, and Darlene Kuperus. 

As we approached Hill Auditorium for the final concert of the conference, we were welcomed by Joshua Boyd’s carillon recital: Summer Fanfares by Roy Hamlin Johnson, Music for Carillon, op. 107 by Lowell Liebermann, Reflections from the Tower by Emma Lou Diemer, and Easter Dawning by George Crumb. 

The closing recital was played by Tom Trenney who, from my vantage point, looked like a teen-ager. His recital was icing on the cake—played with intensity, gusto, sensitivity, and passion. One was dazzled by his flawless technique and the beautiful spirit that shone through each piece: Variations on America by Charles Ives, Scherzo, op. 2, by Maurice Duruflé, Air by Gerre Hancock, six movements from The King of Instruments by William Albright, Fugue in E-Flat Major, BWV 552 by J.S. Bach, Deuxième fantasie by Jehan Alain, and an improvisation on two submitted themes (Now Thank We All Our God and a newly created abstract theme). At the end of his performance Trenney was given thunderous applause and a standing ovation. 

After the first half of Tom Trenney’s recital, a surprise appearance by William Bolcom and Joan Morris paid tribute to Marilyn Mason with a lively and heartfelt performance of Black Max and (I’ll Be Loving You) Always.  

The 53rd Conference on Organ Music honoring Marilyn Mason’s sixty-six years of teaching was organized by Michele Johns. It offered performances and lectures of the highest quality that informed and inspired, and offered tribute to a beautiful life dedicated to performing, teaching and learning. Marilyn Mason’s energy, enthusiasm, sense of humor, and compassion are the qualities that have drawn hundreds of students to her from all over the world, and throughout the United States. 

The final photo is of Gordon Atkinson, a resident of Windsor, Australia, and an eminent composer and organist, who, of all of her former students, traveled the farthest to celebrate her lifetime achievement. He reminisced saying: 

I heard Marilyn Mason play at Westminster Abbey in 1957 for the International Congress of Organists. She played at the Abbey when it had only one general piston! The program was hailed as one of the great recitals of the Congress. Who would have guessed I would study with her for my master’s degree at the University of Michigan?

Marilyn Mason has been a Svengali, and an organistenmacher. Her countless students are literally everywhere there is a pipe organ to be played. Each person attending the conference was given a CD that included works from some of her performances with the Galliard Brass Ensemble, works played at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, and Pipedreams premieres.  In this gift we have a reminder of her virtuosity and artistry. In conclusion we say thank you to Marilyn Mason for “burning with a hard, gem–like flame,” and for sharing your radiance with the world and us.

Barbara Owen

The 58th annual Organ Historical Society national convention differed in several ways from some of the recent ones. Its hub, Burlington, is the largest city in northern Vermont, but hardly in the same size league as Washington, Pittsburgh, or Chicago—the sprawling urban sites of recent conventions. Yet it is accessible via train, plane, and interstate, culturally vital, and full of amenities from good food to spectacular views of Lake Champlain, not to mention parking. Burlington has some important recent organs, although no really huge ones, and is within easy distance to a pleasing array of smaller towns to the north, east, and south, with a corresponding selection of smaller and older organs, all of them discussed in interesting detail in the substantial accompanying Atlas, edited and largely written by Stephen Pinel. However, that was bedtime reading for many of us, as all the programs, stoplists, and performer biographies were contained in a well-organized and more portable schedule booklet.

Monday, June 24

The convention opened on the evening of Monday, June 24 in the Recital Hall of University of Vermont’s Redstone Campus, with welcoming words by Executive Director James Weaver, Convention Chair Marilyn Polson, and outgoing President Scot Huntington. This year’s Biggs Fellows were introduced, and the 2013 Ogasapian Book Prize was awarded to David Yearsley for his groundbreaking work on organ pedaling and its history. 

This was immediately followed by a recital on UVM’s French-influenced 1975 Fisk organ by well-known recital and recording artist Joan Lippincott, who impressively displayed its French personality in works by Marchand (an opening and decidedly grand Grand Jeu) and de Grigny, and its more hidden German flavor in works by Bach, which included a knowledgable performance of the classic Prelude and Fugue in E-flat Major as the “sandwich” of a varied program that included de Grigny’s Veni Creator, performed liturgically with baritone John McElliott singing the appropriate chants between the registration-oriented organ movements. 

Tuesday, June 25

Tuesday morning we were off and running in buses heading for the east of Burlington, beginning with Hook & Hastings organs in Plainfield (United Methodist, 1873) and Cabot (UCC, 1896)—coincidentally 1,000 opus numbers apart. Although of similar small size, their tonal philosophy differed noticeably, yet both were surprisingly capable of varied repertoire tastefully registered and played by Lynnette Combs (Plainfield) and Permelia Sears (Cabot). In these two programs we heard excellent interpretations of music from the Baroque (Pasquini, Boyce, Muffat, Pachelbel, Homilius), 19th century (Thayer and Buck), and 20th century (Murphy, Langlais, Huston, Sears). 

Two more organs, both somewhat tonally altered (although not greatly to their detriment), rounded out the day’s offerings. The resources of a small organ in Hardwick by a little-known Vermont builder, Edward H. Smith (1887), were capably employed by Robert Barney in a Bach concerto, a Mendelssohn sonata, and a short trio by Vermont native S. B. Whitney, while Samuel Baker also made excellent use of a larger 1868 Johnson organ in Greensboro, which began and ended with 20th-century works by Gawthrop and Willan, sandwiching four varied Baroque and contemporary preludes on Wer nur den lieben Gott by Bach, Krebs, Walcha, and Dupré in between. 

The evening program was back in Burlington at the Congregational Church. It was unique in that it featured two 21st-century continuo organs by
A. David Moore and Scot Huntington, plus an Estey reed organ, in a program of concerted works by Soler, Froberger, Caldara, Wagenseil, and Dvorák (this last with the Estey), all admirably interpreted by organists David Neiweem and Mark Howe, with string players of the Burlington Ensemble.

Wednesday, June 26

Wednesday brought us to the Montpelier area and three larger two-manual organs, all by notable Boston builders. In Montpelier’s Unitarian Church, Carol Britt displayed the 1866 Stevens organ’s varied colors well in four chorale preludes by Willan and Brahms, and showcased the Oboe stop in a delightful Récit de hautbois by Emmanuel Chol, before closing with a robust transcription of an Elgar March. 

In the auditorium of the Montpelier College of Fine Arts, the 1884 Hutchings organ was expertly put through its paces by Paul Tegels in a varied program ranging from two of Haydn’s chirpy “Musical Clock” pieces to three movements of Mendelssohn’s Second Sonata, and closing with contrasted settings of Wer nur den lieben Gott by Böhm and Bach. 

In nearby Stowe, the 1864 Simmons organ in the Community Church, although twice rebuilt and enlarged (but retaining mechanical action), proved a perfect vehicle for an engaging program by John Weaver and his wife, flutist Marianne. Beginning with a smashing Bach Toccata and Fugue in D Minor and ending with Franck’s Choral in E Major, it included two fine works by Weaver, plus his pleasing arrangement for organ and flute of an excerpt from Franck’s Fantasie in A, performed with a borrowed Estey reed organ. Although rain had been threatening all day, the sky cleared that evening for an enjoyable and relaxing sunset dinner cruise on beautiful Lake Champlain.

Thursday, June 27

On Thursday we journeyed north to towns near the Canadian border. St. Albans was the first stop, with three programs. Isabelle Demers led off in Holy Guardian Angels Church in a full-scale program well suited to the resources of the organ built in 1892 by Ernest Desmarais, a Canadian who built organs for a short time in Vermont. Beginning with some little dances by Praetorius, she segued into another set of short pieces by contemporary Canadian composer Rachel Laurin, and then a fine interpretation of Mendelssohn’s Fourth Sonata. The real pièce de resistance, commented upon by many, was her own transcription of four excerpts from Prokofiev’s Cinderella (operatic transcriptions are not dead!), and was followed by a rousing performance of Dupré’s Prelude and Fugue in B Major as a closer. 

Christopher Anderson led off his program on the 1893 Hook & Hastings organ in the Congregational Church with four pleasingly light pieces from Daniel Pinkham’s First Organbook, followed by a sensitive performance of two hitherto unknown and very contrasted works by the young Charles Ives (only published in 2012): a sedate and melodic Canzonetta and a rather crazily bitonal smash on “London Bridge.” Demers had included some of the recently republished Reger and Straube organ expansions of Bach harpsichord pieces, and Anderson did likewise in his closing selections. 

The 1889 Jardine organ in St. Luke’s Church was the final St. Albans stop, and OHS favorite Rosalind Mohnsen did not disappoint in a varied full-scale program that began brightly with the solo organ version of Handel’s Fifth Concerto. Works by Dubois and Dvorák followed, authentically registered on this organ’s Romantic colors, and a Fuga by Cernohorsky revealed its classical side. Contrasting American works were Elmore’s brash Alla Marcia, and a sensitively performed Air from the Suite No. 1 by Florence B. Price, a gifted African-American composer whose classically crafted works have only recently begun to appear on concert programs, as have those of Anglo-African Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, whose Impromptu closed Mohnsen’s program.

From the Romantic and orchestrally flavored late 19th-century organs of St. Albans, a fairly short trip to two nearby rural towns transported us back to the English-inspired early 19th century, represented by two delightful and more gently voiced organs by New York’s Henry Erben in the Episcopal churches of Sheldon (1833) and Highgate Falls (ca. 1837), both remarkable for being unaltered, sensitively restored, and still in use liturgically. Most unusual was the Highgate Falls instrument, with only three stops—Stopped Diapason, Principal, and Trumpet (yes, you read that right). Gregory Crowell made imaginative and effective use of these stops in “period” selections by Handel, Mozart, Loud, and Byrd, plus one of Daniel Pinkham’s Saints’ Days pieces in honor of St. John, for whom the church is named. 

The Sheldon organ is larger, though still of only one manual, transplanted many years ago from St. Paul’s in Burlington. Period-appropriate works by Shaw, Taylor, Pasquini, Stanley, and Rinck again predominated in Peter Crisafulli’s nicely varied program, but the organ also proved equal to a more Romantic Elevazione by Peeters, and even Alec Wyton’s prelude on “We Three Kings,” a tribute to its Vermont-born author, grandson of Vermont’s first Episcopal bishop. 

Evening brought us back to Burlington, and the fine 1864 Hook organ of the First Baptist Church, where Ray Cornils presented an imaginative program of mostly shorter works by American, German, French, and Spanish composers designed to showcase “The Colors of This Organ.” Beginning with Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel’s Prelude in F Major, it ran the gamut from Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in G Major to works featuring flute and trumpet solos, a French toccata by Bédard, and even a theatre-organ staple, Nigel Ogden’s smile-producing Penguin’s Playtime.

Friday, June 28

Friday, the last full day, began with two organs in Randolph. On the United Church’s 1912 organ by Vermont’s most notable organ builder, Estey, George Bozeman expertly brought out its warm and Romantic flavor in his creative use of its eight ranks (and various couplers) in decidedly “period” works by Honegger (Two Pieces, 1917) and Frank Bridge (Three Pieces, 1905). A nicely varied program of works by 20th-century American composers Nevin, Near, Thomson, and Pinkham played by Glenn Kime showcased the 1894 Hutchings organ in Bethany UCC Church, and by concluding with a well-paced performance of the Fugue in E-flat Major proved the organ to be quite capable of convincing Bach performance as well. 

The next stop was Northfield, home of a Hook and two Simmons organs—all, interestingly, “transplants” from other churches. The Hook in St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, dating from 1836 and the builder’s earliest extant two-manual, took us back to the gentler sounds heard the afternoon of the previous day. The English flavor of these early 19th-century American organs was fully exploited by Lois Regestein in a program that began with varied works by Purcell, Stanley, Samuel Wesley, S. S. Wesley, and Arne. The latter’s “Rule Brittania” was given an authentic performance with the verses sung by tenor Edson Gifford, with appropriate interludes. The program concluded with a Trio by Vermont-born S. B. Whitney, and a selection from contemporary composer David Dahl’s English Suite. 

