Smooth sounds from old organ

Press, 6 May 1978, Page 6

Smooth sounds from old organ

By

C. FOSTER BROWNE

The reconstructed organ in j the Cathedral of the Blessed I, Sacrament was blessed on IThursday evening — and . started off on its second 100 ’ years of service to the . Cathedral and to Christ- | church. . In 1878 an organ was ] bought from Halmshaw and ( Sons, of Birmingham, and was • used in the wooden church ( which was replaced by the • present splendid cathedral. It 1 always had, and still has, excellent tone, but the ravages , of time had taken their toll ’ on its action. Parts had be- . come noisy mechanically so j that anything fast, when , played on its three keyboards . and pedalboard, sounded like , a conversation piece among four old gentlemen with ill- , fitting dentures. ( All this has now been re- , paired and renewed by the , South Island Organ Company - and a few, but very effective, ; additions have been made. During the service Don . Whelan, the Cathedral organ- j ist, played Bach’s C major Tocata. This has a long and ( rather fast pedal solo, and , would have been impossible with the old pedal action. It came off very well, and Mr . Whelan played it with bra- ‘ vura. At the end of the service ; he played Messiaen’s Four . Symphonic Meditations on the Ascension. He played , them clearly and well. Something seemed amiss with a ! trumpet stop in the first ) movement, but apart from , this there were some beauti- ; ful registration effects, which ! sounded admirably steady . and of lovely timbres. Last evening a recital was ■ given by Anthony Jennings, , the Cathedral and City Organ- , ist of Auckland. This was ) well attended and well done. ] He began with a Prelude and , Fugue in G major by Bruhns, 1 a Swedish writer for the t organ, and this proved to be ] a piece of extrovert writing , with flourish, excellent for . showing the possibilities of 1 an organ of this vintage. t

, Two Chorale Preludes bv 1 Bach followed, with elaborate ■figuration on the manuals and iwith the chorale in the pedals. They were both refreshingly phrased and were delightful to hear. Bach’s great Prelude and Fugue in B minor followed, with the prelude played steadily giving its unfolding nature impressive chance to be clearly heard. The continual reed sound became somewhat oppressive. The fugue rolled forth magnificently. Then came two works for manuals only. The first was Voluntary No. 1 by John Stanley, the blind organist of St Paul’s. This had charmingly contrasted movements, each with perennial freshness, giving opportunity for delightful colour changes. The second was Sonata No. 3 by C. P. E. Bach. Its first movement had interesting and effective antiphonal effects. The second was an entrancing soliloquy on soft flute stops, played with sensitive phrasing. The final movement had bursts of full sound nicely balanced by many cheerful figurations on bright flutes. Mendelssohn’s Sonata No. 1 in F minor ended the programme. This organ was built only a comparatively few years after this composition was written. Therefore the types of sound were much like those which the composer had in mind. The antiphonal effect of exuberance against the chorale melody used by Bach in the St Matthew Passion was impressive in the first movement. The second movement had simple grace and was played with gently contrasting registers. The juxtaposition of recitative style answered bv massive full organ came off very well, and the last movement had plenty of fire, although a good deal of its detail of arpeggio configurations was lost. Mr Jennings played stylishly, with clear understanding of the types of sound he wanted.