UNIVERSITY CONCERT

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32678, 6 August 1971, Page 15

UNIVERSITY CONCERT

Recital by organists

The weekly University lunch-hour concert yesterday was an organ recital in The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. The players were Mr Don Whelan, the cathedral organist, and Miss Dianne Duffy. Mr Whelan began with Bach’s Great Prelude and Fugue in C minor, playing it at a steady tempo so that the filigree passages should be clear and well defined. The registration was bright and clear except for some combinations of stops which sounded as though the tuning was astray or the pipes were not getting enough . wind. These tended to become irksome. The fugue was played with admirable clarity and strong rhythmic flow. Miss Duffy played the Chorale Partita on "O Gott, du Frommer Gott.” This is a set of variations mostly for manuals alone. There was sparkle in her clean articulation of notes and in the cleverly varied registrations which she used. Rhythms remained steady and the phrasing was clear. Each variation had its own distinctive sound, set up quickly and effectively. Mr Whelan ended the recital with Hindemith’s Third Sonata. The first movement was harmoniously aggressive, the second lyrical and piquant, and the third smooth in its progression. Mr Whelan registered with sense of fine contrast and dramatic atmosphere.