London Organ Day

April 12–15, New College and All Souls College, Oxford University

Calvert Johnson is the Charles A. Dana Professor of Music and college organist at Agnes Scott College (Atlanta) and organist at First Presbyterian Church, Marietta, Georgia. He earned the doctorate at Northwestern University. He has performed throughout the U.S., Mexico, Europe, and Japan, and is known for his multicultural programming including works by women, blacks, Asians, and Hispanics. He is the author of critically acclaimed volumes on Spain, England, and Italy in the series Historical Organ Techniques and Repertoire: An Historical Survey of Organ Performance Practices and Repertoire, Wayne Leupold Editions. During his sabbatical leave in 2007 he is preparing accompanying recordings for the English and Italian volumes, and writing the two Dutch volumes and a new scholarly edition of Frescobaldi’s Fiori musicali.

Oxford’s mild early spring weather and sunny skies welcomed conference delegates from eight European countries and the United States to a splendid conference on the organ in Tudor England, organized by Katharine Pardee (Betts Scholar in Organ Studies, Brookman Organ Scholar, Wadham College, Oxford University). What better location for such a conference than a town full of architectural spaces and layout where music of the 16th century could be discussed and performed in settings of the period?
The centerpieces of the conference were the two reproduction organs built by Goetze and Gwynn, using as a basis the two soundboards of two organs found in Suffolk at Wetheringsett and Wingfield. The former had been reassigned as a dairy door for a 17th-century house, and the latter had been stored with abandoned pews and aging lumber in the shed of a church. The very successful and convincing five-foot instruments are a testament to the scholarship and sleuthing carried out by Dominic Gwynn and Martin Goetze on every imaginable source of information on the organ in England, and more broadly in Europe in the late 15th to the early 17th centuries. Thus it was fitting that the first day’s presentations were devoted to the topic of early English organs and to “The Early English Organ Project.”

Day one
In two sessions, John Harper and Gwynn jointly presented each of the reproduction organs in turn. Harper opened with a discussion of existing English organs (or fragments thereof) from the period. In addition to the two Suffolk soundboards, they include a stained glass window at Beauchamp Chapel of St. Mary’s, Warwick (1447), the organ cases of Old Radnor and Magdalen College, Oxford,1 a handful of unaltered pipes from the Chair organ of Magdalen College, surviving stoplists, and numerous written accounts mentioning organs in church and court inventories, wills, and indentures. Most helpful was Harper’s explanation of these organs as transposing organs in order to accompany choirs, that is, low C on the keyboard actually sounded F a perfect fourth higher (in terms of 8¢ pitch; a perfect fifth lower in terms of 4¢ pitch). Given that the organs of the period were also pitched higher than A-440, the resulting pitch when playing low C would actually be closer to G, a fifth higher, or possibly approaching G#.
Gwynn explained that the soundboards provided considerable evidence about the original organs. The toe holes indicated the layout of the pipes and location of the ranks, but also which ranks and the pipe widths as well. Hence it was clear that doubled ranks were the norm, as indicated in surviving stoplists of the period. The Wetheringsett soundboard indicated further that a duplicate Fifteenth rank had been prepared for (pilot holes drilled for the toe holes), but had been replaced by a Regal, for which the air had been ducted to stand behind the façade pipes in order that the pipes might be easily tuned from the front. The soundboards also indicated the dimensions of the pallets and sliders. The façade principals of the Wingfield organ lacked sliders, so they were permanently on.
In a presentation related to the Wingfield organ, Madeleine Katkov discussed medieval polychromy, of which hundreds of examples are preserved from the Middle Ages in East Anglia in churches and on church furnishings and decorative pieces. She demonstrated the methods used to prepare the paints, the choices of colors, and the styles of application, including stenciling. She chose the most common color scheme for the Wingfield organ pipes and case: alternating red and green separated by a white background. She chose a predominantly Marian theme in the design elements; for example the prominent W topped with a crown actually is a double V (for Virgin of Virgins), and the stylized M is actually an M containing an A to the left and an R to the right for “Ave Maria Regina.” Katkov is an independent conservator specializing in painted architectural surfaces, particularly of medieval churches.
To provide a better understanding of the architectural setting of the conference, Barrie Clark gave a presentation on late medieval and Reformation-era architecture in Oxford, and showed what was in place in 1600 before a number of buildings had been constructed—buildings familiar to contemporary visitors. Clark is an architect with English Heritage, with a special interest in organ preservation in historic churches in Britain and Europe.
The first day’s program concluded with a compelling concert of sacred and secular music from the early Tudor court and chapel. Kimberly Marshall of Arizona State University used the Wingfield organ masterfully and expressively as she played an In nomine by John Taverner, a Gloria tibi trinitas by John Blitheman, and an organ intabulation of Walter Frye’s Tout a par moy chanson. Emily Van Evera assembled a stellar quartet of singers who all specialize in early vocal and choral music to perform trios and quartets from Henry VIII’s manuscript and the Ritson manuscript. In addition, Marshall collaborated with the vocal ensemble in an alternatim performance of a Te Deum and an anonymous setting of Bina caelestis, both from the Tomkins manuscript. (Van Evera herself has been a member of the Taverner Players, Musicians of Swanne Alley, and Gothic Voices. Rogers Covey-Crump is a member of the Hilliard Ensemble; Daniel Auchincloss performs with the King’s Consort, Gabrieli Consort, and Le Concert Spirituel as well as many opera companies; and Stephen Charlesworth sings with the Tallis Scholars, Gothic Voices, Monteverdi Choir, and Taverner Choir, among other well-known vocal ensembles.) Although the four had not performed together as an ensemble prior to this concert, their performance was impeccable, showing the result of years of living with historic performance practices and skilled ensemble singing.

