The Organ Works of Leroy Robertson (1896-1971)

by Warren Apple

Warren Apple holds a high school diploma and undergraduate degree from the North Carolina School of the Arts. His graduate degrees in organ performance are from the Eastman School of Music. Further studies have been with Anton Heiller and Arthur Poister. Dr. Apple is currently organist and choir director at Mt. Pleasant Presbyterian Church in Charleston, SC, and is associate professor of music at the University of South Carolina-Aiken, where he holds the Pauline F. O'Connell Chair in Fine Arts.

 

Arthur Homer Bird was born in Belmont, Massachusetts on July 23, 1856. He exhibited precocious musical abilities which were fostered by his father and uncle, both of whom were professional musicians, noted as hymn compilers and writers. When only fifteen years old, Bird succeeded his sister, Helen, as organist at the First Baptist Church in Brookline, Massachusetts.

When he was nineteen years old, Bird went to Berlin for musical studies at the Musikhochschule, where he studied piano with Albert Loeschorn, organ with Karl August Haupt, and composition with E. Rohde. At the St. Georgen-Kirchen in Berlin on April 21, 1876, he gave an organ recital that was particularly noted by critics for his improvisational skills.  In 1877 he accepted positions in Halifax, Nova Scotia as organist at St. Matthew's Church and as a faculty member at the Young Ladies' Academy and the Mount St. Vincent Academy; he also founded the first chorus in Nova Scotia, the all-male Arion Club. During a second period of study in Germany (1881-1886), he was a composition pupil of Heinrich Urban at the Kullak School of Music and a close friend and compositional disciple of Franz Liszt, who admired Bird's orchestral Carnival Scene enough to conduct several performances.

Bird's initial major success as a composer occurred on February 4, 1886, when he conducted a program of his own works, including his Symphony in A Major (1885), First Little Suite (1884) and Concert Overture (1885), at the Singakademie in Berlin. Successful American performances later that year included his Symphony in A Major by the New York Philharmonic under Walter Damrosch on June 3 and his Carnival Scene by the Chicago Symphony under Theodore Thomas on July 26.

Bird returned to the United States during the summer of 1886 at the invitation of the North American Saengerbund to become director of the Milwaukee Music Festival for one year.  During this period he was active as a piano and organ recitalist and received favorable reviews for performances of his own pieces.

After his return to Berlin in 1887, Bird remained there, with the exception of brief visits to the United States in 1897 for a production of his operetta The Highlanders, in 1907 for medical consultations, and in 1911 to investigate the possibilities of a commission for an opera.  All of these visits included organ recitals, and he developed professional friendships in the United States with such organists as Gerrit Smith in New York and Clarence Eddy in Boston.

 After he was married to Wilhemine Waldman in Petersboro, England on February 29, 1888, Bird was able to enjoy a luxurious lifestyle due to his wife's considerable means; however, the lack of financial necessity greatly diminished Bird's activities as both performer and composer. The Birds maintained opulent mansions in Berlin and in its Grunenwald suburb. The Grunenwald residence was equipped with a house organ. Although their financial holdings were affected detrimentally by the inflationary spiral after World War I, the Birds continued to live comfortably in an apartment on the Kurfuestendamm in Berlin. Bird died suddenly of a heart attack on December 22, 1923 during a suburban train ride.

 Bird received the Paderewski Prize in 1901 and was named to the National Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1898. He has the distinction of being the first American composer of a major full-length ballet, Ruebezahl (1886), and of being the first American-born composer to receive commissions from Germany and France.

Because Bird's compositions were almost exclusively performed and published in Europe, especially in Germany and France, his reputation was never great in the United States; however, contemporary critics, such as Louis Elson and A. Lasser, acknowledged him to be America's foremost living composer, rivaled only by Edward MacDowell. Conductor Arthur Nikisch rated him as America's finest composer. He was especially noted for his melodious, late Romantic style, his colorful orchestration and his facile counterpoint. Bird considered himself a conservative or "conditional modernist" and was especially critical of both Debussy and Richard Strauss.1

Bird published three organ pieces during his lifetime; Three Oriental Sketches, op. 41 (1898, published 1903); Marcia (published 1902); and Concert Fantasia (published 1904). A fourth organ publication, Theme with Variations in d minor, op. 27, was transcribed by W. H. Dayas from the piano two-hand version and published in 1908. Unpublished organ works by Bird include Fugue on August Haupt (1881); three fugues in a minor, c minor and C major (1881); three sonatas in g minor, A-flat major and c minor (1876); and Toccatina (1905).2 An additional unpublished organ piece, Introduction and Fugue in d minor, op. 16, was transcribed from the piano four-hand version in 1891 by W. H. Dayas. The manuscripts for four unpublished pieces, fugues in a minor and g minor of 1891, a canon trio of 1891, and Concert Variations in C Major of 1880, have been lost.3

The earliest of these pieces, the three sonatas from Bird's first German sojourn, were never revised or edited by Bird for publication. In spite of their occasional awkwardness and lack of refinement, these sonatas are fully on the level of Rheinberger's sonatas and are noteworthy for their lyric slow movements and fugal concluding movements. The overall sequence of movements is fantasia/andante/ fugue in the Sonata in g minor, andante/allegretto/fugue in the Sonata in A-flat major, and fantasia/adagio/introduction and fugue in the Sonata in c minor. A fourth sonata in D major is  substantially incomplete. (See Example 1.)

Bird's Fugue in a minor on August Haupt of October 1881 and fugues in C major and c minor of December 1881 are also student works from  his second Berlin trip. They rival Mendelssohn's op. 37 fugues in craftsmanship and reveal Bird to be an extremely skilled contrapuntist. These works amply support the admiration of contemporary critics for Bird's contrapuntal skills. Although Bird generally avoids such devices as stretto, augmentation, diminution and inversion, rhythmically animated subjects are given rigorously contrapuntal treatment that never dissolves to homophonically dominated episodes.

The Theme with Variations for piano two-hand, op. 27 of 1889 was transcribed for organ by W. H. Dayas and published by G. Schirmer in 1891. The variations, in order, include an eighth-note poco allegro; a staccato eighth-note poco più allegro; a moto perpetuo sixteenth-note allegro; a triplet più moderato; sixteenth-note arpeggiations marked allegro moderato; a chorale-like andante ma non troppo; thirty-second note arpeggiations; and a moderato fugue of one hundred measures. The style of  the music is quite reminiscent of Mendelssohn's Variations Serieuse for piano, and the transcription is quite organistic, although one may occasionally wish for fewer octave doublings and a transfer of less of the left hand bass line to the pedal. (See Example 2.)

The Introduction and Fugue in d minor, op. 16 is unquestionably Bird's finest organ work. Bird himself must have held the piece in high regard, because it exists in several versions. It appeared in print for piano four-hands in 1887, in an unpublished manuscript for orchestra, in an unpublished manuscript for organ and orchestra, and in an unpublished transcription for solo organ (dated 1891) by W. H. Dayas with corrections by Bird.4

The introduction is in free form and must be indicative of Bird's improvisational style. The substantial fugue is reminiscent of the fugues that conclude Liszt's "Ad Nos" fantasy and Reubke's organ sonata, with a second section that introduces rapid passagework against the principal fugue subject. Also similar to the Liszt fantasia is the final peroration which includes a recall of the initial thematic material of the fantasie. (See Example 3.)

Written in 1898, the Three Oriental Sketches were copyrighted in 1902 and published in 1903. They are extremely attractive pieces that easily evoke a Middle-Eastern atmosphere through drones, ostinato bass patterns, open fourths and fifths, chromaticism, and grace note figuration.

The Marcia in A-flat of 1902 is a ternary-form piece that retains much of the charm and character of Bird's many piano salon pieces. It is well written and  falls easily under fingers, but does not show an overabundance of inspiration.

The Concert Fantasia in f minor is clearly the best written and most exciting of Bird's printed organ opuses. It  is a large ternary structure of 235 measures in which unbroken sixteenth note figuration in the outer sections gives the same propulsive rhythmic energy as a French toccata or organ symphony finale. The central section also shows the influence of Dubois' toccata and the finale to Guilmant's first sonata with its alternation between a chorale-like theme and sixteenth-note figuration from the outer sections. (See Example 4.)

The Toccatina of 1906, dedicated to Clarence Eddy, maintains a moto perpetuo repeated chord figuration throughout, but seems to be closer akin to a Mendelssohnian scherzo than the élan of a French toccata. Its relatively limited amount of thematic material does not maintain interest readily during the piece's 235 measures.

When considered as a group, one is impressed with the compositional quality and musical attractiveness of Bird's organ works. Although none of the pieces are currently in print and manuscript sources are relatively inaccessible, they certainly merit further research and performance.                

Notes

                        1.                  The two most extensive sources of biographical  information in this article are W.C. Loring, Jr.: "Arthur Bird, American," Musical Quarterly, xxix (1943), 78 and W.C. Loring, Jr.: The Music of Arthur Bird (Atlanta, rev. 2/1974). Other sources for  biographical information  are D. Ewen: American Composers: a  Biographical Dictionary (New York, 1982); L.C. Elson: The History of American Music (New York, 1904, enlarged 2/1915); W.T. Upton: "Bird, Arthur," Dictionary of American Biography (New York, 1928-36; 7 suppls., 1944-81); and Walter Lueckhoff: "Arthur Bird. Einiges ueber sein Leben und Schaffen," Das Harmonium, vii (1901/02), 74-75.

                        2.                  The only known manuscript copies of the Fugue on August Haupt, Fugue in a minor, Fugue in c minor, Sonata in g minor, Sonata in A-flat major, Sonata in g minor, Introduction and Fugue in d minor, op. 16, Theme and Variations in d minor, op. 27 and Toccatina are all currently housed at the Library of Congress. LOC also has copies of the published versions by G. Schirmer of the Concert Fantasia, Three Oriental Sketches, Marcia and the Theme with Variations in d minor, op. 27. Additional copies of the printed edition of Theme with Variations, Three Oriental Sketches, Marcia, and Concert Fantasia are in the collections at Music Library, Harvard University and Music Room, British Museum. The author especially wishes to thank William Parsons of the Music Division of the Library of Congress for his assistance in preparation of this article.

                        3.                  The four sonatas are in a single manuscript sheaf, which contains the fragmentary Sonata III in D major. The cover of the manuscript sheaf which contains Fugue in a minor, Fugue in c minor, and Fugue in C major also lists Fugue in a minor, Fugue in g minor and Canon Trio, which are either missing or were never composed. The Concert Variations in C major were performed at concerts in Boston and Halifax in 1880 and have since been lost.

                        4.                  These manuscripts are housed in the collection at the Library of Congress.

Enrique Alberto Arias

Enrique Alberto Arias holds a PhD in music history and literature from Northwestern University. He is currently associate professor in the School for New Learning at DePaul University, Chicago. In addition, he is president of Ars Musica Chicago.

Wilhelm Middelschulte (1863-1943), the distinguished organist and composer, is a name found frequently in the earlier issues of The Diapason.1 The present article will consider his Kontrapunktische Symphonie über Themen von Joh. Seb. Bach. In addition to the discussion of this great and complex work, Middelschulte's connections to Ferruccio Busoni and Bernhard Ziehn will be explored as well as Middelschulte's position within the so-called Chicago "Gothic" school.

Biography

Middelschulte was born in Heeren Werve, near Dortmund, Germany on 3 April 1863. He received a good part of his musical education at the Royal Academy of Church Music in Berlin, where he studied with Haupt, Loeschern, Alsleben, Commer (editor of the series of early music entitled Musica Sacra), and Schröder. He also studied with August Knabe in Soest, who considered Middelschulte his most famous student. Knabe also seems to have instilled Middelschulte's profound veneration of Bach. Middelschulte is often said to have been Haupt's last student and to have functioned as his assistant. Carl August Haupt (1810-91) was a distinguished organist who participated in the Bach revival of the 19th century; thus these years of study with Haupt also formed many of the features of Middelschulte's career. Middelschulte became Haupt's assistant and later was the organist and choirmaster of the St. Lucas Church in Berlin.

In 1891, Middelschulte came to Chicago, where he served as the organist at Holy Name Cathedral, a position he held until 1895. During this time he studied with the theorist and composer Bernhard Ziehn (1845-1912), who, as we shall later see, deeply influenced Middelschulte's musical style. In 1893, Middelschulte gave a series of recitals for the Columbian Exposition. He also held organist positions at St. James Catholic Church in Chicago and the K.A.M. Temple. In 1894, Middelschulte became organist for the Theodore Thomas Orchestra (later, Chicago Symphony Orchestra), a position held until 1918, when the anti-German sentiments of the First World War caused him to leave this post. An indication of the honor in which he was held was that he played for both the memorial services of Emperor Frederick III in Germany and for Theodore Thomas.2

During these years he taught at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, the Wisconsin Conservatory, and the Detroit Conservatory of Music (originally known as the Foundation Music School). According to Hans Joachim Moser, Middelschulte was at the American Conservatory from 1891 to 1918, but in fact he was at the Conservatory until 1936.3 He is listed on the faculty of the conservatory until the fall of 1936, and in 1932 he took the place of Adolf Weidig, who had died in 1931, as a leading member of the theory department in addition to his position in the organ department. In 1922, he received an honorary LL.D. degree from Notre Dame University, where he regularly gave summer classes in organ. By this time Middelschulte was Chicago's major organist and an important composer of works for organ. In 1939, Middelschulte returned to Germany, just before the outbreak of World War II. During the last few years of his life, Middelschulte lived in Switzerland and Italy because of declining health. He died in Dortmund, Germany on 4 May 1943 of a heart attack. Among his many students, several went on to have major organ careers, principally Virgil Fox and Arthur C. Becker, about whom I have written previously for The Diapason.4

Thus, although born and educated in Germany, Middelschulte made the United States and, more specifically, Chicago his home. Middelschulte was a scholar and composer, whose works re-flect his intimate knowledge of Bach.5 Middelschulte was, by all accounts, a virtuoso organist of the first order, famous for his performances from memory (he was one of the first organists to do this). His performances of Bach were widely recognized as models of style, thus relating to Ferruccio Busoni's fabled Bach performances on the piano. Middelschulte's repertory was apparently vast. For example, the 1 June 1926 issue of The Diapason announced that Middelschulte would give a series of four recitals at Notre Dame in July of that year. One recital was to be "historical," and included compositions by Palestrina, Frescobaldi, Merulo, Gabrieli, and masters of the Baroque period. The second recital, not unexpectedly, was to be devoted to the organ works of Bach. The third (and this is striking) was to be of American organ music (including a composition by John J. Becker, one of the members of the American experimentalist group and a student of Middelschulte's), while the final recital was to be a potpourri, but including works by Reger and Bach.6 Few organists could equal such a feat. But this series is interesting for its inclusion of works before Bach. His studies with Franz Commer, one of the most important musicologists of the 19th century, would have made him aware of this repertory. His recital of American organ music, despite his conservative German background, shows his interest in promoting the music of his students.

