Sheila Lauber Hess at Northminster Baptist Church, July 28, 2006
Hess opened the program with Buxtehude's Chorale Fantasia on "Wie
schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" (BuxWV 223), played to perfection.
This piece, a series of chorale variations, deserves to be heard
more often. Next was Louis Vierne's Matines, Op. 56, which had an
ostinato-like pedal line with chordal accompaniment and a rich
registration. The first group closed with J.S. Bach's Prelude and
Fugue in G major (BWV 550), perhaps a little less well known than
his other prelude and fugue in G major (BWV 541) but no less exciting.
Registration was vintage Bach, with reeds in the pedal but not the
manuals, and the balance was excellent. The ending of the prelude was
a bit grander than the ending of the fugue, but consistent with the
character of the music.
The second group was a charming set of three pieces on the chorale
tune "Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr" ("To God Alone Be the Glory").
The first and second, by Paul Manz and J.S. Bach, respectively, were
trios and played with clarity. The third, by Michael Burkhardt, was
bigger and more lively, but no less appealing.
The third group featured David Cherwein's Triptyche on "The Ash
Grove". The Adagio began with a baroque-style trio, then shifted
to a rather lush, romantic setting of the hymn tune, and back and
forth between the two. Hess played with registration entirely
appropriate to the two musical structures, which provided a lot
of contrast, as one might hear if the instrumental parts of J.S.
Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" were played on baroque
flutes and the alternating choral parts on strings and celestes.
The Trio featured the Krummhorn in the tenor register, and was
very engaging. The Toccata had phrases from the hymn-tune in the
pedal, with lots of activity in the manual parts, and was a
stirring close to the third group. I really enjoyed this work
and am grateful for the opportunity to have heard it.
The last group included Ned Rorem's "Views from the Oldest
House (1981): The Nest in Old North Church", with complex
chords on string stops (the nest?) and bird calls on flutes -
a fascinating composition. The final piece was Marcel Dupré's
Prelude and Fugue in B Major, a massive work that was played
with enthusiasm and that brought the substantial audience to
its feet at the end. Organ pieces in B (major or minor), with
the lowest note of the final chord at the upper end of the
bottom octave of the organ pedalboard, do not have access to
the really low sounds at the bottom (C, C#, D, etc), but the
skilful use of a 32' stop (including a Resultant) can make up
for this, as Hess beautifully demonstrated.
In short, this was an impressive recital, a breath of fresh
air at a time of year when not much is going on with classical music. I
thank Sheila Hess (and her mentor, Billy Trotter) for it and
look forward to her next program.
- Glenn A. Gentry