Festival 2009
The 25th International Organ Festival at St Albans will take place from 9th to 18th July 2009.
Interviews Archive 2005 - 2006
Meet . . .John Scott Whiteley
Please tell us a little about your concert programme.
My fascination with the genius of Bach led me to consider the music that influenced his works. The colours of the St. Saviour's organ (based on the Strasbourg Silbermann organs) invited a colourful Bach work, such as the sei gegrusset partita. The programme demonstrates as many historic links as possible.
What first attracted you to the organ as an instrument and how old were you when you started playing?
The 1930 J W Walker organ at my school. I was 14.
Who (or what) has had the greatest influence on you as a player?
Ralph Downes
What is a typical day in the life of John Scott Whiteley like?
There isn't one! My time is divided between organ practice, the cathedral music, writing and research, and composing/transcription.
What are the highlights of your forthcoming schedule?
Transmission of Series 2 of 21st-century Bach on BBC 2 TV (around Christmas-time), recording of Series 3 of 21st-century Bach for BBC 2. Jury and recital in Rome, 28 December - 3 January 2006. US tour 2006, plus various other recitals in the UK (e.g. Canterbury, 30 September)
Meet . . .Simon Johnson
Please tell us a little about your concert programme.
The programme is essentially based on the psalms. Aus tiefer Not is a chorale whose words are Luther's highly personal translation of Psalm 130, whilst An Wasserflüssen Babylon is based on Psalm 137. Both are penitential psalms, and Bach brings the meaning of the texts to life in the music. Both make unusual technical demands on the player, having double pedal parts, and Aus tiefer Not is unique Bach organ literature in having six independent parts (if we discount the Ricercar a 6 from the Musikalisches Opfer). An wasserflüssen Babylon also occupies a special place in organ history as it is thought to have its origins in an improvisation mentioned in Bach's obituary; as the improvisation is reported as having lasted for 30 minutes he obviously did a lot of editing before arriving at BWV 653b!
The Howells Psalm Prelude is a very beautiful and contemplative piece that focuses on one of the most poignant verses in all psalmody: "But the meek spirited shall posess the earth: and shall be refreshed in the multitude of peace" (Psalm 37 v.11). Ever the master of word setting for choirs, Howells demonstrates an equal affinity with organ music based upon words.
No Psalm based programme would be complete without the Reubke Sonata. Within the large one-movement framework there are various sections which roughly correspond to verses from Psalm 94. As an organ composition with extra-musical content we can see a direct link between it and the Baroque Affektenlehre explored in the Bach pieces, though the connection between words and music here is unarguably more programmatic. The essential emotional content of the Psalm - a protest against social injustice - is transformed into musical language that in turn has a transcending effect on the text.
The programme begins with the Prelude and Fugue in e minor BWV 548 (the 'Wedge'). "An organ symphony in two movements" was how Bach's 19th century biographer Philip Spitta described the work. The piece dates from the Leipzig period, and the intense singing character of the Prelude reminds one at times of the Passion music he wrote there. The 'wedge' shaped subject, with its implied Augmented sixth chord, is very daring for its time (1730s?), but the extraordinary features of this piece are the virtuosic episodes that punctuate the brief returns to the fugal material.
It's all music that is dear to my heart and which sounds wonderful on the Cathedral organ.
What first attracted you to the organ as an instrument and how old were you when you started playing?
I was attracted by the sound of the organ as a chorister at Peterborough Cathedral and then when I got to see the console I was totally hooked.
Who (or what) has had the greatest influence on you as a player?
It appears that as a youngster I had remarkably good taste! - the organ at Peterborough is extremely beautiful. And of course the building is, in every sense of the word, awesome. So I suppose Peterborough had the greatest influence on me. I've also been very lucky to work with some extremely talented people. My first organ scholarship - a gap year at Rochester Cathedral - was perhaps when I as at my most impressionable, and I was very fortunate to come into contact with Roger Sayer at that time - he had the most formidable technique and I can't remember him ever making a single mistake when playing. He used to play all the big stuff too, so I got introduced to much great repertoire at close quarters. At Norwich I became very interested in choir training and accompaniment as a result of working with Neil Taylor. Then as organ scholar at St Paul's there was John Scott, who just had such an incredible musicality in all that he did; the organ just seemed to become a wholly different (better!) instrument when he played. I've learnt a vast amount since coming here too, and I have Andrew and the choirs to thanks for that.