It is impossible to understand Middelschulte's accomplishments without a consideration of his German connections and the German tradition of such Chicago musical institutions as the American Conservatory of Music and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The American Conservatory of Music was founded in 1886 and incorporated in 1887. The founder was John J. Hattstaedt, and by the early 20th century the American Conservatory was considered one of the leading music schools in Chicago. It had strong ties to Germany in that most of its faculty were trained there. Thus, for example, Adolf Weidig (1867-1931), who had studied with such notables as Riemann and Rheinberger, continued this German tradition at the conservatory, where he taught composition and theory. Weidig was also a violinist who played in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and an accomplished composer whose works deserve renewed attention.7 His teachings are summarized in the text that was widely used at this time: Harmonic Material and Its Uses (Chicago: Clayton Summy, 1923).

There were many other important German musicians in Chicago at this time. For example, Emil Liebling (1851-1914), a student of Liszt's and known for his editions of the etudes of Carl Czerny, was an impressive pedagogue who also was an editor for The American History and Encyclopedia of Music. He came to Chicago in 1872 and remained until his death.8 Bernhard Listermann (1841-1917) was the concertmaster of the Thomas Orchestra and continued a distinguished career in Chicago, publishing a violin method and some compositions. This list must include the great Theodore Thomas (1835-1905), born in Essen, Germany, and the founder of what would become the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Thomas was one of the major conductors of his time who permanently left his mark on Chicago.9

Theodore Thomas founded the Chicago Orchestra in 1890, but the name of the orchestra was changed to the Theodore Thomas Orchestra in 1905 and then the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1912. Thomas conducted the orchestra until his death in 1905, when he was succeeded by Frederick Stock, who conducted the orchestra until 1942 (the year of his death). The Chicago Symphony Orchestra was created in the German tradition, and the rehearsals were conducted in German up to World War I. There was great emphasis placed on German repertory (including the then-modern Richard Strauss), and the orchestra was known for its German sound because of the rich brass, a tradition that continues to the present day. Middelschulte accordingly worked in musical institutions where his German musical heritage was highly valued and where he made significant contributions.

Middelschulte's influences

Middelschulte's compositional style grew out of his studies of Bach, but it was also clearly influenced by the theories of Bernhard Ziehn, with whom he studied in Chicago. Bernhard Ziehn (1845-1912) was born in Erfurt, Germany, but came to Chicago in 1868 to teach mathematics and music theory in the German Lutheran School of Chicago. In addition to his studies of music theory and history, Ziehn was an accomplished mathematician and botanist, whose studies of poison ivy were commended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Ziehn had a number of notable students, including the composer John Alden Carpenter and the pianist Fannie Bloomfield-Zeisler. It was said that Middelschulte was Ziehn's favorite student, and certainly he was the student who most clearly exemplified Ziehn's theories in his own work.

Ziehn had promulgated a principle of symmetric inversion: that in chromatic music a figure or motive could be inverted exactly without regard to tonal considerations. Ziehn writes in Canonical Studies: A New Technique in Composition: "Experience gained by careful practice is the only means of finding out whether or not a setting is suitable for symmetric inversion. No rules can be given, but with certainty we can say: the more chromatic a setting is the more appropriate it becomes for symmetric inversion, because chromatic progression is the smoothest."10 From this quote it is clear that by using symmetric intervals tonality is obscured; thus Ziehn adumbrates an idea that is also found in Schoenberg's 12-tone serialism. This technique is illustrated in Example 1.

Another influence on the music of Middelschulte was that of Ludwig Thiele (1816-48). Thiele had been a classmate of Mendelssohn's, and, like Haupt (Middelschulte's teacher), had studied with A.W. Bach. Thiele wrote a number of large-scale organ works that evidence the same kinds of canonic techniques, double pedal usage, and chromaticism that are characteristic of Middelschulte's works. It is evident that the Haupt, Thiele, and Rheinberger (just to name a few) were deeply influenced by J. S. Bach and thus prepared the way for Reger and Middelschulte.11 In turn, they were indebted to Mendelsohn's and Schumann's revitalization of Bach performance and scholarship.

Busoni and Middelschulte

Ferruccio Busoni and Middelschulte enjoyed a personal relationship. In 1910, while on tour, Busoni gave some concerts in Chicago. At that time it seems Ziehn suggested to Busoni that he complete Bach's Art of Fugue . Instead of doing so, Busoni took the themes of the incomplete Contrapunctus found at the end of the Art of Fugue  as the basis for what would ultimately become the Fantasia contrappuntistica. As Busoni himself writes referring to the decision to add a new theme to the Contrapunctus:

The fourth subject, on the other hand, had to be a completely new creation; there was no clew as to its character. There was the inevitable stipulation that this fourth subject had to sound simultaneously with the three earlier ones and must also suit them. As the principal theme of the Art of Fugue  (of which the "Fragment" forms the close) was not one of the three subjects already worked out it was easy to guess that this principal theme should step in (as fourth) and thus close the circle of the whole work. Bernhard Ziehn, in Chicago, gave an affirmative and conclusive answer to my question on this point, and I was able to begin this part of my work on sure ground.12

But John J. Becker, who, as previously noted, had studied with Middelschulte, writes:

It was Middelschulte who helped Busoni on the way, by suggesting that he study the theoretical combinations as worked out along the same line by Bernhard Ziehn of Chicago. (Middelschulte is proud to call himself a disciple of Ziehn). Busoni did so, and was convinced by those studies that Bach intended using the theme of the very first Fugue of "Die Kunst der Fuge." He worked along this line and successfully found the solution, thereby solving one of the most difficult aesthetic problems confronting the musical world.13

This implies that it was Middelschulte more than Ziehn who influenced the conception of the Fantasia contrappuntistica. Indeed, Busoni knew about Ziehn through Middelschulte and this opens up the question whether Busoni and Ziehn ever met personally.

As Marc-André Roberge points out, the first version entitled Grosse Fuge was sketched and written between January and March 1910 and was a continuation of the Contrapunctus XV from the Art of Fugue .14 In June 1910 Busoni reworked the Grosse Fuge into the Fantasia contrappuntistica by adding the "Preludio corale" based on the third of the Sechs Elegien for piano (1907). This Elegie is entitled "Meine Seele bangt und hofft zu dir" (My soul is afraid and hopes in you). It is, however, actually based on the chorale Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr'.15 In July 1921, Busoni rewrote the Fantasia for two pianos and somewhat modified its complex structure. It is this two-piano version of the Fantasia contrappuntistica that is the best known. Busoni, however, wrote: "The Fantasia contrappuntistica is thought of neither for pianoforte nor organ, nor orchestra. It is music. The sound-medium which imparts this music to the listener is of secondary importance."16

The relationship between Middelschulte and the Fantasia is striking. In 1911 Middelschulte made an arrangement of the Fantasia for solo organ and, it now seems clear, according to Roberge, that he helped or even composed the organ part for Frederick Stock's arrangement of the Fantasia contrappuntistica for organ and orchestra that was made in the same year. Roberge writes:

Busoni dedicated the edizione definitiva of the Fantasia contrappuntistica "An Wilhelm Middelschulte, Meister des Kontrapunkts." He must have had for Middelschulte a profound admiration, since he chose him to be the dedicatee of one of his most ambitious works. It is obvious that both men discussed some compositional aspects of the work, because sketches for the Grosse Fuge contain contrapuntal studies based on the Art of Fugue  by both Middelschulte and Ziehn. There are also two four-part canons bearing the dedication "Herrn Ferruccio Busoni zur frdl. [freundlichen] Errinerung von W. Middelschulte, Chicago. 16. Januar 1910."17

Chicago Gothic Tradition

It is thus obvious that Middelschulte participated in the conception of the Fantasia and was considered by Busoni to be "a master of counterpoint." Both Ziehn and Middelschulte were, furthermore, the principal members of what Busoni termed the "Chicago Gothic" school. As we shall directly see, Middelschulte ultimately responded to Busoni's Fantasia with a work related in a general way to Busoni's Fantasia contrappuntistica: the Kontrapunktische Symphonie (1932).

Middelschulte wrote exclusively for the organ, and his style is fairly consistent from his earliest works through those of his later years. The general aura of these works is indeed "Gothic," which is to say that a dark chromatic, contrapuntal style prevails. Textures are thick, and the ear is constantly surprised by the harmonic progressions caused by the chromatic and frequently dissonant counterpoint. Many sections are saturated chromatically, which is to say that all twelve chromatic pitches follow in rapid succession in all the voices of the texture. Because of this, many sections employ a kind of atonality; thus conservative and radical elements are blended in his works. Middelschulte's compositions are difficult to listen to because of their subtle references, complex textures, and extensive designs. The structures and rhythmic language are clearly derived from Bach; thus Middelschulte, like Reger, Busoni, and, later, Hindemith, employs a neoclassicism based on German models.

The Kontrapunktische Symphonie

The Kontrapunktische Symphonie über Themen von Joh. Seb. Bach is a culminating work. It is, however, a reworking of his earlier Kanonische Fantasia über B.A.C.H. und Fuge über Themen von J.S. Bach (1906). The Fantasy is based on 43 variations in canon over the BACH theme in the bass. The fugues that follow are based on some of the same themes that Middelschulte would subsequently use in the Kontrapunktische Symphonie: the theme from the Musical Offering , the theme from the "Confiteor" of the Mass in B Minor, the BACH theme from the Art of Fugue , and the theme from the Toccata and Fugue in D minor . Both these compositions are dedicated to August Knabe, Middelschulte's teacher from the Teachers College in Soest, Germany.18 In addition to the use of the same themes, specific sections, such as the fugue based on the theme from the Musical Offering , of the Kontrapunktische Symphonie and the conclusion are derived from the earlier work. Accordingly, the Kontrapunktische Symphonie develops the line of thought present in the Kanonische Fantasie; but, as we shall see, it uses more themes and develops more combinations as a result. The following points reflect an overview of the connections between these two compositions: 1) The concept is the same for both works. 2) The same themes by Bach are chosen though, as we shall see, the Kontrapunktische Symphonie employs 14 themes derived from Bach, while the Kanonische Fantasie employs only four. 3) Specific sections of the later work are derived from the earlier (but often with changes of counterpoint). 4) Both clearly result from Middelschulte's study of Bach.

One can ask why Middelschulte wrote two compositions closely related to each other several decades apart. Perhaps Middelschulte wanted to work out further possibilities in the Kontrapunktische Symphonie not present in the Kanonische Fantasie; thus the Kontrapunktische Symphonie uses more themes and the combinations are more complex. Although the general conception of the two works is the same, the Kontrapunktische Symphonie has an even denser harmonic language and more intricate structure.

Although written later in Middelschulte's career, the Kontrapunkstiche Symphonie also reflects Middelschulte's early association with Ziehn and Busoni. It combines Ziehn's approach to organizing chromaticism through symmetric inversion with Busoni's concept of a series of fugues based on Bach but expanding on the given themes. But it must also be noted that the Kanonische Fantasie, the composition that is reworked and developed for the Kontrapunktische Symphonie, was composed before Busoni's Fantasia contrappuntistica and may well have impacted Busoni's conception of this stunning work. Thus it seems that a work by Middelschulte perhaps influenced Busoni, whose Fantasia contrappuntistica in turn is mirrored in the Kontrapunktische Symphonie.

The Kontrapunktische Symphonie was premiered in 1932, as the following notice from The Diapason dated 1 June 1932 makes clear:

A new work for the organ which is expected to attract much more than ordinary attention is a Symphony in D minor on themes and motives by Johann Sebastian Bach, which has been composed by Wilhelm Middelschulte, Ll. D., and is to receive its initial performance at the summer series of recitals to be played by Dr. Middelschulte at Notre Dame University, South Bend, Ind., and in a recital at Rockefeller Chapel, University of Chicago, June 5.

This implies that the composition was completed by 1932, although it was not published until 1935. This is also evident from a letter Middelschulte wrote to  John J. Becker, his student, on 28 July 1932 in which he says: ". . . I enclose a program of music which shows you that I have not been idle--wrote a Symphonie on 12 [sic] Bach themes for the organ . . . played it here in Chicago and Detroit--everywhere with great success . . ." Again he writes in another letter of 9 January 1933: "Enclosed is a program of music of my Contrapuntal Symphony--built on 14 Bach themes--wish I had fifteen fingers . . . had great success with it in Detroit and still polishing it--also at work on my 2nd Symphony . . . "19 I believe that Middelschulte forgot for the moment how many Bach themes he actually used, but it is evident from the second quotation that he was still working on the final details in 1933.