Day two
The second day was devoted to the role of the English organ in the pre- and post-Reformation era, as well as its place in medieval philosophy. Unfortunately the first speaker was ill (Diarmaid MacCulloch). In lieu of his paper on damage in churches done by the Puritans during the English Reformation, Peter Williams led a spirited discussion about the concert the evening before. John Harper followed with a detailed and very engaging study of the extant evidence of music in the pre-Reformation liturgy in cathedrals especially, and demonstrated that the surviving organ and choral music reflects the requirements for music (genres such as Mass Ordinary, Lady Mass propers, Office hymns and response). It is entirely desirable that he publish his book as soon as possible: Sacred Pipes and Voices: organs and their relationship to the liturgy choral institutions, and musical repertoires in Britain, c. 1480–1700.
Oxford historian of science and medicine Allan Chapman gave one of the finest of the conference presentations, on the organ as representative of medieval intellectual and spiritual technology. Chapman reminded us of the importance of music in the quadrivium—the fields of higher learning as sciences of proportion linked to the music of the spheres. Scholars and inventors needed to express the perfection of God’s world, and developed elaborate machines and instruments such as the astrolabe and the clock in order to keep track of time (including the movement of the sun in dark periods of the year when it was difficult for astronomers to see it) in order to observe all the required masses and offices. The organ similarly reflected the perfection of God along with polyphony and demonstrated reason and the wisdom of God to delight worshippers, performers, and the divinity.
Dana Marsh, a doctoral student at Oxford, next shared with us portions of his dissertation (Music, Church and Henry VIII’s Reformation), focusing on royal occasions for worship (royal processional entrances to cathedrals, coronations, funerals), the chants mentioned in conjunction with these services, and the participation in performances by voices and instruments, including the organ.
In spite of the dearth of documentation concerning the organs and their use at Westminster Abbey, David Knight shared with us a full listing of what direct evidence there is and fleshed out the picture with corresponding information drawn from other English collegiate churches. The earliest record dates from 1240 when Henry III paid for organ repairs. While there were new organs built and repairs made from the 14th to the 16th centuries, the number of organs declined in the late 16th century. Knight is the conservation assistant at the Council for the Care of Churches of the Church of England, and organist and choirmaster of Crown Court Church of Scotland.
Sherlock Holmes would have congratulated David Shuker, a professor from Leicestershire of organic chemistry at the Open University in Milton Keynes. Following up on a mention in a 1789 issue of The Gentleman’s Magazine of an organ with a Gothic case found at the collegiate church of St. Bartholomew in Tong, Shropshire, Shuker laid out the course of his investigation and the tantalizing evidence that has simply disappeared. If he should discover the organ case, it might be the fourth surviving early English organ.
The day’s presentations concluded with services organized by John Harper so that we might experience something akin to the pre-Reformation use of organ, chant and split chancel choir, while not actually reconstructing these services. We sang Latin Vespers for Friday in the Octave of Easter according to the pre-Reformation Use of Sarum in the Ante-Chapel of New College, and Latin Compline for Eastertide according to the pre-Reformation Use of Salisbury in the Chapel of All Souls College. Leading us were the Rev. Dr. Simon Jones, organist Christian Wilson, and members of the vocal ensemble Sospiri, seated in decani and cantori formation, with the rest of the conference delegates scattered behind the singers on either side. Fortunately, Harper provided us with the entire text and music clearly written out with designations as to which side of the choir was to sing when.

Day three
The emphasis on Saturday was performance practices of organ music before 1600. John Caldwell (Emeritus Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford) discussed the possibility that some music in the Mulliner Book was intended for the Offices. Jane Flynn of Leeds College of Music made a compelling case that the Mulliner Book consists of contrapuntal writing, showing that the material is organized in pedagogical order along the lines of the counterpoint methods of Lodovico Zacconi and Thomas Morley involving improvisation, and noting that some of the anonymous pieces may actually be Thomas Mulliner’s own attempts at the level of counterpoint exhibited by the surrounding pieces. Magnus Williamson, a music lecturer at Newcastle University, continued the discussion of the Mulliner Book and also Add. MS. 29996 at the British Library—the primary sources of English organ music in the 16th century. He discussed other sources in castle, church and cathedral archives that mention the use of the organ in worship services, notably Lady Masses, drawing connections between the improvised tradition of the 15th century and the composed pre-Reformation repertoires of the 16th century. A recent master’s graduate of Oxford, Christian Wilson, continued the theme of improvisation in the context of alternatim 16th-century English masses. Andrew Johnstone, a lecturer in music at Trinity College, Dublin, gave a valuable explanation of English choir pitch, which also had been touched upon by John Harper and Magnus Williamson, as well as the implications for transposition to accompany choirs in the context of alternatim services. This session concluded with Kimberly Marshall’s beautifully performed recital on the Wetheringsett organ in New College’s Ante-Chapel, featuring English and related continental organ music of the 16th and 17th centuries.
Following a much-needed coffee break during which many sought and found the tombstone of Robert Dallam in the cloister, the group gathered in the MacGregor-Matthews room for a variety of topics. Richard Hird, author of the acclaimed booklet Durham Cathedral Organs, gave a history of the organs at Durham Cathedral and its former Benedictine monastery St. Cuthbert. During the Tudor period there were three organs in the Choir: one on the screen above the Jesus altar in the center of the nave, one on the right, and one on the left. Interestingly, a dean of the cathedral married the sister of John Calvin, so the organs were all removed after 1561.
Paola Dessì of the University of Bologna discussed the very early English “organum” made by Aethelwold, the 10th-century Bishop of Winchester, “with his own hands.” While she provided a good presentation on documents to support her thesis that Aethelwold introduced the pipe organ to England, Peter Williams stressed problems with the word “organum,” which might refer to some other musical instrument entirely, possibly a wind instrument.
Joan Jeffrey, a retired secondary school teacher who is now a senior lecturer at Canterbury Christ Church College of Education [University], gave a most interesting paper on the presence of more than 80 organs in the coastal communities of Kent before the dissolution of the monasteries and eventual removal of organs from parish churches by 1571 with the exception of Faversham. The day’s program concluded with a superbly constructed concert performed by Musica Humana, Oxford, directed by Dana Marsh with Christian Wilson on the organ. The concert included examples of alternatim mass movements by Nicholas Ludford and an anonymous late 15th-century mass from York with improvised versets provided by Wilson, and an anonymous Te Deum from the Gyffard Part Books with alternatim organ verses by John Blytheman. The choral singing throughout the program was well balanced and expressive of the formal construction of the various motets, and about as perfectly tuned as could be desired. My favorites on the program were Mater Christi sanctissima by John Taverner, “Candidi facti sunt” from Thomas Tallis’s Cantiones Sacrae, and Omnes gentes plaudite minibus by Christopher Tye. Marsh’s conducting gave clear cues and beat to the choir without getting in the way of the singers. Wilson’s improvisations were certainly in the appropriate style, and his playing of the organ works was clean and accurate, with virtuosic display that contributed to the overall effect rather than drawing attention to the performer. Especially fine were William Byrd’s Fantasia in D Minor and Thomas Preston’s Felix namque.

Day four
Sunday morning was a bit of a catchall, though mainly about organs. Dominic Gwynn discussed the life, training, and professional routine of the London-based Tudor organ builder John Clymhowe, who apparently converted to the evangelical faith in the 1530s while maintaining his profession of building organs for Roman Catholic churches. José Hopkins, honorary secretary of the British Institute of Organ Studies, discussed the use of music at King’s College Cambridge on the occasion of the visit of Queen Elizabeth I in 1564 and again in 1571, contrasting the use of the organs and choral music as Cambridge became increasingly a bastion of the Calvinists within the Church of England. Hopkins discussed Elizabeth I’s defense of the Mass, while both English and Latin texts were sung, some with organ alternatim. Martin Renshaw, a professional singer and organbuilder in Normandy, discussed the removal of the organ from English parish churches during the Reformation, and the unexpected opportunities for the instrument as it was diverted to secular repertoires. One of the leading authorities on the history of musical instruments, Jeremy Montagu, gave a compelling presentation of the late 14th-century crozier of William of Wykeham that is kept in the nearby nave of New College Chapel with its beautiful and realistic sculptures in silver of a wide variety of musical instruments being played. Fittingly, Alexandra Buckle of Worcester College Oxford presented her dissertation research on the use of music at Beauchamp Chapel, Warwick, clearly the finest medieval chapel in England. Among the depictions of musical instruments is a splendid stained glass representation of a medieval English organ similar to the Wetheringsett organ built by Goetze and Gwynn.
Katharine Pardee organized a truly exceptional conference, guided by experts in the field of early English organs including Peter Williams, John Harper, Dominic Gwynn, Melvin Hughes, and many others. The papers were of a very high quality, the musical performances excellent, and the liturgical services compelling. Unlike many conferences, this one provided much to think about and to discuss during the question and answer periods and breaks between sessions. We all look forward to the next conference, which will focus on the subsequent period during the reigns of the Stuarts and Hanoverians. While the leading English authorities on Tudor organs and organ music were present, very few Americans were in attendance, perhaps because this organ repertoire is not so well known or loved, or because of the decline in the value of the dollar relative to the pound. However, English 17th- and 18th-century voluntaries are well known and frequently played by organists in North America and England, and the next conference should be of interest to all organists. It will be held April 10–13, 2008, at Merton College, Oxford University, and the conference registration fee will probably again include lodging and most meals, making it a real bargain. There will likely be a London “organ crawl” the day before the conference (April 9).

