Janette Fishell plays Franck

Indiana University Organ Conference and Inaugural of C. B. Fisk Opus 91

James F. Mellichamp has been involved in higher education teaching and leadership fields for over 30 years. Currently he serves as President of Piedmont College, a comprehensive, independent college in northeast Georgia. He continues to teach and enjoys performing solo concerts around the world. Mellichamp graduated from Huntingdon College and earned a Diploma in Church Music from the Hochschule für Musik in Herford, Germany, before receiving a Doctor of Music degree from Indiana University, where he studied with Wilma Jensen.

Billed as “An Organ at the Crossroads,” the fall organ conference at Indiana University, held September 15–18, drew a large group of participants from across the country. Part traditional conference and part showcase for the recently completed installation of Fisk Opus 91, the event centered around topics common to the French organ of the 17th through early 19th centuries.

One could hardly have selected a better conference theme, since Bloomington, Indiana, stands at the crossroads of the United States; Fisk Opus 91 occupies an important location at the crossroads of the IU campus; and our present time certainly represents a crossroads in the historical development of the organ. So those in attendance found themselves reaching back into the past, with inspiration from a grand instrument and from present musical scholarship, to better understand a magnificent period of the organ.

Sunday, September 15

The conference began on Sunday evening with the inaugural recital of Fisk Opus 91 and featured faculty from the Jacobs School of Music (JSoM). Following a welcome by Dean Gwyn Richards, a lively performance of the Buxtehude Praeludium in C Major (BuxWV 137) was given by Bruce Neswick. Marilyn Keiser can always be counted on to offer something unique, and she lived up to that reputation with the “Theme and Variations” from Rheinberger’s Suite, op. 149. Scored for violin, cello, and organ, this was a magical moment in a performance marked with elegance and sincere musicianship.

JSoM organ curator David Kazimir followed with an exciting reading of the Pièce d’Orgue (BWV 572) by J. S. Bach. One could hardly have chosen anything from the Bach oeuvre more Gallic and perfectly suited for the instrument.

Department chair and professor Janette Fishell won the prize for the evening’s most-unexpected repertoire. Paying tribute to the fascination held by French composers for pastoral music (including storm scenes)—and recollecting a hair-raising storm on the return leg of a visit to see and hear Opus 91 in California—she pushed the organ nearly to its limits with the Scéne pastorale of Lefébure-Wely. 

Next Charles Webb, dean emeritus of the JSoM and a long-time organist in Bloomington, offered the well-known Dubois “Toccata” from the Douze pièces, a staple in the organ repertoire.

Professor Christopher Young provided a lovely moment of respite with his performance of the Petit Offertoire by César Franck. This was followed with the Prelude and Fugue in B Major, op. 99, no. 2, by Saint-Saëns. 

The evening was brought to a grand conclusion by Adjunct Professor Colin Andrews, playing Messiaen’s Transports de joie.

Monday, September 16

The morning began with a panel discussion about the history of Fisk Opus 91 and included remarks by Fisk employees Steven Dieck, president; Stephen Paul Kowalyshyn, senior voicer; and Michael Kraft, senior reed voicer and director of special projects.

The history of this particular instrument began in 1980 and reads like a novel. Information was provided about the project’s commission from Jacques Littlefield for his residence in Portola Valley, California. A European trip with Fisk personnel in 1984 further informed the instrument’s final design. Completed in 1987, the organ is a fully developed three-manual instrument with strong 18th-century French tendencies tempered by some 19th-century traits. 

In an innovative collaboration, the organ was acquired by Indiana University through a gift arrangement and subsequently installed earlier this year in Alumni Hall, a large Collegiate Gothic space in the Indiana Memorial Union. Minor adjustments were made to the instrument’s voicing. Dieck, quoting the late Charles Fisk, suggested that “you never really finish an organ, you just abandon it.” As completed, the instrument looks, feels, and sounds as if had always been at home here.

Monday midmorning brought the first of three lecture and masterclass sessions with Jesse Eschbach, professor of music at the University North Texas, and a veritable encyclopedia of all things associated with French repertoire for the organ. Performances of relevant pieces were admirably rendered by JSoM organ students.

Eschbach began his presentations by establishing three broad categories within the period of the French Classic: Preclassical France (1585–1661); High Classic (1661–1715); and Post Classic (1725–1860). His remarks were illuminated by printed material that touched on organ specifications, historical perspective, composer biographies, and performance practice. 

Musicians often struggle with grasping the enormous amount of information required to pierce the cloud obscuring this remarkable literature. Eschbach urged attendees to “put on 17th-century ears,” which involves being sensitive to the effect that music of these periods had upon listeners of the time. He pointed out the importance of understanding the music from an analytical standpoint, since knowledge of the contrapuntal fabric is key to a convincing performance. He also described the influence that Viennese composers and opera play in understanding music from the Post Classic era.

A creative concert on Monday afternoon featuring members of the JSoM’s Sacred Music Practicum was surely a conference highlight. Associate Professor Bruce Neswick—noted church musician, concert artist, and composer—has the enviable task of directing this group. The concert provided various readings, interspersed with alternatim performances of hymns, chorales, and chant in settings by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Samuel Scheidt, Nicolas de Grigny, J. S. Bach, and Jehan Alain. It offered a wonderful opportunity to retreat from the busy world around; to respond to meaningful texts, both sung and spoken; and to revel in the sounds of a fine instrument.

James David Christie, distinguished artist and professor at Oberlin, next led a masterclass on French Romantic organ music performed by JSoM students: Pastorale, op. 19, of César Franck; “Final” from Symphonie gothique, op. 70, of Charles-Marie Widor; and “Naïades” from the Fantasy Pieces, op. 55, of Louis Vierne. Christie offered insightful information about these pieces including a discussion of tempo, articulation, and—in the case of the Widor—the importance of conveying the musical architecture.

As if that were not enough for one day, the afternoon concluded with “A Quick Trip through Time—A Recital of Improvised Music in the French Manner.” William Porter, long acclaimed as a gifted master of improvisation, kept everyone spellbound. With themes provided by Bruce Neswick, Porter provided a five-movement suite in 18th-century style based upon “Splendor paternae gloriae,” a three-movement work in 19th-century fashion, and a magnificent 20th-century style improvisation in three movements (Grand Choeur, Triptych, and Final). Listening to Porter, whose playing is so poised, is a rare treat. He knows the concepts inside-out and couples all of that knowledge with a level of musical expression that is truly rare.