The Kontrapunktische Symphonie consists of a prelude and five fugues on 14 themes from various compositions by Bach. In the preface, Middelschulte lists these themes as well as their sources:

1. The Musical Offering , BGA, VI, p. 222.

2. Confiteor and Remissionem from the Mass in B Minor, BGA, VI, p. 264.

3. Fugue in D Minor, BGA, XV, p. 269.

4. Fugue in B Minor, BGA, XV, p. 206.

5. Prelude and Fugue in C Minor, BGA, XV, p. 218.

6. Art of Fugue , BGA, XXV, 1 and XLVII.

7. Fugue in C Minor, BGA, XV, p. 132.

8. Prelude in A Minor, BGA, XV, p. 198.

9. Fugue in E Minor, BGA, XV, p. 242.

10. BACH theme from the Art of Fugue , BGA, XXV, 1 and XLVII.

11. Chorale prelude Sleepers Awake, BGA, XXV, 2, p. 63.

12. Canon at the Fifth from the Goldberg Variations , BGA, III, p. 282.

13. Fugue in C Major, WTC I, BGA, XIV, p. 4.

14. Fugue in E-flat Minor, WTC I, BGA, XIV, p. 34.

Of these themes, the most important and the one that prevails throughout is that from the Musical Offering . It will be remembered that this theme is actually by Frederick the Great and was used by Bach as the basis for the various musical transformations of the Musical Offering . The theme from the Art of Fugue is given less importance. Some themes are highlighted and become the themes for the fugues, a practice similar to that found in Ziehn's Canonical Studies, while other themes from this group of fourteen play a subsidiary role. Only two vocal works are cited, the Mass in B Minor and the chorale Wachet auf from the Cantata No. 140. Themes are combined and their keys are changed to fit Middelschulte's tonal plan. In addition, the BACH theme and the references to Bach's three great cyclic works (the Goldberg Variations , The Musical Offering , and the Art of Fugue ) are symbolic and link the Kontrapunktische Symphonie to Middelschulte's veneration of Bachian contrapuntal mastery.

Bach's cyclic works, the Art of Fugue  and The Musical Offering , served as paradigms for the Kontrapunktische Symphonie, although Middelschulte's composition is on a smaller scale than the Bach works and, for that matter, the Busoni Fantasia as well. In addition, the contrapuntal quodlibet concept or the combination of themes from disparate sources found in such Renaissance works as Heinrich Isaac's Missa Carminum or Jacob Obrecht's Missa diversorum tenorum is used. Middelschulte also at times presents the same theme at different rates of speed, as does Johannes Ockeghem's Missa prolationum. I am not suggesting that Middelschulte knew these Masses, but the similarities in techniques are striking, and Middelschulte was perhaps aware of the Renaissance tradition of quodlibet and mensuration canon through his studies with Commer and Ziehn.

Middelschulte has furthermore employed his most extreme chromatic style as well as the idea of symmetric inversion derived from Bernhard Ziehn. (Example 2) As a result, Middelschulte's organ works are strikingly similar to those by Reger, who likewise combined chromaticism with the procedures of Bach. In a word, the Kontrapunktische Symphonie summarizes Middelschulte's outlook as a composer and relates to Busoni's Fantasia contrappuntistica. Both build on the "Gothic" idea of complex fugal procedures.20

For Busoni, Ziehn and Middelschulte were the two members of the Chicago Gothic tradition, a tradition that stretched back to the Flemish and German masters of the Renaissance and epitomized in the music of J.S. Bach. It is found again in the music of César Franck and is notable for its use of counterpoint that creates unusual harmonic progressions. Essentially, Busoni held that Ziehn and Middelschulte created dissonant counterpoint that went beyond the restrictions of tonality, thus employing a concept central to the music of Hindemith as well. Although Ziehn was a composer, his music is not on the level of Middelschulte's organ compositions; thus Middelschulte's works and especially the Kontrapunktische Symphonie manifest Busoni's tenets as does his own Fantasia contrappuntistica.

The Kontrapunktische Symphonie does not present the fourteen themes in the order in which they are listed in the preface to the score, but rather treats them in cumulative fashion; thus the introduction presents the B-A-C-H motive to furnish the symbolic context for the entire composition: a celebration of the contrapuntal genius of J.S. Bach.  Emphasis is placed on the B-A-C-H theme as well as the themes from The Musical Offering  and the Art of Fugue . Middelschulte relates these themes in such a way as to show their symbolic implications.

The work begins with an introduction marked recitativo based on the B-A-C-H theme. (Example 3) The dotted rhythms give the impression of a French overture. Toward the end of this section Ziehn's technique of symmetric inversion is evident. This section recurs at the end of the work, creating an arch form. The first fugue uses the theme from The Musical Offering  presented at different rates of speed simultaneously. (Example 4a) This section is derived from the Kanonische Fantasie, where the note values are presented at half the speed and the bass voice is an octave lower. (Example 4b) Fugue No. 2 presents No. 13 from the group of fourteen themes (refer to the list of Bach themes above) as a countermotive. Later, the theme from the Art of Fugue  is combined with the theme from the Toccata and Fugue in D minor . (Example 5)

Fugue No. 3 again emphasizes theme No. 3, derived from the celebrated Toccata and Fugue in D minor . The B-A-C-H and No. 9 themes are present as well, combined with the theme from the Toccata. This fugue ends with a cadenza-like passage based on No. 8 that leads into the next fugue. (Example 6) Various combinations of themes ap-pear in this fugue. Nos. 9 and 10 appear as do Nos. 4 and 3. In all, this fugue employs Nos. 3, 9, 10, 4, 6, 7, 2, and 8. Fugue No. 4 begins with references to the B-A-C-H theme (Example 7) as well as the motives from the Goldberg Variations  and Wachet auf. It should be noted that the motive from the Goldberg Variations  is always treated in combination with other ideas. Also striking in this section is the combination of the themes from the D-minor and E-flat-minor fugues. This fugue presents various combinations of themes not found previously: 11 and 13 and, at the end, 3 and 14. Nos. 10, 12, 11, 13, 1, 3, and 14 appear in this fugue. Because of the slow tempo, this fugue functions as an interlude.

The fifth and final fugue combines previous elements, but it leads to a Maestoso section that harmonizes the theme from The Musical Offering  and is derived from a similar episode in the Kanonische Fantasie (where the harmonization is slightly different). This fugue presents themes 10, 3, 1, and 6; and it ends with a grandiose conclusion with trills in the outer voices. The BACH theme and the theme from the Art of Fugue  are here combined and emphasized both musically and symbolically. (Example 8)

In general, the dominating themes are 1, 3, 6, and 10, while the others are subsidiary. Themes are transposed and combined, sometimes at different rates of speed. As is clear from this discussion, the themes are not presented in the order that they appear in the preface; but, later themes in the numeric order are usually found later in the work. The themes are well known and reflect Middelschulte's knowledge of Bach's keyboard literature. At times, themes are only suggested. This is true, for example, of the Fugue subject in C major from WTC I, which is briefly treated as a countermotive in Fugue No. 2. Likewise, the motive from one of the canons from the Goldberg Variations  always is secondary to some other theme.

The following outline lists the order of the themes in the Kontrapunktische Symphonie:

Introduction: No. 10

Fugue 1: No. 1

Fugue 2: Nos. 2, 1, 5

Fugue 3: Nos. 3, 9, 4, 6, 7, 2, 8

Fugue 4: Nos. 10, 11, 13, 12, 3, 14

Fugue 5: 10, 1, 3

The Kontrapunktische Symphonie, however, is more than a series of Bach quotations, for it has a powerful overall unity. This is achieved through the relationships between the fugues and the general tonal plan. Thus the introduction sets the tone for the work and leads into the first fugue. The first three fugues form a longer section and are marked by increasing rhythmic activity. Fugue No. 3 ends with a sustained toccata-like section that leads into Fugue No. 4. This fugue is in a tranquillo tempo and again strongly refers to the B-A-C-H motive; thus it serves as a slow interlude and a preparation for the fifth and final fugue. It is also notable for the largest number of thematic combinations. The fifth and final fugue, because of its return to a quick tempo and the central tonality of D, represents the climax of the work. As the work nears its conclusion, the tempo moves to Maestoso, as mentioned previously, with a harmonization of the theme from The Musical Offering  and references to the B-A-C-H theme, thus relating to the opening. This final section serves as the coda to the final fugue but also to the work as a whole.

The following shows the connections between the fugues:

Introduction--Fugues 1, 2, 3--Tranquillo Fugue with its BACH reference--Fugue 5 that returns to the tempo and figuration of the first three fugues--Maestoso conclusion.

This suggests that the fugues create longer sections and that there are cyclic references to the B-A-C-H motive which regularly punctuate the work. In one sense, it is possible to look at the work as having four sections: the introduction, the first three fugues, the slow interlude, and the concluding fugue with its peroration. Although the harmonic language is densely chromatic and the tonal references at the local level obscure, the use of D as an anchoring tonality at key spots of the work is structurally important. On the other hand, the most tonally ambiguous sections (built on the BACH motive) occur at the beginning and during the slow fugue. The final cadence of the work can be seen as a slow descent from E- flat to D.21

The term Symphonie, it seems to me, is used in two senses: as an indication of the scope of the work but also to imply that the organ is used in its full symphonic grandeur. As has been suggested throughout this article, there are clear connections between Busoni's Fantasia contrappuntistica and the Kontrapunktische Symphonie. As will be remembered, Middelschulte made an arrangement of the Fantasia and Busoni dedicated the final version of the work to him. In addition, the genesis of the Fantasia occurred during a period when Busoni was in close contact with Middelschulte. Both Busoni and Middelschulte were consummate virtuosi deeply involved with the music of Bach; thus the Fantasia contrappuntistica relates to the Kontrapunktische Symphonie. The parallels between the works can be summarized as follows:

Both reflect Bach's cyclic contrapuntal works: The Musical Offering  and the Art of Fugue .

Both were influenced by the theories of Bernhard Ziehn.

Both use a chromatic language influenced by Bach, Liszt, and Ziehn himself.

Both are based on the cyclic concept of fugues exemplified by the Art of Fugue .

Both use the D dorian mode as a focal tonality.

Both exemplify the aesthetics of the Chicago "Gothic" School.

Conclusion

The Kontrapunktische Symphonie was not Middelschulte's last composition. Middelschulte wrote a set of variations on "The Old 100th" that was completed in Italy before he left for Germany, but is now lost. In addition, he planned or composed a second symphony (probably in the style of the Kontrapunktische Symphonie). There is no indication as to when this work was started or how far it had progressed, though the letter of 1935 mentioned previously refers to it.22

The Kontrapunktische Symphonie is a manifestation of the relationships between and among Ziehn, Busoni, and Middelschulte, but it also reflects the Bach tradition beginning with Mendelssohn and continuing through Thiele and Haupt. It summarizes Middelschulte's lifelong interest in the music of Bach as well as approaches found in his earlier organ compositions. It also mirrors the Chicago-German connection as well as what Busoni termed "Young Classicism," or "the sifting and the turning to account all the gains of previous experiments and their inclusion in strong and beautiful form."23 Furthermore it epitomizes the Chicago "Gothic" tradition, a tradition of exploring recondite chromatic techniques and contrapuntal sophistication. This masterpiece demonstrates Middelschulte's control of the medium of organ composition, but it also suggests his own extraordinary abilities as a performer. It manifests those fascinating techniques evolved by Reger, Busoni, and Middelschulte around the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries that combine chromaticism with the contrapuntal rigor of the incomparable J.S. Bach.

Postscript

Middelschulte, although an important figure in his time, and, I believe, a seminal figure in the development of chromaticism at the beginning of the 20th century, has suffered a curious fate: he is little known in Germany and is largely forgotten in Chicago, where he made his home and taught for many years. A small number of Middelschulte devotees, however, are again bringing the music of this fascinating composer to public attention. A CD appeared in 1999 entitled Brink Bush performs Organ Works of Wilhelm Middelschulte (Volume 1). (This is available at  <www.ohscatalog.org&gt;.)

This CD contains the following works:

Perpetuum Mobile from the Konzert für Orgel über ein Thema von Joh. Seb. Bach (1903). This is based on Bach's "Wedge Fugue" (BWV 548) and is an early work that already shows the line of thought present in the Kontrapunktische Symphonie.

Passacaglia für die Orgel (1896). The BACH theme and the chorale Ein Feste Burg are used in this composition. This early work once more shows Middelschulte's consistency of approach.

Chromatische Fantasie und Fuge für Orgel (published 1922). It is based on original themes but is clearly related to Bach's celebrated Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue.

Drei Studien über den Choral Vater unser im Himmelreich (published 1913)

Kanonische Fantasie über B-A-C-H und Fuge über Themen von Joh. Seb. Bach (published 1906). This, as mentioned in the article, was the model for the Kontrapunktische Symphonie.

Middelschulte consistently used German titles for his compositions and wrote exclusively for organ (with the exception of orchestral accompaniments for the Konzert für Orgel, performed by Middelschulte under Stock with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. These orchestral parts have been lost). He began composing rather late in life, but once he did he employed a complex style that continued to the last of the published works. His entire output can be considered a tribute to J.S. Bach.

