ORGAN RECITAL IN GERMAN WEEK

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31767, 26 August 1968, Page 12

ORGAN RECITAL IN GERMAN WEEK

As part of the German Week demonstrations now being held in Christchurch at present, Messrs Paul Ellis and Paul Brown gave an organ recital in St Mary’s, Merivale, yesterday afternoon. Mr Ellis played a Prelude and Fugue in D minor by Vincent Lubeck, one of J. S. Bach’s great forerunners, who died in 1740; the slow movement from Hindemith’s first sonata; and three chorale preludes by Bach. The Lubeck work was registered brightly and played with clarity at a steady pace. Its fugal development is loose and, like so many fugues written at the time, breaks off into florid passages based upon material used in the toccata instead of arriving at a fugal climax. The Hindemith work was strongly meditative without any sentimentality. The first of the Bach chorale preludes, “Christ Lay in the Bonds of Death,” was given appropriately strong and direct treatment The registration used in “Deck Thyself My Soul” did not allow the gently seraphic nature of the work to be fully appreciated. The final one, “We All Believe In One God,” was played with the requisite eclat The programme notes said that this one Is known as “the Giant” because “it towers above the

other chorale preludes.” It doesn’t, and the name comes from the pedal motif. Reubke’s organ sonata, based upon words of verses selected from Psalm 94, is a romantic work widely ranging in expression and in dramatic treatment of thematic material. Mr Brown chose his registration with care so that these characteristics of the work should stand out clearly, and he maintained a rhythmic grip that preserved the shapeliness of the various sections of the work. His touch had the necessarily incisive strength. After the massive building-up and fury of the first movement, the Adagio, registered mainly on delicate strings and flutes, had an Idyllic calm. The fugue came with a mighty rolling surge and Mr Brown was careful to keep its texture clear without sacrificing anything of its excitement He gave an excellent performance.

The recital was sponsored by the Organists’ Association. —C.F.B.