Monday evening ended with a lovely dinner in the solarium adjacent to Alumni Hall. The inaugural performance was then repeated for those unable to attend the preceding evening.

Tuesday, September 17 

This day brought the second and third installments of Jesse Eschbach’s lectures. Morning and afternoon sessions were held in Alumni Hall (Fisk Opus 91) and in Auer Hall (Fisk Opus 135) respectively. Eschbach touched on the rise of public performances (Concerts spirituels), the decline of contrapuntal music, and important developments that distinguished the earlier French Classic organs from those of the late-18th/early-19th centuries. Most importantly, he noted that it would be a mistake to perform French Classic repertoire, which has its roots in improvised music, the same way each time.

Tuesday morning also gave JSoM students a chance to understand how to improvise in historical styles. William Porter urged the students to “think as a composer” and “know the language” by reliance upon patterns and conventions of the genre. Also important is to “stay cool when the unexpected happens.” His approach used small building blocks of musical material that made the task of improvisation seem less daunting.

Following a carillon concert in the music courtyard and a reception for JSoM alumni at Linden House, a sumptuous banquet was enjoyed in the Tudor Room of the Indiana Memorial Union.

Tuesday evening, James David Christie closed the conference with a recital on Fisk Opus 91. He began the program with the Marchand “Dialogue” from the Third Organ Book, in a performance distinguished by great rhythmic vitality and panache.

Next followed an interesting group of pieces employing variations over ground basses—starting with a Ciacona by the seldom-heard Italian composer Storace. This was followed by the lyrical Ciacona in F Minor of Pachelbel and by the Buxtehude Passacaglia in D Minor. All of these served to show the multi-faceted character of the Fisk to full advantage. 

The first half concluded with a potpourri of less well-known compositions by J. S. Bach—including a Magnificat Fugue (BWV 733), four charming settings from the Neumeister Chorales, and the monumental “Contrapunctus XI” from the Kunst der Fuge (BWV 1080). 

The second half of the concert featured the Antonin Barié Symphony in B Minor, op. 5 (1911). Barié was another in the long line of gifted French organists who were blind; he studied with Louis Vierne, whose influence is readily apparent in the structure and tonal language of Barié’s work. Christie was obviously in his element as he introduced this remarkable composition to the audience in a breathtaking performance. 

In tribute to the late Marie-Claire Alain, with whom he had studied, Christie ended the evening with the Élégie he originally composed in 2006 as an homage to his teachers, Sister M. Dolorette Recla and Jean Langlais.

Wednesday, September 18

A brief codetta on Wednesday morning offered individuals an opportunity to have open console time or participate in mini-masterclasses with JSoM faculty on Opus 91 (Alumni Hall) and Opus 135 (Auer Hall). 

The organ department at Indiana University can be justifiably proud of providing this opportunity to come together at the crossroads of America—offering up a wonderful interaction of scholarship, musicianship, and organ craftsmanship. 

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

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

Sunday

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

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

Monday

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

--Herman D. Taylor

Professor Emeritus of Music

Eastern Illinois University,

Charleston, Illinois

Director of Music and Organist

Church of the Immaculate Conception,

 Mattoon, Illinois

Tuesday

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

--Gordon Atkinson

A New Look at the Chronicle of the Years 1857–1863

Through her concert tours, radio recordings and CDs (the complete organ works of Jehan Alain and Dietrich Buxtehude, portraits of Buttstett, Reger, Boëllmann, Dubois and Langlais, comprising some twenty recordings), as well as her musicological research, Helga Schauerte-Maubouet has become one of the outstanding musicians of her generation. Organist of the German Lutheran Church in Paris, teacher at the Paris Conservatoire Nadia et Lili Boulanger, lecturer and jury member for international organ competitions, she maintains a brilliant career as a performing artist in Europe and the USA. Author of the first book in the German language on Alain’s music, she has discovered and acquired some 40 of Alain’s musical autographs. She has been engaged by Bärenreiter to contribute to the new edition of MGG, to write on French organ music subjects in the Handbuch Orgelmusik, and to publish scholarly-critical editions of the complete organ works of Léon Boëllmann, Théodore Dubois and Louis Vierne as well as of vocal music of Marc-Antoine Charpentier. She has also composed French Noël and German carol settings for other instruments and organ published by Merseburger-Verlag. In 1987 she received the cultural prize of Olpe, Germany. Since 1990 her biography has been included in the International Who’s Who in Music, and she has been included in 2000 Outstanding Musicians of the 20th Century.
A French-American organist and musicologist, Carolyn Shuster Fournier is an international concert artist and titular of the Aristide Cavaillé-Coll choir organ at La Trinité Church in Paris, France (cf. <www.shusterfournier.com&gt;). Her latest CD, “An American in Paris” (Ligia Digital, distribution Harmonia Mundi), recorded at La Madeleine Church, is dedicated to French and American music. Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters, Dr. Shuster Fournier has written several articles for The Diapason.

Much is known about the first musical activities at Sainte-Clotilde in the years 1863 to 1868 when César Franck, the organist of this church, worked together with the young Théodore Dubois, his choirmaster. Much less known is the reversal of these roles, which occurred precisely from 1857 to 1863 when César Franck was choirmaster and Théodore Dubois was the choir organist. Dubois’ memoirs,1 recently rediscovered at the Bibliothèque nationale de France and partially published in the complete edition of his organ works,2 shed new light on many of the unclear details in the unfolding of what has been labeled as “the Sainte-Clotilde Tradition.”
In 1857, at the time of the inauguration of this church, Théodore Dubois (1837–1924) was only twenty years old. The son of a modest basket maker in the Champagne region, Dubois was a third-year student at the Paris Conservatory, earning his living as a choir organist at the nearby Saint-Louis des Invalides Church. He recalls:

