Concert This Sunday: The King of Instruments and the Instrument of Kings
This coming Sunday, I will be performing a concert with trumpeter Kyra Hill as part of the parish concert series. I know that many of the readers of my site don’t live anywhere near Johnstown, Pennsylvania, but if you do, we’d love to have you, and it’ll be a lot of fun.
2:30 p.m.
Our Mother of Sorrows Church
415 Tioga Street, Johnstown PA
Why you should come
- You’ll get to hear what wise men riding camels sneaking away from Herod sounds like.
- If that’s not your thing, what about eight minutes of non-stop fantasy based on the four notes of the bell tower of Westminster?
- Or a trumpet playing Gregorian chant?
- During the intermission, there will be a pipe organ petting zoo. If you’ve always wondered what all those knobs and buttons are for, here’s your chance to find out!
I am proud that almost all of the music in this program was written in the last 100 years: there are compositions dating from 1919, 1929, 1935, 1946, 1964, 2000, and 2004. Unlike much of the classical music world which got lost around 1880 and never recovered, music for organ has seen a explosion of music and musical styles that continues to the present day. Of course there is the obligatory piece by J.S. Bach, because how could you have an organ concert without any Bach? But beyond that, there are pieces by such modern greats as Alan Hovhaness, Marcel Dupré, Louis Vierne, and Olivier Messiean.
It’s been a while since I performed a full-length concert; it has been fun to get back in the swing of regular practice and getting pieces up to snuff. I hope you find it as enjoyable to listen to as it has been for me to prepare!
June 2nd, 2016 at 7:55 pm
This sounds great! Unfortunately I am nowhere near Johnstown… I don’t suppose there will be a recording?
June 3rd, 2016 at 8:18 am
How could an organist date the death of classical music to an earlier date than Bruckner’s death in 1896 ? ;-) Joke aside, totally agree, and by 1880 classical music was already at a late stage of its lifespan. It’s great that organists, alone, have kept alive a tradition of improvisation. Best of luck for your concert!
June 3rd, 2016 at 9:19 am
Please, record this if you can.