Celebration!

Sunday, the 26th, brought a Casavant Organ 50th Birthday celebration. Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church’s organ was dedicated on March 4, 1962.

Sunday’s concert was part celebration on its own and part homage to the original concert. The concert included the Suite in G major for Strings & Organ (1905), Ottorino Respighi, (1879–1936); Concerto for Organ, Strings & Timpani, Francis Poulenc (1899–1963)*; “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”*; How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place, Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)*; Worship the Lord, Op. 59, No. 2 (1959), Seth Bingham (1882–1972); and Three Canticles of Isaiah (2011), John Weaver (b. 1937).
*Pieces performed on the 1962 concert.

The principals included Andrew Henderson, Mary Huff, and John Weaver (organists and conductors). As a disclosure, I point out that I am personally acquainted with all three principals (indeed, I sang in Dr. Weaver’s choir for a brief spell in the late 1980s), and I accepted a comp ticket to the concert.

That said, I had a wonderful time. The Respighi (Ms. Huff at the organ, Dr. Henderson conducting) was a four-movement work that nicely balanced the organ and the strings. I was aware, as I would be throughout the afternoon, that the organ really can be a team player.

The Poulenc. I’ve heard snippets of recordings–I may have heard full recordings–but I’d never heard it live, until Sunday (Dr. Henderson at the organ, with Ms. Huff conducting; why yes! it was musical benches and podiums). The piece opens with alternating organ phrases and string/timpani phrases–not always equal or related, but building to something new. There were a few instances of what a friend of mine has called “creepy-crawly–French chords,” and there were many instances of the organ being allowed to shine, before once again joining the team. Many dance-like rhythms in a thoroughly exciting piece.

After intermission, we added the choral mix (inside joke), with Dr. Weaver conducting. The Brahms “How Lovely” from Ein Deutsches Requiem was, in a word, lovely. A straightforward performance with the added bonus of a flute added into the mix, played by Marianne Weaver. The Bingham anthem was a reference to a different Bingham anthem performed at the 1962 concert (Mr. Bingham was organist at MAPC until 1951). This work was being given (we think) its NY premiere, thanks to parts being copied out from the NY Public library (it’s a great city I live in!). I liked the work–it laid out the text and tune, then spun out a few variants on that.

In the same vein, Dr. Weaver’s composition (world premiere) mirrored having a new piece on the concert composed by a Music Director Emeritus. His three-movement work opened joyfully (but included contrasting sections), with call-and-response sections reminiscent of African-American spirituals, then morphing into a truly American spiritual. Very effective. All of these once again reinforced the organ (which would normally be the only accompaniment to these works) as a team player. I can’t stress that enough.

The very well-written notes on the organ and its restoration included a great deal of information on how the restoring process works and why. One point of interest for me was information about the cleaning and re-leathering of the pipes in order to prevent ciphers. Ciphers occur when the organist stops playing but the organ doesn’t. (The mechanism does not close properly, so the sound continues.) Sometimes the cipher can be “knocked” out by manipulating the key on the keyboard; sometimes the organ must be powered down and/or someone (usually the assistant organist) has to climb into the works and make a physical adjustment. The last time I heard the MAPC Casavant Frères organ, in 2008, it did cipher. In 2012, it did not.

Happy birthday; here’s to another 50 years.
Another note of interest: Dr. Henderson at one point asked if there was anyone at the concert who had been at the 1962 concert. There were several. I spoke with one after the concert (a church member I also know) who said not only was she there, she sang in the original concert. Only in New York, kids! (With a shout-out to Cindy Adams.)

ConcertMeister
p.s. This is the first time I've ever used a "Doodle Pad for Young Presbyterians" to take notes. I hope God doesn't mind that I'm neither young nor Presbyterian. I don't think I broke a commandment.