What is a typical day in the life of Simon Johnson like?
Very varied, but always busy - 'typical' is probably the wrong word. Musically speaking, at the moment I'm learning all of Messiaen's La Nativité for this Christmas, preparing a couple of recitals, I have six organ pupils, together with all the playing for services and directing the Abbey Girls Choir. I have a great deal of interest in improvisation, but this usually has to be confined to manic sessions in the cathedral in the dead of night! Administratively, I'm organising two tours for the choirs at the moment, typesetting the psalter, and then there's all the routine Girls Choir stuff (which at the moment includes organising their tenth anniversary celebrations next year). Much time is spent sourcing good new music for weekday evensongs. In my spare time I'm doing some private research into the music of Jonathan Harvey, and also a little composition.
What are the highlights of your forthcoming schedule?
This term I'm giving a recital in Clare College Cambridge on 31st October, and playing La Nativité in the Cathedral on 18th December at 3.00pm. The big carol services and also Britten's Ceremony of Carols are alway highlights. After Easter I'm hoping to do a couple of recitals in Perth, Australia and then the following term it looks as if Andrew is having a sabbatical, so I will be in charge. The girls will be giving the premiere of an anthem by Judith Bingham to celebrate their tenth anniversary and also going away on tour just before Easter.
Meet . . .David Sanger
Please tell us a little about your concert programme.
The request was to suggest Bach and another, and early Spanish music seemed to be an obvious choice since it is so little known in this country. I think it will work very well on the Collins organ. I have always been fascinated by this music - it seems to have a language of its own, unlike any other European music of the period. I hope the audience won't find the titles of the pieces too daunting! I understand that they will have programme notes in front of them to explain the Spanish terminology.
What first attracted you to the organ as an instrument and how old were you when you started playing?
In the church I attended as a boy (The Congregational Church in Bexleyheath, Kent) I used to stand and sing opposite the Bevington organ, which I now have in my house in Cumbria! It appealed to me very much because it had a rich and dark tone at times, and I was curious about what the organist was doing behind that blue curtain. As soon as the service was over I would trot across and watch him from behind. I was hooked! When the church was struggling to find an organist I was roped in to play some of the services at the ripe old age of 12. By 13 I was taking the choir practices too!
Who (or what) has had the greatest influence on you as a player?
My mother was a fine local piano teacher (she taught me piano till age 16), and my father an amateur singer, so it would be ridiculous to suggest that they never influenced me. Later in life the masterly playing and teaching of Douglas Hawkridge set me on the road for the RAM. After that I was strongly influenced by Susi Jeans, Marie-Claire Alain and Anton Heiller; all wonderful teachers. Gillian Weir's playing at the RFH during my student days made me realise just how high playing standards could be, and made me strive for greater things!
What is a typical day in the life of David Sanger like?
Incredibly busy! This weekend; Saturday was up at 5 am, and working away at some organ consultancy work with regard to the proposed new organ at Strathclyde University. Also some considerable work toward the new Vierne
edition in conjunction with Jon Laukvik I found extremely time consuming. I had some housework to do and some organ practice for a certain concert in St Albans! Sunday was very similar, although I was not up till 7. The routine was nearly the same as Saturday, except that I did gardening instead of housework, and had to work on some detail for my forthcoming trip abroad.
What are the highlights of your forthcoming schedule?
Do look at my website (www.davidsanger.co.uk) and you will see some things coming up in the future. I am looking forward to playing at the Maria Church in Helsingborg this week, where Buxtehude was organist for a time, and to teaching in the Malmoe Music Conservatory for a day and a half. Later in the year I go to Norway to do a similar thing to this coming week in Sweden, and have concerts in Corsica, Cambridge and Westminster Abbey, among other places.
Meet . . .Jonathan Rennert
Please tell us a little about your concert programme.
The programme is an English sandwich with a Bach filling. Charles Swinnerton Heap was a Jonathan Rennertleading conductor in the Midlands, much admired by Elgar, who dedicated his great G major Organ Sonata to him. When you hear this dramatic Fantasia by Heap, you will be sure to be aware of many Elgarisms ... or maybe it is the other way around ... when you listen to Elgar, you are hearing much that Elgar had learnt from Charles Swinnerton Heap. Anyway, I am grateful to the late Robin Langley for introducing me to Heap's music.