Joel H. Kuznik, NYC, has been writing published articles for 50 years. A native of Jack Benny’s hometown, Waukegan, his childhood idol nevertheless was Rubenstein, whom he eventually heard in Paris in 1975. But by 14, he became fascinated with the organ and Biggs, whom he heard twice in the mid 1950s. He studied organ with Austin Lovelace, David Craighead, Mme. Duruflé, Jean Langlais, and Anton Heiller, and conducting with Richard Westenburg and Michael Cherry, who was assistant to Georg Szell. Highlights of 70 years have included hearing Glenn Gould, Giulini in Brahms’ Fourth at Chicago, Carlos Kleiber’s “Der Rosenkavalier” at the Met, Herreweghe’s unmatchable “Mass in B Minor” at the Leipzig Bachfest, “Tosca” at La Scala, a one-on-one with Bernstein after the Mahler 2nd, and, finally, a birthday toast from Horowitz.

One advantage of retirement is having the luxury of hearing colleagues and ensembles here and abroad. Of course you don’t have to be retired, but the freedom to plan your own time helps. I have taken a number of European musical tours: Italian opera, Paris organs, Bach and Luther, and the Leipzig Bach Festival.
I have also taken two Holy Week-Easter pilgrimages. In the late 1990s I observed Holy Week in London and celebrated Easter in both the Western and Eastern Orthodox rites, first in Naples and then a week later in the Oia, Santorini, Greece. This year I decided to take my pilgrimage in London. These are the options I discovered on the Internet, and from which I made a spreadsheet for daily reference. Choices had to be made, and not everything made the list, such as “Götterdämmerung” at the Royal Opera House, which would have consumed one of my six days.

Maundy Thursday

13:10: Eucharist with music, St. Anne & St. Agnes, Bach chorales
17:00: Sung Eucharist, Westminster Abbey, Byrd Mass & Duruflé
18:00: Mass, Westminster Cathedral, Monteverdi & Duruflé
19:30: Mozart Requiem, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, New London Singers

Good Friday

11:15: Matins & Litany, Temple Church, Lotti & Tallis
14:30: Bach’s St. John Passion, St. John’s Smith Square, Academy of Ancient Music
15:00: Lord’s Passion, Westminster Cathedral, Bruckner, Victoria

Holy Saturday

15:00: Evensong, Westminster Abbey, Victoria
19:00: Easter Vigil, St. Paul’s, Langlais Messe Solennelle
20:30: Easter Vigil, Westminster Cathedral, Vierne Messe solennelle

Easter Sunday

10:15: Matins, St. Paul’s, Britten Festival Te Deum
10:30: Eucharist, Westminster Abbey, Langlais Messe Solennelle
16:00: Early & baroque music, Wigmore Hall, Florilegium, Bach & Telemann
16:45: Organ recital, Westminster Cathedral
18:00: Easter music & Eucharist, St. Anne & St. Agnes, Handel & Telemann

Monday

19:30: Handel’s Messiah, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Belmont Ensemble

Maundy Thursday

A few blocks behind St. Paul’s Cathedral is St. Anne’s Lutheran Church, an international congregation founded in 1951, worshiping at the church of St. Anne and St. Agnes designed by Sir Christopher Wren after the Great Fire of London (1666) and consecrated in 1680. Built in the form of a Greek cross, this small church was bombed in WWII, but was restored and reconsecrated in 1966 as a Lutheran parish. In addition to its architectural history, famous residents of the parish have included John Milton, John Bunyan, and John Wesley.
St. Anne’s is known for its music, “particularly in the Lutheran tradition of J. S. Bach, Schütz, and Buxtehude.” There are over 100 performances a year, including lunchtime concerts on Monday and Fridays. The core musical group is the Sweelinck Ensemble, a professional quartet under the direction of Cantor Martin Knizia. The St. Anne’s Choir had recently sung Bach’s St. John Passion, and last December their Bach Advent Vespers was featured in a live broadcast on BBC Radio 3; .

Eucharist with Music

Chorale: O Mensch bereit das Herze dein, Melchior Franck
Chorale: Im Garten leidet Christus Not, Joachim a Burgk
Chorale: Durch dein Gefängnis, Gottes Sohn, J. S. Bach
Chorale: Jesu Kreuz, Leiden und Pein, Adam Gumpelzhaimer
Ehre sei dir Christe (Matthäus Passion), Heinrich Schütz
The chorales were interspersed throughout this service and were sung handsomely by the Sweelinck Ensemble accompanied by the cantor on a continuo organ. The concluding Schütz St. Matthew Passion was particularly stirring. Definitely worth a detour from the large churches to hear baroque music with this degree of authentic intimacy.

Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey, as glorious inside as it is dramatic outside, had a late afternoon Eucharist that moved the soul. So much can be said about the extraordinary history and presence of this church dating back to a Benedictine monastery in 960. It was later enlarged under King Edward the Confessor and consecrated in 1065 in honor of St. Peter, known as the “west minster” (Old English for monastery) in distinction from the east minster, St. Paul’s Cathedral. This magnificent gothic building is the result of work begun in the 13th century under Henry III and was not completed until 16th century.
Information, including details on the Harrison & Harrison organ (1937, four manuals, 78 stops), can be found at .

Sung Eucharist with the Washing of Feet

Mass for Four Voices, William Byrd
Organ prelude: Schmücke dich, o meine Seele, Bach
Improvisation leading to processional hymn: “Praise to the Holiest in the height” (Gerontius)
Gradual during Gospel procession: “Drop, drop, slow tears” (Song 46, Orlando Gibbons)
During the washing of the feet: Ubi caritas et amor, Maurice Duruflé
St. John 13:12–13, 15, plainsong mode II
Offertory hymn: “O thou, who at thy Eucharist didst pray” (Song 1, Orlando Gibbons)
After the Communion: Dominus Jesus in qua nocte tradebatur, Palestrina
While sacrament is carried to altar at St. Margaret’s: Pange lingua, plainsong mode II
During the stripping of the altar: Psalm 22:1–21, plainsong mode II

Westminster Abbey has an aura resonant with an awe of the divine. The service was without sermon, but so rich in ceremony and ritual that the preaching was in the actions, music, and language of the liturgy—in themselves a powerful message. Here everything seemed so right, from the dignified helpfulness of the ushers to the purposeful solemnity of the clergy—all enhanced by music done so well that it doesn’t call attention to itself because it is transparently integral to the worship and sung in a spirit reflective of the day’s liturgy. One did not just watch, but was drawn into the moment and left with an inner tranquility that spoke the essence of Maundy Thursday.