The Church of Sainte-Clotilde was to be consecrated and I learned that the newly appointed choirmaster César Franck (still unknown at that time) was looking for an organist accompanist. In spite of my shyness, I didn’t hesitate and introduced myself to him without any recommendation. He immediately subjected me to a test in accompanying Gregorian chant, sight-reading and transposing. He finally engaged me on the spot for an annual salary of 1200 francs. With the incidental emoluments (700 or 800 francs) it was a fortune! Just imagine my joy at finally being delivered from all financial worries! […] This was how I got to know C. Franck, who was always good and very kind to me, whose friend and admirer I became and remained up to his last hour.
Shortly after the consecration of the Ste-Clotilde Church, since no organ had been built yet, I accompanied the singers on a good Mustel harmonium. […] Through my daily contact with C. Franck, I grew to love and admire this great artist. I was lucky enough to witness him composing his Mass, his Motets, and the beautiful Offertories, and to be the first to accompany them, including top-level works—due to their sublimity and their personally colored expressive harmonies—such as Dextera Domini [1861], Quae est ista [1861] and the Offertory for Lent. What a contrast with the works usually heard then in most of the churches in Paris! This was the beginning of a reaction against banality and poor taste which, after so many years, had not completely disappeared from the repertoire found in the church choir schools!”3

Religious music was in fact in a state of real decadence, sung with dramatic sentimentality; the tonal result was closer to that of salon romances [for house gatherings]. This was the bona fide beginning of the tradition that distinguished Sainte-Clotilde from other Parisian churches. Here, the music was made with serenity, power and lyricism. As there was no organ in the church, it was essentially vocal. The choir, directed by César Franck (1822–1890) and made up of three male voice parts (soprano, tenor and bass), sang with an orchestra or was simply sustained by a double bass and a Mustel harmonium played by Théodore Dubois. Dubois, who was fifteen years younger than his choirmaster, did not hide his admiration for him.

These memories are dear to me because they remind me that C. Franck was such a noble-minded artist. The affectionate kindness that he showed towards me and also the great impression that his works made upon me; they were written in a style so new for me. Nobody will be surprised to hear that the church members of Ste-Clotilde took a somewhat refractory view of their music director’s compositions. They preferred the banalities of the current repertoire. Hasn’t it always been like that and doesn’t one see that time finally puts everything right in its place and that the name of C. Franck is met with universal admiration today!
The artist’s outward appearance did not correspond to his talent, to his genius. Had his eyes not been lively, flashing and full of intelligence, one would more likely have taken him in a peaceful moment for a sort of upright provincial citizen. But as soon as he started talking, he changed: with the persuasive power of his words he focused his attention with brilliant observations on art and literature, becoming convincing, almost fascinating; one felt that one was in the presence of a powerful strong will! There are in fact few young artists who knew him that were not influenced to some degree by him.4
Very concerned about the splendor and the magnificence of the worship services, the abbot Pierre Ambroise Hamelin (1800–1883), priest at Sainte-Clotilde, only moderately appreciated his choirmaster’s music. Nevertheless, Franck dedicated his motet Dextera Domini, Offertory for Easter Sunday, to him. Théodore Dubois describes in detail one of the dreadful confrontations between the two men. It was in 1861, the year of the composition of this motet, that Hamelin launched this quip to Franck in front of the choir members:

“Mr. Franck, you do not know your job!” Franck simply replied to this, but with a firm and convincing voice: “Father, I affirm to you that I know my job!” I believe that he did know it. But our good priest never suspected so. He loved blaring music: and still the blaring music, this was not at all Franck’s cup of tea. We were all appalled at such an outburst. Franck alone remained impassive and with an angelic air he told us upon leaving: “He does not know; he cannot know!” Deep thought, simple, just, full of philosophy, of observation and of kindness!5
Until then, Franck only carried out his duties as choirmaster. Accumulating the multiple functions of this post hardly left him any free time:
Lessons for the choristers nearly every day, general rehearsals, services on Sundays and feast days, Thursday masses, Friday Benedictions of the Holy Sacrament, certain evening services, the Marian month, the octaves of certain feast days, weddings, funerals, the preparation and the choice of the programs, engaging additional artists if needed for a service; the choirmaster was responsible for calculating each person’s salary at the end of each month; he supervised the music library and the performance repertory; he recruited children to sing after some voices had broken and other various circumstances.6
Also in 1861, Théodore Dubois won the Prix de Rome with his cantata Atala. He had to leave Paris on December 26, 1861, to travel and stay in Italy for two years, until the end of 1863. Concerned about resuming his accompanying post upon his return from Rome, he quickly went to see his priest in order to request his permission to find a substitute among one of his students during his absence.
With the agreement of C. Franck my choirmaster, I asked him if he would allow Mr. Bourjuge’s nephew, one of my occasional students who knew what the job entailed, whom I had already shown what the post involved, to substitute for me during my absence. My request was accepted and I was thus assured to find my position upon returning. My mind was at ease and I was then able to look forward to the happiness that I anticipated for this trip and stay in Rome.7
This account contradicts Joël-Marie Fauquet’s version, which states that

when Dubois left for the Villa Médici in 1861, Franck held concurrently the functions of organist and of choirmaster so that Dubois could resume his position upon returning.8
Moreover, from a practical point of view, concurrently carrying out both positions could hardly be imagined. Théodore Dubois then boarded at the Villa Medici while keeping his position as organist-accompanist. Very happy in Rome, he later described these two years of absence from Sainte-Clotilde as the most beautiful days of his life. However, in November 1863, upon returning from a tour in Italy, he was actually urged to decide on the spot to shorten his stay and return hastily to Paris in order to succeed Franck. Here is his account:

Shortly after returning to Rome I received news from Ste-Clotilde that made me happy and sad at the same time. I was told that they had finished constructing the ‘Grand Orgue’9 and that César Franck wished to exchange his position as choirmaster for that of organist, that the priest had agreed to this, and that they would gladly offer me this position if I was prepared to return forthwith(!). The prospect of this situation, which would insure my livelihood—so difficult for so many musicians returning from Rome—made me happy of course, but at the same time the thought of having to leave the Villa Medici before the end of my two years greatly grieved me. After all, it was in November and I should normally have stayed until the end of December. My parents wanted me to have a secure position. After much hesitation and thoughtful consideration, I decided to apply for permission to leave Rome in November, and to forgo my travels to Germany, which I would have gladly carried out, but which—I don’t know why—few of the scholarship students took at that time.10

