My favorite organ
Correspondent:: HellPope Huey
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005 17:07:46 GMT
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I went to see a great concert at Hendrix College on Tuesday night, a
pipe organ and percussion duet of mostly modern works. The musicians
were downright spectacular and very tight team players, performing 20th
century pieces one rarely hears anywhere, but also an arrangement of 2
mvmts. of Saint-Saen's "Carnival of the Animals" and Bach's "Jesu, Joy
of Man's Desiring" in an unusual setting.
Saint-Saens asked his publisher to remove "Carnival" (written for Mardi
Gras) from public release after just 2 performances, as he considered it
to be possibly damaging to his serious career due to its perceived
frivolity. He asked that it not be made available again until after his
death, which is ironic, as it is his most well-known composition today.
(I'd also recommend his "Organ Symphony" #3 in C Minor; the
rafter-rattling 4th movement will lift you out of your chair.)
Driskoll-Smith really made me sit upright with his mastery of the
organ. He flawlessly managed some flurries and tonal clusters that were
highly memorable. I'm not a complete slouch, but he made me look at my
own fingers and wonder how those clumsy sausages got there, by
comparison. The range of his capabilities really stood out, especially
since I have a somewhat better idea of what is required to reach that
point than a non-player would. Excellent technique.
Gramley performed a solo work called "Cold Pressed," which included a
real monster of a marimba with large resonating bodies under the tines,
crotales and what amounted to a full rock-style drum kit remounted on a
long stand he said was cobbled together from pieces he acquired at Home
Depot, heh. It allowed him to play more easily in a chromatic fashion
and man oh man, did he work up a sweat. I've seen all too many rock
concerts, plus a few jazz shows and no drummer ever bested what he did,
including Carl Palmer and Billy Cobham, two major notables.
The closing work, "Black Host" by William Bolcom, included some
electronic tape elements and a ragtime section for the organ, heh! I
love hearing non-classical things played on it, as it pleasantly
violates your usual expectations. Bolcom's almost cinematic composition
has a wide dynamic range, including both traditional and dissonant
elements that give you a liberal education in some all-too-rare voices
of which the instruments are capable.
The chapel where it was performed hosts a recently-installed organ with
ROSEWOOD keys, a real beauty. It features only 2 keyboards, as opposed
to the more common 3 or even 4 of larger instruments, but it can roar as
well as any I have ever heard, including the one I used to sneak in and
play at a Methodist church in Houston. I usually got shooed away from it
after a while because I am a heathen who makes baptismals boil if I get
too close to 'em, but it was the premiere whetting of my appetite for
the instrument, even if I am stuck with the distant-2nd consolation
prize of only having an approximation in a synthesizer. Its an accurate
one and I love the little dickens, but despite certain gains unique to
synths, there's no substitute for the movement of real air.
It was especially interesting to see Gramley strike a crotale and then
extend its sound with a BOW, a rather rare performance gesture that
really grabs the ear. Crotales are flat, thick metal disks that ring
beautifully, but with a unique clarity unlike that of an open bell, so
the bowing brought out an added zing. Any doubts you might have about
percussion being of a pitched nature capable of melody
would be neatly dispelled after hearing what he drew from his setup.
The range of works for the pipe organ is so often of a religious
nature, the instrument doesn't always get its due. However, it was not
only given full voice here, but stood out all the more for being held in
contrast to a full ensemble of percussion instruments. The only drawback
to seeing such an event is that it raises the bar of your expectations
and in one sense, makes it perhaps somewhat harder to enjoy more
simplistic music quite as readily thereafter. On the other hand, there
is much to be said for seeking a broader world.
These two travel and perform at various times, so keeping an eye out
for any local appearances would be well-recommended. You'd be doing
yourself a real favor to hear either or both of these musicians at work.
For more info and news of a 2nd CD release by Gramley, go to:
Clive Driskoll-Smith, www.organist.org.uk
Joseph Gramley, www.josephgramley.com
--
HellPope Huey
Trying to shake the snapping cur of Society
offa my pants cuff since 1959
"This will be our reply to violence:
to make music more intensely,
more beautifully,
more devotedly than ever before. "
- Leonard Bernstein
"Magic is the cheat codes for the world.
Sending a signal
to reality's operating system, see?"