Good Friday

The weather was London: wet, dank, chilly and bleak—so fitting for the day. The Temple Church was recommended, not because of its recent attention due to the “The Da Vinci Code,” but primarily for its most traditional liturgy and excellence in music. The “Round Church” dates from 1185 and was the London headquarters of the Knights Templar. Their churches were “built to a circular design to remind them of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, a round, domed building raised over the site of the sepulchre where Jesus was buried.” The elongated choir was added by Henry III and consecrated on Ascension Day, 1240. The website provides an intriguing history of this unique church with directions and a much-needed map; .

Choral Matins, Book of Common Prayer (1662)
Introit: Crux fidelis, inter omnes, King John IV of Portugal
The Responses, plainsong
Venite, Exultemus, Anglican chant, Edward John Hopkins
Psalm 22, plainsong
The Lamentations of Jeremiah 1:1–2, Thomas Tallis
Benedictus, plainsong
Anthem: Crucifixus etiam pro nobis, Antonio Lotti
Litany, Thomas Tallis

Stephen Layton, director of music, directs a refined choir of men and boys, who were most telling in the Lotti Crucifixus, accompanied on a portative by the organist, James Vivian. The remainder of the service was played on the imposing and very British Romantic organ built by Harrison & Harrison (1924 and 2001, four manuals, 62 stops). The history of The Temple’s organs, including one by Father Smith, can be found on the website.

Back on Fleet Street I hopped on a bus to Westminster, hoping to hear Bach’s St. John Passion at St. John’s, Smith Square, just blocks from Westminster Abbey. A deconsecrated church dating from 1728, it now serves as a popular concert venue. In the crypt is a handy, economical restaurant “The Footstool,” where lunch was being served; .

St. John Passion, Johann Sebastian Bach, sung by Polyphony with the Academy of Ancient Music, Stephen Layton, conductor
Andrew Kennedy, Evangelist, tenor; James Rutherford, Christus; Thomas Guthrie, Pilatus; Emma Kirkby, soprano; James Bowman, countertenor; and Roderick Williams, bass.

This was a superb, masterful performance by a mature choir of 26 and professional soloists. The chorales were sung with care and the arias with sensitivity. The conductor’s tempos were quite sprightly and his approach dramatic, sometimes so much so that the next recitative intruded on the end of a chorale. This was, nevertheless, a fitting and most inspiring way to observe Good Friday.

Holy Saturday—Easter Eve

The Easter Vigil with its roots going back to earliest Christianity is the epitome of the Christian message and worship. It combines a rehearsal of salvation history with the rites of passage for the candidates (Latin, “those dressed in white”) through Baptism and Confirmation, and culminating in a celebration of the “Breaking of Bread” as Jesus did with his disciples after the Resurrection. The Vigil is an extended service with power-laden symbolism—the passage from utter darkness to brilliant light, the anointing with oil in the sign of the cross, the drowning of the self in baptismal waters, “putting on Christ,” and the sharing of the bread and wine in union with the community of faithful.
In London there could be no more fitting place to celebrate the Vigil than the regal diocesan St. Paul’s Cathedral, founded some 1500 years ago in 604 by Mellitus, a follower of St. Augustine who was sent to convert the Anglo-Saxons. It has been rebuilt a number of times with the most recent version begun in 1633 with a neo-classical portico or façade. The current design by Christopher Wren received royal approval in 1675, but was not finished until 1710. Later came the woodwork by Grinling Gibbons for the huge Quire and Great Organ, and in the 19th–20th century the glittering mosaics in the dome, envisioned by Wren. Most will remember St. Paul’s as the site of Prince Charles’s wedding to Diana. It has just undergone a complete renovation at a cost of £40 million in anticipation of its 300th anniversary in 2008; .
The organ was built by Henry Willis (1872) with an extensive renovation and enlargement completed by Mander (1977, five manuals, 108 stops). Not many organs deliver the overpowering experience that this organ can, especially when stops in the dome are added with a sound that not only surrounds, but also envelops worshippers.
The liturgy took place, not in the grand Quire, but “in the round” under the dome with a free-standing altar at one axis and the choir (with a small organ) to the left on risers, surrounded by the congregation.
Upon entry one received an impressive 28-page service booklet. One could only wonder “O Lord, how long?” But the service moved right along in two hours, including baptisms and confirmations. The service began in darkness; only with the procession to the dome by the participants did light begin to dawn as candles were shared. The Vigil had only one lesson instead of the usual nine readings. Then—the dramatic Easter Greeting by the bishop, “Alleluia! Christ is risen,” followed by bells and a thunderous fanfare from the organ—with a sudden blaze of almost blinding light as all the cathedral and the dome with its glittering mosaics lit up.

The Vigil Liturgy of Easter Eve

Setting: Messe solennelle, Jean Langlais
Exsultet sung responsively with the congregation
Song of Moses, Exodus 15, Huw Williams
Gloria in Excelsis, Langlais
Hymn: “The strife is o’er, the battle done ” (Gelobt sei Gott)
Hymn: “Awake, awake: fling off the night!” (Deus Tuorum Militum)
Motet: Sicut cervus, Palestrina
Hymn: “Here, risen Christ, we gather at your word” (Woodlands)
Sanctus, Langlais
Agnus Dei, Langlais
Surrexit Christus hodie, alleluia!, Samuel Scheidt (arr. Rutter)
Hymn: “Shine, Jesus, Shine”
Hymn: “Christ is risen, Alleluia!” (Battle Hymn of the Republic)
Toccata, Symphonie No. 5, Widor

The impact of this service was profound and intensely extraordinary, not as formal as Westminster Abbey, but with no less sincerity. The Langlais setting with the punctuating fortissimo chords from organ was overwhelming. The hymn singing, fueled by the organ’s energy, was similarly dynamic and enthusiastic, and the final hymn sung to the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” went at such an exuberant clip that one had to conduct beats to keep up. How could one divorce one’s mind from the text, “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord”?
After this high-spirited hymn, the people, with their pace set by an energized Widor Toccata, exited up the center aisle toward the west end, facing the huge open cathedral doors with a gleaming light streaming in from the floodlit street, and walked past the bishop and the font into the light—they were ready for the Resurrection.

Easter Sunday

Sunday was another day, and, thankfully, the sun shone. I arrived at 9:15 am for Westminster Abbey’s 10:30 service to an already long queue. Had I arrived fifteen minutes earlier, I might have sat in the desirable rectangle framed by the choir screen and the chancel. But sitting just a few rows into the transept the sound was less immediate and gripping, and the hymn singing less compelling.

Sung Eucharist

Pre-service: Toccata in F Major, Bach

Setting: Messe solennelle [with brass quartet], Langlais Hymn: “Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia,” Lyra Davidica
Gloria in excelsis, Langlais
Gospel Procession: Victimae paschali, plainsong, arr. Andrew Reid
Hymn: “At the Lamb’s high feast” (Salzburg)
Sanctus, Langlais
During the Communion: Agnus Dei, Langlais; Christus resurgens ex mortuis, Peter Philips
Hymn: “Thine be the glory” (Maccabaeus)
Postlude: Finale, Symphonie II, Vierne
This was a straightforward Eucharistic service with fine music well performed. The Abbey Choir was conducted by James O’Donnell, Organist and Master of the Choristers, and accompanied by the London Brass quartet. The organist was Robert Quinney, Sub-Organist. The choir sang with their usual distinction, and in comparing this version of the Langlais, even with brass, to the Vigil the night before, clearly St. Paul’s was the more persuasive and affecting.