At this time Brink Bush is preparing a second CD that will include the Kontrapunktische Symphonie, the full Konzert für Orgel, and the Kanon in F.    

by Mickey Thomas Terry

Mickey Thomas Terry, a native of Greenville, North Carolina, holds degrees from East Carolina University in Greenville, and a Ph.D. in Late Medieval and Early Modern European History from Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Dr. Terry's principal organ teachers have been Clarence Watters, Charles Callahan, and Ronald Stolk (Improvisation). He is currently the organist and minister of music of St. Rita's Catholic Church in Alexandria, Virginia. Dr. Terry has concertized throughout the United States and has been broadcast several times on Pipedreams. Dr. Terry has recently been a featured artist at Washington's John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and organ recitalist at the Piccolo-Spoleto Music Festival in Charleston, South Carolina. In July, 1996, he presented a lecture-recital in St. Paul's Chapel at Columbia University as part of the African-American Organ Music workshop of the AGO National Convention in New York. He will be a featured recitalist at the 1998 AGO national convention in Denver. Dr. Terry has taught on the faculty of Georgetown University and has written several articles for both The American Organist Magazine and The Diapason. He serves on the Advisory board for the ECS/AGO African-American Organ Music Series published by E.C. Schirmer Music Company of Boston. Dr. Terry appears on the Albany Records label compact disc George Walker--A Portrait, playing the organ works of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer George Walker.

 

In a previous article, "African-American Organ Literature--A Selective Overview,"  seven composers and their works were featured (The Diapason, April, 1996, pp. 14-17). They included George Walker, Noel Da Costa, David Hurd, Adolphus Hailstork, Thomas H. Kerr, William B. Cooper, and Mark Fax. Through a series of musical examples provided, it was shown that in addition to Negro spirituals and jazz, African-American organ literature is based on several diverse musical sources which include plain chant, German Protestant chorales, general Protestant hymnody, themes of African origin, and original composer themes.1

Also mentioned was the fact that several composers from this school are alumni of major musical institutions. A number of them have been recipients of prestigious composition prizes and academic fellowships.2 Among them is George Walker who, in April 1996, became the first black to receive the Pulitzer Prize for music. This award was for his composition Lilacs for Soprano and Orchestra, commissioned and premiered by the Boston Symphony.

Although attitudes towards black composers are gradually changing, the path of the African-American composer has not been an easy one, and it is still fraught with difficulty.3 Historically, racial bias and negative stereotyping have played a deleterious role in coloring perceptions of and attitudes towards African-American composers. In the U.S., such attitudes have long been documented. One of the earliest setof published writings which reflects this attitude is Thomas Jefferson's Notes on Virginia (c. 1784). In this work, the author relates his general perceptions regarding blacks.4 Added to the problem of historical perception was the existence of the now defunct Jim Crow (i.e., segregation) system which deterred blacks from being woven into the fabric of American society. The combination of both factors has greatly contributed to the current dearth of published musical materials from this school of composers. Furthermore, during the pre-integration era, the extant system of laws, racial codes, and negative perceptions prohibited African-Americans, in most cases from matriculating in traditionally white institutions of higher education. At that time, the academic pedigrees and scholastic achievements of blacks were given little or no regard.5 George Walker's experiences, as related to and documented by several newspaper and journal interviews, constitute a case in point.

Prior to receiving the distinction of being a Pulitzer Prize winner, Walker had the distinction of being the first black graduate of the Curtis Institute (Artist Diploma, 1945) and, subsequently, becoming the first black to receive a Doctoral degree from the Eastman School of Music (D.M.A. in Piano, 1956). At the time, this was really quite a notable accomplishment because many institutions including the prestigious Peabody Conservatory did not admit blacks for a long time.6 Although the achievements of Walker and others continued to be increasingly evident, many such institutions remained closed, nonetheless, to blacks; teaching posts in such institutions were simply out of the question.

Since winning the Pulitzer, Walker's interviews, such as that published in the Philadelphia Inquirer (Oct. 31, 1996), have occasionally indicated long-standing difficulties and disappointments experienced not only as a composer, but as a virtuoso pianist and teacher.7 Unfortunate as these experiences may have been, they are neither unique nor isolated; several black composers have shared similar misfortunes. One of the greatest misfortunes from that period to the present has been the absence of sufficient recognition for their contribution to the classical literature; part of this article's raison d'être is the writer's attempt to help alter that situation.

As mentioned in the previous article, it is not feasible to present a comprehensive survey in the scope of a single article; as such, the writer has, once again, provided a select sampling of talents who have made substantive and qualitative contributions to the literature for the instrument. The various cited examples are intended to demonstrate not only a diversity of composition styles, but thematic influences which may be found among this body of music. For the purposes of this article, the organ compositions cited are stylistically divided into two general categories: neo-classical and symphonic. Among the neo-classical works cited are compositions by Ulysses Kay, Roger Dickerson, and Charles Coleman. The more symphonically conceived works are represented by Olly Wilson, William Grant Still, Eugene W. Hancock, Charlene Moore Cooper, Mark A. Miller, and Jeffrey Mumford. The neo-classical works are presented first, followed by the symphonic compositions.

ULYSSES KAY (1917-1995) received a B.M. degree from the University of Arizona. Kay also studied with Howard Hanson at the Eastman School of Music (M.M. in Composition) and with Paul Hindemith both at the Berkshire Music Center (1941) and Yale University. He also studied with Otto Luening at Columbia University. Kay served as visiting professor at both Boston University and the University of Los Angeles (UCLA). From 1968, he served as Professor of Music at Herbert H. Lehman College (CUNY) until his retirement in 1988. While there, he was appointed as Distinguished Professor (1972). Kay was the recipient of several prestigious awards and fellowships. Twice, he won the Prix de Rome as well as winning the Gershwin Memorial Award (1947). Among the fellowships awarded were: Ditson (1946), Rosenwald (1947), Fulbright (1950), and Guggenheim (1964). In addition to organ works, Kay wrote two operas as well as music for chorus, orchestra, ballet, chamber ensemble, and piano. Commissioned and premiered by Marilyn Mason, Kay's Suite No. 1 for Organ (1958) exhibits the influence of  neo-classicism. For the purposes of this article, excerpts from the second and last movements of this work are cited. (See Examples 1 and 2.)

Organ Compositions (Published Scores):

Two Meditations for Organ (H.W. Gray, 1951) [out-of-print]

Suite No. 1 for Organ [Prelude, Pastorale, Finale (1958)] (Carl Fischer Facsimile Edition, 1986)

ROGER DICKERSON (b. 1934) received his B.A. (Music Education) Degree from Dillard University in New Orleans and M.M. Degree (Composition) from Indiana University. He received a Fulbright to study at the Akademie für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna (1959-62). Dickerson was also the recipient of a John Hay Whitney Fellowship and received the Louis Armstrong Award (1981). In 1975, he founded the Creative Artists Alliance. He also received an honorary doctorate from the People's Republic of China.  In 1978, he was the subject of a public television documentary film "New Orleans Concerto." Currently, Dickerson serves as Music Coordinator and Choir Director at Southern University as well as Lecturer in Music at Dillard University in New Orleans. He has written for piano, voice, chorus, orchestra, band, and chamber ensemble. The following composition is, at the time of this article's completion, his only contribution for solo organ. Conceived in a neo-classical idiom, it is based on a German Protestant Chorale Das neugeborne Kindelein ("The Newborn Little Child"). (See Example 3.)

Organ Compositions (Published Scores):

Chorale Prelude: Das neugeborne Kindelein (1956) [E.C. Schirmer Music Co., 1996]

CHARLES D. COLEMAN (1926-1991) was a native of Detroit. He received his B.M. and M.M. Degrees from Wayne State University in Detroit. Among his teachers were Virgil Fox, Mildred Clumas, and Robert Cato. In 1955, Mr. Coleman founded the Charles Coleman House of Music, formerly known as Northwestern School of Music, Dance, and Drama. In addition to teaching in the Detroit Public Schools, he served as Director of Music for Tabernacle Baptist Church in Detroit. Coleman was also an Associate of the American Guild of Organists (AAGO). His compositions include works written essentially for chorus, organ, and piano. Conceived in a neo-classical idiom, the sonata is dedicated to Dr. Eugene W. Hancock. The Passacaglia constitutes the sonata's first movement. (See Example 4.)

Organ Compositions (Published Scores):

Impromptu for Pedals Alone (1961; Northwestern School of Music Press, 1977) [out-of-print]

Sonata No. 1 [Passacaglia, Adagio, Allegro]8 (Northwestern School of Music Press, 1979) [out-of-print]

OLLY WILSON (b. 1937) received a B.M. Degree from Washington University (St. Louis), an M.M. Degree from the University of Illinois (Urbana), and a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. In addition to being a recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship (1971 and 1977) and a Guggenheim (1972),Wilson was the recipient of a First Prize in the International Electronic Music Competition (1968) and the Dartmouth Arts Council Prize (1968).  In 1974, he received an award for outstanding achievement in music composition from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the National Institute of Arts and Letters. Among his academic positions, he has served on the faculties of Florida A & M University and Oberlin Conservatory.  He is currently Music Department chair at the University of California at Berkeley. Wilson has written for various musical media including: organ, piano, voice, chorus, chamber ensemble, and orchestra. Commissioned for the 1979 Hartt College of Music International Contemporary Organ Music Festival, Expansions was premiered by Donald Sutherland. (See Example 5.)

Organ Compositions (Published Scores):

Expansions (1979)

Moe Fragments (1987)

WILLIAM GRANT STILL (1895-

1979) During his lifetime, he was frequently referred to as the "Dean" of African-American Composers. He studied at Wilberforce University (Ohio) and at Oberlin Conservatory. Still also studied privately with George Chadwick and Edgar Varèse. He was the recipient of many honors and fellowships, including a Guggenheim (1933).  Among his distinctions, William Grant Still was the first black to compose a symphony, to conduct a major U.S. symphony, and to have a composition performed by a major U.S. symphony.  He wrote for almost every musical medium including piano, voice, chorus, chamber music, opera, ballet, and orchestra.  Reverie is one of two original organ compositions written by the composer.  It was commissioned by the Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Pasadena & Valley Districts of the AGO in celebration of the 1962 American Guild of Organists National Convention. (See Example 6.)

Organ Compositions (Published Scores):

Reverie [AGO Prelude Book (published by Los Angeles area American Guild of Organists chapters, 1962)]

Elegy (Avant Music Co., 1963)

EUGENE W. HANCOCK (1929-1994) was a native of Detroit, as was his friend and colleague Charles Coleman. Hancock received a B.M. Degree from the University of Detroit, a M.M. Degree from the University of Michigan [Ann Arbor], and a Doctorate of Sacred Music from the School of Sacred Music at Union Theological Seminary in New York. Among his organ teachers were Marilyn Mason, Vernon deTar, and Alec Wyton. Hancock studied composition with Seth Bingham. He served as Assistant Organist/Choirmaster of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (1963-66), and later as Organist/Choirmaster of St. Philip's Episcopal Church (1975-82) and of West End Presbyterian Church (1982-90) in New York. In 1970, Hancock was appointed as Professor of Music at Borough of Manhattan Community College (CUNY), a position he held until his death. Among his professional affiliations, Hancock was an Associate of the American Guild of Organists (AAGO). With several choral publications to his credit, he has contributed much to the genre of sacred music. In his recital work, Hancock had been particularly noted for performing and promoting the works of African-American organ composers. Fantasy is a virtuosic work written for and premiered by Herman D. Taylor in 1985 at the Black American Music Symposium held in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (See Example 7.)

Organ Compositions (Published Scores):

An Organ Book of Spirituals [Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child; We are Climbing Jacob's Ladder; My Lord, What a Morning; Joshua fought the Battle of Jericho; Were You There When They Crucified My Lord; I'm Troubled; Fix Me, Jesus; Swing Low, Sweet Chariot; Go Tell It on the Mountain] (Lorenz Publishing, 1966) [out-of-print]

The Wrath of God (Selah Press, 1993)

(Unpublished Scores)

Suite in Three Movements for Organ, String Quartet, Oboe, Xylophone, and Bass Drum [Variation, Aria, Toccata] (1966)

Fantasy for Organ (1985)

CHARLENE MOORE COOPER (b. 1938) is a native of Baltimore. She received a B.M. Degree (Flute/Music Education) from Oberlin Conservatory. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Counseling Psychology at Catholic University in Washington, DC. Cooper has taught music in both the Baltimore and District of Columbia Public Schools. She has also taught liturgy courses at the Howard University School of Divinity. She is also Director for the Municipal Opera of Baltimore, the NAACP Community Choir (DC), the Best Friends Jazz Choir (DC Metro area), and Director of Music for John Wesley A.M.E. Zion Church in Washington. In addition to writing for the organ, Cooper has written for piano, voice, chorus, chamber ensemble, and orchestra. A Solitary Prayer was originally conceived as a musical tribute to the composer's deceased mother. (See Example 8.)

Organ Compositions (Published Scores)

A Joyful Noise for Trumpet and Organ (1993)

Alleluia (1995)

A Solitary Prayer (1995)

Festal Postlude (1995)

Christmas Morn for Oboe and Organ (1995)

Meditation (1996)

Gloria in Excelsis Deo (1997)

Joy in the Morning (1997)

Resurrection (1997)

JEFFREY MUMFORD (b. 1955) is a native of Washington, D.C. He received his B.A. Degree (Art/Painting) from the University of California at Irvine and his M.A. Degree (Composition) at the University of California at San Diego. Mumford has won First Prize in the Aspen Music Festival (1979) and the National Black Arts Festival-Atlanta Symphony Composition Competition (1994). Also the recipient of several prestigious commissions, he was awarded a commission by the National Symphony in commemoration of the 25th Anniversary of the Kennedy Center. In 1995, he was also the recipient of a Guggenheim in composition. Most recently, Mumford has been awarded a grant from Meet the Composer/Arts Endowment Commissioning Music/ USA to compose a piece for the CORE Ensemble. His compositions consist of music for voice, piano, chorus, solo instrument, chamber ensemble, and orchestra. Mumford's Fanfare for November, so far his only organ composition, was written to be the recessional music for own wedding ceremony in November, 1985. (See Example 9.)