After returning from Rome in November, 1863, the roles at the Sainte-Clotilde Church were reversed. With César Franck at the Grand Orgue tribune, Théodore Dubois immediately assumed his new job as choirmaster. His account is of utmost importance because it reveals precisely and without ambiguity that the Sainte-Clotilde Grand Orgue was not completely finished before the fall of 1863 and that Franck was not named titular organist until after the completion of the work.11 It also clearly reveals the unexpected urgency of the missive from Sainte-Clotilde. Why did Franck so suddenly make up his mind to change roles and become organist? This crucial moment of the completion of the organ was thus revealed to be the real turning point in his musical career. Until that time, he had not yet composed any important organ pieces. But suddenly in September and October of 1863, he began composing with great intensity, which until now seemed to be surprisingly unexplained.
Théodore Dubois’ account thus allows us to place in its true context the genesis of Franck’s Six Organ Pieces, his first symphonic works, composed in 1863/1864 and edited in 1868. It establishes a link between the Sainte-Clotilde organ on the one hand, and his nomination to the organist position on the other hand. The Six Pieces, as the composer presented them at their first performance at Sainte-Clotilde in November 1864, are thus indebted to the finished state of the Cavaillé-Coll organ in the fall of 1863. Two of the Six Pieces, the Grand Pièce symphonique and the Pastorale (dedicated to Cavaillé-Coll), are dated precisely on September 16 and 29. The other ones—such as the Fantaisie, one of whose versions is dated October 1863, or the Final—were revised. It is incontestably the new aesthetic of the Sainte-Clotilde organ, one of Cavaillé-Coll’s most beautiful instruments, which is at the origin of Franck’s new genius and which transformed and directed his creative thoughts towards new horizons.
Théodore Dubois’ memoirs attest that the “completed” Sainte-Clotilde organ does not date from 1859 but from 1863. In his memoirs (cited above), the composer specifically uses the same phrase “the Grand Orgue was just constructed.” A second witness concerning the work carried out between 1860 and 1863 was Charles-Marie Widor. He reports that one of the first to try out the instrument “which had just been finished” in the Sainte-Clotilde Church was the “old Hesse,” on June 30, 1862.12
However, since the archives are missing, the rereading of the chronicle of these years shows uncertainties concerning the different revisions of the organ. Actually, the known documents concerning the construction of this organ suddenly end on December 2, 1859, namely three days before the originally determined date for the inauguration. Following some uncareful work carried out by the workers of the architect Théodore Ballu (1817–1885) during the installation of the top of the organ case, Cavaillé-Coll declared that

the instrument has become unplayable. Sawdust, wood shavings and even heavy objects had fallen into the organ, had stifled the sound of the pipes and altered their sonority so much that it was then impossible to repair the organ for the inauguration, announced for the fifth of this month.13
The date of the inauguration was then moved to December 19, the time allowed to “repair, clean and tune all the damaged material.” To accomplish this, the organ builder not only required this delay, but also requested a compensation of more than 500 francs from the architect. Since the new date was set fifteen days later, what was he able to do in such little time? Was the organ entirely repaired? The reference found in the newspaper articles is evasive and puzzling. Adrien de la Fage announced that he would speak about “the organ in another article or that certain questions, rather serious, would eventually be dealt with.”14 La France musicale praised Ballu’s marvelous case and reported that

this instrument ought to have been as complete as possible, in keeping with the proportions of the church, that is, to possess 46 stops on three keyboards and a pedalboard, 14 combination pedals and 1796 pipes. This is, in fact, the Sainte-Clotilde organ.15
Why then was new work carried out on an organ supposedly “complete,” finished and inaugurated? Moreover, the caliber and the undetermined length of the work threatened to put the organ “out of service” for many long months, restricting the parish to remain without a titular. Théodore Dubois’ memoirs lead us to believe that this work continued until the fall of 1863. After studying the various archives (estimations, letters) published in Fenner Douglass’s book, quoted above, only one explanation emerges. To render our hypothesis more pleasant and more familiar we imagine it under Théodore Dubois’ pen, who, of course, in his memoirs does not say one word about these events.

The year 1859 marks a date in my career: I finally obtained my First Prize in organ and in November La Maîtrise published my first organ piece, an Offertory that I composed with the inspiration of the Sainte-Clotilde organ. The construction of this large three-manual instrument was finished at the end of August, the great Lefébure-Wély who had been chosen to inaugurate it had come to play it in September in the presence of the Duchess d’Albe as well as at the ceremony of the large wedding celebrated by the Bishop of Carcassonne. The previously announced inauguration, which was to have been brilliant, had been set for December 5 and it had become urgent to install the top of the imposing organ case. Pressed for time, the architect’s workers allowed some debris and even some heavy objects to fall into the organ. One of these ‘shells’ had violently crashed into a special device for the wind chests of the Grand Orgue placed at the base of the great case towers. Regardless of the pneumatic levers, Cavaillé-Coll had to construct this new mechanism that required this special very expensive device (3,000 francs) in order to overcome the difficulties that had been raised. Alas, all attempts to tune the Grand Orgue were useless and the inauguration took place using only the rest of the undamaged stops.
It was then necessary to dismantle, verify, repair or reconstruct the damaged mechanism—or to change it. This took time and new funding. Wouldn’t it just be easier to inverse the keyboards? Our hypothesis is then that Cavaillé-Coll would have inversed, between 1860 and 1862, the order of the Positif and the Grand-Orgue keyboards to simplify the mechanism of the note transmission to the pipe valves of the Grand Orgue. More appropriate to the quite special location of this tribune, the new layout thus presented the Grand-Orgue on the first keyboard and the Positif on the second one.16
The first public performance of all of the Six Pieces was given by Franck himself in the Sainte-Clotilde Church on November 17, 1864: this represented, in a way, a second but genuine inauguration of the completed organ. The columnist S. Dufour from the Revue et Gazette musicale de Paris underlines the immense influence that the organ’s construction had on these compositions. Here is his report published in the 47th number of this periodical, on November 20, 1864:

Last Thursday at Sainte-Clotilde the elder M. César Franck gave a recital on the Cavaillé-Coll Grand Orgue which was attended by a great number of artists and amateurs. M. Franck performed the pieces he had composed, written by a master, and one remarked in the first a choir on the Voix Humaines which was most effective; and in the Grande Pièce symphonique a most distinguished melody was played initially on the Clarinet and then repeated on the Voix Célestes stops. This recital, in which M. Franck was revealed as much as a learned composer as a skillful instrumentalist, will have proved once again that the artistic level of the organist is rising from day to day in France, and that the accomplished proficiency in modern building, far from harming the musical composition, gives it, on the contrary, a precious and powerful means of expression. The beautiful organ at Sainte-Clotilde was not less brilliant in this recital by this learned organist.17
Concerning Franck as an improviser, Maurice Emmanuel (1862–1938), who met him for the first time in June 1881, reports that his sonorous creations

were always colored with very rich registrations. He even was able, through ingenious devices, to multiply the resources that the master builder had put at his disposal. It is thus that he gladly improvised on the Positif coupled to the Récit, in order to profit from the Positif 16′ stops and to surround them momentarily on the voices of the Récit in a more vast choir; this realization thus anticipated the great Récit with 16′ stops, which Cavaillé-Coll later endowed in the Saint-Sulpice organ.18

