Spring Concert Program!

I know have a tentative program for Spring organ recital! Here it is. You'll notice it is for the most part a rather mellow recital. First the lovely Sinfonia from Cantata 29 to get their attention (everybody seems to love that piece), then the gorgeous little Andante from Mendelssohn's third organ sonata to calm things down, this is followed by two monumental pieces by Cesar Franck in B minor and B major. The first half of the program is ended with a fun piece, d'Aquin's Noel X in G Major (known as the 'Echo Noel'), to loosen things up after around fifteen or sixteen minutes of Franck.

The second half of the program is a little more dense, it starts with a set, two pieces in A flat Major. First the Adagio from Mendelssohn's first organ sonata, followed by the Romance sans Paroles, No. 3 by Gabriel Fauré. It is my hope that I can make these pieces run together, since they are both in A flat Major and are of similarly sweet dispositions. I put them in this order because the Romance is slightly more light and bubbly, to give them a little break before the Messiaen starts. After the A flat Major set, I will be playing two monumental Messiaen pieces, the 'Apparition de l'Église Éternelle' and (from the Ascension suite) 'Prière du Christ montant vers son Père'. Each one is about ten minutes in length, neither are easy listening, they are both very heavy music. This will be a test of stamina for myself as well as the audience! After the Messiaen, to loosen things back up, I will play a lovely Andantino in G minor by Franck. The Andantino has sections in G Major and B flat Major which, in addition to it's light character, will help to get the attention of anybody who was lost with the Messiaen. I will conclude the program with Franck's Offertoire (Andantino) in C Major from 'l'Organiste'. I plan on playing this piece a little differently than we are used to. Firstly, most people play this piece at the pace of a slower Andante, but it is an Andantino and should be played slightly faster. Secondly, this piece was written for Harmonium, which has a much smoother system of volume dynamics than an organ; at the same time, the harmonium's variety of types of sounds is much more limited. For this reason, when playing it on a pipe organ, I will be using the organs systems of volume dynamics (via crescendo pedal) the same way one would pump faster on a harmonium. In essence, I'll be playing this piece much differently than people are used to. However, I do not do this without reason. I believe this is the way a harmonium piece should be played on an organ. If we look at other transcriptions by composers of their harmonium pieces to the organ, one notices the registrations of often dynamic and complex, not singular as so many people play the pieces from 'l'Organiste'. Truly I believe playing the way I play makes more sense considering the music. The Offertoire will be a gorgeous and dynamic way finish to the concert.

Johann Sebastian Bach

    - Sinfonia from Cantata 29

Felix Mendelssohn

    - Andante Tranquillo from Sonata 3 in A Major

César Franck

    - Prelude, Fugue and Variation
    - Cantabile in B Major

Louis Claude d'Aquin

    - Noel X

                                     ~Intermission~

Felix Mendelssohn

    - Adagio from Sonata 1 in F minor

Gabriel Fauré

    - Romance sans Paroles, Op. 17, no. 3

Olivier Messiaen

    - Apparition de l'Église Éternelle
    - Prière du Christ montant vers son Père

César Franck

    - Andantino in G minor
    - Offertoire in C Major