Organ Compositions (Published Scores)

Fanfare for November (1985)

MARK A. MILLER (b. 1967), a native of Burlington, Vermont,  received a B.A. (Organ Performance/Composition) from Yale University and an M.M. (Organ Performance) from Juilliard.  In 1989, he won First Prize in the National Association of Negro Musicians National Organ Competition. He is currently Director of Music for the Drew University Theological School (Madison, NJ) and Director of Music for Chatham United Methodist Church (Chatham, NJ). Miller is also an organist for the Nightwatch Program at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. In addition to organ music, he has written for voice, chorus, and handbells. Reverie constitutes the second movement of Miller's Verses. (See Example 10.)

Organ Compositions (Published Scores)

Fantasias for Pentecost (1983)

Jubilate (1984)

Toccata on the Mountain (1994

Verses: [Prelude and Fugue, Reverie, Toccata] (1996)

Epilogue

In Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, the author writes: "Whether they [blacks] will be equal to the composition of a more extensive run of melody, or of complicated harmony, is yet to be proved." Should one be in quest of proof today, it is necessary to look no further than the compositions represented in this and the previous article. Some of these composers have attained a certain measure of renown; others are less renown, but there are several unmentioned here who are also very fine, even if unknown but to a small handful of devoted supporters and disciples. Given the findings, it is rather safe to say that African-American classical organ music exists sufficiently both in quality and quantity. No longer is there need for queries and proof, but rather concerts and recitals, recordings and publication, and most of all, a fervent commitment by the performer.                      

 

Notes

                        1.                  Mickey Thomas Terry, "African-American Organ Literature, A Selective Overview," The Diapason (April, 1996): 14.

                        2.                  Mickey Thomas Terry, "African-American  Classical Organ Music: A Case of Neglect," The American Organist Magazine (March, 1997): 60n.

                        3.                  This reference provides information concerning the historical perspective of the black composer, Ibid: 56-61.

                        4.                  Therein, Jefferson briefly assesses the musical capabilities of blacks: "In music they are more generally gifted than the whites with accurate ears for tune and time, and they have been found capable of imagining a small catch. Whether they will be equal to the composition of a more extensive run of melody, or of complicated harmony, is yet to be proved." Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, ed. William Peden (New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1982), 140.

                        5.                  Terry, "African-American Classical Organ Music," TAO, 59n.

                        6.                  The first black to be admitted to Peabody Conservatory was Paul Archibald Brent (1907-1997) of Baltimore. Brent, an honors graduate, received a teaching certificate in piano (1953). He subsequently received a B.M. Degree from Morgan State University in Baltimore. When interviewed, Anne Garside, Peabody's Information Director, provided the following information regarding the situation: "The director [conservatory] at the time was Reginald Stewart who very much wanted to abolish the color bar because not only had Peabody faculty been teaching African-American students for years under the table, [but] some of these black students were among the best musicians in the city . . . " The Baltimore Sun, Mar. 21, 1997, 5B.

                        7.                  Philadelphia Inquirer (Oct. 31, 1996), E6.

                        8.                  This sonata is comprised of three movements, none of which has been titled by the composer. The movements listed here are more or less described either by their form or tempo markings. In the case of the second movement, there is neither a title nor tempo marking indicated; consequently, the title indicated is provided by the writer to describe a suggested tempo.

by Enrique Alberto

The name Arthur C. Becker was familiar to the readers of THE DIAPASON in the period of the 1930s to the 60s because of his many articles and frequent notices of his activities. In addition to his accomplishments as an organist and college administrator, Dr. Becker was an able composer who composed much organ and liturgical music for St. Vincent de Paul Church in Chicago, where he was organist and music director from 1918 to 1973. That he was so long associated with this church gave him ample opportunity to create music not only to demonstrate his own virtuosity as an organist but also to support the services of the church.

Background

Arthur C. Becker (1895-1976) was the founding dean of DePaul University's School of Music and served as organist and choirmaster at St. Vincent de Paul Church from 1918 to 1973. Born in Louisville, Kentucky on September 20, 1895, Becker soon evidenced talent for playing the organ. After holding a number of positions in the Louisville area, Becker moved to Chicago in 1918, where he received a Bachelor of Music and later a Master of Music degree from the Sherwood Conservatory. Among his teachers were Wilhelm Middleschulte and Gaston Dethier in organ and Josef Lhevinne in piano. In 1918 Becker organized DePaul University's School of Music and began his position at St. Vincent de Paul Church. In 1922 Becker went to Paris to study organ with Charles-Marie Widor and Marcel Dupré, and composition with Albert Roussel. In 1942 he received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from The Chicago Musical College. Because of his distinguished service, Becker became an affiliate of the Vincentian order in 1964 and was awarded the Via Sapientiae, DePaul University's highest honor, in 1966. He died in 1976, one of the most respected members of the Chicago musical community and the leading Catholic church musician of the city.

In general, Becker's music is conservative, with the strong influence of the French school of the late Romantic period much in evidence. His organ study in France and his composition studies with Albert Roussel fostered a love for the French repertory. In addition, Becker's own manner of organ performance was decidedly in the French tradition.

Sonus Epulantis

The purpose of the present article is to consider the Sonus Epulantis for organ, one of his finest compositions. What I assume to be an earlier work, Prelude to a Sacred Drama (no date), is the basis for Sonus Epulantis. The differences between the two are few: Prelude to a Sacred Drama begins with slightly fuller harmonies, and there are some differences in dynamic indications. Other than these slight details, the two compositions are the same, though the manuscript style for Sonus Epulantis is smaller and neater.

At this time little is known about the date and the reason for composing this work. My impression, as we shall see, is that it is a late work. The title is both curious and enigmatic. The literal translation is "the sounds of one rejoicing." The key to the title's meaning is found within the work itself. There is a musical quotation from the opening of the Gregorian sequence for Easter, Victimae Paschali. The opening lines of the sequence read:

Victimae paschali laudes immolent Christiani. Agnus redemit oves: Christus innocens Patri reconciliavit peccatores.

May Christians bring praise as the sacrificial offering to the Paschal Victim. The Lamb redeems the sheep. Innocent Christ reconciles sinners to the Father.

I interpret the title to relate to this sequence, for the "sounds of one rejoicing" are in truth the sounds of rejoicing at the Paschal feast. Easter, after all, celebrates the resurrection of Christ and the birth of spring. This is, therefore, the most joyful season of the liturgical year; thus Becker's Sonus is actually an Easter work, one that relates the Latin text of the sequence to the title. As far as I know, the title is Becker's own--it neither seems to be quotation or the title of some hymn.

There are two melodic ideas that dominate Sonus: the Gregorian quotation (Example 1), and another short melody that likewise seems to be derived from the Gregorian repertory (Example 2). Thus far I have not been able to identify the Gregorian chant, but I suspect this haunting melody is Becker's own. Does not this melody relate to the work's title? But for a composition that is supposed to be joyful, Sonus is strangely subdued. Again I interpret, but my impression is that Sonus reflects a deeply felt joy, one that is suffused with tranquility and introspection.

Structural features

Let us turn to the work itself. In general, Sonus is marked by linear counterpoint that creates friction between the lines and quartal harmonies. (Example 3)  Peculiar harmonic inflections are also common. (Example 4) The general structure results from the cantus firmus treatment of the two melodic ideas mentioned above. Becker's own melodic idea is presented as an ostinato and becomes the most striking feature of the work. (Example 2)

The work opens with a sustained D in the bass. Quartal harmonies with dissonance are here featured, creating a prelude from mm. 1 to 30. An Allegro maestoso begins at m. 31. Here the ostinato is introduced, with fragmentation and variation. Increasingly chromatic harmonies and active rhythms provide intensity. The texture clears and there is a return to D as the tonal center. At m. 76 the opening of the Victimae paschali is quoted and then treated as a cantus firmus against active figuration. At m. 93 the ostinato is presented against the opening of the Victimae Paschali. A change to 6/4 meter and D major appears at m. 108, introducing a free variant of the sequence and veiled references to the ostinato. At m. 121, D minor returns with active rhythm and a combination of the two melodic fragments. At m. 139, the Adagio tempo returns with the final appearance of the ostinato pattern used as the cadence.

Stylistic features

There are a number of features of Sonus Epulantis that imply it is a later work of Becker's. The harmonies are frequently dissonant. The enigmatic title and the haunting melody used as the ostinato are also unusual. Was this work composed for some special Easter occasion? I rather suspect that it was, for it could well have been featured as an interlude during one of those grand Easter services that Becker was so famous for. Although Sonus Epulantis is carefully composed, it reflects Becker's mastery as an improviser. Each section leads into the next, creating contrast and climaxes but always referring to the two thematic ideas.

The score includes registration suggestions and manual designations and is intended for a large romantic organ of three manuals and pedal. The registrations include both general and specific instructions. For example, the work opens with the registration: Sw: Soft Strings, Gt: Foundations, Ch: Dulciana, Ped: 16¢ and 8¢, and the dynamic is piano. Within the first 15 measures the music crescendos to fortissimo, presuming the use of the crescendo pedal or carefully worked out general and divisional piston changes. Five measures later, the score indicates piano. Later instructions include such indications as "Gt and Sw Full" and "Gt Diapasons to Full Sw," along with crescendo to full organ. The middle section indicates Sw: Diapason and Ch: Clarinet; and later Sw: Solo Stop (Trompette) and Ch: Soft Flutes; later still Sw: Flutes and Strings 8¢, 4¢. Another crescendo in measures 117 to 128 builds to full organ, achieved with the crescendo pedal or numerous piston changes. After a climax on V2 of iv, the piece ends quietly on the Swell Voix Celeste and the Great soft Flute. Performance requirements include a thorough control of legato touch, octaves in the manuals and pedal, brilliant 16-note figuration, and numerous manual and registration changes. Two enclosed divisions are intended.

 

Summary

 

Unfortunately, Becker's music has fallen into oblivion. A concert of his music on the 125th anniversary of St. Vincent de Paul church on November 5, 2000 revealed a composer with a solid technique and profound commitment to religious expression. Of all the compositions on this program, Sonus Epulantis was the most expressive and most beautiful. It reflects the emotions of a man who had lived a long life in church music and wished to express the spiritual satisfaction that life had given him. Its transcendence suggests it was one of the last compositions Becker wrote and that it was a kind of opus ultimum--a final statement of his life and purpose.

Becker bibliography

"Who's Who Among American Organists," The Diapason, October, 1925, p. 10.

"Arthur Becker appointed director of the chorus of the Illinois Club for Catholic Women," The Diapason, July, 1930, p. 46.

"Catholic Church Music: Three New Masses of Interest," The Diapason, August, 1932, p. 23.

Arthur C. Becker, 1/4 page display ad, Concert Management McNab & Gressing, The Diapason, September, 1933, p. 7.

"Arthur C. Becker broadcasts recitals in university course," The Diapason, April, 1936, p. 20.

"Arthur C. Becker, A.A.G.O., dean of the school of music of DePaul University, Chicago, and organist and choirmaster of St. Vincent's Church, completed his thirty-third broadcast of organ music from station WGN . . .," The Diapason, July, 1938, p. 17.

"Becker and School to Mark Anniversary: serves a quarter century," The Diapason, April, 1943, p. 7.

"Dr. Arthur C. Becker on April 5 observed his 36th anniversary as organist and choirmaster of the Catholic Church of St. Vincent de Paul," The Diapason, May, 1954, p. 6.

"Dr. Arthur C. Becker, dean of DePaul University's school of music, is shown at the console of the three-manual Moller organ donated anonymously to the school," The Diapason, April, 1957, p. 1.

"Arthur C. Becker celebrates 40th anniversary," The Diapason, April, 1958, p. 6.

"Dr. Arthur C. Becker will retire as dean of the school of music at DePaul University, Chicago, after 48 years as its head," The Diapason, March, 1966, p. 26.

"Arthur C. Becker celebrates 50 years at St. Vincent de Paul Church," The Diapason, May, 1968, p. 2.

"Arthur C. Becker will observe his 52nd anniversary as organist and choirmaster of St. Vincent de Paul Church," The Diapason, April, 1970, p. 8.

"Nunc Dimittis," The Diapason, April, 1976, p. 11.

Arthur C. Becker Work List

Organ

Brünnhilde's Awakening and Finale from Siegfried-Richard Wagner, arranged for organ by Arthur C. Becker, February 12, 1933.

Four Antiphons of the Blessed Virgin Mary Choral-Paraphrased for Organ (1948?).  Alma Redemptoris Mater, Ave Regina Caelorum, Regina Coeli, Salve Regina. Published by McLaughlin & Reilly Co., Boston, M&R Co. #1590-20, copyright MCMXLVIII.

Miniature Suite for Organ (August 4, 1962), dedication:  "To René Dosogne." I Con Moto, II Moderato, III Moderato, IV Con Moto. Unpublished manuscript.