The versatility of the substantial 1855 Simmons organ in the United Methodist Church was exploited in a varied program by Lubbert Gnodde that included two nicely registered works by Jehan Alain, and seemed quite ideal for two of Karg-Elert’s chorale preludes as well as the smashingly executed Finale from Vierne’s Symphony No. 1 that closed the program. 

Another Simmons of a decade later in St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church also proved equal to a varied program by James Heustis Cook that began with a flowing Frescobaldi Toccata on the warm 8′ Principals and a bright Albrechtsberger Prelude and Fugue in B. Works different styles by 19th-century composers Hauser, Lemaigre, Mendelssohn, and Whitney followed, along with orchestrally inspired works by once popular 20th-century composer Harry Vibbard.

It will be observed that throughout the week, works by 19th-century American composers, both early and late, appeared on many programs. And in the final tour stop in the Federated Church of Williamstown, on an organ originally built by Vermonter William Nutting in 1868 and rebuilt by another Vermonter, Harlan Seaver, in 1895, Christopher Marks treated us to a program that was not only based on works by American composers born mostly in the middle decades of the 19th century, but works by these composers—Yon, Lutkin, Whitney, Chadwick, Parker, and Buck—in which canonic forms of the classical style occurred. Yet the ways that they did so also displayed great variety. Yon’s Eco was a double canon, Lutkin’s a quiet Pastorale; five of Chadwick’s Ten Canonic Studies displayed a variety of registrations, and even the hymn sung was the well-known Tallis’ Canon. But the climax was Marks’s brilliant performance of Buck’s Choral March, in which “Ein feste’ Burg” and other themes are expertly canonically woven.

Back in Burlington, we gathered for the final concert on the 1973 Karl Wilhelm organ in the modernistic and acoustically fine St. Paul’s Cathedral that had risen after a devastating fire. While by no means lacking foundation, the organ’s tonal design is Baroque-based, and James David Christie was in fine form for a varied program of Baroque works by Sweelinck, Schildt, Scheidemann, Vivaldi, Krebs, Buttstett, and, of course, Bach. High energy was displayed throughout, not only in the brilliance of Scheidemann’s Alleluia! Laudem dicite Deo and works by Krebs and Buttstedt, but also in the more somber Paduana Lagrima variations of Schildt, the delicately registered little dances from the Van Soldt manuscript, and Christie’s own “Bachian” transcription of Vivaldi’s Concerto in D Major. A vigorous and driving interpretation of Bach’s Fantasia and Fugue in G Minor brought the audience to its feet at the close, and proved a fitting conclusion to a week of fine organs, music, and fellowship.

Saturday, June 29

But wait, there’s a bit more. Just as a shorter and quieter encore can complete a more vigorous concert, so does a lighter optional coda often follow an intensive OHS convention. So on Saturday a smaller number signed up for a brief tour south of Burlington. The first stop was in the unique Round Church (now a museum) in Richmond, where Demetri Sampas successfully coaxed short pieces by Zeuner, Whitney, and Krebs from a rather strange little 19th-century chamber organ of anonymous parentage. 

The next stop was in Vergennes, where in a well-chosen program of works by Bingham, Albright, Langlais, Yon, and Reger at the Methodist Church, Estey expert Philip Stimmel impressed us with what the (on paper) seemingly limited resources of a nine-rank 1927 Estey were capable of in the hands of one who knows what can be done by judicious use of sub and super couplers. 

Also in Vergennes is a pleasing one-manual Hook organ of 1862 in St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, where Margaret Angelini stepped a bit out of the expected box by proving it capable of three short pieces by Jongen, a reed organ Service Prelude by W. H. Clarke, and Daniel Pinkham’s six Versets for Small Organ, which indeed worked well on this small organ. 

The final stop was the sprawling and impressive Shelburne Museum, where we had a leisurely time to wander around some of the exhibits and have lunch in its restaurant before the final program in the Meeting House, home of a small transplanted five-rank Derrick, Felgemaker & Co. organ of ca. 1869, where the OHS’s current Executive Director, James Weaver, also slightly “out of the box,” treated us to a varied program of short works by Stanley, Pachelbel, Merula, and Bach, closing with Domenico Zipoli’s lively Toccata all’ Offertorio. 

All OHS members, whether attendees or not, received a copy of the impressively researched, written, and illustrated 234-page Atlas, with its detailed history of the organ in the State of Vermont. Non-members, including libraries and historical societies, may still obtain a copy from [email protected]. In addition, the closing recital at St. Paul’s Cathedral was digitally recorded, and has become available. 

The 58th annual Organ Historical Society national convention differed in several ways from some of the recent ones. Its hub, Burlington, is the largest city in northern Vermont, but hardly in the same size league as Washington, Pittsburgh, or Chicago—the sprawling urban sites of recent conventions. Yet it is accessible via train, plane, and interstate, culturally vital, and full of amenities from good food to spectacular views of Lake Champlain, not to mention parking. Burlington has some important recent organs, although no really huge ones, and is within easy distance to a pleasing array of smaller towns to the north, east, and south, with a corresponding selection of smaller and older organs, all of them discussed in interesting detail in the substantial accompanying Atlas, edited and largely written by Stephen Pinel. However, that was bedtime reading for many of us, as all the programs, stoplists, and performer biographies were contained in a well-organized and more portable schedule booklet.

Monday, June 24

The convention opened on the evening of Monday, June 24 in the Recital Hall of University of Vermont’s Redstone Campus, with welcoming words by Executive Director James Weaver, Convention Chair Marilyn Polson, and outgoing President Scot Huntington. This year’s Biggs Fellows were introduced, and the 2013 Ogasapian Book Prize was awarded to David Yearsley for his groundbreaking work on organ pedaling and its history. 

This was immediately followed by a recital on UVM’s French-influenced 1975 Fisk organ by well-known recital and recording artist Joan Lippincott, who impressively displayed its French personality in works by Marchand (an opening and decidedly grand Grand Jeu) and de Grigny, and its more hidden German flavor in works by Bach, which included a knowledgable performance of the classic Prelude and Fugue in E-flat Major as the “sandwich” of a varied program that included de Grigny’s Veni Creator, performed liturgically with baritone John McElliott singing the appropriate chants between the registration-oriented organ movements. 

Tuesday, June 25

Tuesday morning we were off and running in buses heading for the east of Burlington, beginning with Hook & Hastings organs in Plainfield (United Methodist, 1873) and Cabot (UCC, 1896)—coincidentally 1,000 opus numbers apart. Although of similar small size, their tonal philosophy differed noticeably, yet both were surprisingly capable of varied repertoire tastefully registered and played by Lynnette Combs (Plainfield) and Permelia Sears (Cabot). In these two programs we heard excellent interpretations of music from the Baroque (Pasquini, Boyce, Muffat, Pachelbel, Homilius), 19th century (Thayer and Buck), and 20th century (Murphy, Langlais, Huston, Sears). 

Two more organs, both somewhat tonally altered (although not greatly to their detriment), rounded out the day’s offerings. The resources of a small organ in Hardwick by a little-known Vermont builder, Edward H. Smith (1887), were capably employed by Robert Barney in a Bach concerto, a Mendelssohn sonata, and a short trio by Vermont native S. B. Whitney, while Samuel Baker also made excellent use of a larger 1868 Johnson organ in Greensboro, which began and ended with 20th-century works by Gawthrop and Willan, sandwiching four varied Baroque and contemporary preludes on Wer nur den lieben Gott by Bach, Krebs, Walcha, and Dupré in between. 

The evening program was back in Burlington at the Congregational Church. It was unique in that it featured two 21st-century continuo organs by
A. David Moore and Scot Huntington, plus an Estey reed organ, in a program of concerted works by Soler, Froberger, Caldara, Wagenseil, and Dvorák (this last with the Estey), all admirably interpreted by organists David Neiweem and Mark Howe, with string players of the Burlington Ensemble.

Wednesday, June 26

Wednesday brought us to the Montpelier area and three larger two-manual organs, all by notable Boston builders. In Montpelier’s Unitarian Church, Carol Britt displayed the 1866 Stevens organ’s varied colors well in four chorale preludes by Willan and Brahms, and showcased the Oboe stop in a delightful Récit de hautbois by Emmanuel Chol, before closing with a robust transcription of an Elgar March. 

In the auditorium of the Montpelier College of Fine Arts, the 1884 Hutchings organ was expertly put through its paces by Paul Tegels in a varied program ranging from two of Haydn’s chirpy “Musical Clock” pieces to three movements of Mendelssohn’s Second Sonata, and closing with contrasted settings of Wer nur den lieben Gott by Böhm and Bach. 

In nearby Stowe, the 1864 Simmons organ in the Community Church, although twice rebuilt and enlarged (but retaining mechanical action), proved a perfect vehicle for an engaging program by John Weaver and his wife, flutist Marianne. Beginning with a smashing Bach Toccata and Fugue in D Minor and ending with Franck’s Choral in E Major, it included two fine works by Weaver, plus his pleasing arrangement for organ and flute of an excerpt from Franck’s Fantasie in A, performed with a borrowed Estey reed organ. Although rain had been threatening all day, the sky cleared that evening for an enjoyable and relaxing sunset dinner cruise on beautiful Lake Champlain.

Thursday, June 27

On Thursday we journeyed north to towns near the Canadian border. St. Albans was the first stop, with three programs. Isabelle Demers led off in Holy Guardian Angels Church in a full-scale program well suited to the resources of the organ built in 1892 by Ernest Desmarais, a Canadian who built organs for a short time in Vermont. Beginning with some little dances by Praetorius, she segued into another set of short pieces by contemporary Canadian composer Rachel Laurin, and then a fine interpretation of Mendelssohn’s Fourth Sonata. The real pièce de resistance, commented upon by many, was her own transcription of four excerpts from Prokofiev’s Cinderella (operatic transcriptions are not dead!), and was followed by a rousing performance of Dupré’s Prelude and Fugue in B Major as a closer. 

Christopher Anderson led off his program on the 1893 Hook & Hastings organ in the Congregational Church with four pleasingly light pieces from Daniel Pinkham’s First Organbook, followed by a sensitive performance of two hitherto unknown and very contrasted works by the young Charles Ives (only published in 2012): a sedate and melodic Canzonetta and a rather crazily bitonal smash on “London Bridge.” Demers had included some of the recently republished Reger and Straube organ expansions of Bach harpsichord pieces, and Anderson did likewise in his closing selections. 

The 1889 Jardine organ in St. Luke’s Church was the final St. Albans stop, and OHS favorite Rosalind Mohnsen did not disappoint in a varied full-scale program that began brightly with the solo organ version of Handel’s Fifth Concerto. Works by Dubois and Dvorák followed, authentically registered on this organ’s Romantic colors, and a Fuga by Cernohorsky revealed its classical side. Contrasting American works were Elmore’s brash Alla Marcia, and a sensitively performed Air from the Suite No. 1 by Florence B. Price, a gifted African-American composer whose classically crafted works have only recently begun to appear on concert programs, as have those of Anglo-African Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, whose Impromptu closed Mohnsen’s program.

From the Romantic and orchestrally flavored late 19th-century organs of St. Albans, a fairly short trip to two nearby rural towns transported us back to the English-inspired early 19th century, represented by two delightful and more gently voiced organs by New York’s Henry Erben in the Episcopal churches of Sheldon (1833) and Highgate Falls (ca. 1837), both remarkable for being unaltered, sensitively restored, and still in use liturgically. Most unusual was the Highgate Falls instrument, with only three stops—Stopped Diapason, Principal, and Trumpet (yes, you read that right). Gregory Crowell made imaginative and effective use of these stops in “period” selections by Handel, Mozart, Loud, and Byrd, plus one of Daniel Pinkham’s Saints’ Days pieces in honor of St. John, for whom the church is named. 

The Sheldon organ is larger, though still of only one manual, transplanted many years ago from St. Paul’s in Burlington. Period-appropriate works by Shaw, Taylor, Pasquini, Stanley, and Rinck again predominated in Peter Crisafulli’s nicely varied program, but the organ also proved equal to a more Romantic Elevazione by Peeters, and even Alec Wyton’s prelude on “We Three Kings,” a tribute to its Vermont-born author, grandson of Vermont’s first Episcopal bishop. 

