Proms 2017: Reformation Day organ music
Aug. 20th, 2017 04:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sawylAs part of the BBC's on-going commemoration of the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther posting his Ninety-Five Thesis on the door at Wittenberg, today's set of three proms formed a mini Reformation Day series. The first, an organ recital by William Whitehead and Robert Quinney, alternating Lutheran chorale preludes from Johann Sebastian Bach Orgelbüchlein with contemporary pieces setting hymns not included in Bach's little organ book.
The newer pieces started with Cheryl Frances-Hoad's prelude on Luther's hymn Ein Feste Burg ist unser Gott — which one of the presenters describes somewhere as the rallying cry of the Reformation. The prelude starts with a slow, contemplative statement of the theme in a very Bachian registration with a gentle harmonisation in the pedals. The piece gradually changes as more complex harmonies are added in the middle voice, building as registrations change to end with a powerful fortissimo that is a world away from the opening bars.
The second new prelude features Jonathan Dove's version of the baptismal hymn, Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam. The piece begins with a restrained, shimmering accompaniment with glittering accents from the flute stops before the chorale theme enters, quietly at first in the middle voice, then stated again in the pedals at much greater volume, building through the rest of the to a loud final statement. It's a truly superb piece that sounds very, very English and different to Bach's take on the same chorale in Clavier-Übung III. It's also an tour-de-force for the Albert Hall's organ, showing its range from beautiful, subtle, quiet colours to commanding tutti.
The third new piece was a prelude by Daniel Saleeb on Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort, followed by a toccata on the same theme. The piece starts with piano, uncertain harmonics, never quite straying into Messiaen territory but certainly skirting its borders, with interjections of the chorale theme in the upper voice. The toccata, a much showier take on the same material, starts very quiet but swells rapidly, with dramatic flourishes, before dropping away to finish on the quietest of notes.
These new pieces, interspersed with JS Bach's preludes were followed by Mendelssohn's third organ sonata and Samuel Sebastian Wesley's duet, Prelude to the Grand Organ Fugue by Johann Sebastian Bach, which appropriately enough, preceded Bach's vast triple themed fugue in E-flat major from Clavier-Übung III, the companion to the prelude that opened the program.
The newer pieces started with Cheryl Frances-Hoad's prelude on Luther's hymn Ein Feste Burg ist unser Gott — which one of the presenters describes somewhere as the rallying cry of the Reformation. The prelude starts with a slow, contemplative statement of the theme in a very Bachian registration with a gentle harmonisation in the pedals. The piece gradually changes as more complex harmonies are added in the middle voice, building as registrations change to end with a powerful fortissimo that is a world away from the opening bars.
The second new prelude features Jonathan Dove's version of the baptismal hymn, Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam. The piece begins with a restrained, shimmering accompaniment with glittering accents from the flute stops before the chorale theme enters, quietly at first in the middle voice, then stated again in the pedals at much greater volume, building through the rest of the to a loud final statement. It's a truly superb piece that sounds very, very English and different to Bach's take on the same chorale in Clavier-Übung III. It's also an tour-de-force for the Albert Hall's organ, showing its range from beautiful, subtle, quiet colours to commanding tutti.
The third new piece was a prelude by Daniel Saleeb on Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort, followed by a toccata on the same theme. The piece starts with piano, uncertain harmonics, never quite straying into Messiaen territory but certainly skirting its borders, with interjections of the chorale theme in the upper voice. The toccata, a much showier take on the same material, starts very quiet but swells rapidly, with dramatic flourishes, before dropping away to finish on the quietest of notes.
These new pieces, interspersed with JS Bach's preludes were followed by Mendelssohn's third organ sonata and Samuel Sebastian Wesley's duet, Prelude to the Grand Organ Fugue by Johann Sebastian Bach, which appropriately enough, preceded Bach's vast triple themed fugue in E-flat major from Clavier-Übung III, the companion to the prelude that opened the program.
