Recital In Cathedral Of Blessed Sacrament

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31773, 2 September 1968, Page 14

Recital In Cathedral Of Blessed Sacrament

Yesterday afternoon in the Cathedral of The Blessed Sacrament, the organist, Mr A. F. Gillett gave a recital with points of special interest. The programme opened with three of the “Eight Short Preludes and Fugues” by Bach (those in C major, F major and B flat major),

well arranged as to order, employing registration schemes to produce effective contrast and climax, and pleasingly fresh in sound. Mendelssohn’s fine “Soo ata No. 3 in A major” followed. Here, as in Bach, Mr Gillett’s expertise and knowledge of this particular organ and its acoustical situation resulted in an enjoyable performance. There was no sense of anti-climax in his treatment of the concluding “Andante tranquillo.” Very well accompanied by Diane Duffy, Catherina Blom sang “Jesu, Jesu, du bist mein” and “Bist du bei mir” (both Bach). Hers is a voice of most attractive quality and used with musical understanding. Mr 'Gillett played Cesar Franck’s noble “Chorale No. 3 in A minor” with effective registration (particularly in the lyrical “Adagio” section) and fine climactic sense. Occasionally, in some of the brilliant manual passages, the present action of the organ impeded the music’s rhythmic flow. After S. S. Wesley’s pleasant “Larghetto in F sharp minor” (which again showed Mr Gillett’s studied preparation of his programme), Kees Krammer (bass) sang “Turn Thee to me,” “Hear my prayer, Lord” (both by Dvorak) and Mendelssohn’s “Consume them all, Lord Sabbaoth” with fervent understanding of the texts. He was accompanied by Diane Duffy (notably well in the Mendelssohn). —V.G.