Evening brought us back to Burlington, and the fine 1864 Hook organ of the First Baptist Church, where Ray Cornils presented an imaginative program of mostly shorter works by American, German, French, and Spanish composers designed to showcase “The Colors of This Organ.” Beginning with Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel’s Prelude in F Major, it ran the gamut from Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in G Major to works featuring flute and trumpet solos, a French toccata by Bédard, and even a theatre-organ staple, Nigel Ogden’s smile-producing Penguin’s Playtime.

Friday, June 28

Friday, the last full day, began with two organs in Randolph. On the United Church’s 1912 organ by Vermont’s most notable organ builder, Estey, George Bozeman expertly brought out its warm and Romantic flavor in his creative use of its eight ranks (and various couplers) in decidedly “period” works by Honegger (Two Pieces, 1917) and Frank Bridge (Three Pieces, 1905). A nicely varied program of works by 20th-century American composers Nevin, Near, Thomson, and Pinkham played by Glenn Kime showcased the 1894 Hutchings organ in Bethany UCC Church, and by concluding with a well-paced performance of the Fugue in E-flat Major proved the organ to be quite capable of convincing Bach performance as well. 

The next stop was Northfield, home of a Hook and two Simmons organs—all, interestingly, “transplants” from other churches. The Hook in St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, dating from 1836 and the builder’s earliest extant two-manual, took us back to the gentler sounds heard the afternoon of the previous day. The English flavor of these early 19th-century American organs was fully exploited by Lois Regestein in a program that began with varied works by Purcell, Stanley, Samuel Wesley, S. S. Wesley, and Arne. The latter’s “Rule Brittania” was given an authentic performance with the verses sung by tenor Edson Gifford, with appropriate interludes. The program concluded with a Trio by Vermont-born S. B. Whitney, and a selection from contemporary composer David Dahl’s English Suite. 

The versatility of the substantial 1855 Simmons organ in the United Methodist Church was exploited in a varied program by Lubbert Gnodde that included two nicely registered works by Jehan Alain, and seemed quite ideal for two of Karg-Elert’s chorale preludes as well as the smashingly executed Finale from Vierne’s Symphony No. 1 that closed the program. 

Another Simmons of a decade later in St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church also proved equal to a varied program by James Heustis Cook that began with a flowing Frescobaldi Toccata on the warm 8′ Principals and a bright Albrechtsberger Prelude and Fugue in B. Works different styles by 19th-century composers Hauser, Lemaigre, Mendelssohn, and Whitney followed, along with orchestrally inspired works by once popular 20th-century composer Harry Vibbard.

It will be observed that throughout the week, works by 19th-century American composers, both early and late, appeared on many programs. And in the final tour stop in the Federated Church of Williamstown, on an organ originally built by Vermonter William Nutting in 1868 and rebuilt by another Vermonter, Harlan Seaver, in 1895, Christopher Marks treated us to a program that was not only based on works by American composers born mostly in the middle decades of the 19th century, but works by these composers—Yon, Lutkin, Whitney, Chadwick, Parker, and Buck—in which canonic forms of the classical style occurred. Yet the ways that they did so also displayed great variety. Yon’s Eco was a double canon, Lutkin’s a quiet Pastorale; five of Chadwick’s Ten Canonic Studies displayed a variety of registrations, and even the hymn sung was the well-known Tallis’ Canon. But the climax was Marks’s brilliant performance of Buck’s Choral March, in which “Ein feste’ Burg” and other themes are expertly canonically woven.

Back in Burlington, we gathered for the final concert on the 1973 Karl Wilhelm organ in the modernistic and acoustically fine St. Paul’s Cathedral that had risen after a devastating fire. While by no means lacking foundation, the organ’s tonal design is Baroque-based, and James David Christie was in fine form for a varied program of Baroque works by Sweelinck, Schildt, Scheidemann, Vivaldi, Krebs, Buttstett, and, of course, Bach. High energy was displayed throughout, not only in the brilliance of Scheidemann’s Alleluia! Laudem dicite Deo and works by Krebs and Buttstedt, but also in the more somber Paduana Lagrima variations of Schildt, the delicately registered little dances from the Van Soldt manuscript, and Christie’s own “Bachian” transcription of Vivaldi’s Concerto in D Major. A vigorous and driving interpretation of Bach’s Fantasia and Fugue in G Minor brought the audience to its feet at the close, and proved a fitting conclusion to a week of fine organs, music, and fellowship.

Saturday, June 29

But wait, there’s a bit more. Just as a shorter and quieter encore can complete a more vigorous concert, so does a lighter optional coda often follow an intensive OHS convention. So on Saturday a smaller number signed up for a brief tour south of Burlington. The first stop was in the unique Round Church (now a museum) in Richmond, where Demetri Sampas successfully coaxed short pieces by Zeuner, Whitney, and Krebs from a rather strange little 19th-century chamber organ of anonymous parentage. 

The next stop was in Vergennes, where in a well-chosen program of works by Bingham, Albright, Langlais, Yon, and Reger at the Methodist Church, Estey expert Philip Stimmel impressed us with what the (on paper) seemingly limited resources of a nine-rank 1927 Estey were capable of in the hands of one who knows what can be done by judicious use of sub and super couplers. 

Also in Vergennes is a pleasing one-manual Hook organ of 1862 in St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, where Margaret Angelini stepped a bit out of the expected box by proving it capable of three short pieces by Jongen, a reed organ Service Prelude by W. H. Clarke, and Daniel Pinkham’s six Versets for Small Organ, which indeed worked well on this small organ. 

The final stop was the sprawling and impressive Shelburne Museum, where we had a leisurely time to wander around some of the exhibits and have lunch in its restaurant before the final program in the Meeting House, home of a small transplanted five-rank Derrick, Felgemaker & Co. organ of ca. 1869, where the OHS’s current Executive Director, James Weaver, also slightly “out of the box,” treated us to a varied program of short works by Stanley, Pachelbel, Merula, and Bach, closing with Domenico Zipoli’s lively Toccata all’ Offertorio. 

All OHS members, whether attendees or not, received a copy of the impressively researched, written, and illustrated 234-page Atlas, with its detailed history of the organ in the State of Vermont. Non-members, including libraries and historical societies, may still obtain a copy from [email protected]. In addition, the closing recital at St. Paul’s Cathedral was digitally recorded, and has become available. 

Marcia Van Oyen

The first University of Michigan Organ Conference took place in 1961, featuring Anton Heiller, and was the brainchild of Marilyn Mason. It is singular in the organ world for its longevity. Just two other schools offer comparable conferences: The Eastman School of Music initiated the EROI festival in 2002, and Indiana University started an annual conference in 2010. During its 54-year history, the U of M conference has featured a glittering array of artists and lecturers from the United States and Europe in addition to offerings by Michigan faculty and students. In 2014, this annual organ conference was held September 28–30. Due to construction at the School of Music, Theater and Dance on north campus, all events were held on the U of M’s central campus, with conference attendees circulating between Hill Auditorium, First Presbyterian and First Congregational churches. Shortened to two days rather than three a year ago to make it more accessible to attendees, the conference continues to offer a slate of strong academic content and fine performances. 

The 2014 conference not only honored Michele Johns’s 33 years of teaching but also was a natural showcase for the revamped Michigan organ department, with strong contributions by the new faculty. Following the retirements of three long-time teachers in close succession—Robert Glasgow in 2005 after 43 years, Marilyn Mason in 2013 after 66 years, and Michele Johns in 2014 after 33 years—unlike Michigan’s beleaguered football program, the organ department is transitioning smoothly into a new era. Kola Owolabi has joined the department as associate organ professor, and Joseph Gascho is the new associate professor of harpsichord. Vincent Dubois has been named permanent visiting professor, and a carillon instructor will be hired for the next academic year. James Kibbie became department chair in 2013, providing both continuity and a fresh approach. He seems genuinely excited about the department’s future. Current students come from a wide range of backgrounds, undergraduate applications have increased, and students are evenly spread between the undergraduate and graduate levels of study. The desire is to promote a culture of openness and excellence. As Dr. Kibbie is fond of saying, “There will always be a need for organists. We can’t predict what church musicians will need to do in the future, but we will continue to pursue excellence.”

The biggest change in the department was brought about by requests from students to study with all of the organ professors rather than being bound to one studio. Once a week they take part in a department-wide studio class dubbed “Common Time.” The era of specialization has been succeeded by a focus on collaboration and breadth. Early music is integrated into the organ department with Dr. Gascho’s harpsichord instruction, and the focus is on an eclectic approach to musical development to parallel the current professional landscape for church musicians and organists. Dr. Owolabi includes improvisation and church music courses among his teaching duties, offering sessions on blended worship music, different choral styles, and multi-cultural music. 

 

A Grand Night for Singing

“A Grand Night for Singing,” a gala concert put on by the choral, vocal, and theatre departments of the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance, offered conference attendees a great opportunity to witness the wide spectrum of vocal activity the school boasts. With over 650 students in eleven auditioned ensembles, the high caliber of Michigan music students and its excellent faculty was demonstrated by the fine performances prepared after only nineteen days of classes. Ensembles featured were the Chamber Choir, University Choir, Orpheus Singers and Orchestra, Men’s Glee Club, and Women’s Glee Club. In addition, the program included a scene from the musical Dead Man Walking and performances by voice majors. 

The concert concluded with all forces on stage for the Star Spangled Banner Medley, which had been featured previously in a football halftime show with the marching band and 500 singers in celebration of the 200th anniversary of our American flag. Before departing, the audience joined in “It’s a Grand Night for Singing” by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Jerry Blackstone, director of choirs and creator of this fifth annual event, included this comment in the program: “We are a singing community, and I am so happy that you are here to experience this Grand Night with us. Breathe deeply! Sing from your hearts!” The energy coming from the stage was palpable, and the enthusiasm of the audience unbridled.

 

Stellar performances by Michigan faculty

The highlight of the 2014 conference was stellar performances by Michigan faculty members Joseph Gascho and Kola Owolabi, and by Karl Schrock. Though not on the faculty at present, Karl Schrock did yeoman’s work serving as interim organ professor for the 2013–14 academic year while also maintaining his teaching duties at Kalamazoo College. Schrock offered a delicately articulated and subtly nuanced performance, having selected his repertoire—which offered plenty of sonic and stylistic variety—to mesh with the disposition of the Wilhelm organ at First Congregational Church. His harmonization of the tune was judicious and carefully handled, never overpowering, and his registrant was well rehearsed and expert in manipulating stops for him. Schrock’s program included works by Bach, Clérambault, Tournemire, Langlais, and Mendelssohn. Schrock negotiated each style with ease and assurance. His performances of the Cantilène Improvisée (a transcription) by Tournemire, followed by Langlais’ Miniature (commissioned by and dedicated to Marilyn Mason) were particularly charming. It was an exquisite program and a delight for the listener.

Joseph Gascho, associate professor of harpsichord and early music, played a wonderful recital in the intimate space of Monteith Hall at the First Presbyterian Church on Tuesday afternoon. James Kibbie’s introduction of Gascho displayed his delight in having him on the department team. Gascho has much ensemble experience and hopes to expand early music opportunities, making them a more integral part of the music school. His program included works by J.S. Bach, Buxtehude, Charpentier ,and C.P.E. Bach. He was joined by viola professor Yitzhak Schotten for the Bach Sonata in G Minor, BWV 1029, playing a sweet-sounding viola from 1570. Gascho and Schotten were in perfect synch and spirit, even in the many parallel trills. Gascho is very personable and warmly communicative in his playing. His conversational remarks before each piece further enhanced his connection with the audience.