- Warren Ellis, "Planetary"
Correspondent:: König Prüße, GfbAEV
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005 17:30:25 GMT
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>
> I went to see a great concert at Hendrix College on Tuesday night, a
>pipe organ and percussion duet of mostly modern works. The musicians
>were downright spectacular and very tight team players, performing 20th
>century pieces one rarely hears anywhere, but also an arrangement of 2
>mvmts. of Saint-Saen's "Carnival of the Animals" and Bach's "Jesu, Joy
>of Man's Desiring" in an unusual setting.
>
> Saint-Saens asked his publisher to remove "Carnival" (written for Mardi
>Gras) from public release after just 2 performances, as he considered it
>to be possibly damaging to his serious career due to its perceived
>frivolity. He asked that it not be made available again until after his
>death, which is ironic, as it is his most well-known composition today.
>(I'd also recommend his "Organ Symphony" #3 in C Minor; the
>rafter-rattling 4th movement will lift you out of your chair.)
>
> Driskoll-Smith really made me sit upright with his mastery of the
>organ. He flawlessly managed some flurries and tonal clusters that were
>highly memorable. I'm not a complete slouch, but he made me look at my
>own fingers and wonder how those clumsy sausages got there, by
>comparison. The range of his capabilities really stood out, especially
>since I have a somewhat better idea of what is required to reach that
>point than a non-player would. Excellent technique.
>
I enjoyed these writings like I would those of an oenologist writing
about wine--it helps me to know what to listen for--
I had a friend who was a church organist, but late at night
on weekdays, he'd take small groups of us to the church
and let 'er rip! Sometimes some Bach or Doors, or just some stuff
he'd been working on. But it always got a lot louder than
you'd hear for normal playing.
The National Cathedral has a sooper-fine organ, too.
And the acoustics are really good, but not when it's
full of people, either none or just a few. Also, a bell
carillion, with bells hooked to a keyboard!
Organ Specs
http://www.cathedral.org/cathedral/music/greatorgan.shtml
smallest bell weighs 17 pounds; the largest 12 tons!
The Carillon & Peal Bells
http://www.cathedral.org/cathedral/music/bells.shtml
Correspondent:: "Revi Shankar"
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005 14:01:46 -0500
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"HellPope Huey" wrote
> I went to see a great concert at Hendrix College on Tuesday night, a
> pipe organ and percussion duet of mostly modern works.
OH YES.
> Driskoll-Smith really made me sit upright with his mastery of the
> organ. He flawlessly managed some flurries and tonal clusters that were
> highly memorable.
I am certain of that! Clive is just 26, and is an organist of remarkable
ability. He plays organ at Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford. I'll bet that
was a special event.
Correspondent:: "iDRMRSR"
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005 14:17:40 -0500
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>>(I'd also recommend his "Organ Symphony" #3 in C Minor; the
rafter-rattling 4th movement will lift you out of your chair.)
Four years ago, I stood SRO to hear the Cleveland Orchestra blow this one on
its newly refurbied organ.
My hair is permanently waved from the experience. Even if the movie Babe
trivialized the composition!
Rock on Camille!
[*]
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Correspondent:: HellPope Huey
Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2005 04:23:53 GMT
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In article ,
"iDRMRSR" wrote:
> >>(I'd also recommend his "Organ Symphony" #3 in C Minor; the
> rafter-rattling 4th movement will lift you out of your chair.)
>
> Four years ago, I stood SRO to hear the Cleveland Orchestra blow this one on
its newly refurbied organ.
> My hair is permanently waved from the experience. Even if the movie Babe
> trivialized the composition!
> Rock on Camille!
I'd love to arrange that for synthesizer, but I'm man enough to admit
that I haven't the nads. I could do the big chords but not the
arpeggios. Such is life, AHENH!
--
HellPope Huey
Trying to shake the snapping cur of Society
offa my pants cuff since 1959
"This will be our reply to violence:
to make music more intensely,
more beautifully,
more devotedly than ever before. "
- Leonard Bernstein
"Magic is the cheat codes for the world.
Sending a signal
to reality's operating system, see?"
- "Planetary"
Correspondent:: "Rev. Richard Skull"
Date: 26 Feb 2005 07:20:09 -0800
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How does that go?
I rather have tulips on my organ then a rose on my piano.