In his memoirs, Théodore Dubois boasts about having seen the birth of Franck’s Six Pieces, for which he helped the composer by pulling stops when Franck practiced on the Grand Orgue. In 1866, he also witnessed firsthand the famous meeting between César Franck and Franz Liszt who “religiously listened to these beautiful pieces which appeared to produce a great impression on him.”19 The happy collaboration between Franck and Dubois at Sainte-Clotilde continued until 1868, the year when Dubois was named choirmaster at the Madeleine. The relationship between the two musicians, founded on mutual esteem, always remained very fraternal. Théodore Dubois dedicated to Franck the first piece of his Twelve Pieces for the organ (Leduc, 1886), whereas Franck indicated that one of his Three Chorals would be dedicated to Dubois.20 Shortly after the success of his oratorio The Last Seven Words of Christ, when Théodore Dubois changed his post at Sainte-Clotilde with that at the Madeleine and became professor at the Paris Conservatory, he did everything he could to renew his collaboration with César Franck by pleading favorably for his nomination to the post of organ professor in 1872.
The discovery of Théodore Dubois’ memoirs permits us to maintain that the Sainte-Clotilde organ, whose completion in 1863 no longer corresponded to the initial 1853 project, is later than that of Saint-Sulpice (1862). Closely related to the emergence of his symphonic works, the “Sainte-Clotilde Tradition” was established beginning with Franck’s Six Pieces, which he composed or finalized at the time when he took possession of the completed organ. If the young Dubois’ testimony irrevocably clarifies the mystery that hung over the genesis of these works, it engenders on its own another mystery widely accepted by all the biographies, organ monographs, dictionaries and encyclopedias: that of Franck’s false nomination as titular organist at Sainte-Clotilde in 1859.n

Notes
1. Théodore Dubois, Souvenirs de ma vie [Memories of My Life], autograph, BNF Rés. Vmc. Ms. 3. Signed and dated in August, 1912, this autobiography, written in Rosnay between 1909 and 1912, consists of seven books that are continuously numbered. Given to the Bibliothèque nationale by his son Charles Dubois (1877–1965), these books, which were lost for a longtime in the archives of the Music Department, were refound in 1997 after an investigation by Christine Collette Kléo.
2. Théodore Dubois: The Organ Works, edited by Helga Schauerte-Maubouet, published by Bärenreiter, Kassel. The urtext edition has been in progress since 2005. Three of the six volumes are actually available: Volume I (BA 8468): the early works and organ pieces with minimal pedal or optional pedal; Volume II (BA 8469): The Twelve Pieces from 1886; Volume IV (BA 8471): The Twelve Pieces from 1893, Ascendit Deus. All the volumes are provided with explanatory texts in three languages and numerous illustrations.
3. Théodore Dubois: The Organ Works, edited by Helga Schauerte-Maubouet, Vol. I, Kassel, 2005, p. XIII.
4. Ibid.
5. Dubois, Souvenirs de ma vie, pp. 138–139.
6. Cf. note 3, p. XIV.
7. Ibid.
8. Joël-Marie Fauquet: César Franck, Paris, 1999, p. 313.
9. Should one read “grand orgue de tribune” [“Grand Orgue in a gallery”] or “Grand-Orgue” in relation to the Positif and the Récit keyboards?
10. Dubois, Souvenirs de ma vie, p. 134; cf. illustration. On page 137 Dubois marks the exact date of his return to Paris: “November, 1863.”
11. According to the past organ literature, the construction of the Grand Orgue at Sainte-Clotilde lasted from 1853 to 1859. As to Franck’s nomination to the organist position, it is usually presumed to coincide with the organ inauguration, in December 1859.
12. “Cavaillé-Coll recalled, with the same astonishment, the slow tempo of the Fugue in D Major under the fingers of the old Hesse on the organ that had just been completed in the Ste-Clotilde Church in Paris.” Charles-Marie Widor in his Preface (Venice, October 20, 1904) to Albert Schweitzer: J. S. Bach, Edition Maurice and Pierre Foetisch, Lausanne [1905], 6th printing, page IX. Hesse came to Paris twice: in 1844 and in June 1862.
13. Cited in Fenner Douglass: Cavaillé-Coll and the Musicians, Raleigh, 1980, p. 1501.
14. Revue et Gazette Musicale de Paris 27, no. 1, 1er janvier, 1860, pp. 4–5.
15. La France musicale 23, no. 52, December 25, 1859, p. 506.
16. The established order of an organ with three keyboards was the Positif (1st keyboard), the Grand-Orgue (2nd keyboard), and the Récit (3rd keyboard). Until then, Cavaillé-Coll disapproved of the idea of changing this accepted order (cf. Douglass, op. cit., p. 1440). All of the estimates of the Sainte-Clotilde organ mention the keyboards in the generally adopted order. This said, the little applied notation of certain estimates (cf. for example Douglass, p. 1391) can lead to a misunderstanding: one may read “2nd [Article] [ - ] Positif Keyboard” and not “2nd Positif Keyboard” (cf. the writing, more explicit, in other estimations, for example, in that of the Invalides Church communicated in Douglass, p. 1315).
17. The indication of the cited stops is in accordance with that of the Durand 1880 Edition (Maeyens-Couvreur, 1868). The Sainte-Clotilde organ then included an Unda Maris on the Positif and a Voix Céleste on the Récit. Cf. my article on the organ music in France in Handbuch Orgelmusik, Kassel, 2002, p. 376.
18. Maurice Emmanuel, César Franck, Paris, 1930, p. 108.
19. Cf. note 3, p. XIV.
20. According to Théodore Dubois (Souvenirs, page 223), César Franck, in 1890, had named him as a dedicatee of one of his Three Chorals. The posthumous publication (Durand, 1892) changed the names of the dedicatees.

This article appeared in French in L’Orgue, no. 278-279, 2007, II-III, pp. 7–13.

