Monday 13 July 2013
Martin Setchell launched the 27th season of Organ Concerts with a wide ranging and highly enjoyable programme before a large and enthusiastic audience. Some years it takes a few weeks for numbers to grow but there was no problem last night, which augers well for the following seven weeks.
The first half was more classically orientated if not over serious, opening with Elgar’s Imperial March and Bach’s G major Prelude and Fugue BWV541. He brought a restrained approach to both, with careful articulation and sensitive registration allowing clarity of texture, though tempi were on the slow side.
Two of Schumann’s Studies in Canonic Form brought a more relaxed, romantic approach before an enthusiastic Tromba solo for Hollins A Trumpet Minuet. The first real triumph of the evening came with Bossi’s Scherzo in G minor. This may be familiar but the articulation of the arpeggios and the lightness of touch was remarkably effective.
Those of us who know Wagner well in the opera house tend to be wary of transcriptions and the Pilgrims’ Chorus from Tannhauser was no exception. While much of it works well there were bars which seemed out of place in the line of the music and the conclusion was odd to say to least. I don’t blame Martin Setchell, I suspect Liszt who tends to mess around for his own purposes!
The second half may have looked lighter but was if anything more succinct and successful, opening with a splendid Handel in the Strand before three dances from Edward German’s incidental music to Henry VIII. Less familiar than the Merrie England dances, these are none the less wonderful pieces, the Shepherd’s Dance particularly apt for a summer evening.
Given the age range of the audience I suspect that most of us were singing along quietly to The Lost Chord which, as the soloist noted, works very well as an organ arrangement. But it hardly prepared us for the spiky jazz syncopations of Mons Leidvin Takle’s Blues Toccata. This was a wonderful tonic after so much that was familiar, though it was not the end. Ever one to entertain, the final piece was his own Wedding March Extraordinaire which collates not only Wagner and Mendelssohn but Suppe, Bizet and Sousa, leaving everyone with a smile. The encore – the Drinking Song from La Traviata – seemed a little superfluous after this but was welcomed.
Next week Daniel Cook from Westminster Abbey.