Edmund Chipp was the organist at one of my two City of London churches, St Mary-at-Hill, before proceeding to appointments in Belfast, Scotland and Ely. He is remembered for having played all Mendelssohn's six sonatas to the composer from memory, and for his virtuosity, particularly in the (then-new) pedal department. His organ music often features fast passagework and prominent melody-lines played by the feet. The Procession March includes a particularly naughty pedal-tune towards the end! Healey Willan claimed to be by birth, English; by adoption, Canadian; and by absorption, Scotch. His enormous Introduction, Passacaglia and Coda is one of the great romantic masterpieces of the organ repertory.
What first attracted you to the organ as an instrument and how old were you when you started playing?
I always loved the sound of the organ, and as a small child, insisted that my mother take me into a particular church whenever we passed it, in case the organist was practising. I began formal lessons when I was thirteen. Peter Hurford says that teenage organists all play as loudly as possible for as much of the time as possible [I am sure that he will correct me if I have misquoted him!]. I'm sure I can have been no exception.
Who (or what) has had the greatest influence on you as a player?
Each of my teachers exerted enormous influence over me, and I am immensely grateful to all of them: Ivor Davies, then David Robinson (at St Paul's School), Richard Popplewell (at the RCM)and Dame Gillian Weir (at Cambridge); but my development as a musician would not have been complete without my piano teachers (Betty Parker and John Barstow), my H&C teacher at the RCM, William Lloyd Webber, and my boss at St John's College Cambridge, George Guest.
What is a typical day in the life of Jonathan Rennert like?
A typical day? There is no such thing. I wear many different hats (Director of Music of two churches in the City of London; recitalist; director of various choirs; moderating examiner for the Associated Board; member of several councils and committees). The big project at present is to raise £450,000 for the restoration of the wonderful, historic organ of St Michael's Cornhill.
Meet . . .Andrew Lumsden
Please tell us a little about your concert programme.
Having played the St Alban's organ several times, I have alwaysmarvelled at its versatility (it has both quiet subtlety and real firein its belly!) and the clarity of its tone and I hope my programme willreflect this. I'm beginning and ending with two of the great works ofthe German repertoire. Bach's Toccata and Fugue in F is one of his most joyous pieces and the climax of the (double) Fugue is breath taking inits nobility. Liszt's Fantasia and Fugue on B.A.C.H. is one of the great showpieces for both organ and organist. In between, we'll have the piquancy of Bach's Pastorale and the beauty of O mensch bewein (avoiding all spoonerisms!) with its extraordinarily chromatic cadence.
What first attracted you to the organ as an instrument and how old were you when you started playing?
My father was organist of New College, Oxford and I was about 6 yearsold when the 'new' organ was installed. I remember being completelyfascinated by all the goings on and would sneak into the Chapel to watchit being built. It was, and still remains, a controversial organ,particularly in its physical appearance (we almost certainly would not be allowed to get away with something like this today!) but I still get a little shiver down the spine whenever I visit.
Who (or what) has had the greatest influence on you as a player?
Musically it must be George Guest at St John's College Cambridge. Hiswonderful manner with the choir (varying from immensely tough toimmensely witty in a flash) and his ability to draw beautiful cantabilelines from his singers is something that has affected all aspects of my musicianship.
What is a typical day in the life of Jonathan Rennert like?
Typical? One of the joys of the job is that there is no typical day. An ordinary day would begin with an 8.00am rehearsal with choristers (who are always far more awake than I!), continuing through meetings about services or any problems with any of the choristers (adult or child) topre-Evensong rehearsal at 5pm followed by the service at 5.30. A trip tothe Wykeham Arms is always on the agenda.
What are the highlights of your forthcoming schedule?
I have recitals coming up in Bath Abbey, the Winchester and Lichfield Festivals and at a church on the Isle of Mull! The Southern Cathedrals Festival (when the choirs of Chichester Winchester and Salisbury get together for a three day jolly) takes place in mid-July in Salisburyand, immediately after that, I'm off to America to direct a choral course in Pennsylvania. The biggest highlight, though, is 10 days in August staying with friends in France with Ulrika, my convertible Saab!
