Friday, October 18, 9.30 pm
Church of São João Evangelista (Colégio)
From both sides of the Atlantic
Stephen Tharp, organ
John Cook (1918-1984)
Fanfare (1952)
George Baker (1951)
Lamento (2013)
William Albright (1944-1998)
Recitative-chorale
Underground streams
Nocturne
(Organbook 3, 1978)
Anthony Newman (1941)
Adagio
(Symphony No. 2, 1992)
Thomas Mellan (1995)
Ballade de l’impossible (2017)
Louis Vierne (1870-1937)
Larghetto
(Symphonie 5 pour grand orgue, Op. 47)
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Toccata
(Le Tombeau de Couperin, 1917)
(Transcription by Michael Hey)
Featuring both European and American composers, this programme offers an overview of organ music during the twentieth century.
The British-Canadian composer John Cook studied at Cambridge University, where he worked with Boris Ord and Hugh Allen. The composer of more than a dozen organ works, he wrote his jubilant three-part Fanfare in 1952, which gradually became his most often-performed work. George Baker is an organist based in Dallas, Texas, and winner of several international organ competitions. A pupil of Maurice Durufle, Marie-Claire Alain and Jean Langlais, he was also the only American private student of Pierre Cochereau, arguably the greatest organ improviser of the twentieth century. Baker’s Lamento is a short chorale-prelude on the Herbert Howells’ hymn “All my hope on God is founded.” The nickname of the tune is “Michael,” the name of Howells’ son, who died very young. American composer and organist William Albright was a member of the Music Department at The University of Michigan for many years, which included serving as Director of Electronic Music. His output ranged from serial pointillism to ragtime-style music, and works for organ, harpsichord, piano, woodwinds, strings and even opera. Organbook III is a set of miniature etudes that explore different textures of organ sound, and were composed with a small instrument in mind.
New York City-based Anthony Newman has remained at the forefront of American organ, piano, harpsichord and composition for more than 50 years, collaborating with artists such as Kathleen Battle and Wynton Marsalis. This Adagio movement, a kind of song without words with the melody in the pedals, is part of a three-movement Symphony that Newman composed for Stephen Tharp in 1992. Los Angeles organist Thomas Mellan is one of North America’s foremost young organ prodigies, having completed his studies with Cherry Rhodes at The University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He writes of his own music: “Ballade de l’impossible is inspired by a long tradition of virtuoso keyboard works through music history, up to and including Franz Liszt and Pierre Boulez. It resonates in a Victor Hugo-esque ballade form, which is in a perpetual push-and-pull with a French-baroque rondo structure.”
The blind Louis Vierne was Organist for decades at Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris. In fact, he died at the console of that organ during a concert on June 2, 1937. His Six Organ Symphonies push the boundaries of harmony and textural density in organ music at that time, with much of his writing reflecting the often dark and tragic nature of Vierne’s own life. The Larghetto from his 5th Symphonie is a long, lyrical elegy in three-part form. Impressionist French composer Maurice Ravel showed great talent at a very young age, entering the Paris Conservatoire at age 14 and remaining there for six years. He composed his Tombeau de Couperin in memoriam to friends killed in WWI. Originally for piano, Ravel later orchestrated the work. The final Toccata ends the suite with great energy and vigour.
Stephen Tharp
Participants
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Described as having “performed colorfully, rousing and splendid” by the New York Times, Stephen Tharp is one of the most active and respected concert organists of our age. In recognition of his more than 1400 concerts worldwide he was awarded the 2011 International Performer of the Year prize by the NYC chapter of the American Guild of Organists, widely considered the highest honour given to organists by a professional musicians’ guild in the United States. He also has 15 commercial recordings to his credit, winning the Preis der Deuschen Schallplattenkritik – Germany’s premier critics’ award – and the French Diapason d’Or. Performances have taken him to such venues as the Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris; the Royal Albert Hall, London; Cologne, Berlin and Munich Cathedrals, Germany; the Gewandhaus, Leipzig; the Tonhalle, Zürich; Victoria Hall, Geneva; Dvorak Hall, Prague; Tchaikovsky Hall, Moscow; The Opera House, Sydney, Australia; the Hong Kong Cultural Centre; and the great cathedrals and concert halls throughout the USA. A strong advocate of new music for organ, Stephen Tharp has commissioned more than a dozen organ works from composers such as Thierry Escaich, Jean Guillou, David Briggs, George Baker, Anthony Newman, Philip Moore and Samuel Adler. Previously Organist at Manhattan’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral, he is currently Artist in Residence at St. James’ Church Madison Avenue (Episcopal) in New York City. |
Stephen TharpNotes about organ
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This instrument, with 1586 sounding pipes, is situated in a religious space with certain particularities. As a church typical of those belonging to Jesuit colleges, with a broad nave and quite a gentle acoustic, the organ had to be specially conceived, especially with regard to the measurements of the pipes. Thus all the pipework of the instrument has been specifically tailored to produce a full sound, and each stop produces a timbre with an individual personality, forming part of a harmonic ensemble based more on the sound of fundamentals and less on harmonics. It was also felt to be essential to give the instrument a certain ‘latin’ sonority that would favour performance of ancient music of the Italian, Spanish and Portuguese schools of the 17th and 18th centuries. Another aspect to be taken into consideration was the need to complement the current range of organs available locally: the new organ responds in an ideal fashion to the performance of works of periods and of technical and artistic requirements that none of the 24 historic instruments of Madeira cater adequately for. It also enhances the range of organs that constitute the island’s heritage by being present in this particular religious space, as well as by existing side by side with other historical instruments. In the decision to build it for this church, not only were the issues of acoustic, aesthetic and liturgical space taken into account, but also the presence there of an important historic instrument which is currently on the list of instruments undergoing restoration. I Manual - Órgão Principal (C-g’’’) II Manual - Órgão Positivo (C-g’’’) Pedal (C-f’) Couplers * horizontal reeds |