In the afternoon I headed to Westminster Cathedral, which according to the Internet performed some impressive music during Holy Week and on Easter that included Monteverdi, Duruflé, Byrd, Bruckner, Victoria, and Vierne’s Messe solennelle. But I regret to say that this Vespers, largely a chanted service and because of that, was an unexpected disappointment, especially since I had read such admiring CD reviews.
The cathedral, its striking architectural style from “Byzantine style of the eastern Roman Empire,” was designed by the Victorian architect John Francis Bentley on a site originally owned by the Abbey, but sold to the Catholics in 1884. The foundation was laid in 1895, and the structure of the building was completed eight years later. The interior with its impressive mosaics and marbles is said to be incomplete, but the cathedral is certainly a visual tableau .

Solemn Vespers and Benediction sung in Latin

Office Hymn: Ad cenam Agni provide
Psalms 109 and 113A (114)
Canticle: Salus et gloria et virtus Deo nostro (Revelation 19:1–7)
Magnificat primi toni, Bevan
Motet: Ecce vincit, Leo Philips
O sacrum convivium, Gregorian chant
Organ voluntary: Fête, Langlais

Unfortunately the printed order of service provided the Latin-English text, but without information on composers or musicians—facts only available on the Internet. The service seemed austere both in its solemnity from the entrance of the choir with many clergy and in its liturgical style.
There is obvious musical talent with a large professional choir of men and boys, but the musicians work with disadvantages. The choir is on an elevated shelf behind the baldaquin and high altar, which distances the sound and at times makes the singing seemed forced, especially by the men. The most disappointing, regrettable aspect was chanting “the old-fashioned way” with “schmaltzy” organ accompaniments on voix celeste or flutes. Solesmes is, by all counts, the gold standard, and after that all else pales. One would have thought the reform of chant in the Catholic Church and after Vatican II would have had greater impact and changed practice.
Martin Baker is the master of music and the assistant organist is Thomas Wilson. The Grand Organ is hidden by a nondescript screen in a chamber above the narthex and was only revealed in the Langlais Fête at the end—like an anomaly, but played with fire and aplomb. The organ was built by Henry Willis III (1922–1932, four manuals, 78 stops) and was restored by Harrison & Harrison in 1984.

Did I have one more service in me? I bravely headed to Trafalgar Square and St. Martin-in-the-Fields for Evensong. This church has a full schedule of services plus over 350 concerts a year. It may date back as far as 1222, and it can lay claim to the fact that both Handel and Mozart played the organ here in 1727. Today one immediately thinks of the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields founded in the 1950s with Sir Neville Marriner.
The church’s activities are amazing, but it is not resting on its laurels. It is the midst of a £34 million campaign (already £24 million in hand) to expand its facilities inside and out to include an outdoor courtyard, a rehearsal space, a Chinese community center, and space for social services. It will also mean a much-needed restoration to the interior of the church to bring it closer to its historic 18th-century conception. In the crypt there is a shop and a café that serves nutritious meals all day.

Choral Evensong

Introit: This Joyful Eastertide, arr. Wood
Responses, Martin Neary
Canticles: Collegium Regale, Herbert Howells
Anthem: Rise heart, thy Lord has risen, Vaughan Williams
Postlude: Victimae Paschali, Tournemire

What a joy! Familiar music well done by a superb, effective choir with first-rate organ playing. A great, satisfying way to complete my Easter celebration. Alleluia! The talented and youthful director of music, Nicholas Danks, is full of enthusiasm. The assistant organist, David Hirst, played the Tournemire with particular verve and drama on the fine organ by J. W. Walker and Sons (1990, three manuals, 47 stops) with its battery of fiery French reeds. I didn’t think I was up for another Messiah this season, but these musicians felt the choir presenting the next night at St. Martin’s was one of London’s finest.

Monday

Messiah, George Friedrich Handel
English Chamber Choir, Belmont Ensemble of London, Peter G. Dyson, conductor
Philippa Hyde, soprano; David Clegg, countertenor; Andrew Staples, tenor; and Jacques Imbrailo, baritone.
Things are moving along in London, and sprightly tempos are in. I found that to be the case with the Bach St. John Passion and here in the quick-paced Messiah, which came in at under two hours performance time—something of a record, I think.
The crackerjack orchestra and youthful soloists were on board, but the talented choir, perhaps under-rehearsed and lacking experience with this lively conductor, struggled to keep up, especially in Part I. “For unto us a child is born” proved that at these tempos “His yoke is easy” was not easy at all! The soloists all did fine work, but the tenor and baritone in particular distinguished themselves with eloquent declamations. In many respects this was a laudable performance brought to a rousing conclusion with “Worthy is the Lamb.”
Continuing in the spirit of Handel, I decided the next day to visit the Handel House Museum at 25 Brook Street where Handel lived in a multi-story house from 1723 to 1759. Here he composed famous works such Messiah, Zadok the Priest, and Music for the Royal Fireworks. It is a modest museum compared to the Händel-Haus Halle in Germany , but certainly worth a visit.
One is treated to an introductory film plus interesting prints of Handel’s contemporaries, two reconstructed period harpsichords (one with a zealous player dashing up and down double-keyboards), the Handel bed recently refurbished, and a current exhibit on “Handel and the Castrati,” with photo-bios of the leading castrati. Handel lived quite well indeed, paying a modest rent of £50 a year and with three servants to dote over him—every musician’s dream!
London is a six-hour flight from the East Coast and offers a plethora of musical possibilities, especially at Christmas and Easter. Others would have made different choices tailored to their interests. For me this was a full, rewarding week, something every musician needs from time to time to refresh the spirit—to capture the energy, vitality, and imagination of others. Europe may not be the bargain it once was. You can’t take it with you anyway, but these can be empowering moments you take to the bank that last forever.

When meeting Kimberly Marshall, one’s first impression is that of great energy. That impression lingers as one encounters her presence in written publications and recordings—she seems to turn up everywhere and indeed, she has performed and presented at American and European conventions and conferences, has written entries for Grove and other music dictionaries, recorded organ music from the 15th to the 21st centuries, and even made videos to illustrate exercises for organists (Marshall kindly produced one for The Diapason).

A native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Kimberly Marshall began organ studies in 1974 with John Mueller at North Carolina School of the Arts. After studies in France with Louis Robilliard (1978–79) and Xavier Darasse (1980–81), she returned to North Carolina and completed her undergraduate studies with Fenner Douglass in 1982.

With a full scholarship from the British government, she pursued graduate studies at the University of Oxford (1982–86), earning a D.Phil. in Music for her thesis, Iconographical Evidence for the Late-Medieval Organ. During her time in England, she won first prize at the St. Albans Organ Interpretation Competition in 1985, leading to a contract with the BBC and a recital on the Royal Festival Hall series.

In 1986, Marshall was appointed assistant professor of music and university organist at Stanford, where she presided over organs by Fisk (dual-temperament, 1984) and Murray Harris (1901). Awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 1991, she continued her research and teaching at the Sydney Conservatorium in Australia. From 1993–96 she served as dean of postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music, developing a new master’s degree in advanced performance studies, awarded in conjunction with King’s College London. 

From 1996–2000, Marshall was a project leader for the Organ Research Center in Göteborg, Sweden, where she taught and performed. Under the aegis of GOArt, she organized the first conference ever devoted to organ recordings, “The Organ in Recorded Sound,” and has edited its proceedings.¹ Appointed to Arizona State University in 1998, Marshall (now Goldman Professor of Organ) oversees the graduate organ studio and presides over the instrument by Paul Fritts (1992). 

