Following some preliminary remarks, Trotter opened the program with
three pieces from the 17th-18th centuries - Domenico Zipoli's
Offertoire, played crisply and with contrasting registration;
Francois Couperin's Offertoire Sur Les Grands Jeux, with
several movements and featuring reed stops, and J. S. Bach's playful
Fugue in G Major, BWV 577, also known as the Fuge a la
Gigue, a lively work made popular by both E. Power Biggs and Virgil Fox.
After further comment three more pieces followed: Kenneth Leighton's
dramatic Paean, with a satisfyingly full sound; Robert Schumann's
Canon in B Major, in which a mellow and peaceful registration was used,
and George-Thalben Ball's Variations on a Theme of Paganini, played
almost entirely on the pedals. Trotter made this sound easy, but it wasn't;
double pedal passages are always difficult, especially when each foot has
to move simultaneuosly with and independently of the other. Probably
the most often heard double pedal passage is in the famous Widor
Toccata from the Fifth Symphony where the main melody is in parallel
octaves, but those passages are child's play compared to the Thalben-Ball
piece.
A final set of comments then preceded the last three pieces: a delightful
Tuba Tune Ragtime by George Baker, with its references to Bach's
well-known Toccata in d Minor, to La Marseillaise, and to the
Star Spangled Banner; Messiaen's Le Banquet Celeste, played
with a subdued registration; and, finally, James Pethel's Toccata
in f Minor, a very exciting piece reminiscent of Henri Mulet's
Tu Es Petra. All in all this was a varied and satisfying program.
- Glenn A. Gentry