Kola Owolabi put the Hill Auditorium organ through its paces with a program including works by Bach, Parry, Bingham, Widor, and Eben. His quiet technique matches his reserved demeanor, but underlying both is great confidence and a passion for excellence. Owolabi’s unfussy articulation and tasteful acknowledgement of harmonic events in the Bach made for easy listening, while he let the organ’s sweetest sounds sing in Parry’s lyrical Chorale Prelude on ‘Martyrdom.’ Equally fine was Bingham’s Toccata on ‘Leoni.’ It is a powerful work, beginning with a harmonization of tune then launching into alternation between French-toccata style and quieter sections that display Bingham’s distinct style. The complex texture of the Widor Pastorale from Symphonie II was rendered with ease and elegance and the heroic finale was played with aplomb. Eben’s Four Biblical Dances comprised the second half of the program, preceded by clear verbal notes given by Owolabi. The Biblical passages related to each movement were read ably by current organ students. In this fascinating work, which displays Eben’s imaginative take on the Biblical stories, Owolabi’s quiet, efficient technique was particularly effective, letting the experience be all about the music and its sonorities while the performer stays out of the way. 

Joshua Boyd, who has studied with Marilyn Mason and Karl Schrock, gave his bachelor’s degree recital on Monday afternoon, performed from memory. He launched into the program with energy and confidence in the Recessional by Mathias followed by a sensitively played Drop, Drop Slow Tears by Persichetti. He appeared to be thoroughly enjoying himself throughout the Adagio from Widor’s Second Symphony. The first half closed with Digital Loom by Mason Bates, a fascinating and enjoyable piece for organ and electronica, which Boyd had played to rave reviews at the Ann Arbor POEA this past June. Bates grasped the mystery and visceral quality of the organ, successfully pairing its power with throbbing electronic sounds. The second half of his ambitious program was Dupré’s Symphonie Passion, masterfully played. Boyd’s fine performance proved that he deserved a hearing at the organ conference.

True to Michigan tradition, the evening organ concerts at Hill Auditorium were preceded by 30-minute carillon concerts. Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra offered a sensitively played program on Sunday evening, complete with program notes, and Kipp Cortez, coordinator of carillon studies, played Tuesday evening. During these concerts, a handful of the organ crowd sat listening outside while students wandered by, often pausing to gaze up at the carillon tower and snap a photo with their phones.

The first organ concert of the conference was given by Jörg Abbing of Saarbrücken Conservatory of Music in Germany. His program consisted largely of twentieth-century music and made for demanding listening. Realizing he had planned a daunting program for the listener, Dr. Abbing made a late substitution of Franck’s Pièce Héroïque to open his concert. This and Reger’s Phantaisie ‘Hallelujah! Gott zu loben’ were far less than polished, but Abbing played works by Messiaen, Guillou, and André Jolivet with conviction and finesse. At eighteen minutes and fifteen minutes in length, the Guillou and Jolivet works require a real commitment from the performer not only to handle the technical demands, but also to make sense of the noisy bursts of sound alternating with slow-moving sections and silences. Mandala by Jolivet is a programmatic work, describing the seven continents and seven seas of the Jambu diagram, a “mandala” to aid Hindu meditation. Jean Guillou was one of the first to perform it in 1969 and devised the registration scheme for the published work. In contrast, Guillou’s Regard does not have a program, reflecting his preference for leaving the audience free to interpret his piece. It is interesting to note that Jolivet’s piece was composed in 1969 and was revolutionary at the time, while Guillou’s, written in 2011, does not differ from it appreciably in style.

Abbing proved to be an engaging and effective coach in a Monday morning workshop on improvising on Gregorian chant. He believes all students should be creating their own music in order to help develop a unique musical personality. He worked with several organists on harmonizing melodies, changing the tonality and paraphrasing the melody. Master’s student Ye Mee Kim and Michigan organ alums Joseph Balistreri and Dr. Naki Sung-Kripfgans were Abbing’s willing and skilled pupils.

 

A variety of lectures

Michael Barone kicked off Monday morning with “So Much Music, So Little Time,” another of his organ music appreciation sessions that have become a fixture at the Michigan organ conference. Barone always provides an enjoyable and insightful session, playing his chosen instrument—a stereo and stack of CDs. This musical tour included Bach cantata movements arranged for two organists, the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor for saxophone and organ, Cameron Carpenter’s performance of a Bach solo cello work played on the pedals, and a piece for organ and harmonica, to name a few. Barone is fully immersed in the realm of organ music, always ready to listen with an open mind, and is fascinated by all sorts of organ music. He invites organists to follow suit in expanding their musical horizons. Ending the session on a wistful note with a recording of Refined Reflection by Stephen Paulus (from his unfinished Baronian Suite written in honor of “Mike”), he commented “You’ll never have enough time, but make the most of it.”

On Monday afternoon, Michigan organ alumna Joy Schroeder gave a lecture on “The Power of Theoretical Analysis upon Performance, Illustrated in Two Chorale Prelude of Bach and Brahms.” Believing there is often too much disconnection between performance and theoretical analysis, Dr. Schroeder encourages analysis as an aid to memorization and a way to discover new aspects of the score. She illustrated her analytical techniques with Bach’s chorale preludes Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt and Christe du Lamm Gottes from the Orgelbüchlein, and O Welt, ich muss dich lassen by Brahms. She noted that given the variety of opinions among theorists, discernment is required in applying analysis to interpretation. Schroeder’s points are well taken. It is all too easy to get caught up in learning the notes without a good understanding of the architecture of a piece. 

Tuesday morning, Iain Quinn of Florida State University gave a lecture on Russian organ music, providing an enlightening entrée to this little known realm of repertoire. The first organs in Russia were owned by the nobility and opportunities to compose organ music were limited because the Russian Orthodox Church suppressed the use of organs. Nevertheless, there is a small but very fine body of Russian organ literature written in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. By the mid-nineteenth century, there were over two thousand organs in Russia, though many were destroyed during the Russian revolution. The first published organ works in Russia were three fugues by Glinka. Others who composed organ music are Gretchaninov, Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich, and Glazunov, whose works are the most substantial. Dr. Quinn skillfully played several engaging pieces, closing with the Prelude and Fugue in D Minor by Glazunov, which was dedicated to Saint-Saëns. Quinn provided a list of about three dozen works currently in print, most of which are published by Bärenreiter.

Michigan Improvisation Competition

The third annual Michigan Improvisation Competition, developed by Michele Johns, took place on Tuesday afternoon at the First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor. The competition has injected new life into the organ conference, offering another event open to the public and an opportunity for another church to be involved with the conference. Judging by the attendance at the competitions, this event is an audience favorite. Contestants in the preliminary round submitted a recording of a free improvisation on a given theme and a hymn introduction and two stanzas of the tune Pleading Savior. Preliminary round judges were Dr. Gale Kramer, Dr. Joanne Vollendorf Clark, and Dr. Marcia Van Oyen. Five contestants were invited to the final round, which involved similar improvisational challenges—a free improvisation on a given theme, a free improvisation on Darwall’s 148th, and a hymn introduction and two stanzas of Darwall’s 148th with the audience singing along. Final round judges were Dr. Larry Visser, Dr. Ronald Prowse, and Dr. Jorg Abbing. 

First prize was awarded to Luke Mayernik of Pittsburgh, second to Christopher Ganza of Oklahoma City, third and audience prizes to Matthew Koraus of New York, fourth to Aaron Tan of Ann Arbor, and fifth to Bryan Sable of Pittsburgh. The prizes were sponsored by the American Center for Church Music. Once again, First Presbyterian proved to be an ideal venue for the competition with the ample resources of its Schoenstein organ (III/42) and its hospitable staff and volunteers. Following the competition, the Ann Arbor AGO provided a dinner for conference attendees.

 

Honoring Michele Johns

Festivities to celebrate and honor Michele Johns’s 33 years of teaching in the organ department began Monday evening with a catered dinner held at the First Congregational Church. Joseph Balistreri, director of music at the Archdiocese of Detroit and Michigan organ alumnus, served as master of ceremonies. Dr. Timothy Huth, Dean of the Ann Arbor AGO, Colin Knapp, organ conference coordinator, Dr. James Kibbie and Matt Greenough, former cantor at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, each offered humorous anecdotes, remembrances, and words of appreciation.

In addition to her three decades teaching church music skills and philosophy at U of M, Michele Johns is the author of Hymn Improvisation (Augsburg 1987) and a regular columnist for GIA Publications. She is co-founder and executive director of the American Center of Church Music, an Ann Arbor-based, non-profit organization through which she was producer of five interdenominational choir festivals plus concerts, hymn-playing competitions, workshops, and conferences for the enrichment of church musicians. The ACCM currently supports the Michigan Improvisation Competition. She is also the co-founder and first Dean of the Ann Arbor Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

For more than twenty years, Michele Johns served as director of music at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Plymouth Michigan, developing one of the largest music ministries in the Archdiocese of Detroit. The ministry included 22 cantors, 5 handbell choirs, plus an 80-voice adult choir. Under her direction, the Plymouth Counsellors Chorale completed five European tours to ten countries and tours to churches in the United States. During her time in Ann Arbor, Dr. Johns also served at the Bethlehem United Church of Christ and the First Congregational Church. Her organ solo appearances in North America and abroad have featured music of the 18th and 20th centuries. In honor of her 30th anniversary of teaching at UM, a group of UM organ alumni created the Michele Johns Scholarship for Organ Performance and Church Music. Like her esteemed colleague and teacher, Marilyn Mason, Johns came to Ann Arbor to study organ at U of M and never left. 

Following the celebratory dinner at the conference, there was an alumni recital featuring students of Michele Johns. Performers were Dr. Christine Clewell, Dr. Brandon Spence, Stephanie Yu, Dr. Andrew Meagher, and Dr. Larry Visser. The repertoire included a variety of repertoire reflective of what Michele Johns would have covered in her church music classes—everything from a trio sonata to a congregational hymn setting. The program included the audience singing the anthem Peace I Give to You, composed by Larry Visser when he was a student, in honor of Michele Johns. The piece was later published by GIA and dedicated to Johns for her 20 years of service to Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish.

 

Songs of Thankfulness and  Praise

Perched atop stools, morning-show style, Darlene Kuperus and Larry Visser offered an upbeat and personal tribute to Michele Johns titled “Songs of Thankfulness and Praise.” They began with an overview of her career and the church music courses she taught. Her courses included liturgical practices in different denominations, hymnody, hymn improvisation, and a church music practicum, which included discussion of books on church music and issues that church musicians face. Dr. Kuperus provided a recommended reading list of books dealing with changes in the church music landscape, including Eileen Guenther’s excellent Rivals or a Team? The most entertaining portion of the presentation was the time spent on recollections of Johns’ personal characteristics and what she taught her students. Citing Johns’ warm, down to earth manner and ability to connect with people, both Kuperus and Visser said that she helped them understand that church music is relational. They applauded her emphasis on consensus and collaboration, as well as her notion that it matters how you treat people. Quotes of comments Johns is regularly known to make such as, “That idea was worth this whole meeting,” and “We do this, ja?” elicited smiles and head nods from the audience.

On a personal note, I have truly enjoyed the opportunities I’ve had to work with Michele Johns, particularly in recent years. While still at OLGC Parish, which is down the street from my church in Plymouth, she revived a Thanksgiving Choir Festival involving the choirs and bell choirs of five churches in town. I continue to organize this festival thanks to her inspiration. She is a dear soul with the ability to come up with great ideas and involve many people in implementing them. It is perhaps her collaborative spirit and kind heart that have had the greatest influence on those privileged to work with her. Thank you, Michele, for all of your contributions to the world of church music and for your friendship.

Boston, June 23–27

Jonathan B. Hall and Joyce Johnson Robinson

Jonathan B. Hall writes frequently for The American Organist, The Diapason, and The Tracker. He teaches music
theory and music criticism at New York University, and is music director of Central Presbyterian Church in Montclair, New Jersey. He serves on the American Guild of Organists’ Committee on Professional Certification. Hall is the author of Calvin Hampton, A Musician Without Borders  (Wayne Leupold Editions).

 

Joyce Johnson Robinson is editorial director of The Diapason.

The American Guild of Organists 2014 National Convention met in Boston, Massachusetts, June 23–27. The weather gods smiled favorably for the most part and the city was a delight. This was a walking convention, so it was possible to get sufficient exercise from transport on foot (and climbing stairs to use the metropolitan trains). The convention daily details (and program notes, written by the artists) were nicely packaged, with each day’s itinerary in a single booklet (all the booklets came packaged in a cardboard slipcase). Information on venues, organ specifications, and photos were presented alphabetically in a separate booklet (which one would have to remember to bring). Though we hoped to review all performances, we did not completely succeed—given the vast array of choices at our disposal, this ambition was unreasonable, but entirely understandable. 