Kimberly Marshall has performed and done research worldwide, from a sabbatical in Pistoia, Italy, researching early Italian organ music, to performing on many historic organs, including those in Roskilde Cathedral (Denmark), St. Laurenskerk, Alkmaar (Netherlands), the Jacobikirche in Hamburg, and the Hildebrandt instrument in Naumburg, Germany, which Bach examined in 1746. She has also presented concerts and workshops on early music in Sweden, in Israel, at the 2007 Early English Organ Project in Oxford, and at the Festival for Historical Organs in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Marshall’s publications reflect her eclectic interests. Examples include Rediscovering the Muses (Northeastern University Press, 1993), her edition of articles on female traditions of music making; entries for the Cambridge Companion to the Organ (1998), the Grove Dictionary of Music 2000, and the Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages (2012); and her anthologies of late-medieval and Renaissance organ music (Wayne Leupold Editions, 2000 and 2004). 

Marshall’s recordings (over a dozen, at this writing) cover a wide spectrum, including music of the Italian and Spanish Renaissance, French Classical and Romantic periods, and works by J. S. Bach. Her most recent CD, The First Printed Organ Music: Arnolt Schlick, celebrates the music of Arnolt Schlick on the 500th anniversary of its publication (2012). A CD/DVD set, A Fantasy through Time (Loft, 2009), featured the organ fantasy genre across five centuries, from Ferrabosco and Sweelinck through Jehan Alain. Marshall has collaborated as organist for a recording of Chen Yi’s organ concerto with the Singapore Symphony (BIS, 2003). Her recording of works for organ by female composers, Divine Euterpe, includes music by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Elfrida Andrée, and Ethyl Smyth.

While at Stanford and the Royal Academy of Music, Marshall gave performances of organ works by Ligeti in the presence of the composer, and she has been an advocate for music by Margaret Sandresky, Dan Locklair, and Ofer Ben-Amots. In a recent article, she described the new Gerald Woehl organ in Piteå, Sweden (“The ‘Organ of the Future’ in Sweden’s Studio Acusticum,” The American Organist, February 2013, pp. 62–65). Her publications and recordings can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimberly_Marshall. 

Marshall also maintains a vibrant website (www.kimberlymarshall.com) and a Facebook page, and she can be found on YouTube performing everything from Christmas favorites to Widor. Marshall also has created exercise videos tailored to the organist, in which she demonstrates moves and stretches that work on muscles most used by organists. In person and even via the telephone Marshall communicates a passion both personal and professional, and we wished to explore the life and work that has ensued from such energy and enthusiasm.

Joyce Johnson Robinson: Do you come from a musical family? 

Kimberly Marshall: My mother is very musical and had a beautiful singing voice, but she had very little formal training. Her mother had played the piano, so when I was seven, she asked if I’d like to study the piano. We didn’t have an instrument in my home until my parents bought an upright piano for my practice.

What ignited your love of organ music? 

I had the great luck to be born in the town where John and Margaret Mueller were teaching. Margaret is a legendary organist, and she became my piano instructor when I was thirteen. She is a master teacher for young musicians, and she opened my ears to the expressive possibilities of the piano. John attended one of my piano recitals and invited me to study organ with him. What an honor! I began my studies with him on the beautiful Flentrop organ at Salem College, and the next year continued my work as a high school student at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Dr. Mueller’s enthusiasm and the range of timbres available on the Flentrop organ sparked my passion for the organ.

What works were some of your first favorites?

I was very enamored of French music from the start, Alain’s Litanies and Franck’s Choral III being two of my early favorites.

You received a full scholarship from the British government for your graduate work at Oxford. Is that unusual for an American?

Each year, the British government awards up to 40 “Marshall” Scholarships to Americans to pursue graduate degrees at British universities. The Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission was set up in 1953 as a gesture of gratitude to the United States for the Marshall Plan. Scholars in many fields have studied on Marshall Scholarships—Thomas Friedman, William Burns, and Nannerl Keohane, to name three—but there have been very few musicians in the 60-year history of the awards. Perhaps the common family name helped me, although I’m not aware of any direct link to George C. Marshall.

You had a contract with the BBC. What did that entail?

This was part of my St. Albans prize, and it started with a recording of my prizewinner’s recital that was later broadcast on BBC. The first contract meant that I was on the books, so to speak, and I was later asked to do other projects, such as recordings at Birmingham Town Hall and London’s St. John’s Smith Square.

You’ve done a great deal of work in the areas of medieval and Renaissance organ music. What are the elements of early music that appeal to you?

My interest in early music was sparked by my experience with historical organs while an undergraduate in French conservatories. As a high school student working with John Mueller at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, I had focused mainly on Bach and French romantic music, which led me to continue studies with Louis Robilliard at the Lyon Conservatoire. Every day, I practiced Franck, Liszt, and Messiaen on the beautiful Cavaillé-Coll organ at St. François-de-Sales—it was a marvelous time in my life! After gaining the Médaille d’Or in Lyon, I decided that I should spend some time in Paris working on early music. I was planning to study privately with André Isoir, whom I had met during one of the Salem College summer organ academies, and whom several of my fellow French students had recommended warmly. 

I remember arriving early for the Sunday morning Mass at St. Germain-des-Prés, hoping to go up to the tribune with him, when who should appear but Isoir’s colleague, Odile Bailleux, who hurriedly invited me up the stairs so that she could start the prelude. During the course of the Mass, she played a number of French and English baroque pieces. I loved her playing and her personality and impulsively asked if I might study with her. She agreed, and so I began having lessons in early music with Bailleux at St. Germain. I also went to hear Chapuis play at St. Sévérin in the Latin Quarter whenever possible, and I attended Saturday workshops with him and Jean Saint-Arroman at Pierrefonds, near Compiègne, on an organ built in historical style by Jean-Georges Koenig in 1979. This was a terrific initiation into the performance practice of French Classical organ music, which, with Buxtehude and Pachelbel, was the first pre-Bach repertoire I learned.

So you began with French Romantic repertoire and then started playing the tape backwards, so to speak, moving back into French Classical. What specifically appealed to you about medieval and Renaissance works? 

Again, I was inspired to learn about Renaissance music because of my experiences with historic organs. I remember visiting the gorgeous Piffaro organ (1519) in Siena’s Santa Maria della Scala with Umberto Pineschi and Joan Lippincott in the late 1980s. We were enchanted by the gravitas of the 12′ Principale, by the shimmering beauty of the ripieno, and by the delicacy of the Flauto. But Joan and I didn’t know what type of music would have been composed for this instrument—the four-octave compass began at F (without low F# or G#) and was not conducive to baroque music. So we improvised and relished the sounds. Then I started doing some research, uncovering a treasure trove of 16th-century Italian music, including the first “St. Anne” Fugue, composed before 1570! (I published this in my Renaissance anthology for Wayne Leupold Editions, 2004.) 

The desire to demonstrate a historical organ with corresponding repertoire also motivated my research into Arnold Schlick. Years ago, I had the opportunity to perform on the 16th-century Genarp organ in the Malmö Museum, for which Schlick’s music is well suited. I’ll never forget that pedalboard because the sharps were so high that it made playing Schlick’s Ascendo ad patrem meum (with four parts in the pedal) easier than usual, although I had to take my shoes off to do it!

