♫ ───────────────────────────────────
Music on Thursdays - Online
Thursday 27th May 2021
Available: from Thursday 27th May
Guest host: David Gibbs
♫ ───────────────────────────────────
Programme
PART ONE
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Toccata in C major from BWV 564 (before c1712) (7m00)
Dieterich Buxtehude (c1637/39-1707)
Praeambulum super D Preambule on D (4m00)
Louis-Claude Daquin (1694-1772)
Noel VI sur les jeux d'anches, sans tremblant, et en duo «Qu'Adam fut un pauvre homme» (5m40)
Noel VI on the reed stops, without tremulant, and in duo "that Adam was a humble man"
John Stanley (1712-1786)
from Voluntary in D minor I, Op 5 No 8 (pub 1745)
Adagio (1m45)
Johann Caspar Kerll (1627-1693)
Capriccio sopra il cucu Cuckoo Capriccio (1934) (4m05)
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) (4m00)
Bagatelle No 25 in A minor Für Elise WoW 59 Bia 515 (1810)
PART TWO
Jean (Johan Julius Christian) Sibelius (1865-1957)
Finlandia Op 26 (1899) (4m00)
Léon Boëllmann (1862-1897)
from Suite Gothique (1895) (4m55)
IV Toccata
Edward William Elgar (1857-1934)
arr for organ by Jonathan Scott (b1978)
from Variations on an Original Theme (Enigma) Op36 (1899) (5m00)
IX Nimrod Adagio
Charles-Marie Jean Albert Widor (1844-1937)
from Symphony for Organ No 5 in F minor, Op 42, No 1 (1879) (2m10)
V Toccata (F major)
Concert duration: 46 minutes
David Gibbs MA (Reading), BEd (Hons) (Bristol), BA (Oxford Brookes), Cert Ed (Oxon), LTCL, FGMS
As David Gibbs is new to LCAS and our lunchtime concerts, it seems appropriate to offer some background here.
David started learning the piano at the age of 7. By the age of 13 his principal study had become the organ, initially at his Parish Church, and later with John Webster at Oxford University, and John Clough at Gloucester Cathedral.
David attended Westminster College Oxford where he studied to become a teacher of Music. (Other Westminster alumni include Peter Steadman and Revd Ian Howarth.) His teaching career began in Primary schools, and continued at Secondary level, leading to Head of Department posts and to his school gaining Performing Arts specialist status. He was also involved in initial teacher training through the school's links with Bath Spa University. David has performed and directed music in educational and church settings, including 30 years as Director of Music for his church, work with Christian Radio, and a number of visits to the USA, Europe, and Scandinavia, as well as around the UK. David and his wife Joy moved to West Sussex in 2009 to be closer to part of the family. Their son and daughter are both professional musicians. |
♫ ───────────────────────────────────
We need your help to fund our concerts recorded 'as live' by professional musicians |
♫ ───────────────────────────────────
In churches, cathedrals, town halls, and even department stores, the King of Instruments can produce a huge variety of sounds and inspire a wide range of music.
Every organ is unique – one of the things that makes them so fascinating. That individuality goes far beyond the technical details of a few stops and features, or even its sound.
An organ’s history, nationality, setting and connection to a particular composer or performer, the music it was designed to perform and the audience it was intended to serve, and more, make every instrument an inimitable creation to be cherished.
Today’s concert demonstrates some of these organs from around the world.
Architect Frank Gehry devoted a great deal of time to the design of our first instrument.
He worked with Los Angeles organ designer and builder Manuel J Rosales to create something different from a typical church organ with its rows and rows of metal tubes. Eventually, Gehry presented a concept that looked like a cluster of flowers shooting out of the ground. Rosales found this design wonderful and agreed that it was something they could pursue. Rosales recommended European organ builder Casper von Glatter-Götz to fabricate and install the many complex components. What we see today is the dramatically splayed composition of beams which Gehry refers to as ‘French fries’. The instrument was finally completed in 2004. Click on the concert hall images below to expand them and explore the concert hall and its stunning organ. |
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Toccata in C major from BWV 564 (before c1712) (7m00) performed by Thomas Mellon, on the 2004 Casper von Glatter-Götz organ, voiced by Manuel J Rosales, case design by Frank Gehry |
♫ ───────────────────────────────────
The organ of St Andrew’s Church in Ostönnen, Germany, along with the instruments in Sion, Kiedrich and Rysum, is one of the oldest organs in the world that are still in playable condition.
The instrument was originally built for the Church of Old St Thomas in nearby Soest. The wood of which the windpipes are constructed suggests a date between 1425 and 1431, and 326 of the pipes seem to have been made before 1500.
