John Paul at St. Andrew's Episcopal Cathedral, April 9, 2006
In this program, 6th in the "An Organ in the City" series, John Paul
began with a group of three chorale preludes by Johann Pachelbel: "How
bright appears the morning star", played precisely, with a well-phrased
cantus firmus (melody); "Bless the Lord, my soul", whose cantus firmus
was reminescent of the opening measures of Old Hundredth ("Praise God
from whom all blessings flow"); and "When Jesus went to Jordan's stream",
with the cantus firmus in the pedal with the Trompette-en-Chamade in
the combination, a very dramatic choice. Trompette-en-Chamades (or
horizontal trumpets) are not usually playable from the pedal; in the
three examples of this stop in Jackson (Northminster Baptist, Covenant
Presbyterian, and St. Andrew's before the organ's recent rebuilding)
none were playable in the pedal - they simply wouldn't couple there).
With the new Allen console, however, this can now be done in St.
Andrew's. Articulation (not the same as phrasing) in this group was
well-suited to the acoustics.
Romantic music followed - first, Cesar Franck's Chorale in B Minor,
with appropriately varied registration. Here the organ's additional
electronic resources allowed some extra expressivity, especially in
crescendos and decrescendos. Two romantic chorale preludes from
across the border in Germany were next, by Johannes Brahms - "My
Jesus calls to me", a polyphonic piece with the cantus firmus in
the pedals, and "My faithful heart rejoices", a softer piece.
Jean Langlais' Two Poemes Evangeliques followed; the first, "La
Nativite", a gentle and colorful piece; and the second, "Les
Rameaux" (Palm Branches / Christ's entrance into Jerusalem),
big, boistrous, and with dissonance typical of Langlais.
The program closed quietly with Brahms' setting II of "O sacred
head sore wounded", with the cantus firmus on a small reed stop
against a background of strings.
The organ at St. Andrew's, with almost all the pipes of the
original instrument, plus many new or duplicated electronic
voices, presents a steep learning curve for the organist, but
John Paul has it well in hand, and used it to great advantage
in this program.
- Glenn A. Gentry