The Organ Historical Society’s Annual Convention, August 11–14, 2014

The Organ Historical Society’s 59th Annual Convention took place in central New York with the historic Genesee Grande Hotel, Syracuse, as convention headquarters, though some of us stayed at the equally pleasant Park View Hotel three or four blocks away, owing to a lack of accommodation at the main hotel. One might not normally bother with such details, but I would like to begin by mentioning that Birnie’s Bus Service of Rome, New York, provided the OHS with the best bus service I think I have ever experienced on any convention. I also have to say that after the Vermont convention of last year, perhaps the best OHS convention ever, I was not expecting the Syracuse convention to be nearly as good. But in the event, I was very presently surprised to find that, if a little shorter than last year’s, it was in many ways equally fine. Enormous credit for this is due to Ryan J. Boyle, the chair of the convention, and his committee, as well as the Richmond staff and the Board of Directors of the OHS.

Sunday, August 10, and Monday, August 11

On Sunday, August 10, there was a pre-convention tour of New York State wineries, and on Monday morning there were further wine events, tours, and museum visits. The pre-convention events included a recital by Jillian Gardner, a student of James David Christie at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music. Gardner’s recital took place in the Lodi Historical Society on E. & G. G. Hook Opus 140, a two-manual organ built in 1852.

The convention proper, however, began at 8 p.m. on Monday evening with Hector Olivera’s recital on the 1952 Walter Holtkamp, Sr., III/61 organ, Job number 1659, in Hendricks Chapel, Syracuse University. This organ incorporates much of the action and pipework from the previous Aeolian organ, Opus 1771 of 1930. The instrument was designed in consultation with the redoubtable Arthur Poister (1898–1980), who served as music director of Hendricks Chapel from 1948 to 1965. Mr. Olivera is, of course, a great showman in the tradition of Virgil Fox and, ably assisted at the console by his frog Harry, gave us a very entertaining recital. His performance of the Aria from Bach’s Suite in D Major, BWV 1068, reminded me a great deal of Virgil’s. Among other things, he gave us some very interesting stereophonic cuckoo effects in the Allegro from Handel’s Organ Concerto No. 13 (“The Cuckoo and the Nightingale”), and ended with an improvisation on a submitted theme, which turned out to be the hymn tune Lasst uns erfreuen, finishing with a skillfully improvised fugue. 

Tuesday, August 12

Tuesday, August 12, began with a short bus trip to Temple Concord in Syracuse. This is one of the oldest Reform synagogues in the United States; its present building dates from 1911. 

Joby Bell treated us to a recital on the IV/44 Tellers organ, Opus 998 of 1965. The Tellers Organ Company, successors to A. B. Felgemaker & Co. of Erie, Pennsylvania, was of course a relatively local company in this part of the country. I had never heard any of their instruments from the 1960s before and was quite impressed with the sound of this organ. It has a neo-baroque specification, but is a warm sound with no tendency toward screechiness in the voicing, such as one finds in many instruments of the period. That such an instrument could sound so fine in a relatively unfavorable acoustic is a great tribute to the Tellers firm. The organ proved an excellent medium for Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in E-flat (“St. Anne”) while Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur’s haunting In Paradisum gave Joby Bell the opportunity to show off the contrasting flutes of the Antiphonal and Echo divisions. The recital ended with a fine performance Sowerby’s Pageant.

We proceeded then to St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Syracuse where Silviya Mateva, one of last year’s OHS Biggs Fellows, treated us to a recital on the church’s 1951 Casavant organ. This organ, which replaced an earlier one by Morey of Utica, was an old-style Stephen Stoot Casavant, built at the time when the firm had hardly begun to take note of the neo-classical movement. Its rich tone suited it extremely well to the Elegy of William Grant Still, and Ms. Mateva made good use of the Swell Cornet as a solo stop in Bach’s Chorale Prelude on ‘Allein Gott in der Höh sei ehr,’ BWV 662. Lionel Rogg’s Partita on ‘Nun freut euch’ also came off very well despite being a modern piece in neo-baroque style. I did feel, however, that the organ was a little heavy for the Buxtehude Präludium und Fuge D-Dur, BuxWV 139, and though it was very well played, I rather wished she could have chosen a piece more suited to this particular instrument.

After lunch at the Franciscan Church of the Assumption, where we were able to inspect the historic plumbing in the restrooms, we took the buses to St. Cecilia’s Catholic Church in Solvay, New York. The City of Solvay developed largely around Ernest Solvay’s ammonia-soda process for the production of sodium carbonate. The Solvay plant closed in 1986, leaving the city both economically depressed and environmentally compromised, but following massive redevelopment, things have greatly improved in recent years. I was particularly looking forward to hearing the organ at St. Cecilia’s, a II/15 tracker by J. H. Willcox & Co. of Boston, Opus 23 of 1872. Since in the 1980s, I belonged to Trinity Episcopal Church in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, which originally possessed an 1872 Willcox with a practically identical stoplist; this organ had been electrified by Durner c. 1920 and replaced by Aeolian-Skinner Opus 1240 in 1955. 

I was therefore looking forward to hearing what an original Willcox sounded like, as there are very few of them still around. Organist and organ-builder J. H. Willcox was one of several members of the E. & G. G. Hook firm that left and started their own companies shortly after Frank Hastings took over from the Hook brothers. After a couple of years, J. H. Willcox & Co. morphed into Hutchings, Plaisted & Co., and then into Hutchings & Co. I was by no means disappointed in my expectations, since the Willcox organ turned out to be one of the outstanding organs of the convention, and Christopher Marks gave an excellent recital on it. The organ has some exquisite strings and flutes, a bright, sparkling Great chorus and a surprisingly impressive full Swell. Among other things, the recital included some interesting pieces by American composers. Among these were the Miniature Suite of James H. Rogers (1857–1940) and the Variations on an American Air (Stephen Foster’s “Old Folks at Home”) by I. V. Flagler (1844–1909), of whom there will be more to say more anon. The recital concluded with the first ever performance of Romance and Tarantella by Kurt Knecht (b. 1971), commissioned for this convention by Christopher Marks.