Music for Low Mass (no date), Suite for Organ. Introit-Effusum est, Offertory-In virtute tua, Elevation-Benedictus-Mass XI, Communion-Religio munda, Post-lude-Alleluia. Unpublished manuscript.

Prelude to a Sacred Drama (no date). Unpublished manuscript. Note: This piece reworked into "Sonus Epulantis" listed below.

Retrospection (February 11, 1969). Unpublished manuscript.

Scherzando (August 22, 1966). Unpublished manuscript.

Second Sonata for Organ (no date), dedication:  "To my friend and colleague Herman Pedtke." I Larghetto, II Lively, III Andante, IV Moderato. Unpublished manuscript.

Sonus Epulantis for Organ (no date). Unpublished manuscript.

Three Sketches for Organ (June 25, 1969). I Andante, II Andante, III Allegro  Maestoso. Unpublished manuscript.

There was also a First Sonata for Organ written in the 1920s. The manuscript for this has been lost. Two of the movements had been arranged for brass sextet. Paean for brass sextet [New York] Remick Music Corp., ©1938. Library of Congress Call # M657.B4 P3. Romance for brass sextet [New York] Remick Music Corp., ©1938. Library of Congress Call # M657.B4 R6.

Organ and Piano

Concert Overture (April 16, 1941). Unpublished manuscript. Probably written for performance with his wife Barbara S. Becker.

Choral

Published Works

Alleluia-Choral Part for the Toccata from Organ Symphony No. 5 by C.M. Widor.  Published by McLaughlin & Reilly Co., Boston, copyright MCMLV.

Ave Maria (early 1930s?), a cappella, Latin. Published by McLaughlin & Reilly Co., Boston, copyright MCMXXXV, "In the Caecilia (June, 1935)."

Creator of the Stars of Night, Sacred Chorus for Mixed Voices, S.S.A.A.T.T.B.B. a cappella, Published by Hall & McCreary Co., Chicago, copyright 1940.

Mass in Honor of St. Vincent de Paul, "Dedicated to my sister Lucile," SSAATTBB and organ, Latin, Boston, McLaughlin & Reilly Co., ©1937. There are also string parts (in manuscript) for this Mass-V1, V2, Vla, VC, DB.

Mass in Honor of the Holy Name, SATB Voices and Organ, Latin, dedication:  "To Msgr. Charles N. Meter, S.T.D., Mus.D., and the Cardinal's Cathedral Choisters, Chicago, Ill." Published by McLaughlin & Reilly Co., Boston, copyright MCMLIX.

Mass "Lord God, Heavenly King," English Mass for Congregation and Choir of Four Mixed Voices with Organ. Published by Gregorian Institute of America, Toledo, Ohio, copyright 1966.

Mass of the Sacred Heart, SATB Voices and Organ with Congregation ad lib. Published by Gregorian Institute of America, Toledo, Ohio, copyright 1966.

One Is Holy, SATB a cappella. Published by McLaughlin & Reilly Co., Boston, copyright MCMLXIX.

Arrangements

Bless the Lord, O My Soul, Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov (1859-1935), arranged for S.A.T.B. by Arthur C. Becker. A cappella. Published by GIA Publications, Chicago, copyright 1970.

Come Holy Spirit, Orlando Gibbons, arranged for SATB Voices with Organ. Published by GIA Publications, Chicago, copyright 1970.

The Lord Bless You, J.S. Bach, arranged by Arthur C. Becker. Text: "From the concluding prayer of a Commissioning Service. Freely Translated by A.C.B."  S.A.T.B. a cappella. Published by GIA Publications, Chicago, copyright 1970.

Unpublished Works

Adore Te Devote (no date), for soprano, alto, tenor, bass and organ, Latin.

Ave Maria (no date), SATB a cappella, Latin. (This is different from the published Ave Maria listed above.)

Blessed Be God The Father (October 11, 1969), for mixed voices, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones and organ, English.

Cantate Domino-Come, let us sing to the Lord (no date), SATB and organ, English.

Domine Deus (April, 1958), "To St. Vincent Choir," SATB with organ, Latin.

Have Mercy On Me (May 2, 1967), SATB with organ, English.

I Will Delight in Your Commands (February 4, 1970), SATB and organ, English.

Mass in Honor of St. Barbara (no date), for mixed choir, congregation and organ, "In Memory of my Beloved Wife, Barbara."

Mass (Untitled) (May 20, 1970), "To St. Vincent de Paul Church Choir," SATB with organ, English.

Missa Brevis (no date), SATB, organ (ad libitum), Latin.

O Lord, I Am Not Worthy (May 8, 1966), SATB a cappella, English.

Our Father (December 28, 1965), SATB a cappella, English.

Panis Angelicus (no date), SATB, organ, Latin.

Rejoice unto the Lord (July 17, 1966),  "Respectfully Dedicated to Rev. Charles E. Cannon, C.M., Pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Church, Chicago Illinois," SATB with organ, English.

Yours Is Princely Power (January 4, 1969), Scriptural Response Christmas Midnight Mass, SATB with organ, English.

Arrangements

Agnus Dei, Kalinnikoff, arranged with Latin words by Arthur C. Becker, soprano solo, alto solo, S.S.A.A.

Hymn-Accept Almighty Father, four part chorus of mixed voices.

Hymn-At That First Eucharist, arranged for solo, mixed choir and congregation.

Hymn-Crown Him with Many Crowns.

Hymn-For All The Saints, R. Vaughan Williams.

Hymn-Forty Days and Forty Nights, arranged for 4 voices and organ.

Missa Plebs Dei, David Kraehenbuehl, arranged for 4 voices.

Missa Regina Pacis, Albert J. Dooner, English arrangement of  Latin mass.

Send Forth Thy Light, Balakirev (?), alto solo, SATB solos and mixed choir with organ.

Miscellaneous

DePaul University "Fight Song," Published by DePaul University Press, 64 East Lake Street, circa early 1930s.

by James B. Hartman

James B. Hartman is Senior Academic Editor for publications of the Distance Education Program, Continuing Education Division, The University of Manitoba. His recent publications include articles on the early histories of music and theater in Manitoba. He is a frequent contributor of book reviews and articles to The Diapason.

                  All excellent things are as difficult as they are rare.

--Baruch Spinoza, Ethics (1677)

 

The organ has been a prominent feature of the musical life of Canada since the earliest days of the first European settlement. The first organs were brought from France to Québec City around 1600 and organbuilding flourished mainly in Québec and Ontario from the mid-nineteenth century onward.1 Growth in organbuilding accelerated in the years 1880-1950 following the establishment of Casavant Frères in 1879 in Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec. Therefore it is not surprising that organists became prominent around the same time.

As soon as trained musicians began arriving in Canada, usually from England, many of them opened music studios to offer private instruction in piano, voice, organ, and violin. Some were also active in community orchestras or served as church organists and choirmasters. A few took employment in local music stores to supplement their meagre income from professional duties. With the advent of silent films in the early 1900s some organists obtained positions at theaters that had installed pipe organs where they played improvised or specially arranged accompaniments to the events unfolding on the silver screen.

Although the great majority of organists were known only in their local communities, some gifted individuals achieved wider recognition by making exceptional contributions to the musical culture of the country. This article will chronicle the careers and accomplishments of seven such outstanding organists who were active in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Frederick H. Torrington (1837- 1917) was born in Dudley, near Birmingham, England, where he received his early musical training. Later studies in piano, organ, theory, and choral music led to his position as organist at St. Ann's Church in Bewdley at the age of sixteen.

Torrington moved to Canada in 1856, first working as a piano tuner in Montréal then as organist-choirmaster at St. James Street Methodist Church. He taught privately and at several schools, and conducted instrumental and choral groups, including the Montréal Amateur Musical Union. For three years he was bandmaster of the 25th Regiment, Queen's Own Borderers. In 1869 he organized the Canadian section of an orchestra that performed in the First Peace Jubilee in Boston. In the same year he settled in Boston to become organist at King's Chapel and to join the New England Conservatory of Music as teacher of piano and organ; he also conducted various choral groups and was violinist in the Harvard (later Boston) Symphony Orchestra. He gave organ recitals in Boston, New York, and other eastern cities.

In 1873 Torrington returned to Canada to become organist-choirmaster at Metropolitan Methodist Church in Toronto and conductor of the Toronto Philharmonic Society 1873-94. His influence on the musical life of Toronto included conducting choral-orchestral works and organizing musical festivals. Other activities included director of music at the Ontario Ladies' College in Whitby, conductor of the Hamilton Philharmonic Society in the 1880s, and founder of the Toronto Conservatory of Music in 1888, serving as its director until his death.

In the late 1880s Torrington became president of a group modelled on the Royal College of Organists, founded in England in 1864, dedicated to uniting organists and raising the standards of the profession. Although his group did not last for long, it was a predecessor of the Canadian College of Organists, founded in 1909. Torrington's work with various amateur orchestras led to the formal establishment of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1906. He left his organist post at Metropolitan Church in 1907 for a similar position at High Park Methodist Church.

It should be recalled that in these times the organ was regarded as a substitute for the orchestra; consequently, organ recital programs usually included a number of transcriptions. For example, one of Torrington's recitals in 1869 included Rossini's William Tell Overture and the Andante from Beethoven's Septet on the same program with Mendelssohn's Organ Sonata No. 1. Nevertheless, Torrington championed the music of Bach, and his performances of the master's works were enthusiastically received by his audiences. He composed several patriotic songs, a choral work, and some organ music.

Herbert A. Fricker (1868-1943) was born in Canterbury, England, where he received his early musical training as a chorister, and later as assistant organist, at Canterbury Cathedral. In London he studied with Frederick Bridge and Edwin Lemare. His subsequent career in Leeds included city organist, symphony orchestra founder and conductor, and festival choirmaster, along with other positions as organist in various churches and schools, and as a choral society conductor.

Fricker came to Canada in 1917 to become conductor of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, a position he held until 1942. His cross-border musical activities began immediately with his choir's program with the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra under Leopold Stokowski in 1918; this reciprocal association continued for seven years. Under Fricker's leadership the choir gave Canadian premieres of several major choral works by such composers as Beethoven, Berlioz, and Walton. Fricker served as organist at Metropolitan United Church, Toronto 1917-43, organ instructor at the Toronto Conservatory of Music 1918-32, staff member at the University of Toronto, and conductor of the Canadian National Exhibition chorus 1922-34. He was an active organ recitalist and adjudicated many competition festivals. He was president of the Canadian College of Organists 1925-6.

Fricker composed several organ works and made arrangements for organ, all published by various London firms. His choral pieces included both sacred and secular works. Over his lifetime Fricker accumulated an extensive library of books and musical scores that were given to Toronto libraries after his death.

William Hewlett (1873-1940) was born in Batheaston, England, where he was a choirboy at Bath Abbey before moving to Canada with his family in 1884.

In his new country he enrolled at the Toronto Conservatory of Music where he studied organ, piano, theory, and orchestration, graduating in 1893 with a gold medal for organ playing and extemporization. While in Toronto he served as organist-choirmaster at Carlton Street Methodist Church at the age of seventeen. In 1895 he moved to London, Ontario, to become organist-choirmaster at Dundas Centre Methodist Church and conductor of the London Vocal Society 1896-1902. Later he moved to Hamilton, Ontario, to become musical director at Centenary Methodist Church 1902-38; his Twilight Recitals on Saturday afternoons were a significant aspect of the Hamilton music scene for about twenty-five years. He was one of the founders of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and served as its first accompanist 1895-7, and he accompanied the celebrated singers Ernestine Schumann-Heink and Dame Clara Butt when they visited Canada. He was one of the co-directors of the Hamilton Conservatory of Music and served as its sole principal 1918-39; during this time he travelled widely in Canada as adjudicator and examiner. He conducted the Elgar Choir, which was frequently joined by the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra. In 1927 he conducted a 1000-voice choir in a celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of the Confederation of Canada.

Hewlett was a prolific composer in the smaller forms; he contributed to the Methodist Hymn and Tune Book (1917) and was one of the compilers of the United Church Hymnary (1930). He was one of the most respected Canadian organists of his generation and an expert on church organ installations. He served as national president of the Canadian College of Organists 1928-9.

Healey Willan (1880-1968) was born in Balham (later part of London), England, and was taught music at the age of four by his mother and his governess. At the age of eight he entered St. Saviour's Choir School, Eastbourne, where he studied piano and organ. By the age of eleven he directed the choir and alternated with the incumbent organist in playing evensong services. After private organ study in London he served as organist-choirmaster at three churches in various parts of England in succession 1898-1913. During this time he developed a reputation as an authority on plainchant in the vernacular (i.e., English, not Latin).

Willan came to Canada in 1913 to head the theory department of the Toronto Conservatory of Music and to become organist-choirmaster at St. Paul's Anglican Church, Toronto. His recital programs around this time exhibited his comprehensive repertoire, including much English music. In 1914 he was appointed lecturer and examiner for the University of Toronto and served as director of the university's Hart House Theatre, writing and conducting music for plays. He was vice-principal of the Toronto Conservatory of Music 1919-25 but his position was terminated as an economy measure and possibly on account of internal politicking involving Ernest MacMillan (see below). In 1921 he became organist-choirmaster at the Anglican Church of St. Mary Magdalene, an association that continued until his death; while there he introduced an Anglo-Catholic style of service music.

Apparently Willan possessed a facetious brand of wit: he was heard to say that the organ was a dull instrument, that organ recitals bored him, and that he was unable to play his own major compositions. On being elected president of the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto in 1923 he promptly set its constitution to music.

