Tim Harper gives the first of six organ recitals: Bach, Mendelssohn, Howells, Joubert & Vierne

We miss being able to welcome an audience into the building and we look forward to a time when it will be safe do so again. For now, here is a series of six recitals, pre-recorded by Assistant Director of Music Tim Harper.
Six is regarded as a ‘perfect’ number, since 1+2+3 = 1x2x3 = 6. In the Bible, it is also the number of days God took to create the world before resting on the Sabbath. Therefore, composing works in sets of this number holds a certain attraction for musical numerologists.
Over the course of this series, we will hear six of them: J. S. Bach’s six Trio Sonatas & ‘Schübler’ Chorales, Mendelssohn’s Six Sonatas (Op. 65), Howells’ Six Pieces of 1940, John Joubert’s Six Short Preludes on English Hymn-Tunes for chamber organ (1990) and, in celebration of his 150th anniversary, the Finals from Louis Vierne’s six Organ Symphonies.
Programme:
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Trio Sonata No. 1 in E flat (BWV 525)
[Allegro]
Adagio
Allegro
J. S. Bach composed his six Trio Sonatas to aid the musical training of his son, Wilhelm Friedemann. Each of the three movements is written in three parts - right hand, left hand, feet. No. 1, in E flat, even has a key signature of three flats.
J. S. Bach
Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (BWV 645)
Bach’s ‘Schübler’ Chorales are popularly named for the master engraver Johann Georg Schübler. With one possible exception, all were organ transcriptions of extracts from Bach’s cantatas. No. 1 is the most famous, arranging the tenor chorus from Cantata 140, Wake, O wake! with tidings thrilling.
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-47)
Sonata No. 1 in F minor
Allegro moderato e serioso
Adagio
Andante Recit.
Allegro assai vivace
Felix Mendelssohn promoted Bach’s organ works during his visits to this country, changing the course of British organ building in the process. In 1844 he was commissioned to write a set of organ voluntaries, which were published the following year as Six Sonatas for organ.
No. 1 begins with a stormy fantasia between a musical cross-shape and a quietly-played chorale, Was mein Gott, will gescheh’ allzeit (What my God wants will always happen). After a gentle second movement, the third takes the dynamic contrasts even further before the brilliant, major-key finale.
Herbert Howells (1892-1983)
Preludio ‘Sine Nomine’
Herbert Howells composed his Six Pieces in 1940. During the Second World War he served as acting organist of St John’s College, Cambridge; he dedicated these pieces to the organist of his home cathedral of Gloucester, Herbert Sumsion. The set begins with a simple Prelude ‘without name’, a tradition borrowed from Renaissance masses which were not based on a pre-existing melody.
John Joubert (1927-2019)
Picardy
John Joubert was commissioned to write Six Short Preludes on English Hymn-Tunes for chamber organ as composer-in-residence of the 1990 Peterborough Festival, where they were first performed by Nicholas Danby. No. 1 is a nimble, guitar-like study on the hymn tune for Let all mortal flesh keep silence.
Louis Vierne (1870-1937)
Final (Symphony No. 1 in D minor)
Louis Vierne’s six Organ Symphonies are a cornerstone of his works, spanning most of his compositional career and reflecting the increasing trials of his life. Written when Vierne was still Widor’s assistant at St Sulpice, No. 1’s Final is based on an evergreen melody, not entirely dissimilar to the French National Anthem; Vierne apparently called the piece “my little Marseillaise”.

[@matthewlennox1056]

That flute!!!¡

[@RobinBeaumont]

love the joubert piece and sounds great on the positif - you can see where Iain Farrington got some of his ideas from