THE ORGANIST ENTERTAINS

As part of  'The Secret Gardens of Oxton'

Popular Music on the

Famous “Father Willis” Organ
of
CHRIST CHURCH, OXTON

Played by Paul Broadhurst

Sunday 11 May 2008

12.30 – 1pm
Festive Music alla Handel	Sigfrid Karg Elert
Nimrod	Edward Elgar
Chansonette	Wilfrid Sanderson
Largo (Concerto for Two Violins)	J S Bach
Boléro de Concert	Louis Lefébure-Wély
1.30 – 2pm
Theme from “Palladio”	Karl Jenkins
Adagio for Strings	Samuel Barber
Narcissus	Ethelbert Nevin
A Welsh Lullaby: Suo Gân	Caleb Jarvis
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor	J S Bach

Free Admission
Donations to the Organ Fund

The Music

The first session opens with the rousing Festive Music alla Handel, a piece which makes extensive use of the instrument’s three manual divisions and a range of tone colours, culminating in a triumphant burst on Full Organ. In contrast, Elgar’s Nimrod starts with some of the instrument’s quieter sounds, gradually building in stately intensity before a swift, atmospheric diminuendo. Written shortly after the Elgar piece, the charming Chansonette provides us with a light-hearted glimpse of an idyllic, Edwardian England. Bach’s serene Largo Ma Non Tanto transcribes wonderfully to the organ, contrasting several of the quieter solo registers. And finally, the dramatic Boléro de Concert demonstrates the theatrical exuberance of a French composer whose music has experienced a well-deserved renaissance in recent years.

The second session opens with the striking Palladio by the contemporary Welsh composer, Karl Jenkins. The piece quickly increases in intensity, culminating in a succession of dramatic harmonies which are resolved into the joyful key of D Major. The well-known Adagio starts off almost imperceptibly on the beautiful “Voix Célestes” effect, gradually building up to reach a delicious climax before fading gently back into the celestial ether. Narcissus, from the American composer Ethelbert Nevin, is a lilting confection which was conceived and completed within just a few hours, when Ethelbert took a ramble in the countryside on a (clearly idyllic) day in 1891. In the next piece we return to Wales and a beautiful treatment by Caleb Jarvis of the traditional lullaby, Suo Gân. Jarvis was famously organist at St George’s Hall in Liverpool for many years, and is still very fondly remembered by local musicians “of a certain age”. The Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (attributed to Bach, in the absence of any verifiable contender of suitable stature) is probably the most famous piece of organ music in the world, and its sheer drama and musicality will surely guarantee an enduring “pole position”.

Notes by Paul Broadhurst, April 2008

Members of the Wallasey Music Centre

will be performing at 2.45 and 3.45pm.