My interest in medieval music obviously did not come from playing historic organs, but rather from my study with John Caldwell at Oxford. As part of my course, I researched the early history of the organ, and I was naturally curious about the sort of instrument that would have accommodated the first surviving keyboard music—the Robertsbridge Codex, circa 1360. Caldwell is an expert on medieval music and English keyboard music, and he encouraged my efforts, giving me insightful suggestions about possible sources and the meaning of obscure Latin references. Another formative influence was my thesis advisor, Christopher Page, who founded Gothic Voices just a year before I began my studies at Oxford. Listening to Margaret Philpot and Rogers Covey-Crump recreating the music of Machaut and Dufay in New College Chapel transported me to new musical horizons. I was taken by the strange beauty of the music, and I wanted to reclaim the organ repertoire from this time. Page was the perfect mentor for me, a scholar/performer of the first order who was able to sell out major concert halls with a program of medieval motets and Renaissance chansons. I was inspired to include 14th- and 15th-century keyboard pieces on my own concert programs. 

Although I have had the chance to perform concerts at Sion and Rysum, I usually play late-medieval music on modern organs, trying to evoke something of its original creation through my articulation and registration. As I tell my audiences, we shouldn’t limit ourselves to medieval replica organs to bring this music to life in the 21st century. What if we hadn’t played Bach’s organ music until we had the perfect Bach organ?

You put a great emphasis on recital program design. Tell us how you approach programming.

I am fascinated by the many different types of organs that have been created and try to share this fascination with my audiences through interesting programming. My concerts often have a theme, such as A Fantasy through Time, a CD/DVD of organ fantasies from the 16th to the 20th century, or Bach Encounters Buxtehude, exploring through organ music the ways in which the Lübeck master might have influenced the young Bach.

I very much enjoy finding ways to link disparate types of music or to help the audience understand the development of a genre or organ type. Organ music preserved from the early 16th century shows the emergence of national styles, as German, Italian, French, and English musicians began exploring the organs they knew. So it’s a great way to demonstrate the distinguishing characteristics of organs in different European countries, many of which also correspond to some national stereotypes of the people in those countries!

Of course, the organ that I am playing must always be the starting point for any program to be successful. I try to show as much of each instrument as I can, sometimes finding unusual combinations that highlight the geographic or chronological variety of the music. If there’s a beautiful Quintadena or Regal, I need to determine how best to feature it. Because the compass required for 14th–17th century music is usually much less than that of contemporary instruments, it is often possible to play pieces up or down an octave, thereby employing different registers of the stop(s) than are normally heard. Building fine programs is like managing a restaurant, determining from day to day the best menus to take advantage of fresh, seasonal foods while also creating a special atmosphere for the establishment. Registering organ music is like being the chef, knowing the intrinsic tastes of each ingredient and finding inspired (and delicious!) ways to combine them.

Has your methodology of programming changed over the years?

Yes, definitely. My changing approaches to programming relate to changing expectations of audiences during the past 30 years. When I started concertizing, I would try to include standards of the organ repertoire, always a major Bach work, another German work (perhaps Buxtehude or Pachelbel), something French (some Couperin, Grigny, Franck, Dupré, Alain, or Messiaen) and at least one “outlier,” some Spanish or Italian music, or a contemporary piece (Albright, Heiller, Sandresky, Ligeti). Organ music was more mainstream then, and audiences knew many of the major works. I would try to give them a sampling of music they would recognize and then add some rarer gems to spice up the program. 

As audiences for organ concerts became less familiar with the instrument and its repertoire, I decided that I needed to introduce verbally the music I was playing. This was difficult for me at first, but I forced myself to do it because I felt that it was important to make a connection with the audience and to tell them what excited me about a particular work. I got a lot of good feedback after concerts, when listeners would say, “I especially appreciated your comments,” or “You really helped me to hear things in the music that I otherwise would have missed.” So I persevered, always planning my comments meticulously and memorizing them. (I later discovered that Winston Churchill had similarly written out his speeches, even including indications concerning their delivery, and memorized them, so that it appeared to audiences that he had a natural gift for public speaking.) 

I found that it helped the flow of my comments to have an overriding theme for the concert, so I began to craft programs that related to a type of music (say, dances or organ fantasias) or that showed influence from one composer or national school to another (such as Bach and the Italian influence or organ music by female composers). With time, the speaking between pieces became easier and more natural, so that now, instead of dreading my time off the bench, I can enjoy looking out at the audience and communicating my ideas to them with words as well as through music. And my themes have become more imaginative, such as “War and Peace” (from early battle pieces through Messiaen’s Combat de la Mort et de la Vie), “Number Symbolism in Organ Music,” and “Bottoms Up!” (a program with my fabulous tuba colleague, Sam Pilafian). Sometimes I am asked to prepare a specific type of program for an event. This happened when I was invited to perform an organ recital for the Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music in London two weeks before the 2012 Olympics. The festival organizers were using the theme of competition, so they asked me to recreate the competition between J. S. Bach and Louis Marchand that was planned but never took place. I believe that such a programmatic approach can help bring in new listeners for the organ as well as add new dimensions to the experience of organ enthusiasts.

Let’s discuss your teaching. How do you present historical contexts to your students? 

I have a three-pronged approach to this. We study surviving treatises and instruments to learn from them about playing styles. We then develop interpretations of pieces from different national schools and time periods at a specific organ, determining ways to adapt the historical material to real-life performance situations. Finally, I draw links between what is happening in a specific organ school and what was happening in the broader musical, political, and social contexts in which the music was composed. It is vital for my students to listen to great performances of vocal and instrumental music from each of the traditions we study, so that they have a sound ideal in their minds before they try to achieve it at the organ.

How do you integrate web-based information with traditional bibliographic research methods?

The most important web-based information in my teaching is the availability of fine recordings through the Internet. Our university subscribes to the Naxos Music Library, and my students are constantly finding new sources of recorded music (and not only organ recordings!) to inform their interpretations. I also investigate historical recordings as part of my research (as seen in my article in The Organ in Recorded Sound), so I use the International Historic Organ Recording Collection (www.ihorc.com) and the Centre for History and Analysis of Recorded Music at King’s College London (www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/music/research/proj/charm/) whenever relevant to a student’s interests. 

I think my students teach me more about what’s out on the Internet than I teach them, although I certainly add a critical element that can be lacking for the generation that grew up on Google. Just because there’s a video on YouTube doesn’t mean that it’s an authoritative performance! Of course, my students and I benefit daily from music editions available through the Internet, especially public domain scores through IMSLP (International Music Score Library Project: imslp.org). Again, one must exercise critical judgment about the context of the original edition, since many reflect the scholarship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which is why they are in the public domain. In some cases the scholarship was very sound, but new sources and approaches during the second half of the 20th century may make old editions obsolete, so one must be cautious and not just latch onto the first edition that pops up in the browser.

Given the ubiquity of electronic devices and technologies, do you find that students have more trouble maintaining focus and patience? 

Since my teaching is specialized, I haven’t encountered this problem directly, but colleagues who teach more general courses often complain of the need to present material in “sound bytes.” Organists have great powers of concentration, so I’m not sure that my students are a barometer of what may be happening more generally with regard to attention spans in our culture. 

Do your students embrace early music as much as you do? 

Some of them do; others don’t. And that’s just fine, because each student is unique and has individual passions that I try to develop through my teaching.

