FAYTHE FREESE AT NORTHMINSTER BAPTIST CHURCH, NOVEMBER 4, 2004

   Dr. Freese opened the recital with Herbert Howells' Psalm
Preludes, Set II, No. 3, entitled "Sing unto Him a new song;
play skilfully with a loud noise", which she did! The piece
included many passages in the lower registers, and Freese used
the organ in an imaginative way. This was followed by  Variations
on Daphne, from the Camphuysen Manuscript, dated from 1650 to
1660. Variation I featured a dialogue on the flutes, and was
played precisely and with charm. Variation II used the Cromorne
stop (a clarinet-like reed) with ornamented melodic lines, and
at one point contrasting the upper and lower registers of the
stop. Variation III was also ornamented, and used consecutive
thirds from time to time. The next piece, Bach's Toccata and
Fugue in F (BWV 540), a major work in the organ repertoire,
was played with vigor. Freese's comments about the fugue were
very helpful. Of special note, she articulated (a few decades
ago I would have used the term phrased) the initial motifs in
the toccata consistently (three 16th notes connected, then three
disconnected, making a six note phrase). This consistency was
carried through in the two pedal cadenzas, which gave the
piece a unity that I had not thought about before (although I
know the toccata well). This - in my view - is one of the most
optimistic pieces in the literature, and that shone through. 
Then Freese played Pamela Decker's Passacaglia on BACH,
which she had commissioned. The letters BACH refer to the
musical sequence Bb-A-C-B (German notation uses "H" for "B"
natural). This was a big work, including extended passages
for double pedal (left and right feet playing different notes
at the same time). These were very well-done, both from the
compositional as well as the performance standpoint. A tango
was also included. I would like very much to hear the
Passacaglia again. Two Sowerby pieces closed the program -
first, Carillon, in which Robert Knupp and Angela
Willoughby assisted with handbells, was played expressively,
and then Pageant, a dazzling piece with extended
double pedal passages got a superb performance. Freese's
comments and program notes made a great difference to me -
I had heard this piece many times before, but - in a sense - 
this was the first time I had REALLY heard it! After an
enthusiastic response from the audience, Freese played an
encore, Gardonyi's Mozart Changes, in which a
Mozartian beginning mutated into a jazzed-up section. This
was altogether a delightful close to an impressive concert.
Faythe Freese was sponsored jointly by the Jackson Chapter 
of the American Guild of Organists and the Mississippi Music
Teacher's Association.
                                        - Glenn A. Gentry