Calendar
Concert information from RCCO member Darryl Nixon:
St. Andrew’s – Wesley Church is closing… for between 18 and 30 months! This is for a major restoration and seismic upgrading. As I will be without an instrument for about 2 years I thought I would play some repertory dear to my heart starting with the four opus13 Symphonies of Charles Marie Widor. The church is heavily booked, especially evenings, so I have chosen the unusual but available times of some Monday nights starting with October 29 and November 12. Here is the announcement:
The French Symphonic Organ:
Organ Symphonies of Charles Marie Widor opus 13
-October 29… 7pm Symphonies 1 and 2.
-November 12… 7pm Symphonies 3 and 4
St. Andrew’s-Wesley Church, Vancouver
Burrard at Nelson
Entrance (and exit) by donation
Performance may be projected on front screen
Organ–60 stop Huestis/Casavant
Darryl Nixon-organist
The Handel Society will perform two works for organ and choir, the haunting Requiem by Maurice Durufle, and the rarely heard Mass in D Major by Antonin Dvorak.
The choir is directed by Johan Louwersheimer, and the organist is Vancouver Centre RCCO President, Michael Molnar.
The Handel Society will perform two works for organ and choir, the haunting Requiem by Maurice Durufle, and the rarely heard Mass in D Major by Antonin Dvorak.
The choir is directed by Johan Louwersheimer, and the organist is Vancouver Centre RCCO President, Michael Molnar.
Performed by the Cathedral’s own musicians: organist Denis Bédard and the Cathedral Choir, assistant organist Catherine Walsh and the Holy Rosary Women’s Choir, the Contemporary Choir with director Chito Lacsina, and the Spanish Mass Choir with director Alejandro Frias.
Vancouver RCCO vice president and Saint John Shaughnessy organist Michael Dirk will accompany the Laurel and Hardy silent movie ‘The Second Hundred Years’ on the Orpheum organ, as part of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s 100th anniversary day of music. https://www.vancouversymphony.ca/event/100th-anniversary-day-of-music/
Symphonies 6 & 5, Op. 42, by Charles-Marie Widor
Darryl writes: “6 before 5 because that is the order I will play them in and also the order in which they were composed.”
Enjoy a full spectacle of organ music, video visuals, and stimulating narration featuring commentary by CBC’s Bob McDonald – science guru, host of CBC’s Quirks & Quarks, and author of several books – topped off with exquisite music played by Jenny Vincent on the organ. Audiences will be enraptured by this fascinating, breathtaking, and entertaining programme, wrapped up with spectacular visuals on large screens. This is an event not to be missed.
The first performance on Vancouver Island last year sold out and received ecstatic praise from concert-goers. Bob McDonald, host of Quirks & Quarks brings science to over 500,000 devoted CBC listeners weekly. He also is CBC’s science correspondent for The National and hosts Heads Up, a series for children. McDonald’s most recent book is Canadian Space Walkers : Hadfield, MacLean and Williams Remember the Ultimate High Adventure.
Jenny Vincent is organist at Knox United Church in Parksville. She has played an eclectic mix of instruments over her career, ranging from the iconic Hammond B-3 jazz organ to a Casavant Frères 3000+ pipe organ. Jenny has performed throughout Canada and the United States. “Jenny Vincent is a gifted organist with skill and dedication, who brings music to sparkling life” ( David Drinkell, Christ Church Cathedral, Fredericton ). It is Jenny’s passion to make the organ a valued and accepted musical instrument in our mainstream society.
Fanfare for the Common Man Aaron Copland
(1900-1990)
Arranged by Richard Lloyd
EARTH
Genesis of a Planet
Sabre Dance Aram Khachaturian
(1903-1978)
Arranged by Friedemann Winklhofer
The Earth is Alive!
Aquarium Camille Saint-Saens
(1835-1921)
Transcribed by Ekaterina Melnikova
WIND
Making It Blow
The Ride of the Valkyries Richard Wagner
(1813-1883)
Transcribed by Edwin Lemare
Our Protective Blanket
Deuxieme Arabesque Claude Debussy
(1862-1918)
Transcribed by Leon Roques
FIRE
Ever Changing, Always the Same
.
Rondo in G Richard Ellsasser
(1926 – 1972)
Attributed to John Bull
Fire and Life
Magic Fire Music Richard Wagner
(1813-1883)
Transcribed by Stokowski/James H Rogers
LIFE
Origins
Dance of the Water Spirits Hans-Andre Stamm
(b.1958)
Life Elsewhere?
Maroondah Merzbau Stephen Ingham
Transcriptions
Most of the music selections in this program are transcriptions of original works that have been scored for a different instrument or instruments. Usually transcriptions stay close to the original music but often become more of an arrangement with certain aspects of the piece changed to suit the composer and new instrumental needs.
Programme (order may change)
J.S. Bach, Fantasia in G major (Pièce d’orgue), BWV 572
G.F. Handel, Sonata in C Major, HWV 365*
Dieterich Buxtehude, Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern
Georg Böhm, Auf meinen lieben Gott
Johann Ludwig Krebs, Fantasia in F minor*
Hendrik Andriessen, Sonata da Chiesa
Ernst Friedrich Richter, Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern*
Camille Saint-Saëns, Prelude from Op. 99 no. 3
*with oboist Fleur Sweetman
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.
Born and raised in Belgium, Peeters began his studies at the Lemmens Institute in Mechelen. In 1923 he became an organ teacher at the Institute; simultaneously acquiring the position of chief organist at the Cathedral in Mechelen, which he held for most of his life. As an organist and pedagogue, Peeters enjoyed great renown, giving concerts and liturgical masterclasses all over the world. He was a prodigious composer, most of his music being written for the organ, choir or both. Shortly before his death, he was honoured by King Baudouin, bestowing the title of ‘Baron Peeters’. Flor Peeters made a special study of Renaissance music, particularly the school of Flemish polyphony. These styles were absorbed into his own music, along with twentieth-century techniques. These influences can be heard in this work, which was published in 1950. It consists of a series of variations on a chorale (or hymn) – in this case carrying a celebratory Easter text – leading up to a toccata-style climax, and a final triumphant statement of the chorale itself.
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.