Willan held many influential appointments: member of the Arts and Letters Club for fifty years, president 1923; president of the Canadian College of Organists 1922-3, 1933-5; honorary president and life member of the Royal Canadian College of Organists; university organist at the University of Toronto 1932-64 and teacher of counterpoint and composition 1937-50; president of the Authors and Composers Association of Canada 1933; chairman of the board of examiners of Bishop's University; summer guest lecturer at the University of Michigan 1937, 1938; chairman of the British Organ Restoration Fund to help finance the rebuilding of the organ at Coventry Cathedral 1943; summer guest lecturer at the University of California at Los Angeles 1949; co-founder and musical director of the Gregorian Association of Toronto, 1950; founder and musical director of the Toronto Diocesan Choir School; and fellow of the Ancient Monuments Society of England. He was commissioned to compose an anthem for the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953, the first nonresident of Britain to be so honored.

Willan's public honors included the Canada Council Medal 1961, Companion of the Order of Canada 1967, and a diploma from the Province of Ontario in recognition of his role in Canadian musical life. A group of his admirers formed the Healey Willan Centennial Celebration Committee to encourage activities marking the centenary of his birth in 1980, and the Canada Post Office issued a commemorative stamp bearing his portrait.2

Willan was a prolific composer. His works encompassed dramatic music, vocal music with instrumental ensemble, works for orchestra and band, chamber music, piano works, organ works,3 and choral works; many of the latter have been recorded by groups in Canada, the USA, and England. He also wrote twenty-four articles on church music and organ playing.4

Lynwood Farnam (1885-1930), who became a legend in the organ world, was born in Sutton, Québec, a small town southeast of Montréal. Following basic musical training he continued his studies for three years as a scholarship student at the Royal College of Music in London, England, beginning in 1900. He held several church positions in Montréal and taught at the McGill Conservatorium until accepting a post at Emmanuel Church, Boston, in 1913. The story is that he impressed the audition committee by presenting a list of 200 pieces that he had committed to memory, stating that he was willing to perform any of them; he was hired immediately.

After overseas service during the war Farnam became organist-choirmaster at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York, in 1919. By the time he played his last recital there in 1920 he had given 500 organ recitals. As a concert organist his performances were noted for their flawless technique, infallible memory, and profound musicianship. His reputation was consolidated among his colleagues by a dazzling performance for the American Guild of Organists in 1920. In 1925 he made organ rolls for two companies that manufactured player organs. 

Farnam's New York fame gained him an appointment in 1927 as head of the organ department at the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, where he taught weekly until his death at the age of forty-five. His pupils included a number of prominent Canadian and American organists. At the climax of his career in 1928-9 he played the complete organ works of Bach in twenty recitals in New York, repeating each program at least once in response to public demand.

Although Farnam did no improvising and composed only one piece for organ, he was one of the great interpreters of his time, introducing North American and European audiences to contemporary organ music, particularly that of French and American composers, as well as to the forerunners of Bach. Louis Vierne dedicated his Organ Symphony No. 6 (1931) to Farnam's memory.

Ernest MacMillan (1893-1973) was born in Mimico (Metropolitan Toronto), the son of a Scottish Presbyterian minister who became an internationally recognized hymnologist. He began his organ study at the age of eight with the organist of Sherbourne Street Methodist Church in Toronto and performed in public shortly thereafter. He accompanied his father to Edinburgh, Scotland 1905-8, where he had the opportunity to take lessons from Alfred Hollins, the noted blind organist, occasionally substituting for him at St. George's West Church, Edinburgh. Around the same time he enrolled in music classes at the University of Edinburgh in preparation for his first diploma. Upon returning to Toronto, now at the age of fifteen, he took an appointment as organist at Knox Presbyterian Church, where he remained for two years. He then returned to Edinburgh and London to complete his work for the Fellow, Royal College of Organists diploma and extramural Bachelor of Music degree at Oxford University, both awarded in 1911 before his eighteenth birthday. Back in Toronto he served as organist-choirmaster at St. Paul's Presbyterian Church in Hamilton, commuting on weekends.

Thinking that his piano training had been neglected on account of his concentration on the organ, he went to Paris in 1914 for private study. While visiting Germany at the outbreak of war he was detained as a prisoner of war; there he befriended other English composers (including Quentin Maclean, see below), organized a camp orchestra for musicals, and concentrated on composition, including a work later submitted as part of the requirements for his Doctor of Music degree from Oxford University.

Back in Canada in 1919 he embarked on a lecture-recital tour of the west in which he played organ pieces and described his experiences as a war prisoner. In 1920 he began teaching organ and piano at the Canadian Academy of Music, and in 1926 became principal of the amalgamated Toronto Conservatory of Music. As an examiner and festival adjudicator, he travelled extensively throughout Canada offering stimulation and encouragement for musical development in small centers. In the following year he became dean of the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto, initially a titular position.

By this time MacMillan had moved away from the organ as an exclusive preoccupation; his new interests included education, administration, and developing systems and policies, although he continued to conduct and to compose new music and arrange old music as required. One of his unusual projects, in collaboration with an ethnologist in 1927, was recording and notating music of native peoples in northern British Columbia. In 1931 MacMillan became conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, a position that enabled him to develop an unused potential. In 1935 King George V knighted him for his services to music in Canada. In the late 1930s he gained fame as a conductor in the USA, appearing in such prominent series as the Hollywood Bowl concerts and with the symphony orchestras of Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC.

1942 was a banner year for MacMillan: first, he was offered, but did not accept, an invitation to succeed Donald Francis Tovey in the Reid Chair of Music at the University of Edinburgh; second, he succeeded Herbert Fricker as conductor of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir (see above). In 1945 he filled conducting engagements in Australia, and in Rio de Janeiro in the following year. Also in 1946 he was instrumental in establishing the Canadian Music Council and served as president of the Composers, Authors, and Publishers Association of Canada until 1969; one of his first projects was the organization of a concert of Canadian music for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. As part of his renewed interest in the piano he performed piano concertos with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, gave recitals, and made radio broadcasts. In 1950, during a weeklong festival to celebrate the Bach bicentenary, he offered a lecture-recital on the Clavierübung, playing all of Book 3 from memory. Although he resigned as conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1956, and of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir in 1957, he still accepted conducting engagements with other musical organizations, travelled throughout Canada to initiate new projects to encourage young musicians, and acted as a classical disc jockey for a Toronto radio station.

MacMillan was a productive composer of musical works for the stage, orchestra, orchestra and choir, band, chamber groups, keyboard, and choir and voice. His writings included works on music instruction, articles in music journals, and other publications. He has been the subject of numerous articles by other writers.

Recognized as Canada's musical elder statesman, in later years MacMillan served as a member of the first Canada Council 1957-63 on account of his extensive participation in the musical arts. He participated in the formation of the Canadian Music Centre, serving as its president 1959-70, and of the Jeunesses musicales of Canada, serving as its president 1961-3. He received the Canada Council Medal in 1964. He was recognized by many public tributes on his seventieth and seventy-fifth birthdays, and these events were marked by special publications and revivals of his works. In 1970 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada.

Quentin Maclean (1896-1962) was born in London, England, and studied organ there in the early 1900s and with Karl Straube (organ) and Max Reger (composition) in Leipzig 1912-14. During World War I he was interned in Germany where he met Ernest MacMillan (see above). In 1919 he served as assistant organist at Westminster Cathedral, then toured British theaters with newsman Lowell Thomas, providing background music for a lecture-film on Palestine. He was theater organist at many English cinemas 1921-1939 and began to broadcast regularly on BBC radio in 1925.

Maclean moved to Canada in 1939 where he continued his theater organ career in Toronto for ten years. He became one of the best-known organists of his time for his frequent radio broadcasts of background organ music for plays, poetry readings, and music for children's programs. He was organist-choirmaster at Holy Rosary Church 1940-62 and taught at the Toronto Conservatory of Music and at St. Michael's College, University of Toronto.

Maclean composed concertos for organ (two), harpsichord, piano, electric organ (two), harp, and violin; works for solo organ (eight), pieces for orchestra and other solo orchestral instruments, a string quartet, piano pieces, a cantata, and other choral works, among others. He was noted for his diverse musical interests, technical skills, musical memory, and high standards in the composition and performance of serious music, secular and liturgical.

*

Two features are noteworthy with respect to the individuals surveyed here. With the exceptions of Farnam and MacMillan they were born in England and received their early musical training there, which undoubtedly influenced their later musical orientation. Two of them lived for some time in the USA: Torrington 1869-73 and Farnam 1919-30, periods in which their careers flourished. The wide range of the experience and achievements of the seven organists is impressive. Taken collectively, they exhibited exceptional competence in a broad variety of activities: church musician, concert recitalist, teacher, lecturer, composer, arranger, conductor, festival organizer and adjudicator, examiner, writer, academic administrator, academic staff member, president of a professional organization, and expert on organ installation. At least one became a recognized authority in a specialized field (Willan, plainchant). All of them can be counted among those who have contributed significantly, in their specialized fields, to the musical life of Canada. 

 

Notes

                  1.              For a brief history of organbuilding and the major manufacturers, see James B. Hartman, “Canadian Organbuilding,” The Diapason 90, no. 5 (May 1999): 16-18; no. 6, (June 1999): 14-15.                 

                  2.              With Canadian soprano Emma Albani (1847-1930), who was commemorated in the same way at the same time, Willan was the first Canadian musician to be honored in this fashion.

                  3.              Willan made significant contributions to music for the organ. His monumental Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue (1916) was described by Joseph Bonnet as the greatest of its genre since Bach. Other works combine Englishness and European chromaticism reminiscent of Reger and Karg-Elert. After 1950 his works became more contrapuntal, and chorale preludes became his most frequent form of expression.

                  4.             See, for example, “Organ Playing in its Proper Relation to Music of the Church.” The Diapason 29, no. 10 (October 1937): 22-23. He discusses the different--but sometimes overlapping--functions of concert organists (excelling in technique) and church organists (beautifying the liturgies or verbal forms, supporting the congregation, accompanying the choir, and welding the entire service into an appropriate whole). “As a general rule, I do not like large organs, large choirs or large noises of any sort, but there are occasions when grandeur is not only appropriate, but positively necessary . . .” (23). 

 

The biographical information in this article is derived from the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada, Second Edition, and is used by permission from the University of Toronto Press.

Larry Palmer and Joyce Johnson Robinson

Larry Palmer is harpsichord editor of THE DIAPASON. Joyce Johnson Robinson is associate editor of THE DIAPASON.i

LP in LA: The 47th National Convention of the American Guild of Organists July 4-9, 2004

More than 2000 organ enthusiasts spent an exhilarating week in the City of the Angels, enjoying a well-paced, well-organized schedule of high-quality musical events. Los Angeles weather, cool and sunny, was a joy after a month of unusually abundant rain in Texas.

In a sense, each person experienced a unique convention, since many of the morning programs were given two or three times in order to accommodate the number of attendees, and afternoon activities had been pre-selected from the more than 60 workshops and competition rounds offered. Evening events usually accommodated the entire convention, the exception being Tuesday's three concurrent services of worship. Perception and reception of particular events, thus, were influenced by the particular sequence in which they were experienced. For instance, Monday morning's "green group" progression of three recitals provided a satisfying order, while Wednesday's schedule did not. 

Rather than a chronological, day by day report, here are some high points from "my" convention choices.

The Walt Disney Concert Hall and the first public performances on its Glatter-Götz/Rosales organ

Architect Frank Gehry's landmark building, new home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, is a striking and beautiful creation, immediately taking its place among America's most exciting concert halls. This 274 million dollar project pays apt tribute to American film maker Walt Disney with its decidedly whimsical and non-traditional architecture, and Gehry's organ case satisfies Lillian Disney's request that the organ not suggest a church. The controlled chaos of the pipe façade is the visual focus of the concert room; it is, however, well integrated into the hall, largely due to the use of the same wood, Douglas fir, for pipes, wall, and ceiling.

The 109-rank, four-manual organ is equipped with two consoles. In traditional case placement, the mechanical-action one was utilized for Joseph Adam's solo performances of Reger's Fantasia on BACH, Vierne's Naïades (played fleetly with impressionistic bravura), and Danse and Finale from Naji Hakim's Hommage à Igor Stravinsky. A movable, electric-action console, placed in front of the orchestra to the left of conductor Alexander Mickelthwate, allowed proper soloists' positions for organists Cherry Rhodes, in the program-opening premiere of James Hopkins' Concierto de Los Angeles, and Robert Parris, for the rarely-heard Concerto I in C Major of Leo Sowerby.

Architect Gehry was in attendance; so was the acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota, and the organ builders. A pre-concert stroll through Melinda Taylor's stunning gardens allowed an opportunity to view Gehry's rose-shaped fountain created from 8,000 hand-broken pieces of blue and white Delft china--his "Rose for Lilly," in honor of Mrs. Disney.

Solo Organ Performances

Mary Preston at the Glatter-Götz organ opus 2 (1998) in Claremont United Church of Christ

Dallas Symphony resident organist Mary Preston played a perfectly constructed program on a splendid mechanical-action organ in a church with sympathetic acoustical environment. At her third performance of the morning Ms. Preston elicited spontaneous (and forbidden) applause with a compelling opening work, Jean Guillou's dazzling, difficult, and complex Toccata; left us spellbound with the magical gossamer conclusion of Duruflé's Scherzo; showed both charm and considerable comedic ability in George Akerley's A Sweet for Mother Goose (six movements for organ and narrator based on familiar nursery rhymes); and displayed an absolutely magisterial rhythmic control in Jongen's Sonata eroïca. Program notes by Laurie Shulman pointed out a musical connection between Jongen and Messiaen, an analogy strengthened by the happily chirping birds heard through open windows on the right side of the church.  Human auditors were equally ecstatic at this stellar performance.