 

Monday, June 23

James David Christie, 

Symphony Hall

Monday evening’s opening concert presented James David Christie along with the Boston Landmarks Orchestra, conducted by Christopher Wilkins, in a program of five works for organ and orchestra, at Symphony Hall in Boston. The 1949 Aeolian-Skinner organ, Opus 1134, was rebuilt by Foley-Baker in 2004, during which 32′ Diapason and Bourdon registers were added and the Bombarde division strengthened. The organ asserted itself wonderfully along with the orchestra; it added marvelous color and presence, and Christie used it to full advantage, presenting its range from whisper to roar, as both solo instrument and orchestral collaborator.

The program opened with Guilmant’s Première Symphonie, known to many of us as an organ-only sonata. It was enjoyable to begin the evening with a familiar work in a less-familiar guise, allowing us to hear well-known themes from the colors of different instruments. Christie’s deft use of the Swell pedal was noteworthy in the softer passages, and he withheld use of the Vox Humana until the end of the Pastorale. In the fiery finale, the organ’s upperwork was on display, along with great brass and percussion fanfares—quite a treat. 

Marie-Louise Langlais was then introduced from the audience; her husband Jean Langlais’ Thème, variations et final, op. 28 from 1937, was next on the program. It began in the low strings, with chordal punctuation from the upper strings, and a chantlike theme from the organ. The variation techniques included descending, sliding scales (which, admittedly, stringed instruments accomplish better than the organ does), fugal passages, and presentation of the theme by the pedal and brass. The work grew ever more fevered and exploited the powerful sound that an organ with an orchestra can produce.

After intermission, a medallion was presented to AGO President Eileen Guenther, by Vance Wolverton, marking the official induction of the AGO into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame. (Besides the AGO, other recent inductees include composer Aaron Jay Kernis, educator and choral conductor Weston Noble, pianist André Watts, and the Guarneri Quartet.) How positive for the AGO to receive such recognition from the wider musical world!

Boston-area native Daniel Pinkham’s 1995 Concerto No. 2 for Organ and Orchestra opened with an Overture Concertante, which featured much percussion and a good dose of spiky and angular themes that are a feature of Pinkham’s work. The lovely Adagietto was both lyrical and insistent, and the final Rondo alla burla included a crescendo with full organ and full orchestra, brass and percussion a-blazing. Next was Walter Piston’s 1943 Prelude and Allegro; the Prelude was hauntingly beautiful, melancholy yet sweet, in which Christie sensitively blended the organ with the string section of the orchestra, while the Allegro featured lively counterpoint. The concluding work was Samuel Barber’s Toccata Festiva from 1960; from the opening thunderclap of percussion to the lyrical and lovely themes to the pedal cadenza, Christie delivered the goods in this magical work. His playing was skillful and responsive and was enhanced by his elegant console demeanor.

Programs with multiple works for organ and orchestra (rather than merely a bit of Saint-Saëns) are rare; this was indeed a feast. 

 

Tuesday, June 24

Opening worship,

Cathedral of the Holy Cross

The convention’s opening interfaith worship service took place at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. I arrived late (having stopped with some others to assist a conventioner who had fallen), and so missed the prelude (Carol Barnett’s March to Glory: ‘Draw me nearer,’ a convention commission, in its premiere performance), the opening hymn (with Richard Webster’s descant), and AGO Chaplain Don E. Saliers’s invocation. Colin Lynch, organist for the prelude and the service, played solidly throughout, in both hymns and the imaginatively registered anthems. 

Libby Larsen’s new hymn tune (another commission and premiere), for the text “Eternal Ruler of the ceaseless round,” was solid, simple to sing—all within an octave range—and yet still contained enough harmonic surprise to be fresh. Matthew Martin’s anthem, Jubilate Deo (also a commission and premiere) was a stirring setting of Psalm 100, and exhibited fine text painting. It was followed by the chant hymn The Great Forerunner of the Race (Ut queant laxis). 

Rev. Barbara Cawthorn Crafton spoke of how artists working in faith communities must deal with being competitive, and how to work to be the best you can be while still containing your ego. She also addressed the challenge of striving for higher quality—if a congregation will “allow access to their foundation, we can raise their ceiling.” Crafton also touched on an issue that resonates with many of us: “Tell me that what I gave my life for was not a mistake.”

Paul Halley’s anthem, Jesu, the very thought of thee, was simply stunning; based on the hymn tune St. Botolph, it offered both a bubbling-brook accompaniment (for flute stops) and a cappella writing. The majestic concluding hymn, Coe Fen (“How shall I sing that majesty?”), with alternate harmonization and setting by Richard Webster, stirred the soul. The postlude, Daniel Roth’s Fantasie sur l’hymne à Saint Jean Baptiste (a commissioned work for this service, based on Ut queant laxis), played by Leo Abbott, covered a range of emotions, textures, and sound; it ended quietly on a small tone cluster, and we departed to begin a big day.

 

Tuesday morning

Scott Dettra,

Trinity Church

Scott Dettra’s recital at Trinity Church was a filling meal of meaty compositions, ably presented on the Skinner and Aeolian-Skinner organs. Healey Willan’s Prelude and Fugue in C Minor, op. 146, was a seamless release of energy throughout. Évocation II, a 1996 work by Thierry Escaich, was a delightful, colorful composition. The piece opened with a pedal ostinato (of a single note in octaves); chords of many colors then spoke from various locations in the room, like birds in dialog amongst the trees. The work ended with a surprise chord at the end. Dettra’s use of the organ, in all its locations (and stamina in playing those ostinato pedal octaves), was masterful. 

Herbert Howells’s Psalm-Prelude, Set 1, op. 32, no. 2 (inspired by Psalm 37:11, “But the meek-spirited shall possess the earth”), was a quiet contemplation, sweet and comforting, that displayed the organ’s strings. In Seth Bingham’s Passacaglia in E Minor, op. 40, Dettra once again exploited the spatial elements of the organ’s divisions, as well as its colors, and offered the quietest of endings, with the audience holding its collective breath. The expressive Prière from Joseph Jongen’s Quatre pièces pour orgue, op. 37, was a contemplative whisper on the strings; the concluding work, Maurice Duruflé’s Prélude et Fugue sur le nom d’Alain (played faster than I have ever heard it, but with absolute control) was an exercise in rhythmic propulsion and a spirited conclusion to an excellent recital.

 

Tuesday evening

Christian Lane,

Memorial Church, Harvard

Christian Lane presented his recital at Harvard University’s Memorial Church twice in a row (with but a 25-minute break) on this warm Tuesday evening. He began on the 1930 Skinner organ, Opus 793, now comprising 45 ranks. Lane offered a swashbuckling opening with Leo Sowerby’s Comes Autumn Time, in which the themes were made wonderfully clear through the full texture. Ned Rorem’s Magnificat from Organbook II and “There is a Spirit That Delights to Do No Evil” from A Quaker Reader were sensitively played; the latter work’s final chord was topped with a single note on the chimes. 

The mid-section of the recital included trumpeter Chris Gekker, professor of trumpet at the University of Maryland School of Music, and soloist on more than 30 recordings. Gekker played from the back balcony, first on Alan Hovhaness’s Prayer of St. Gregory, op. 62b, a lovely dialogue between organ and trumpet, and then the solo work Solstice Prelude by Carson Cooman (here in its first performance), a graceful work whose melodic structure featured thirds (mostly), on the heels of Christian Lane’s muscular reading of Max Reger’s Introduktion und Passacaglia d-moll. 

The C. B. Fisk Opus 139 (2012) in the gallery was used for the remainder of the recital. Another convention-commissioned premiere by Carson Cooman, Solstice Sonata, now combined trumpet and organ. Take Flight featured rapid passagework by the organ topped by the trumpet, then each instrument echoed the other. The Dream of Peace offered a smooth trumpet line over thick and complex chords, while Glittering, Aglow ended the work with a frenetic and splashy 3+3+2 rhythm. 

Lane then presented Jehan Alain’s Variations sur un thème de Clément Jannequin, its modal melodies sounding well on the Fisk; it was for me a highlight of the recital. Lane concluded with Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor, BWV 582, in a seamless performance that changed colors throughout but never let its energy lapse—a fresh approach to a familiar piece and a wonderful ending to a rewarding recital. 

 

Wednesday, June 25

Rosalind Mohnsen,

St. Joseph Parish

St. Joseph Parish, Boston, is home to an 1883 Hook & Hastings organ, Opus 1168 of two manuals, which includes a 16′ Open Diapason on the Great and corpulent, mellow reeds. The room, with its beautiful stained-glass windows and generous acoustic, provided as much pleasure as did the organ and player.

Rosalind Mohnsen displayed the organ’s many colors in a creatively registered program of mostly shorter works, many of them unfamiliar to me and many by composers with a Massachusetts connection. Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel’s Prelude in F Major offered sweeping, singing  lines; Mohnsen displayed the rich flutes in Tournemire’s S. Joseph Sponsi B.V.M: Prélude à l’Introït, from the Easter cycle of L’orgue mystique, op. 56. I especially enjoyed hearing the beefy Pedal division get its due in Everett Titcomb’s Toccata on ‘Salve Regina.’ 

Mohnsen did a fine job with two smaller works of Max Reger: Benedictus from Zwölf Stücke für die Orgel, op. 59, with a marvelous fugal section and harmonic detours, and Scherzo, from Zwölf Stücke für die Orgel, op. 65, in which the Cromorne took a turn. 

The works of four Massachusetts composers came next—all either born in or otherwise identified with the Bay State, and all from the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries: George Elbridge Whiting’s Melody (Homage to Grieg) from Twenty-Four Progressive Studies for the Pipe-Organ, which displayed the flutes and Oboe; George Whitefield Chadwick’s Postlude from Ten Progressive Pedal Studies; Frederick N. Shackley’s delightful Gavotte Pastorale, with its gapped registration; and Horatio Parker’s Fugue in C Minor from Four Compositions, which featured the massive pedal reed stop. (Parker, the Yale professor and Ives’ teacher, was born in Auburndale, Massachusetts.)

Next followed German works: Johann Kirnberger’s Herzlich thut mich verlangen, a lovely chorale setting featuring the oboe with tremolo; Sigfrid Karg-Elert’s Abstraction (alla Schönberg) from Dreiunddreissig Portraits, jumpy and dissonant, over a higher-pitched drone by the flutes; Johann Krebs’s Trio in F, recalling a trio sonata of his teacher Bach. 

Mohnsen ended with W. Eugene Thayer’s Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, featuring a sweet Andante, and a closing set of variations based on Austrian Hymn, the final variation containing a formidable pedal cadenza to introduce the tune’s last phrase. This was a full-bodied close to Mohnsen’s ably played and satisfying recital. 

 

Wednesday evening

Lutheran Vespers, 

Joan Lippincott & Boston Early Music Festival Chamber Ensemble

The service, held in the lively acoustic of the modern, brick-walled First Lutheran Church of Boston, was entitled “A Praetorius Organvespers for Pentecost.” It was led by Rev. Ingo Dutzmann, with organist Bálint Karosi, and the vocal ensemble Canto Armonico, conducted by Ulf Wellner and Cheryl Ryder; brass players were placed in the side gallery. The service was designed by Cheryl Ryder, Canto Armonico’s executive director. The opening pieces were all based on Come, Holy Ghost: the chant version of Veni Creator Spiritus in the Hieronymus Praetorius organ prelude, an antiphon by Franz Eler [from Cantica Sacrae, 1588], motet Komm, heiliger Geist by Michael Praetorius, and the lustily sung hymn Come, Holy Ghost (Enchiridion, 1524). Then followed choral psalmody (Psalms 113 and 104, the latter set by Schütz), readings and a responsory, the Magnificat (alternatim between chant and organ, with hymn interpolations by Michael Praetorius), and a Hieronymus Praetorius setting of Te Deum Laudamus. In the concluding organ postlude, Michael Praetorius’s Nun lob, meine seele, Bálint Karosi inspired awe with the work’s marvelous scalar passages and fiery finish, topped with a Zimbelstern.