The first dateable repairs were carried out in 1586 by one Meister Bartholdus, who also installed two new stops. The instrument was moved to Ostönnen in 1721–2.
The instrument was originally built for the Church of Old St Thomas in nearby Soest. The wood of which the windpipes are constructed suggests a date between 1425 and 1431, and 326 of the pipes seem to have been made before 1500.
The first dateable repairs were carried out in 1586 by one Meister Bartholdus, who also installed two new stops. The instrument was moved to Ostönnen in 1721–2.
♫ ───────────────────────────────────
France's finest classical organ in working order, this instrument is an object of pilgrimage for organists, on the tour path for any serious fan of Couperin.
Built for the convent of Les Jacobins in Toulouse in 1683, it was rebuilt and restored by various builders until its complete restoration in 1983. It can now be seen and heard at the church of St Pierre des Chartreux in Toulouse.
Here is a beautiful Noel by Daquin. The Noel form presents a main (often singable) theme, and follows it with a series of variations.
Built for the convent of Les Jacobins in Toulouse in 1683, it was rebuilt and restored by various builders until its complete restoration in 1983. It can now be seen and heard at the church of St Pierre des Chartreux in Toulouse.
Here is a beautiful Noel by Daquin. The Noel form presents a main (often singable) theme, and follows it with a series of variations.
Louis-Claude Daquin (1694-1772) Noel VI sur les jeux d'anches, sans tremblant, et en duo «Qu'Adam fut un pauvre homme» (5m40) Noel VI on the reed stops, without tremulant, and in duo "that Adam was a humble man" performed by Michel Bouvard, at the organ in St Pierre des Chartreux, (St Peter of the Carthusians), Toulouse, France |
♫ ───────────────────────────────────
The Las Piñas Bamboo Organ is a 19th century church organ with unique organ pipes.
Of its 1031 pipes 902 are made of bamboo. It was completed after six years of work in 1824 by Father Diego Cera, the builder of the town’s stone church and its first resident Catholic parish priest.
Of its 1031 pipes 902 are made of bamboo. It was completed after six years of work in 1824 by Father Diego Cera, the builder of the town’s stone church and its first resident Catholic parish priest.
♫ ───────────────────────────────────
The Abbey Church of St Martin and Oswald, Weingarten, South Wurttenburg, also known as the Münster or Basilica, is the largest Baroque church north of the Alps.
The church features a baroque organ by Joseph Gabler (1700 – 1771) with 4 manuals and nearly 7000 pipes.
Here is a sweet little caprice, emulating the sound of the cuckoo. Incidentally, every sound you hear comes from the organ. There are no extra instruments, and no cuckoos held captive either.
The church features a baroque organ by Joseph Gabler (1700 – 1771) with 4 manuals and nearly 7000 pipes.
Here is a sweet little caprice, emulating the sound of the cuckoo. Incidentally, every sound you hear comes from the organ. There are no extra instruments, and no cuckoos held captive either.
♫ ───────────────────────────────────
This next organ, found in the Luray Caverns in Virginia, USA ,was "conceived" by a man named Leland W Sprinkle, a mathematician and electronics scientist at the Pentagon.
Sprinkle's organ relies on tapping stalactites of different size and resonance. The organ keys are connected to small rubber mallets strung up to the rocks by way of five miles of wires. This ‘stalactite-tapping instrument’ apparently took thirty-six years to perfect.
Three years alone were spent searching the vast chambers of the caverns to select and carefully sand stalactites to precisely match the musical scale.
Here it is playing Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor, one of Beethoven’s most popular piano compositions commonly known as Für Elise
Sprinkle's organ relies on tapping stalactites of different size and resonance. The organ keys are connected to small rubber mallets strung up to the rocks by way of five miles of wires. This ‘stalactite-tapping instrument’ apparently took thirty-six years to perfect.
Three years alone were spent searching the vast chambers of the caverns to select and carefully sand stalactites to precisely match the musical scale.
Here it is playing Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor, one of Beethoven’s most popular piano compositions commonly known as Für Elise
♫ ───────────────────────────────────
Still to come in PART TWO:
▼ last week's selection ▼
Stravinsky & Disney - a match made in heaven ? |
▼ next week's accordion concert ▼ recorded 'as live' for Music on Thursdays
|
♫ ───────────────────────────────────
We need your help to fund our concerts recorded 'as live' by professional musicians
► Did you listen ?
►Did you remember to give afterwards ? Here is a further chance to do so If the concerts cover their costs we will be able to do more. Please donate now ! Many thanks to those who have donated already. You set us all a great example ! |
♫ ───────────────────────────────────────
♫ ───────────────────────────────────────