{"id":1838,"date":"2014-07-21T09:42:33","date_gmt":"2014-07-21T08:42:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.larkreviews.co.uk\/?p=1838"},"modified":"2014-07-21T09:42:47","modified_gmt":"2014-07-21T08:42:47","slug":"bexhill-organ-concerts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/?p=1838","title":{"rendered":"Bexhill Organ Concerts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stephen Page, Sackville Road Methodist Church<\/span><\/p>\n

Wednesday 23rd April, 21st<\/sup> May and 18th June 2014<\/span><\/p>\n

These lunchtime concerts were a new venture for Sackville Methodist church, and proved a great success. Welcoming coffee and biscuits greeted us, and on each occasion people were soon chatting companionably.\u00a0 Friends were recognised from other Methodist churches, recitals Stephen had given elsewhere, and groups like 1066 Choir and Organ, and Joyful Noise Choir.<\/p>\n

A hallmark of Stephen\u2019s concerts is music from a wide range of periods and styles, giving variety and incorporating the unknown and the unexpected.\u00a0 Each concert demonstrated the considerable potential and versatility of the medium sized 3 manual Sackville Road organ, and members of the congregation must have taken great pleasure in hearing it played to such appreciative audiences.<\/p>\n

As always, Stephen added to our enjoyment by his careful crafting of the items into a balanced programme, and his well researched and sometimes humorous commentary.<\/p>\n

One highlight came from the cover of a piece composed by J. Michael Watson for Edward VII\u2019s Coronation, from which Stephen read an advertisement for Bile Beans, claiming to cure sundry ills from biliousness and constipation to stomach pains and excessive flatulence!<\/p>\n

Every concert featured popular items like Sullivan\u2019s The Lost Chord<\/i>, Elgar\u2019s Salut d\u2019Amour <\/i>and Robert Farnon\u2019s Colditz<\/i>; <\/i>and much loved composers from Bach to Billy Mayerl. \u00a0\u00a0We were stirred by Walton\u2019s Three Pieces from Richard III, <\/i>moved to reflection by Lemmens\u2019 Priere,<\/i> and found our toes tapping to The Clog Dance <\/i>from La Fille Mal Gardee<\/i>. This year\u2019s centenary of William Lloyd Webber\u2019s birth was celebrated with Verset No 4 and Epilogue no 4.<\/i><\/p>\n

The inclusion of two piano pieces in each concert added further variety.\u00a0 We were told that Jack Fina (Bumble Boogie)<\/i> was regarded as having \u2018the ten most talented fingers on the radio\u2019; in both this item and in Monti\u2019s Czardas, <\/i>the dexterity and speed of Stephen\u2019s fingers took our breath away and surely earned him similar acclaim!<\/p>\n

We learned to expect and enjoy a medley of songs from the shows in each concert – Sound of Music, South Pacific, and Snow White<\/i> – which always sent us on our way singing. People lingered talking at the end, and it became apparent that there was much discussion about a further series of recitals next year. \u00a0Stephen is known to care passionately about the future of church organs in Hastings and the surrounding area, and to be keen to support congregations who wish to protect, preserve and promote them \u2013 so it is to be hoped that he will be persuaded! CE<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stephen Page, Sackville Road Methodist Church Wednesday 23rd April, 21st May and 18th June 2014 These lunchtime concerts were a new venture for Sackville Methodist church, and proved a great success. Welcoming coffee and biscuits greeted us, and on each … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1838"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1838"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1840,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1838\/revisions\/1840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}