ORGAN RECITAL

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2499, 28 June 1915, Page 3

ORGAN RECITAL

4 There was quality and charm in the programme of music submitted by the City Organist (Mr'. Bernard Pago) at the recital given in tho Town Hall on Saturday evening, under the auspices of the Wellington Patriotic Society. It was a genuine treat to hear once ir.ore the melodious overture, "The Hebrides" (Mendelssohn), and it is. interesting to those familiar # with the orchestral setting (which of course is the proper ons), to see how very close Mr. Page was able to get to the tonal character of the music. Bach was represented by his great "Toccata, and Fugue in D Minor, which was played with suavity and strength. The beautifal, the grotesque, and tho humorous are all combined in Greig's fascinating "Peer Gynt" suite, which is the most popular and enduring work left the world by the gifted Norwegian. The suite is excellently suited to the organ, particularly the last movement, which in its orchestral setting is opened with that grotesquely pompous march originated by the bassoons, and carried right through the wood winds to the strings, at -in everquickening tempo, until it is just a maddening whirl—a dance of crazy imps in the home of the Mountain Kings. Cesar Franck's majestic touch was heard in his "Finale in B Flat," and KareElert's ingenious "Air and Variations ' (upon a Handel theme) gave pleasure. 11l lighter and more delicate vein was Leniare's summer sketches— "Dawn," '"The Bee,". "Cuckoo," ' Twilight." and "Evening"—each impression being invested with an atmospheric charm by the organist. _ Claussmann's "Elegie" has a cool, serious beauty of its own, and was one of the ]wpular items in the programme. A considerable time elapsed between the conclusion of the recital and the announcement of the Queen Carnival result, but many stayed it out, and their patience was rewarded before 10.30 p.m.