Later in the afternoon, we went to Westminster Presbyterian Church in Syracuse to visit another delightful tracker organ, a II/21 instrument William A. Johnson of Westfield, Massachusetts, Opus 43 of 1855, enlarged by Johnson & Son c. 1865. The recital was given by Robert Kerner, one of the principals of the organbuilding firm of Kerner & Merchant, and again we were by no means disappointed. Though more refined and less brilliant than the Willcox, the Johnson organ proved to be an excellent medium for both classical and romantic music, including Sweelinck, Buxtehude, Bach, Franck, and Boëllmann. Kerner included some movements from Franck’s L’ Organiste, and I thought the beautiful flute stops of the Johnson organ were particularly effective in these. We heard again the Prière à Notre-Dame from Boëllmann’s Suite Gothique, also included in Hector Olivera’s recital at Hendricks Chapel the previous evening, and I have to say I much preferred hearing Mr. Kerner play it on the Johnson.

Later in the afternoon we took the buses to Plymouth Congregational Church in Syracuse, which is the home of one of the finest four-manual Möller organs I have ever heard, Opus 5827 of 1930, with some tasteful additions made by Kerner & Merchant in 2012. The organist was Bryan Anderson, a four-year student at the Curtis Institute who is surely going to be one of the outstanding organists of his day. Brilliant, yet quiet and unassuming, he played the recital entirely without music. The main work in his program was Karg-Elert’s Homage to Handel, a series of 54 variations on a ground bass. Besides being highly virtuosic, this is a wonderful piece to demonstrate an organ, since in the course of its 54 variations it uses just about every registration conceivable. 

Following cocktails and dinner at the Drumlins Country Club, we finished Tuesday’s program with a recital given by the Syracuse University Organist (now on the University of Michigan faculty), Kola Owolabi, with Gabriel DiMartino, trumpet. This was performed on another three-manual Walter Holtkamp, Sr., organ, Job number 1649 of 1950, in the Setnor Auditorium, Crouse College, Syracuse University. It incorporates pipework from previous instruments by Roosevelt and Aeolian. It was a ground-breaking instrument at the time it was completed. Crouse College was originally the women’s department of Syracuse University; then it became the performing arts center, and now—the artists and dramatists having moved to other buildings—it is occupied exclusively by the music department. The concert included Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in G Major, BWV 541, as well as Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition transcribed for organ and trumpet by Vincent DiMartino, Gabriel DiMartino, and Kola Owolabi. In the middle of the recital, we also heard Owolabi play J. G. Walther’s Partita on ‘Meinen Jesum lass ich nicht’ on the other organ in Setnor Auditorium, a I/4 tracker with pull-down pedal by the Strasbourg firm of Schwenkedel, Opus 123 of 1968. It is a very pretty little instrument of its kind. And so to bed . . .

Wednesday, August 13

The Wednesday program required us to get up a little earlier than normal for a day trip to Ithaca, New York. On the way we stopped at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Cortland, New York, where John Ronald Daniels gave us a recital on the church’s II/21 Morey & Barnes tracker, Opus 165, which was first used on Christmas Day of 1895. The organ is feisty, bright, and forthright. In some of its moods it reminded me of the work of Father Willis in England. It had previously been visited 34 years ago on the 1980 OHS convention. 

Following some several solo organ pieces by Théodore Salomé, Daniels was joined by the Clinton String Quartet in Salomé’s exceptionally beautiful Berceuse, op. 59, no. 5 (1894). This piece was written for a concert organized by Guilmant, but not performed, and has rarely if ever been performed since until now. Following it came Rheinberger’s well-known Cantilène from Sonata 11, which furnished an opportunity to show off the organ’s uncommonly fine Oboe. The Trumpet was similarly showcased in David N. Johnson’s Trumpet Tune in E. The recital ended with Lefébure-Wély’s wonderfully tasteless Boléro de concert. I shall probably not be around to see it, but it is very much my hope that this fine Morey & Barnes organ will still be there to be enjoyed by future OHS members in another 34 years’ time.

On our arrival in Utica we split into two groups, and the group I was in went first to Trinity Lutheran Church for a short recital by Annie Laver on John Brombaugh’s Opus 2 of 1966, a small one-manual-and-pedal instrument of nine ranks. The recital included works by Buxtehude, Böhm, and Reincken. Following lunch at First Presbyterian Church (whose fine IV/84 instrument by Russell & Co., Opus 47 of 2006, we were unfortunately unable to hear owing to construction work in the church) we went to the First Unitarian Society of Ithaca, New York, which is the home of Hellmuth Wolff & Associés Opus 16 of 1975. This is a II/26 tracker, and it has a sister organ in Wolff’s Opus 6, formerly in the Anabel Taylor Chapel of Cornell University in Ithaca, and now at Binghamton University (SUNY). Jonathan Biggers, who played the recital at the Unitarian Church in Ithaca, is professor of organ at Binghamton, so he gets to play the other Wolff organ there. He gave an excellent recital of Bach, Böhm, and Bruhns (the G major), and the organ sounded exceedingly fine, though perhaps a little loud for the room.

After lunch we moved to the Uris Hall Auditorium for the OHS Annual Meeting, after which we divided into three groups, which perambulated the Cornell campus for the rest of the afternoon. My group went first to the Sage Chapel of Cornell University for a recital given by Gregory Crowell on the I/7 Vicedomini organ built in Italy in 1748. As well as seven speaking stops, this instrument has an Ussignoli (Nightingale) stop and a double-acting Sforzando marked “Tiratutti.” Appropriately, Mr. Crowell’s recital consisted mostly of early Italian music, though an exception was James Woodman’s Gagliardo, which gave us an opportunity to hear the Ussignoli. Another piece, Bernardo Storace’s Ciaccona, enabled us to hear the 8-ft. Voce Umana (Principal Celeste).

Our group next went to Barnes Hall Auditorium for a lecture by Cornell music professor and university organist, Annette Richards, on “The Genesis of the Cornell Baroque Organ,” describing how the Wolff organ in the Anabel Taylor Chapel was replaced by a replica Schnitger organ built in collaboration with GOArt at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. This collaborative effort was overseen by Munetaka Yokota, and involved a cooperative enterprise between workers from GOArt, Parsons Pipe Organs, and CCSN Woodworking of Ithaca, the latter being responsible for the case. The Schnitger organ chosen for replication was that of the Court Chapel at Charlottenburg, built in 1706 and unfortunately destroyed in World War II, though not before every aspect of it had been painstakingly catalogued by Karl Schucker. The case was based on the instrument at Claustahl-Zellerfeld and the mechanism on several North German Schnitger organs. However, the tonal design of the Charlottenburg organ that has been duplicated was most unusual in being, unlike other Schnitger organs, designed primarily for the performance of music of the Galant style. The room where the lecture was held also contains a GOArt pipe organ, a I/5 with divided keyboard built in 2003, but we unfortunately did not get to hear this.