Martin Jean at the Dobson organ in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels

Yale University's Martin Jean gave a riveting performance of the complete Dupré Passion Symphony as conclusion to the second half of the first concert attended by the entire convention crowd. Spanish architect Rafael Moneo's massive cathedral, dedicated in 2002, seats 3,000 people in a spacious contemporary edifice of restrained elegance. The four-manual, 105-rank Dobson organ fills this space with noble and powerful sounds, as expected from its impressive 32-foot façade principals and dominating horizontal reeds. The organ performance was all the more appreciated coming as it did after a choral performance of works by Byron Adams, Morten Lauridsen, and C. Hubert H. Parry horribly amplified through the Cathedral's public address system. (Seated in the last row, we heard the choral sounds through crackling speakers positioned in the downward pointing, trumpet-shaped central posts of the chandeliers; any hope of a balance with the accompanying organ was thereby destroyed.)

Samuel Soria at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels

Cathedral organist Samuel Soria played a prelude-recital before the Friday morning business meeting of the American Guild of Organists. Wanting to hear the Dobson organ from the best possible vantage point, we eschewed bus transport, walked the few blocks from the convention hotel to the cathedral, got there before the crowd, and chose an optimal seat in the left transept, diagonally across from the organ case. There the organ had splendid presence, character, and all the fullness one could want, qualities well illustrated in the playing of this talented young man. An appreciated tie-in to AGO history, his opening piece, Fanfare by past-president Alec Wyton, displayed the organ's horizontal reeds to fine advantage.  Atmospheric impressionism was equally well served in Herbert Howells' Psalm Prelude, set 2, number 1 ("De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine") with its steady crescendo from the softest stop to a mighty full organ climax, and the corollary retreat to near silence. But it was in Sowerby's fiendishly difficult middle movement from his Symphony in G ("Fast and Sinister"--listed in the program as "Faster") that Soria best displayed his formidable technique and sense of the work's architecture, giving a sensitive, secure reading of this quintuple-meter tour de force.

Christopher Lane at the NYACOP Finals in St. James Episcopal Church

One of three finalists to compete in the National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance, Lane, a student at the Eastman School of Music, gave the only playing of the required Roger-Ducasse Pastorale to realize both its delicacy and forward sweep. With no lack of virtuosity in the culminating mid-section "storm" music, Lane also limned the delicate contrapuntal writing in this unique organ work from the French composer.  Judges Craig Cramer, Bruce Neswick, and Kathryn Pardee, deliberating at length, chose Yoon-Mi Lim (Bloomington) as first place winner. Dong-ill Shin (Boston) was the third contestant.  Additional required repertoire played by all three contestants included Deux Danses (Le miroir de Meduse and Le Cercle des Bacchantes) by California composer James Hopkins, and Bach's Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C, BWV 654, the only organ work by the master included in the published convention program book. (This final competition round was heard by approximately one-tenth of the convention registrants.) One additional Bach piece, a chorale prelude from the Orgelbüchlein, Herr Christ, der ein'ge Gottes Sohn, BWV 601, was played simply and stylistically by Namhee Han, a guest organist who gave the pre-concert recital before ensemble amarcord's program at Wilshire United Methodist Church. Ms. Han holds the Ph.D. in applied linguistics and is currently studying for her MM in organ at UCLA.

Paul Jacobs at Westwood United Methodist Church

Young Mr. Jacobs, playing from memory, had no technical or musical limitations during his noontime playing of the monumental Reger Chorale-Fantasy on Hallelujah, Gott zu loben. It was refreshing to hear Handel's G-minor Organ Concerto (opus 4, no. 1) as a representative (albeit in transcription) of the conspicuously absent baroque organ repertoire. Jacobs' attractive program also included John Weaver's Toccata and the premiere of Margaret Vardell Sandresky's The Mystery of Faith. With four manuals and 153 pipe ranks, the Schantz organ could have recused the added 85 digital voices to the advantage of the whole.

Lynne Davis at First Congregational Church

American organist Lynne Davis has spent much of her distinguished career in France. For her pre-service recital before Evensong she played three works from the French organ repertoire: Vierne's Toccata in B-flat minor, opus 53/6, Marchand's Grand Dialogue in C, and Franck's mighty Choral in E Major on the immense composite organs of First Congregational Church, comprising five manuals, 339 ranks, and seven digital voices for a truly "surround sound" experience. It was playing of intensity with a distinctly personal approach; especially in the Franck, Ms. Davis presented a nuanced, individual, and ultimately satisfying reading of this Romantic masterwork. In the Marchand, the organ certainly provided commanding reeds for a classic French Grand Jeu, but seemed to be lacking a Cromhorne of sufficiently aggressive character to assure a proper balance for the accompanying voices.

Choral Performances

ensemble amarcord at Wilshire United Methodist Church

The five-man vocal ensemble, all former members of the St. Thomas Choir of Leipzig, filled several unique categories at this convention: they were the only Europeans engaged for the program, and they gave the only ensemble presentation of a work by J. S. Bach, a two-stanza chorale from the Kreuzstab Cantata, BWV 56, "Du, o schönes Weltgebäude." It received an especially eloquent performance, with words perfectly articulated, and the almost-painfully beautiful suspensions viscerally calibrated for maximum tension and release of the piquant harmonies. The particularly welcome program alternated early music (stark and athletic organum, supple Byrd motets, the familiar Tallis anthem If Ye Love Me, elegant in its noble simplicity) with 20th (and 21st) century choral works.  The concluding Gloria (2001) by Sidney Marquez Boquiren was performed with the singers in a circle.  Long-held dissonant chords built around an ostinato pitch, were sustained throughout with nearly-unbelievable breath control. Repeated text phrases swirled like incense to create an unforgettable shimmer of sound. From start to finish this was virtuoso music making, with not a microphone or speaker to mar the sound.

Dale Adelmann's setting of the Spiritual "Steal Away to Jesus"

Heard as the Introit for the Service of Evensong at First Congregational Church, this, and the equally exquisite singing of Herbert Howells' St. Paul's Service by the choirs of All Saints' and St. James' Episcopal Churches, conducted by Adelmann and James Buonemani, proved to be the full ensemble choral highlights of the convention for this listener. Of course, choirs need to be superb at these services to compare with the hymn singing of a thousand, or more, organists, most of them paying attention to punctuation, pitch, and proper vocal production. It makes for participatory experiences that remain in the memory.

New Music

David Conte: Prelude and Fugue (In Memoriam Nadia Boulanger) for Organ Solo. E. C. Schirmer No. 6216.

What a way to begin the first solo organ recital of a convention! A single pedal B-flat sang out gently. Then a theme, beginning with the opening intervals of Raison's (and J. S. Bach's) Passacaglia was spun into a 14-measure cantilena, after which the solemn five-minute Prelude built slowly, always above the continuing pedal point. The ensuing Fugue, its memorable subject carefully shaped by Ken Cowan at the recent Fisk organ in Bridges Hall of Music at Pomona College, fulfilled the promise of the Prelude, moving inexorably from duple to triple accompanimental figurations, and building to a full climax with pedal flourishes. A work worthy of Maurice Duruflé or Gabriel Fauré, and a fitting tribute, as well, to Boulanger, the great French teacher with whom Conte studied for three years early in his career.

George Akerley: A Sweet for Mother Goose for Organ and Narrator. Hinshaw Music, Inc. HPO3009

Winner of the 2004 Holtkamp-AGO award in organ composition, this charmer of a suite weds appropriately pictorial music with rhythmically notated texts for the narrator in a pleasure giving work that should find its way into many organ recital programs. (It is music for young persons of all ages.) "Little Bo-Peep" allows the organist to take off on an extended pedal cadenza, to be halted only by the irritated shout of the narrator. The head of a school instructs her charges on good behavior in "The Clock." There's Irish musical color aplenty in "The Cats of Kilkenny," and, after a recitation of the poetry, the organist plays a solo tone poem to illustrate the "Tale of Miss Muffet." Mathematical note groupings provide comment for "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe;" while the concluding movement ("The Fiddlers") provides chuckles of recognition with its ritornello based on the famous Widor Toccata. That it was so well presented by Mary Preston, with the ebullient Kathy Freeman as narrator, made for a memorable premiere indeed.

Denis Bédard: Duet Suite for Organ and Piano (Details: www.majoya.com)

Duo Majoya (Marnie Giesbrecht, organ; Joachim Segger, piano) gave a most unusual recital at Bel-Air Presbyterian Church. Two Canadian composers provided commissioned works for the Duo; each had some interesting musical ideas to communicate. The more accessible work was this Suite, comprising an Introduction, Fughetta, Menuetto, Romance, and Final, full of wit, good humor, and memorable melodies, many reminiscent of Poulenc's catchy and romantic voice. Three movements from Jeffrey McCune's Crossing to Byzantium, and his arrangement of Stravinsky's Danse infernale de roi Katschei from The Firebird, plus Joe Utterback's brief Images: A Jazz Set completed the program, which would have benefited from more textural variety, perhaps provided by a solo offering from each of these fine players. The Bel-Air organ, reconstituted from a Casavant instrument heavily damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake, now consists of 60 pipe ranks plus 91 digital voices, including both Cherubim and Seraphim hanging speakers: not a particularly happy marriage of sounds for this hilltop-sited church.

Other newly-commissioned and prize-winning works heard at convention events I attended included anthems by Byron Adams and Michael Bedford, works for instruments with organ by Mary Beth Bennett, Ian Krouse, and Erica Muhl, plus the Hopkins and Sandresky works mentioned previously, as well as an anthem by Williametta Spencer, premiered in the Ecumenical Protestant service, not on my schedule. 

Workshops

Organ Recordings from the Past, David McVey's self-effacing session on gems from the audio history of organ playing, was a model of effective, well thought-out presentation. All the requisite citations were listed in a spacious 8-page handout. The motto "Res ipsa locutor [The thing speaks for itself]" was borne out as McVey kept comment to a minimum in order to allow complete performances of works recorded by Widor (Andante sostenuto from his Gothic Symphony, committed to disc in 1932), Tournemire (Chorale-Improvisation on "Victimae paschali," 1930), Thalben-Ball (Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries, 1931), Sowerby (his Carillon, 1946), Schreiner (Vierne's Naïades, 1959), Biggs (Daquin's Noël grand jeu et duo at the 1936 Aeolian-Skinner organ of the Germanic Museum at Harvard), Fox (Bach's Passacaglia at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, 1963), and Crozier (Dupré's Prelude and Fugue in G minor, opus 7/3, 1959).

Panel Discussion on the Disney Hall Organ, ably moderated by Jonathan Ambrosino, with organ builders Caspar von Glatter-Götz and Manuel Rosales, architect Craig Webb from Gehry Partners, and organ consultant Michael Barone.

An overflow crowd of 500 assembled to hear the whys and wherefores behind the inspiration and evolution of Gehry's unusual organ design for the new hall, and the challenges posed during the installation of the instrument. 

Extra-musical happenings

Television personality and actor David Hyde Pierce (of Frasier fame) brought along the necessary props: his organ shoes, a book of registrations copied down at some early lessons (numbers only, no stop names), a tattered copy of the Gleason Method. Pierce, who really did study organ with several noted teachers, took his audience through a quick course on ornamentation ("I don't care"), temperament, and various other organ-specific arcana. The huge crowd responded with almost-constant hilarity.

The Very Rev. Canon Mary June Nestler's sermon at Evensong moved with quiet humor from her own experiences as a voice student through some of the shared vicissitudes of the organist's profession (especially vis-à-vis relationships with the clergy) to a sound theological conclusion, and a prayer for peace.

Class Acts

Frederick Swann: organist and AGO president extraordinaire

Both for a very fine recital at the Crystal Cathedral, his "home base" during the years 1982-1998, and for his deft, unpretentious handling of the American Guild of Organists presidency, Swann deserves high accolades. Always in command of the music he played, never pompous or overbearing in his official actions, Fred serves as an exemplary leader for the national organization, and he represents the profession well with his high musical and personal standards.  Who would not love him for his one-sentence disposal of the listed "Presidential Remarks" at the national meeting? Kudos, as well, for his service as performances chair of the convention. The artists selected for the program were consistently top-notch.

The Convention Committee

To Dr. Robert Tall and his legions of hardy workers for the stellar planning and smooth organization of a first-rate convention, especially noted in the efficient and on time management of the necessary bus transportation. Mailing the convention program book (itself a work of art) more than a month before the actual event allowed attendees the opportunity for advance preparation and orientation. Bravi tutti!

Additional Observations

It was my first experience to see two hotel elevators (in the headquarters hotel, the Westin Bonaventure) marked with historic plaques, noting their use by actor (now Governor) Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1993 movie The Terminator.

Crystal Cathedral organist Christopher Pardini's fine performances of The Joy of the Redeemed, composed by AGO founding member Clarence Dickinson, not only showcased the Aeolian-Skinner organ in the Cathedral's Arboretum, but served as an effective aural connection to an important figure in the Guild's history.

What a savvy idea to present this year's AGO President's Award to Craig Whitney, an assistant managing editor at The New York Times and author of the best selling book All the Stops. His enthusiastic and engaging writing about the world of organ music and its personalities has provided  some much needed popular awareness for the profession.

Peter Krasinski's masterful organ improvisation at the AGO annual meeting was based on the song "Chicago, Chicago," a theme selected and presented to him by improvisation committee chair Ann Labounsky. This served as a not-so-subliminal aural advertisement for the next national convention, to be held July 2-6, 2006.