All this made me wish that those who clamor for simplistic worship music had been present, to experience how soul-stirring traditional worship can be (even traditional from a century or two before the American Revolution!). It was so well performed and so satisfying to experience. Bravi (or wunderbar) and thanks to all.

Joan Lippincott then presented a program of three 18th-century concertos, accompanied by the Boston Early Music Chamber Ensemble, an eight-member string group led by concertmaster Robert Mealy, who stood near the keydesk for ease of interaction with the organist. The Richards, Fowkes & Co. organ spoke exuberantly into the room and put the nuances of Lippincott’s articulations and phrasing clearly on display. In Handel’s four-movement Concerto in B-flat Major, most enjoyable were the ornamented repeats (which included sweeping scales). The first movement of C. P. E. Bach’s Concerto in E-flat Major ended with a marvelous cadenza, and the second movement demonstrated the empfindsamer Stil with the melody played by flute and tremolo. Lippincott ended with a familiar friend, J. S. Bach’s Concerto in D Minor, wrapping up a satisfying evening of stylishly played works in a splendid acoustic.

—Joyce Johnson Robinson

 

Tuesday, June 24

Craig Cramer,

Old South Church 

I hurried back from the opening service to find a spot in Old South Church, to hear Craig Cramer’s recital. The organ, at its core Skinner’s Opus 308 from 1921 (originally installed in St. Paul, Minnesota), was reworked by Casavant and Hokans-Knapp, and later by Nelson Barden. The church previously housed Skinner’s Opus 231, installed in a still-earlier Hutchings case. (For the entire complicated story of the organs in this church, see the convention booklet. Better yet, visit www.oldsouth.org for an exhaustive account.) The organ’s most notable features include its rich String division, and its 32′ Bombarde (the organ’s thirty-twos are “dotted around the landscape,” as the convention book has it—notably lining the side balconies).

To this rich, intertexual organ landscape, Craig Cramer brought excellent technique and musicianship, as well as a highly original and well-chosen program. He began with a symphonic work by August Fauchard (1881–1957), titled Le mystère de Noël. This work is in the form of variations on the plainsong hymn “Jesu Redemptor Omnium.” Each variation is also a tone-poem on a verse of the hymn, or a sentence of scripture, or a scene from the Nativity. At times brilliant and at times simply competent and assured, the work was always executed with great perspicacity by Cramer, whose registrations were always exactly right, and whose sense of phrase, tempo, and rhythm were quintessentially French.

An interesting unpublished work followed, a tribute by Toni Zahnbrecher to his wife Beate. Titled Introduction, Scherzo under Fuge über B-E-A-T-E, its soggetto cavato is B-flat, E, A, D, and E. The closing material recalled the opening. Zahnbrecher is an organist and music director at St. Willibald’s Church in Munich. The next piece on the program, a Prelude and Fugue on ‘O Traurigkeit, O Herzeleid,’ by English composer Ethel Smyth (1841–1924), was perhaps the most conventional work on the program. Hard either to object to or wax enthusiastic over, it was nonetheless executed extremely well by the performer. I may not have been converted to the cause of Ethel Smyth, but I was certainly impressed with the quality of the performance.

The final piece on the program, Reger’s Second Sonata in D Minor, op. 60, was an exhilarating conclusion to an excellent recital. Cramer made the entire work accessible, communicating the music rather than simply presenting it. The recital ended on a most satisfying high note, as it were.

Overall, the only nit I found I could pick with this recital was a minor registrational one: I felt the 32′ Bombarde, “dotted around the landscape,” to be exciting once or twice, but eventually a little tiresome. The stop is enormous, Brobdingnagian, on pressures varying from 13″ to 20″; and of course de rigueur at an AGO convention! At least once, though, it detracted a little, with an effect like unto jackhammering. Cramer is an empathetic, gifted registrant, and an admirably conservative and well-grounded artist; surely he chose to use the stop because, well, it was there! And honestly, who wouldn’t? It’s an understandable decision; many an enthusiast in the audience was visibly excited by the high-pressure cannonade. I include this observation only in the interest of balance, and to make clear that my admiration for Cramer, while profound, is not facile. Kudos to Craig Cramer for presenting one of the highlights of the convention.

 

Wednesday evening

Evensong and John Scott recital,

Church of the Advent

The preludes began at about 7:12 for a 7:30 service. Organist and Choirmaster Mark Dwyer played the prelude, and all hymns and service music; Associate Organist-Choirmaster Ross Wood played the psalms, Mag and Nunc, and postlude. We first heard the C. Hubert H. Parry Fantasy and Fugue in G, op. 188. It was played extremely well: note-perfect, with excellent registrations and pacing. It was just the right piece to open a high Anglican evensong in honor of St. Botolph, patron saint of Boston. The David Lasky “Prelude on Picardy” was a meditative work that hewed fairly closely to the hymn tune; a nice contrast to the Parry. It was a commission for the convention, and this was its first performance. The choir sang beautifully; the Introit (by Byrd), the Preces (by Bernard Rose), and the psalms (67, by Bairstow, and 96, by Thalben-Ball) were executed with balance, blend, clarity of diction, and a tone at once straight and warmly vibrant. The hymns, needless to say, were “belted out” by a motivated congregation. The “Mag and Nunc”were from Howells’ Gloucester Service—composed, as the program book reminded us, for the Cathedral Church of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity, Gloucester.

After Evensong—which surely thrilled every heart in the building, Anglican or not—John Scott gave an equally thrilling organ recital. He opened with Wild Bells, a piece composed in 1986 by Michael Berkeley. This piece, especially as it settled into its thrilling Vierne-ish body and conclusion, was a great opener. It was followed by the Stanford Fantasia and Toccata in D Minor, op. 57. Scott made this formidable work sound easy; right from its soft opening, the piece was infused with a certain lyricism, even amidst its moments of tumult. It was an even-keeled, gracious reading, and even at its most passionate, it was presented devoid of ego or excess showmanship. This was followed by the Frank Bridge Adagio, in a confident and convincing reading.

Next we had a premiere by a young American composer, Nico Muhly. His suite, Patterns, was another AGO commission, and this was also a premiere performance. I was delighted to discover this young composer, who is (like your reviewer) an English major turned musician. His own comments on Patterns are a joy to read, laced with vivid expressions. We have “clumsy cousins” in the pedal; a “perpetual motion machine on its highest setting”; “hiccoughs” and other colorful turns of phrase. Mr. Muhly should write an opera! His work, which offered fascinating rhythmic whirligigs, impressions of crickets (for this reviewer), and a somewhat more orthodox toccata to finish, was well received. In a word, nifty.

The final three pieces were the Fantasie-Chorale No.1 in D-flat from 1931, by Percy Whitlock; the Peter Fricker Pastorale (1959) and the Mathias Recessional, op. 96, no. 4 (1986). The Whitlock featured beautifully-managed registrations; I heard new sounds from the organ, always a thing I listen for in a recital. The use of expression was faultless; the piece grew elegantly, inexorably. The Fricker began on a spooky (for me) note, yielding to a quieter ending. And the Mathias was a perfect light finisher. Similar in style and spirit to his well-known Processional, the piece alternates a very lively solo line with a darker middle section with new material.

Overall, John Scott played a thoroughly professional and thoroughly enjoyable recital. It was an ideal blend of old and new, centered on English organ culture and yet reaching outward. This evening’s worship/concert pairing was as perfect as one could hope for.

 

Thursday, June 26

Jonathan Ryan,

Christ Church Cambridge

On Thursday morning, I gave a paper at the convention hotel. I hope that future conventions will continue to offer the option of participating this way; it offered a new, enriching, and very inclusive way to experience the AGO. Afterwards, I left immediately for Cambridge and Jonathan Ryan’s recital.

Christ Church is a small, wooden, eighteenth-century structure, with a low ceiling, many pillars, tall clear windows, and virtually no room for a pipe organ. In this somewhat cramped, though richly historic, venue (George Washington worshiped here on New Year’s Eve, 1775), Jonathan Ryan presented one of the convention’s finest recitals. The program was all the more remarkable for being delivered from memory, a remarkable feat in and of itself.

During the program, I found myself struggling, not with Ryan’s excellent playing, but with the relationship of the organ and acoustic. Part of the problem was that the room was packed, and that people kept arriving—a nice problem to have! But later, I learned more: there is almost no room for an organ, and no possibility of radical restructuring of the space. The Schoenstein organ succeeds in part through very high wind pressures (Ryan spoke to me afterwards, citing pressures of about twenty inches in some cases) and even the adoption of tone chutes. None of these expedients can fully conquer an acoustic that tends toward the dead side. As a result, some of the sonorities had to be accepted as the “best possible under the circumstances” variety. This is the fault of no one.

The recital began with the Dupré Symphonie-Passion. Tempo was excellent; playing was clean, accurate, and confident. The crescendo to full organ was seamless and seemed effortless. Toward the end of the first movement, the sense of a singing line was most palpably evident. I wished for more acoustic—even a more humid day!—to give more resonance to the well-timed pauses at the end; these deserved, in Longfellow’s words, “wild reverberations, as of thunder in the mountains.”

In the other movements, Ryan used the colors of the organ to good effect, and with unceasingly varied creativity. This was especially clear in the third movement, where the dynamic and timbral range was as wide as one could hope for. Throughout, there was a sense of clear, thorough mastery of the music, and a clear vision for its interpretation. 

Following the Dupré, we heard a Meditation (2005) composed by Ken Yukl, who is married to Pamela Decker. The piece centered on a sweet lyrical tune; my impression was of early American hymnody. There was a nice buildup in classic English manner, which yielded back to a quieter and dreamier mood. We then heard two of the Schumann opus 56, numbers 5 and 4. As the first began, I was struck, again, with a sense of fresh registration. Both of these were played with great skill; one never missed the canonical writing.

Ryan ended with the Sowerby Pageant. Several of Sowerby’s students in Chicago have told me that he loved the Franck Finale, op. 21, and played it often at St. James Cathedral, sometimes for private recitals. I was struck, at this performance of Pageant, by its spiritual kinship with the Finale. Ryan has spent time in Chicago and has internalized the best of what it offers. He made the ferocious difficulties of Pageant seem like minor issues. Jonathan Ryan is one of the brightest younger artists in the field today; his Cambridge recital augurs a long and distinguished career.

 

Thursday afternoon

Heinrich Christiansen,

King’s Chapel

After Jonathan Ryan’s recital in Cambridge, I got back into Boston for the program at King’s Chapel. This church, marked by Daniel Pinkham’s long tenure, lies a few blocks north of Boston Common and close by Paul Revere’s resting place. The organ is Fisk Opus 44 from 1964. The program was for organ and string quartet. 

This church, once the symbol of royal Anglicanism in colonial Boston, today occupies about the same position in its city as St. Paul’s Chapel does in Manhattan. Though smaller than its New York cousin, King’s Chapel boasts some wonderful archaic features, like box pews throughout the space. I thoroughly enjoyed occupying one of these and facing backwards, so I could watch the performance.

Heinrich Christiansen, who has been at King’s since 2000, presented a varied and intruiguing program of music old and new. For me, the pieces that opened and closed the concert were the most enjoyable. Christiansen began with the Pinkham Sonata No. 1 for Organ and Strings, from 1943. A short work, it impressed me almost as more of a chorale, in the French Romantic sense, than a sonata per se. The organ interfaced elegantly with the strings, and the sense of ensemble was generally quite fine throughout.

This was followed by a work by Robert Sirota, titled Apparitions; it was a commission for this convention, and we heard its first performance. Sirota used four hymn tunes, and throughout the work fanned out a range of string and organ techniques. There were glassy harmonics, pizzicati, and various aliquot-rich organ registrations interacting with varied textures and ranges in the quartet. The diversity of textures was intriguing, but didn’t gel into a coherent musical statement. Sirota’s work was followed by Naji Hakim’s Capriccio, originally a commission for the 2006 Chicago convention. This piece might have done with being edited for length, but was extremely well performed by both violin and organ. It was quite amusing and easy to follow throughout—a good palate cleanser in Hakim’s whimsical style. (This is a delightful facet of Hakim’s musical personality, and I enjoyed it a lot.)