After the lecture we went to the Anabel Taylor Chapel to hear a recital on the II/42 GOArt Schnitger replica organ of 2009–10 that Professor Richards had been discussing. The recital was given by another Cornell music professor, David Yearsley, who appropriately included mostly repertoire from the Galant style. The organ case dominates the Anabel Taylor Chapel, and I was afraid that the sound might prove overwhelming. I was pleasantly surprised, however, to discover that the volume was just right for the room, and that it was indeed a magnificent instrument of its kind. 

Following a cash bar and dinner at the Celebrations Banquet Hall in Ithaca, we returned to Sage Chapel for the evening recital given by Christopher Houlihan on the celebrated III/68 Aeolian-Skinner organ, Opus 1009 of 1940, which incorporates quite a bit of pipework from the previous organ, Ernest M. Skinner Company Opus 175 of 1909. This was a landmark organ in its day. The recital included three works by J. S. Bach, together with the Grande pièce symphonique of Franck. Although the latter is probably my least favorite of Franck’s twelve major organ works—I find it a little long and rambling—Houlihan gave a magnificent performance of it. At the end of the recital we were treated to the Scherzo from Vierne’s Symphony No. 2 as an encore, and I also thought this came off very well on the organ. Houlihan played the three Bach pieces, including the Passacaglia in C Minor BWV 582, extremely well, but here I thought the Aeolian-Skinner basses a little ponderous for Bach—certainly in comparison with the GOArt organ we had just heard. Organ design has come a long way since 1940! And so back to Syracuse . . .

Thursday, August 14

The doyen of Syracuse organists is Cornell University Organist Emeritus Will Headlee, a familiar figure at OHS conventions. Thursday, August 14, began with a recital given by Professor Headlee on the Ernest White Möller organ at the Episcopal Church of the Saviour, Syracuse, New York. This was M. P. Möller Opus 9734, an instrument of three manuals and five divisions, built in 1962. The recital was titled, “Homage to Ernest White 1901–1980,” and I was expecting something rather screechy-sounding. Once again I was pleasantly surprised for, as Professor Headlee explained, the church asked for an organ in the English Cathedral tradition and this is exactly what Ernest White gave them. Two manual doubles and independent, pure-tuned mutations on the Pedal division add to the instrument’s rich effect. Indeed, I thought it in many ways more useful as an eclectic organ than the Aeolian-Skinner in Sage Chapel, being equally at home, for example, in works by Bach and Karg-Elert.

Following this we all piled in the buses for a visit to St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Camillus, New York, home of a II/21 Schlicker of 1965. Allison Evans Henry gave a recital of Bach, Howells, Vierne, and from the Syracuse Collection, Homage to Persichetti by Janet M. Correll (b. 1942). We also heard a charming arrangement for Vivaldi’s Concerto in D Major, arranged for organ and classical guitar. The solo guitarist was Timothy Schmidt. This was a very nice little organ, and indeed I don’t think a small church looking for value for money in 1965 could have done any better than to buy a Schlicker organ such as this. We then split into groups again, and my group went first to Cazenovia College for an extremely pleasant luncheon. For anyone who is looking for a college for their undergraduate degree and who is especially fond of ice cream, of which they had a splendid selection, Cazenovia College ought to be near the top of the list. 

In the afternoon we went first to the First Presbyterian Church in Cazenovia, home of C. B. Fisk Opus 70, a II/32 tracker of 1976. The organ contains some pipework from the previous instrument by J. G. Marklove. Christopher J. Howerter treated us to a program of de Grigny, Bach, Buxtehude, and Canadian composer Sir Ernest Campbell MacMillan’s Cortège académique. We also heard our Convention Chair, Ryan J. Boyle, singing bass, and alto Abby Witmer, accompanied by the organ in Dudley Buck’s “The Lord is My Light.” This is an excellent organ all round; one of Charles Fisk’s best, I would say. 

We went then to the May Memorial Unitarian-Universalist Society of Syracuse where we heard a recital given by Glenn Kime on the II/28 Holtkamp organ, Job Number 1797 of 1965. The repertoire consisted of Pachelbel’s Praeludium in D Minor, three Bach chorale preludes, the last movement of Mendelssohn’s Sonata No. 1, and two movements from Spirits and Places by Ernst Bacon. These were very pleasant and most unusual, and we were honored to have the composer’s widow in the audience. In spite of it having no swellbox, I thought that this was the most versatile and attractive of all the Holtkamp instruments we heard during the convention. 

Following dinner in the Armory Square neighborhood of Syracuse, we walked to the Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception for the last, and one might say culminating, recital of the OHS convention. Immaculate Conception’s organ is a three-manual built by Frank Roosevelt of New York City, Opus 520 of 1892, rebuilt and tastefully augmented by Schantz in 1980. Schantz’s head voicer, Bob Maye, did excellent work matching the new work to the old, and the organ now has three manuals and pedals and 60 ranks. Our recitalist was the internationally acclaimed Diane Meredith Belcher, who played an excellent program commencing with the Passacaglia on a theme by Dunstable by John Weaver, who was present in the audience and indeed as an OHS member had attended the whole of the convention. This was followed by the Lullaby from the Second Suite of Calvin Hampton, Gigout’s Pièce jubilaire en forme de prélude et fugue, Étoile du soir from the third suite of Vierne’s Pièces de fantaisie, and Rheinberger’s magnificent Sonata No. 8 in E Minor. Altogether a wonderful end to a wonderful OHS convention.

Friday, August 15 

On Friday morning, my wife and I departed Syracuse and wended our weary way through Ontario and back to the Midwest. The lucky few got to stay another day for the optional post-convention tour. This included visits to Johnson & Son Opus 510 of 1878 at First Baptist Church, Meridian, New York, to Skinner Organ Company Opus 644 of 1927 at St. James Episcopal Church, Skaneateles, New York, a Steere & Turner of c. 1891 at Willard Memorial Chapel, Auburn, New York, and St. Mary of the Assumption Roman Catholic Church in Auburn, New York, which has both an 1890 Carl Barckhoff Church Organ Co. organ and another one of 1872 by Garret House. Recitals were given by Carol Britt, Rosalind Mohnsen, Matthias Schmelmer, and Nicholas Bideler. For an even more select few who had been able to register early, there was also a lunch cruise aboard the Judge Ben Wiles
motor launch. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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