Royal Festival Hall 24th April 2018
Having been thwarted by adverse weather conditions for the last recital it was especially good to be back in the Royal Festival Hall for this occasion.
William Whitehead’s programme contained items that may be regarded as Bach- inspired as well as just a little from the master himself.
A wonderful example of the ‘fantastic style’ of his teacher Buxtehude, Nicolaus Bruhns’ Praeludium in E minor opened the preceedings with flair as loud florid outbursts contrasted with more contained introspective moments. This served as an excellent introduction to a short but key section of the evening’s recital.
William Whitehead has been curating The Orgelbuchlein Project, which is now almost complete. A number of composers have been approached to produce their own treatments of the planned for but never completed remaining chorales of Bach’s book. Two of Bach’s short chorale settings were played between premieres of Errollyn Wallen’s Ach, was ist doch unser Leben?, Kalevi Aho’s Herr Gott, erhalt uns fur und fur and Thierry Escaich’s Gott Vater, der du deine Sonn. The composer of the first of these was present with us for the performance. The widely diverging styles and the contrast with Bach’s settings made for a very special listening experience, emphasising the ongoing tradition of composers throughout the centuries adapting and re-working these carriers of the Christian faith.
Two movements from Schumann’s 6 Fugues on the name BACH followed and Parry’s Fantasia & Fugue in G brought the first half to a close in grand style.
The second half contained just one work – another large scale Fantasia & Fugue – on ‘Ad nos, ad salutarem undam’. This tour de force was followed up with a beautifully contrasting encore – Elegy by Parry, freshly rediscovered and about to be published.
A well-constructed and engaging programme, played with apparent ease and made all the more approachable by the occasional controlled introductions and explanations by Mr Whitehead – a feature I have often hoped for at these concerts. Humorous mention was also made about the lack of the organist’s “catwalk” – an earlier staging malfunction necessitating the evening’s performer to make a shorter (and easier) entrance from console level.
The next concert in this series opens the 2018/19 season with Stephen Cleobury and other musicians in a programme of Howells & Vierne on Wednesday 19th September.
Stephen Page