You not only work to stay in shape yourself, but you have created short videos to educate others on ways of preventing pain and injury. What led you to promote exercises for organists? 

I am very committed to helping organists stay fit and able to play the organ without pain. To this end, I have been developing some simple exercises to combat the typical problems encountered by organists spending prolonged periods of time in bad positions.² By working to open the chest and strengthen the rhomboids—upper back muscles— it is possible to correct for the kyphosis (humped upper back) that often plagues organists. It is also necessary to make the hips more flexible and to strengthen the abdominal wall in order to have a stable core that grounds the body. [Kimberly Marshall has created a video for The Diapason demonstrating warmup exercises. Visit TheDiapason.com and look for Diapason TV.] With a strong core and good position at the organ, the arms and legs can move freely, enabling one to play for hours without repetitive strain.

How did you decide on the muscle groups to work on, and which exercises to do? Did you work with an exercise physiologist?

I have practiced yoga for about 15 years, and this has helped my flexibility and mindfulness. Breathing deeply is the key to so many aspects of our mental and physical performance, so opening wind passages and the diaphragm is top priority! I tend to gravitate towards restorative, yin poses in my yoga practice, so I try to balance that with strength training, especially for the core, shoulders, and arms. For the past two years, I’ve had the privilege of working with a fabulous trainer, Larry Arnold. Larry has his own gym in Phoenix and a unique approach to fitness that is rooted in his understanding of the body (his website is www.labodycraft.com). He trains athletes at a very high level, but he’s amenable to improving body function in other activities. I am definitely the first organist he’s worked with, and I’ve taken students to see him as well. We all have the same issues!

Since you have a heightened awareness of physical issues, do you assess any weaknesses with your students?

Yes, my students are often kyphotic (hunched upper back), and they usually have tight lower backs from the strength required to support themselves on the bench during hours of practice. These are problems affecting almost all organists, which is why I developed simple exercises to help offset them. Usually, organists need to strengthen the upper back (so that it holds the shoulders down and back, creating a long, free neck) and to strengthen the abdominal muscles (so that the opposing muscles in the lower back can loosen). Individual students sometimes have other physical issues, so I try to create ways to help them with alignment, strength, and/or flexibility. 

How do you maintain your own fitness when you’re traveling and concertizing?

This can be a challenge, but mainly because of time constraints. Preparing concerts takes a lot of time and energy, so I focus on flexibility rather than strength training when I am touring. I maintain good flexibility through stretches and poses that don’t require lots of space or special equipment, and I’ve even become rather adept at exercising on the plane. You can do small abdominal crunches in your seat to help stretch out the lower back. Neck, shoulder, wrist and ankle rolls help to keep the circulation going and to prevent muscle strains, especially on long flights.

You heartily embrace new technology.

Although I’m of an older generation that actually did research in libraries looking at manuscripts and books, I have learned to embrace several aspects made possible by technological advances in the last 30 years. Scanning projects have made immediately accessible many of the musical sources that used to require air travel and long library stays. Manuscripts, music prints, and recordings are now accessible at the click of a mouse, and this facilitates aspects of my work. Nevertheless, one must be careful to verify information retrieved on the web and to develop a critical sense about the integrity of certain sites. 

I am currently collaborating with David Rumsey on a 4,000-article Encyclopedia of the Organ that provides articles on the history of the instrument in specific countries, with cross-referenced articles giving composers’ biographies, technical information, and organ specifications. We are investigating different online platforms for this in order to make it more user-friendly and to keep it updated. With the speed made possible by new technology, today’s readers are too impatient to look up articles in a book, so we hope to provide links that will pop up almost as quickly as the brain initiates the curiosity to investigate.

Of course, I am delighted to be able to share my own work through online articles, recordings, and videos. The facility of communication makes it easy to get feedback and to carry on stimulating discussions with colleagues. Very importantly, I can now give lessons via Skype with organists who want some tips on playing specific pieces or types of repertoire. This is a great boon to disseminating ideas and to giving instant feedback to those who are experimenting with new techniques.

How have the Skype lessons worked out? 

Remarkably well! I was a bit skeptical at first about whether I would be able to have a good idea of someone’s playing through Skype, and then to convey my ideas back to them. But I have found that Skyped lessons can provide an effective way for me to hear someone playing a specific repertoire and to give them input on aspects of performance practice, such as articulation, ornamentation, and rhythmic alterations. I would not recommend Skype sessions for feedback on registration when preparing a recital or as a substitute for an ongoing relationship with a teacher. There is nothing better than being in the same acoustical environment when working together. But Skype enables me to introduce someone to a new style of playing or to help him/her prepare a specific piece without having to make the trip to Arizona. (In some cases, it inspires them to make the trip later!) 

You have worked all over the world. Are you multi-lingual? If so, do you find it helps your work (or if not, does that hinder you in any way)? 

I am a firm believer that organists should know several languages, and as my students will attest, I make linguistic study a priority. Reading is of course the most important aspect for research, and I help prepare my students for reading exams at ASU. When we travel together to see organs in Mexico and Europe, they see how important it is to be able to speak the local language when I am setting up meetings with colleagues, working out travel details, teaching and introducing my concert programs in Spanish, French, Italian, or German. I haven’t yet mastered Dutch and the Scandinavian languages, but know enough to read about organs in them. I think Mandarin is going to become an important language for the future, as we work to foster an organ culture in China. I’ve been there twice, and I am optimistic about the potential for developing Chinese organists and an enthusiastic following for them.

Is there any other area or type of music that you would like to tackle next? 

Over the past couple of years, I’ve been relishing the opportunity to play a wide repertoire on many different types of organs. I’ve become known for my work in early music, which is very gratifying, but I don’t want to be confined to that, unless, of course, the organ I am playing dictates a specific style of music. I’ve always played romantic and contemporary music, so I’m coming back to some of the 19th- and 20th-century works that dominated my student days as an organist. Hopefully I’m playing them now with greater insight resulting from the intervening musical experience! What excites me about playing the organ is the amazing variety of sound possibilities available. What other instrumentalist can play 14th- and 15th-century music in Sion, Switzerland, and a month later (and 3,000 kilometers north) perform music from a seven-century spectrum on a futuristic organ with over 100 stops?³ 

Perhaps the most extreme example of this “stylistic schizophrenia” occurred this past summer. At the end of June 2014, I performed during the Boston AGO Convention on the Fisk organ at Wellesley College, in ¼-comma meantone tuning with short octave and split keys. Six weeks later, after a wonderful stay in southern France, I appeared on the Spreckels Organ in San Diego’s Balboa Park, complete with tibias and percussion, playing a program of music by Parisian composers. And that, in a nutshell, is why I love the organ. Vive la différence! ν

Notes

1. The Organ in Recorded Sound: An Exploration of Timbre and Tempo. Göteborg: Göteborg Organ Art Center, 2012. Available from the author or from www.ohscatalog.org.

2. Some of these may be found at https://www.facebook.com/KimberlyMarshall.
organist. 

3. “The ‘Organ of the Future’ in Sweden’s Studio Acusticum,” The American Organist (February 2013): 62–65. 

Kimberly Marshall’s forthcoming recording, A Recital in Handel’s Parish Church, features concerti and passacaglias performed on the new Richard-Fowkes organ in St. George’s, Hanover Square, London. All tracks will be available online in September.