Christiansen ended with a Soler piece, the Quintet No. 3 in G Major. Its five movements projected a gracious, Mozartean spirit and seemed perfectly suited to an eighteenth-century church on a rainy New England afternoon. It made the rush-hour subway trip back to the hotel—the only awkward bit of traveling in my entire week—very bearable indeed.

 

Thursday evening 

Unitarian Worship and Peter Sykes,

First Church in Boston

First Church was exactly that, founded by the first arrivals in Massachusetts Bay during the Great Migration, led by Governor Winthrop. From its humble beginnings in 1630, it grew in stature, eventually reclaiming the various congregations that split off from it. Cotton Mather was one of its pastors, as was the father of poet e. e. cummings. During the Unitarian controversy, it embraced the new doctrine.

Today, this nearly 400-year-old church boasts a building in modernist style from 1972 (there was a fire in 1968); its members are very active in the community and welcomed me with warmth. The event was not packed to standing room, as Jonathan Ryan’s recital had been. I regretted this, as the service and concert were certainly convention highlights, models of liturgical music and concert programing.

The prelude, or “gathering music,” was another convention premiere: Embertides by Hilary Tann. These were evocative and effective pieces, playing off the four times in the traditional liturgical calendar when Ember Days are observed. The etymology of “ember” is unclear; one theory is that the word is “ymbren,” which is Old English for “to remember.” Be that as it may, Tann’s pieces were very interesting, and worth investigating. The organ was a large Casavant, in a modern case, in the Werkprinzip fashion. 

The choral music at this service was beautifully done, much of it a cappella by a small and obviously very professional choir. The “chalice lighting” motet was by Karl Henning, Love Is the Spirit of This Church, and nothing in the text would preclude its use in other traditions as far as I could see. An anthem by Leo Collins set the original church covenant of First Church; historically interesting but too particular for wider use. The major choral offering was called Prayer of Hildegard, by Edward Thompson, and again was a commission for this convention. For this, the choir came down to the chancel, and was accompanied by marimba for its three movements. The choral writing, as well as the marimba writing, were really effective; the piece was very enjoyable to hear.

Perhaps most thrilling of all, though, was the postlude, from the Liturgical Suite for Organ, op. 69, by Larry Thomas Bell. This piece was commissioned about a decade ago by Carson Cooman and Richard Bunbury; it was quite exciting, a very worthy addition to our repertoire of toccatas!

The entire service was planned and executed with intelligence and care. This extended to the sermon, which was beautifully affirmative of the value of sacred music and musicians. Delivered by the Rev. Stephen Kendrick, it should be read and prized by all organists. 

This service was followed by a concert on harpsichord and virginals by Peter Sykes. One of his harpsichords, unfortunately, had been sent back to his studio in error; we were left with the Winkler harpsichord, in German style, and two virginals, an Italian and a Flemish. On this last instrument, called a muselaar, Sykes began. 

His first piece, the Preludium Toccata of Sweelinck (SwWV 297) was a beautiful choice. It was captivating, thanks to the performer’s sense of form and motivic saturation. Next, on the Italian virginal (with a brighter and lighter tone) was the Toccata Prima from the Libro Primo (1608) of Frescobaldi. Here, the performer offset the brightness of the instrument with an introspective performance.

The remaining works—the Toccata Seconda (FbWV 102) of Froberger, the Praeludium in G Minor (BuxWV 163) of Buxtehude, and the Toccata in D Major, BWV 912, of Bach—were played on the two-manual Winkler harpsichord, a fine all-purpose instrument. Of these, I was most deeply struck by the Bach. What a Janus figure he is! Looking back to the multipartite works of his forebears, he also looks ahead, in a curious and prophetic way, to late Beethoven. Throughout, Sykes played with a keen sense of structure and motive, and communicated this to the audience. His performance was a revelation and a joy. 

 

Friday, June 27

Morning Prayer,

Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help

On Friday, the convention began with Morning Prayer in honor of the patroness of this historic basilica in the Mission Hill district. It was a short ride on the T, but quite a change of scenery, moving from the polish of the convention hotel to a much grittier urban district. The church is beautiful, with a distinctive white cupola. A peaceful park adjoins, and I was able to rest there a while, having arrived early as usual.

The service was part of the Divine Office of the Catholic Church: Morning Prayer or Lauds. The music was greatly enhanced by the choir of men and boys of St. Paul’s Harvard Square. This choir is truly remarkable, as it is the only Roman Catholic choir school in the United States. The men of the choir are, according to St. Paul’s website, drawn largely from area music schools. John Robinson was the conductor, Jonathan Wessler the organist.

The Introit was the Kyrie Eleison of Ivan Božičević, the winner of the 2014 AGO/ECS Publishing Award in Choral Composition. It wasn’t entirely clear why a Kyrie would be chosen as an introit (more precisely, as an opening motet, as the Office has no introits per se), but the beauty of the setting soon banished that question. Throughout, there was excellent balance of organ and voices, due equally to the quality of the writing and the choir’s training. The choir sang serenely, with integrity and strength, as the piece moved from a hauntingly quiet opening to an energetic Christe, featuring solo work in the organ, and then back to a quiet mood. The opening hymn, “Hail, Queen of Heaven, the Ocean Star,” came from a time before my own religious formation; I had never sung it before, and cannot understand why it isn’t a standard Catholic hymn.

The psalms were largely Anglican; we heard Psalm 63 (always the first psalm on solemnities) by Henry Purcell, and then a Benedicite by Francis Jackson. The Purcell brought many smiles when it broke into its coda of alleluias to the tune we now call Westminster Abbey. The Jackson was sung to the highest standards, with the choir only pushed to its limit on the very highest notes. The organ and choir were again fully integrated, and the organ sang with a full, authoritative tone, rich in reeds. The congregation joined in the third psalm, sung in Tone V; it was prefaced by a glorious incipit en taille. The morning canticle, the Benedictus (or Canticle of Zachary), was set energetically by Scott Perkins, and was another first performance, commissioned by the convention. After the final hymn (all seven verses of “Hail, Holy Queen”) the postlude—Toccata, fugue et hymne sur ‘Ave maris stella,’ op. 28 of Flor Peeters—made perfect musical and liturgical sense. Peeters’s true skill and vision as a sacred musician were fully on display and in context during this stirring performance. All the musicians acquitted themselves expertly.

The recital following, by Thierry Escaich, was at its most arresting when the performer was playing his own works. These he presented with subtlety, flexibility, and fire. The opening work, Brahms’s early Prelude and Fugue in G Minor (WoO 10), was also dashing and exciting. It was, however, risky to program the familiar Bach In dir ist Freude from Orgelbüchlein, as there were some sketchy moments in the performance which, I assume, were unmissable by much of the audience. I was perfectly pleased with all of Escaich’s own work; in particular, his own work on Christ ist erstanden, which he played with suppleness and noble joy. Some of Escaich’s registrations were unusual, at one point reaching an apex of high brilliance, which lingered long after he released the keys; he did not carry this to excess, so it worked well. The last chords of this massive work were stunning and took a long time to die away—as did the enthusiastic applause.

The Romance and Finale from Vierne’s Fourth Symphony were both executed clearly and well; the Finale at a very fast tempo, though with great accuracy. The program concluded with an exciting improvisation on two hymns, Protestant and Catholic: “O Zion, Haste” and the Irish tune Slane. This worked up to a quintessential French toccata. The audience wanted more, so Escaich obliged with a joyful encore, presto.

 

Friday evening

Stephen Tharp,

The Mother Church (First Church of Christ, Scientist)

The convention’s closing recital was head, shoulders, and torso above every other event of the week. I heard much excellent, even world-class organ playing throughout, but Stephen Tharp’s program was transcendentally superior. Stephen Tharp is the best organist in America; further debate is pointless.

I might have even said this at intermission, before Tharp closed the deal with the second half, the performance of a memorized transcription that will live in the history books. 

As a cool evening came on, the vast space slowly filled, including several tiers above the main floor. In front of the awe-inspiring gilded façade was a large screen, in order to project a view of the performer. The camera was situated by the left stop jamb, affording a good view of Mr. Tharp, including his feet.

The program (a Saint Cecilia recital, endowed by the late Marianne Webb) began with the Final of Naji Hakim’s Hommage à Stravinsky. This was a clever choice, bookending the program and foreshadowing the second half. I have heard this devilishly difficult piece played before, but never with such passion and authority. It was followed by an ideal lighter work, the Prelude in F Minor by Nadia Boulanger. The contrast was delightful, and the Boulanger piece, though modest, was not easy, and was not treated in anything other than a serious, professional manner. Great care was lavished on the singing lines in the piece, and they stood out from the accompaniment in three dimensions.

Then came the Persichetti Sonata for Organ (1960). Here, I felt there was a certain invitation to lyricism in the first movement, which the performer declined in favor of an energetic approach. However, the lyricism of the slow movement was brought out just right. The final movement was as fiery and virtuosic as one could hope for; Tharp burned the house down with that one. The cyclical elements of the sonata—such as the identical gesture that opened all three movements—cohered and made musical sense. 

Next came the Sowerby Fantasy for Flute Stops, from the Suite. Here, again, I felt that a slightly more relaxed sense of whimsy at the opening would have been nice. However, the middle section was interpreted with a really wonderful, well-shaped singing line, and the rapid tempo of the first theme came to grow on me. Tharp knows how to make the organ sing; that was never in doubt.

The first half closed with the Max Reger Choralfantasie: Straf mich nicht in deinem Zorn, op. 40, no. 2. There was much anxiety and churning energy in this piece, as well as a spirit of genuine religiosity. The performer balanced these exactly right. The quiet, hymnic moments were absolutely sincere and paced to perfection, and the dramatic finale was extremely exciting. Lightning-fast piston changes gave seamless crescendos. My notes for the conclusion read thunderously thrilling. Much, topped with more, topped with most. It was first-rate and then some; the best Reger you’re ever likely to hear.

I spent the intermission in a state of exhilaration (not typical for me!), while eagerly anticipating the great second half which still lay before us. For this, Tharp played his own transcription of the Rite of Spring. Just a century ago, this ballet was a succès de scandale at its premiere. Tonight, while a few might have been scandalized, discerning audience members recognized the presence of musical greatness. There was no score; Tharp had worked out and memorized his arrangement from the two-piano version that Stravinsky prepared for rehearsals. He sat at the console, spent a long moment in thought, then snapped into action.

The performance combined detailed fidelity to the score with idiomatic adaptations, and extended techniques as appropriate—ferocious slappings of the bottom octave, with high-pressure reeds drawn, for example. The lyricism—the frenetic busyness—the earth-bound rage—it was all there. If anything, there was a bias towards the passionate and intense side. Throughout the performance, Tharp maintained an intent, low-key composure, entirely focused on the music. There was no ego on display. He was clearly drained by the performance, and had clearly held nothing of himself back from it.

Never previously have I found myself standing before my hands could come together in applause. 

Stephen Tharp’s recital was a triumphant conclusion to a great convention. Kudos to him, and to the Boston Chapter for excellent and innovative planning, and to all the performers and presenters.

—Jonathan B. Hall

Marcia Van Oyen

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.

Helen VanAbbema Rodgers & Cliff Varnon

British Organ Music Seminar

July 25–29, 2013

The ninth British Organ Music Seminar was held for four days in London, beginning on July 25. The seminar began with a train ride to Cambridge to visit the chapel of Emmanuel College, with its three-manual 1988 Kenneth Jones tracker instrument, which used the case and some of the pipework of the original Father Smith instrument of 1688. Colin Walsh, organist laureate of Lincoln Cathedral and a visiting organ teacher at the University of Cambridge, was our host. He conducted a workshop on liturgical improvisation with several reluctant volunteers followed by a session of various British organ works, performed by members of the group.

