529 Queens Ave
New Westminster
BC V3L 1K2
Solo works by Stamm and Kiefer (see below for more info) and other works with the choir including a new commission by Marco Del Rio (Fire and Snow), Britten’s Te Deum in C and Jubilate Dei, and Gabriel Jackson’s Missa Sanctae Margaretae.
Toccata giocosa (2008)……………………………………………………………………Hans-André Stamm
Hans-André Stamm was born in Germany in 1958. At the age of seven he began piano and pipe-organ studies; at eleven years-old he began touring Europe as an organ virtuoso and made his first recording at the age of 13. He is renowned for his Bach interpretations and subsequent recordings, and has established a reputation for attractive organ compositions. As the title suggests, this is an eminently cheerful piece, utilizing a traditional organ ‘toccata’ technique in which a ‘perpetuo mobile’ motif is countered by broad, melodic themes.
Jazz prelude on “Die ganze Welt hast du uns überlassen” (2003)…………Hans-Martin Kiefer (melody: Rudolf Siemoneit)
A group of contemporary German composers has been active in exploring jazz idioms for the pipe organ. Apart from the role of the fabled Hammond organ in jazz, gospel and pop, this has not been a traditional idiom for the pipe organ, least of all in a liturgical context! The editors of their recently-published collections – Uwe-Karsten Gross and Gunther Martin Göttsche – state that this music “…is intended to bear witness to the wealth of colours which can be expressed in jazz”. This particular composition by Hans-Martin Kiefer – based on a contemporary hymn (or chorus) by Rudolf Siemoneit – is set in a ‘blues’ style. The text translates “You have left to us the whole world”, a text reflecting on Creation and our responsibility towards it.