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THE SCOTTISH CHURCHES ORGANIST TRAINING SCHEME (SCOTS) |
We welcome reviews of
organ related concerts/recitals, books, recordings etc. Please send them to publications@scotsorgan.org.uk
and include your name and any other relevant
details. Opening Concert for
Forfar Gala Week Robert Lightband When two of Bill Stevenson is a fabulous organist and gave splendid accounts
of works by Widor and others.
Particularly welcome was a rare performance of Basil Harwood’s Dithyramb. Harwood is best know for his choral
settings in Ab and one anthem; his two best organ pieces, the Paean and the Dithyramb
are very rarely heard and Bill played at his very best. Bill is also a quite superb accompanist on the piano and fully
met the demands made by Ross on the tuba. You could not hope to meet a nicer young man than Ross
Knight. He is warm, friendly open and
utterly unspoiled. However, he is
already, at 17, amongst the greatest tuba players in the world. The very church rocked on its foundations,
whilst the listeners sat, in some cases literally, jaw-dropped as this
apparently effortless display of wonder shelved decibels by the hundreds into
the fine acoustic. Things were done on
the tuba that one did not know could be done on any brass instrument. But amidst all the trickery there was a
mature musician at work. Speeds were
always correct and phrasing given every vital detail. Bill and Ross gave the series of concerts such a whoosh at its
opening. The next concerts are on Tuesday, sung by the well known group,
Cantiones Sacrae at 7.30 and on Wednesday, Allister Allan and Robert
Lightband will perform at 12.30. ************** TOS President’s Night
in St John’s, Forfar Robert Lightband A goodly number came to Roger began the evening with a beautifully played The Strathmore Singers took over with Lotti’s eight part setting
of the Crucifxus. This was a thrilling
performance, giving nothing to the more romantic traditions, which actually
can work well. Very admirable was the
breathing of the three men, each with his own part and never lacking in
polish. This was followed by the
Weelkes setting of the Gloria, a rare Latin setting by this composer in very
dangerous times for such things. A
perfect result ensued, impressive for its dynamic range. The full choir followed with the wonderfully overblown setting
by Arthur Balfour Gardiner of “Te lucis anti terminum”. Though the tuning in the difficult middle
section was beautifully surmounted, the loud sections suffered from a lack of
attack at the splenid loud entries and
a slightly untraditional build up of the fine organ part that come before the
entries. The two may be connected. The Strathmore singers took over with two of the Songs of Farewell by Hubert Parry. The better known “My soul, there is a
country” was protrayed with all its many emotions, and given fine pacing,
good dynamics and a real sense from all singers that they understood what was
required of them. All the singers took part in the ‘Short’ Nunc Dimmitis by
Orlando Gibbons, so called to diffentiate it from the magnificent Second
Service. Richard handled this with
fine pacing and a very relaxed but altogether satisfactory performance
resulted. The most remarkable sound of the evening was the tenor solo that
opens “Ascribe unto the Lord” by Travers.
This was sung quite beautifully by a lady tenor, Charlotter Fleming, a
species that is becoming more common, and set the atmosphere for the entire
piece which the singers took over with admirable skill. The problem with verse anthems is that when
sung in a concert, the audience never quite knows when the anthem is finished,
and so we applauded before the end. The
performers carried on undaunted. Samuel Sebastian Wesley has been described as the nearest thing
we had to a genius in British music between Purcell and Elgar. He was the grandson of Charles and some sort
of cousin of Arthur Wellsey, later to become the Duke of Wellington “Blessed be the God and Father” was written
for one Easter Day service in Exeter Cathedral where his choir consisted of
one bass and one boy treble. It may be
his best-known anthem but it is by no means his best. Wesley was punctilious in writing
registration for the organ which was often remarkably inventive. Occasionally we were short-changed by not
having the full effects required. The Strathmore Singers ended, showing understanbly just a little
fatigue, with a wonderful arrangement of Bonny Bobby Shaftoe by Roger Clegg. The whole evening was a splendid tribute to the work of Richard
Finch, Roger Clegg and all the fine singers who took part. ************** Organ, Harpsichord and
Piano Duets by Graeme Stevenson and Andrew Macintosh – Wednesday, January 13th
2010 Robert Lightband To hear these musicians play together so precisely was liking
them to an elderly, famous string quartet who had been playing together for
50 years. A couple of rehearsals
provided Graeme and Andrew with absolute precision throughout the
concert. Very few keyboard players
would jump from organ to harpsichord to grand piano in one recital without
much trepidation, but to Graeme it all looked so easy! The programme started with two organ duets for manuals only, one
by Byrd and one by Benjamin Cooke.
Both were very attractive pieces.
And then we heard the Concerto in F by W. F. Bach, for organ and
harpsichord. This was a quite
delightful combination, each instrument in this wonderful music setting the
other off to perfection. It is quite
astonishing that other composers of the period did not use the same
combination. Charles-Marie Widor, if you are a Classic FM listener, wrote
only work, THE Toccata. In fact he
wrote eight Organ Symphonies as well as other pieces. In most of them there is some beautifully
crafted music, which shows much original thinking in effects. Widor only played music by Bach and himself
at St Sulpice, and why not? It is typical of Andrew to discover in a second-hand shop a
suite of six duos for organ and piano which none of us had even heard
of. This was most charming music,
perhaps the most attractive of all evening.
Widor’s own house organ was much larger than the seven stop Peter
Collins organ in the University Chapel.
And here we ran into trouble.
The large grand piano in the Chapel occupies the most advantageous
position from an acoustic point-of-view in the whole building and there were
times when the organ was completely drowned out. This was not Graeme’s fault; you could see
he was struggling to keep the piano down as much as he could. Nevertheless,
in spite of the slight imbalance, these pieces brought a most enjoyable evening
to a most charming conclusion. ************** |
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