Superb organ recital

Press, 7 May 1981, Page 20

Superb organ recital

Cupcyrt liy the . organist, John Wells. Cathedral of the Blessed Sacranient, Reviewed l>y Margaret Buchanan. John Wells is on a New • Zealand tour giving recitals and lectures op the organ in all the main centres includ- , ing the Auckland festival. After graduating from Cambridge in 1968 he left his post as an organist at Christ College, Cambridge, to take up a. teaching appointment, firstly at Wanganui Collegiate. Cambridge claimed him again eight years later, as a tutor in • keyboards at the University. Prelude in G Minor by Buxtehude, one of the great figures of the Middle Baroque and a major influence in Bach’s organ work, opened a formidable programme. This work included a toccata, two fugues, and a recitative. Intelligent choice of stops and good pedalwork gave an excellent clarity to all the voices. Chronologically following • his predecessor, Bach’s 18 L Leipzig Chorales represent the master's last collection. The first, “Von Gott Will Ish Nicht Lassen,” contained some exquisite harmonies, overtones of a fifth adding piquancy and sharpness to the lines. “Allein Gott in der Hoh sei Ehr,” an often worked chorale (Bach set it 10 times) was delicate and sensitively played. A lesser known composer,Leo Sowerby (1895-1968) had

a remarkable stint as organist at St Janies, Episcopal Cathedral in Chicago from 1927 till 1962; The air cdhies from the “Suite for Organ,” and features- a ; romantic theme and four intricately developed. variations. Here was demonstrated the . most careful;, graduation •’in. the choice of stops and the imaginative use of the swell pedal. The programme digressed from the norm in that a choral work, John Wells’s Second Mass, was performed by the Cathedral Choir accompanied by a young, talented Christopher Archer. The Kyrie contained a beautiful, restrained, rising figure, while the Gloria used a boisterous rollicking motif, contrasting the ethereal Arabian sound of “Lord God Lamb of God.” Triumphant shouts of Amen completed the work, which was spurred on by. the energetic direction of the conductor,. Don Whelan. The famous ' organist, George Thalben-Balls wrote “Variations on a theme by Paganini for his first North American tour in J 936. This remarkable work has .10 variations, eight of which are for pedals alone. Three compositions from the twentieth century, an Adagio by Frank Bridge, “Naiades," by Louis Vierne, and the impressive “Dieu Parmi Nous” (“God Among Us”), by Oliver Messiaen, made up the rest of the programme.