Programme Notes for the Organ Music Cassette by Mark Dancer
In order to have these programme notes at a legible size, and not be worrying about lack of space, I thought it would be best to put them in the Parish Magazine.
Side A
1. Toccata & Fugue in D minor by J S Bach (1685-1750): this is probably the best known piece of Bach, even though it almost certainly wasn't written by him, nor was it for the organ! It is now thought to be a transcription of a violin piece by a composer as yet unknown. (For 'transcription' one should perhaps say adaptation or transformation, in the same way that Liszt adapted / transformed other people's music for the piano.)
2. Sanctus & Benedictus (Messe pour les Paroisses) by François Couperin (1668-1733): This is a group of three pieces from one of two Organ Masses by Couperin, which would have been played and sung in alternating phrases while the priest said the mass silently at the altar. The first movement has a canon for the pedals (i.e. both feet playing at the same time) on the trumpet; the second is cornet solo (this is a particular combination of stops, not a sort of trumpet);and the third is an exquisite cromorne solo for which the swell trumpet does a passable imitation.
3. Unter der Linden grüne by J P Sweelinck (1562-1621): Sweelinck was a virtuoso organist of the Dutch Baroque school, and I have picked a short set of variations on a popular folk song to contrast with the dignified sacred music of Couperin.
4. Trumpet Minuet by Alfred Hollins (1865-1942): Hollins was one of two blind organist composers represented on this tape (Stanley being the other). The Trumpet Minuet is a delightful piece which shows off the swell trumpet to advantage.
5. Marche sur un thème de Haendel by Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911): 'Lift up your heads' is the answer. A splendid piece of idiomatic organ writing from one of the greatest French Romantic organists. It has a slow introduction, then a fugal section, and, to conclude, a majestic page on full organ with double pedal.
Side B
1. Paean by Kenneth Leighton (1929-88): Written for Simon Preston to play at the Royal Festival Hall in 1967, it still sounds modern, though not too much so! It starts with a bell-like section, including their overtones, and then goes off into a march. The middle is a slightly jazzy interlude before the march and 'bells' return. Even if your initial reaction is 'Ugh!' do listen to it a couple more times - it grows on you!
2. Concerto in B minor after Vivaldi by J G Walther (1684-1748): This is a straightforward transcription of a violin concerto, by a cousin of Bach.
3. Tui sunt coeli by John Redford (1491-1547): I think of this as a piece of serendipity - I was looking for an Evensong voluntary when I came across it. It is a beautiful piece of Tudor keyboard music: an oasis of calm. I have used the great flute for the first half and the swell flute for the second, to show off the quality of the voicing of the organ.
4. Voluntary in A minor (Op 7, No 8) by John Stanley (1713-86): Stanley's great legacy to organists is his three volume set of Voluntaries, Opus 7 being the third. This is really in two movements, each of which has an integral introduction.
5. Toccata (Symphonie V) Charles Marie Widor (1844-1937): A piece which needs no introduction. However, if you get the chance to hear the rest of the symphony (four other movements precede the Toccata), do take it, as they are rather fine. There are also nine other symphonies worth listening to, composed in the days when the gramophone was barely invented, and were the French answer to the English fashion for transcribing orchestral works
The organ at St George's was built by Messrs Hill, Norman and Beard in 1970 for the new church.
The specification is as follows:
Great: Open Diapason 8'. Stopped Diapason 8'. Pricipal 4'. Chimney Flute 4'. Fifteenth 2'. Pedal: Sub Bass 16'. Principal 8'. Gedeckt 8'. Fifteenth 4'. Double Trumpet 16'. Swell: Spitz Flute 8'. Salicional 8'. Gemshorn 4'. Mixture II. Trumpet 8'. Couplers: Swell to Great. Swell to Pedal. Great to Pedal.
This tape has been made to raise funds to pay for the restoration works carried out by Griffiths & Cooper of Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight in November 1996.
Tapes cost £5.50, or £6.25 by post: of this £4 goes to the fund, £1.50 being the cost of the tape duplicating and copyright fees.
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Organ Music Cassette Programme Notes by Mark Dancer
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page last updated 8 JUNE 1997