On July 26, we visited the French Church of Notre Dame de France, where we attended classes all day. The church, which serves a large French population in London, is located near Leicester Square and dates back to 1861. The organ was originally built by August Gern, who had worked with Cavaillé-Coll. It has undergone several rebuilds, most recently by B. C. Shepherd & Son in 1986. Duncan Middleton, the organiste titulaire at the church since 1989, had studied liturgical and concert improvisation in Bordeaux and Lourdes; he led us in the opening session on improvisation. In the next masterclass, participants played British organ works with John Hosking, assistant organist of St. Asaph Cathedral in Wales. In the afternoon session, Dame Gillian Weir conducted an exciting masterclass on French and German works, played by members of our group. Later in the day we attended Evensong at Westminster Abbey, which was sung by a visiting choir from Breda Cathedral in the Netherlands. Following the service, Peter Holder, organ scholar of the Abbey, talked to the group about the history of the organ and gave a demonstration of the stops. The organ was originally built in 1727 by Schrider & Jordan, with several rebuilds by William Hill in the 19th century and most recently by Harrison & Harrison. Afterwards, participants were given the chance to play the instrument. 

We then went across the street to Central Methodist Hall. The organ, with its imposing 32-foot façade, was built by Hill & Son in 1912 and was later rebuilt by Rushworth & Dreaper in 1970. A major rebuild by Harrison & Harrison in 2011 was based on the original Hill scheme. Gerard Brooks, the director of music, is associated with French repertoire and has recorded the complete works of Gigout. His class for the evening was on the organ works of Gigout (other than the well-known Dix Pièces), along with works of Saint-Saëns.

On July 27, we traveled to Peterborough Cathedral to play one of the finest William Hill organs in the country. Built in 1894, Hill, one of the two most celebrated organ builders of the nineteenth century, incorporated the existing pipework in his four-manual organ masterpiece of 86 stops. Its last restoration took place after a fire in 2001. Like other Hill instruments of this period, the organ is set considerably sharper than modern concert pitch. David Humphreys, assistant director of music of the cathedral, gave a brilliant demonstration, after which participants had ample playing time on the instrument. In the afternoon, we traveled to Cambridge for some free time, shopping in the local music store, and having afternoon tea. In the evening we attended Evensong at Ely Cathedral, followed by a demonstration of the organ by assistant organist Jonathan Lilley. The organ was first built in 1685 by Renatus Harris. Elliot and Hill installed a new organ with existing pipework in 1831, with William Hill doing restoration work in 1850. In 1908, Harrison & Harrison built a mostly new organ, using pipework from the previous instruments, with a restoration in 1974–1975 supervised by Arthur Wills, who was then the cathedral organist.

The final day of the seminar was Sunday, so participants attended services at various churches, including St. Paul’s Cathedral. In the afternoon we visited All Soul’s Langham Place, which is a familiar landmark at the end of Regent Street. In 1913, Alfred Hunter installed a new instrument in this church, replacing the original organ built by Bishop in 1824. This Hunter instrument was rebuilt and enlarged by Henry Willis III in 1951, with the most recent restoration by Harrison & Harrison in 1976. Gerard Brooks conducted a masterclass, played by the members of our group. Later in the afternoon, participants could attend recitals at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, or Westminster Cathedral. The seminar ended with a visit to Westminster Cathedral, just down the street from the abbey. It contains the Apse Organ built by T. C. Lewis prior to World War I and the Grand Organ, which is one of the two heroic instruments built by Henry Willis III, the other being the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral. Peter Stevens, the assistant master of music, talked about the history of the instrument, gave a fine demonstration of the organ, and assisted participants as they played this magnificent instrument, which made a spectacular end to an eventful seminar.

—Cliff Varnon

French Organ Music Seminar

July 29–August 7, 2013

“If you listen, you will learn.” 

—Thomas LaCôte, La Trinité, Paris

Organ builder Aristide Cavaillé-Coll listened to the sounds in his head before he started building the romantic organ. Louis Robilliard of Lyon told us that if there had been no Cavaillé-Coll, there would be no romantic organ music.

When Widor sat at the Cavaillé-Coll, he listened, and came up with ideas for his symphonies. Vierne and Guilmant listened and did the same. A stunning reminder to the organist: the dream organ came before the compositions. Here’s a dream: to travel back in time, attend a concert at the Palais du Trocadéro, and listen to the now-extinct Cavaillé-Coll as Widor conducts his Third Symphony with Vierne at the organ!

Thanks and appreciation are due to Christina Harmon, Dallas organist, teacher, and composer who led this group of American organists. Through her well-established FOMS program, we are privileged to experience the French tradition. Additional indispensable co-directors this year were Cliff Varnon and Masako Gaskin. All three worked hard to keep this group of organists, organ students, and organ lovers happy and informed. For more information and notice of future events, see www.bfoms.com. 

Participants varied from virtuosos with ever-expanding organ repertoire to lifelong students who treasure their favorite pieces and still look for interpretation ideas from close connections to the source. In addition to masterclasses, there were classes in improvisation and ample opportunities for private lessons. Our youngest organist was 15 and the oldest 83!

How fortunate for this group that there are still essentially unaltered romantic organs in existence that we are able to touch and play. The first on this trip was the Cavaillé-Coll in Lyon at St. Francois de Sales, the Widor family parish, where Charles-Marie was baptized and later first performed Symphony V.

July 29–30: Lyon and Chambéry

The perfect warm-up act to the frenzied pace of Paris was the time spent in Lyon and the Alps, organized by the organist of Chambéry Cathedral, Thibaut Duret, with the help of François Espinasse, professor of organ at the National Conservatory of Lyon. Françoise Webb, the charming French native who spent her youth in Reims, assisted with the preparations and organization. Our first day was spent with Louis Robilliard at the great Cavaillé-Coll organ of Saint-François-de-Sales. Built in 1880, it was restored in 1964 and is still in its original and unaltered state.

Time spent with François Espinasse and Thibaut Duret and two concerts on the marvelous 1847 Augustin Zeiger organ at Chambéry Cathedral allowed each of us a performance turn, followed by a third inspiring performance by our regional host Thibaut Duret. Duret is a brilliant young organist and improviser who studied with François Henry Houbart at Rueil Malmaison and with François Espinasse and Loïc Mallié at the Lyon Conservatoire, where he received a master’s degree in organ. With the Alps as backdrop, we spent Wednesday and Thursday playing the organs in St. Pierre d’Albigny, Manigod, Thônes, Grand Bornand, and Annecy. Each organ had a particular charm, and more information is available about each of them on the FOMS website (www.bfoms.com).

August 2: Dole and Dijon

On Thursday, after a 2½-hour bus ride, we arrived in Dijon. While there we played the much-restored Daublaine-Callinet organ at the Cathèdrale St. Bénigne in Dole and the particular highlight: the untouched, undusted, very much in tune 1754 Karl Riepp organ at the Collégiale Notre Dame de Dole. With a Louis XV oak case, this was the largest organ in provincial France, with 45 stops over four manuals and pedal and a 32′ Montre in the Grand-Orgue. In 1860 the 32′ Montre was moved to the pedal and in a 20th-century renovation it made its way back to the Grand-Orgue, the organ now being five manuals with 73 stops. One room on the way to the organ gallery housed a museum that traced its fascinating history.

August 3: Reims

By Saturday, August 3, we were in Reims, where we played the Cathédral Notre-Dame de Reims organ. Unfortunately, on our way that morning we received a call from Benjamin Steens, our excellent host in Reims, who told us a fire had broken out in the organ of St-Remi (Cattiaux, 2000), where we were to spend the afternoon. A visit to the famous champagne caves helped us to cope with our disappointment at not being able to play at the basilica.

August 4–7: Paris

In Paris we visited the always-amazing organ at St. Sulpice (suffering from the unusual heat of Paris in August), as well as the Cavaillé-Coll of Notre-Dame des Champs, Aristide Cavaillé-Coll’s own parish, built in 1877. This organ was extensively altered by Schwenkedel, although, fortunately, the Barker action was retained. Thanks to Cavaillé-Coll, who was on the building committee for the church, also built in 1877, the acoustics for the organ are some of the best in Paris. 

At Notre-Dame des Champs, we had stimulating masterclasses with Sophie-Véronique Cauchefer-Choplin, Beatrice Piertot, and Yannick Merlin. In the masterclass with Dupré expert Cauchefer-Choplin, three participants enabled us to delve into segments of the Symphonie-Passion, the composer’s Wanamaker improvisation that he later wrote down after returning to France. Cauchefer-Choplin said Dupré loved the sound of the gambe alone because it was mysterious.

Stimulating duo-organ performances and masterclasses by upcoming organists Beatrice Piertot and Yannick Merlin also took place at this church during the week in Paris. These two brilliant young organists also helped in this year’s planning and gave classes at the beautiful, unaltered Merklin organ at the church of St. Laurent.

Daniel Roth entertained and enlightened us at St-Sulpice with historical anecdotes about the organ and stories of Franck, Widor, and Dupré that organists never tire of hearing. Cavaillé-Coll kept more than 40% of the 1781 Clicquot organ pipework, never intending to make an exclusive change to a romantic organ. In fact, Widor’s colleague Albert Schweitzer said the organ was great for baroque music. Roth clarified that the transition from Baroque to Romantic was abrupt in Germany, whereas in France, it was gradual. To see more of Roth’s mesmerizing history of French organ music and organs, you can find numerous DVDs of Roth’s St-Sulpice lectures and performances on YouTube, all produced by Christina Harmon. Better still, break down and buy the DVDs from the Organ Historical Society! 

It still takes my breath away to sit in the loft with Olivier Latry at Notre Dame during Mass. His playing for four Sunday services allowed all 29 organists and students a chance to be at the organ, complete with a console containing the latest organ technology and design.

Classes and playing time were offered by Thomas LaCôte at La Trinité (the organ of Messiaen), at Sainte-Clotilde with Nicolas Pichon, La Madeleine, with Andy Dewar at the American Cathedral, and at Notre Dame d’Auteil with Frédéric Blanc (living conduit to the music of Duruflé). LaCôte told us Messiaen liked the sound of ice and crystal, 16′ & 2′ (Messe de la Pentecôte). 

Blanc told us that Duruflé was not a man for big chords, but rather the musical line. He favored flutes and celestes. He also told us that the famous story of Duruflé not liking his Toccata was not necessarily true, but that at the time he was very tired and had composed this piece during a very stressful period in his life.

Our last day was spent with Jean-Baptiste Robin in Versailles and included a concert by him on the Clicquot organ (modified by Cavaillé-Coll) at the Versailles Cathedral, a masterclass at the church of Notre Dame des Armées of Versailles, and playing at the Royal Chapel organ of Versailles Palace. The palace organ was originally built by Robert Clicquot in 1710. After severe damage during the French Revolution it was rebuilt as a two-manual organ by Cavaillé-Coll in 1873. In 1936 it was sold to the seminary in Châteaugiron and later to St. Martin Church in Rennes, where a reconstruction was attempted by Victor Gonzalez. In 1995 a completely new instrument was made by the firms of Boisseau and Cattiaux, which not only reconstructed Robert Clicquot’s creation but also reconstructed the additions of Louis-Alexander and Francois-Henry Clicquot as well. This result was amazingly successful and stands today in the Royal Versailles Chapel as a proud tribute to Clicquot’s genius. 

As a protégé of Marie-Claire Alain, Jean-Baptiste Robin gave an intense class on Jehan Alain. Robin told us that after the trauma of World War I, artists turned to the past, and Alain was the first to go to early music, layering it with orientalism and with jazz that had been brought by Americans during the war. Alain was fascinated by the cornet, a sonority he explored extensively. Tutti, or massive sound, is seldom found in Alain’s music. Our day ended with palace organist Robin demonstrating French Classical music on the beautiful chapel organ of the palace. Participants were actually able to play the chapel organ! Robin is one of four titular organists. The others are Michel Bouvard, François Espinasse, and Frédéric Desenclos, with Michel Chapuis serving as honorary titulaire.

To be in France and therefore in the center of the vital and enduring influence of the world’s greatest organ tradition is as fascinating and transforming as ever. The spirits of Widor, Vierne, Messiaen, et al. continue to permeate the sensibilities and ethos of this beautiful part of the world through the brilliant French artists of the present. There is no more amazing experience, or better pilgrimage, for an organist. Teach us to listen, and learn…

—Helen VanAbbema Rodgers