HastingsUnitarianChurch, Saturday 11th October 2014
A full programme for the opening day of Hastings Week, coupled with heavy thundery showers, could have depleted our potential audience. It was wonderful therefore to see many regular supporters, and many new faces, so that every chair in the Meeting Place was taken!
Stephen never fails to delight with the amazing variety he includes within one programme. We started with Eric Thiman to whom Stephen has introduced us in previous recitals. There was a quietly humorous note to begin – the lively Short Fanfare was very, very short! Thiman’s reflective Chorale led naturally into JS Bach’s gentle Adagio in A minor, the only movement of his Toccata, Adagio and Fugue, we learned, that could be accommodated on the small pedal board of the Snetzler. JC Simon’s Prelude and Fugue, also in A minor, was in lively contrast to the Bach. Such contrasts continued in a programme which spanned four centuries, took us from England to the continent and America, and ranged from classical, sacred, and martial music, to musical comedy.
Sacred music was well represented. From the mid-twentieth century, Arthur Milner gave us In Nomine, based on Latin Chant, while Gordon Young’s Prelude on Slane and Recessional on St Anne were more familiar to the non-musicians amongst us as Be thou my vision, and O God our help in ages past. Both composers were also represented by secular works – Young’s jaunty and better known Prelude in Classical Style, and Milner’s Intermezzo and Carillon from 6 Miniatures.
The 6 Miniatures well demonstrated the organ’s range, including the delicate dulciana stop patented by Snetzler himself. Stephen had planned the entire recital to demonstrate the versatility of the organ. Each of this year’s recitals has contained a Sonata by CPE Bach as its longest item. This time it was number 5 in D major. As Stephen explained, his style was revolutionary, being playful and full of sudden contrasts, and the two manuals of the Snetzler were well able to demonstrate this. Another item chosen to show the organ’s potential, was the Humoresque (L’Organo Primitivo), of Pietro Yon. Sometimes known as Toccatina for Flute, the piece uses just this one stop throughout.
The programme displayed not only the versatility of the instrument, but also the skill and dexterity of the player. Watching Stephen’s hands brought to mind a scientist who some years ago included ‘a pianist’s fingers’ in his Seven Wonders of the Natural World, as they move faster than the brain can send messages to them!
The programme concluded with Jule Styne’s The Party’s Over, and Abe Holzmann’s Blaze Away! which set our toes tapping and sent us on our way humming. Both the titles and the music seemed a fitting end to a stimulating 2014 series of organ recitals at the Unitarian Meeting Place. Thank you, Stephen! CE