Organ Recital—November 11, 2012

Dr. Andrew E. Henderson played a well-performed recital this past Sunday on the Temple Emanu-El organ. Since the organ is hidden, we saw Dr. Henderson via organ cam, which was interesting because we got to see the transitions from one to the other (three!) keyboards. Plus a somewhat murky look at the pedal “key”board. OK, organists are acrobats. But their pistons (some of which link one keyboard to another) give them a little bit of extra magic up their sleeves. Well, enough technical talk.

The program consisted of Präludium in D major, Wq 70/7 and Adagio (from Sonata in G minor, Wq 70/6), Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (a son) (1714–1788); Fugue in G major “Jig,” BWV 577, J.S. Bach (papa) (1695–1750); Rhapsody in D-flat major, Op. 17, No. 1, Herbert Howells (1892–1983); Sonata No. 5 in D major, Op. 65, Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847); From Seven Sketches on Verses of the Psalms (1934), (two only), Percy Whitlock (1903–1946); Scherzo-Pastorale (1913), Gottfried H. Federlein (1883–1952); and Nimrod (from “Enigma” Variations, Op. 36) and Imperial March, Op. 32, Edward Elgar (1857–1934).

Whew! Where to begin? All three Bach pieces were crisp, with clean lines, and the almost mathematical precision one associates with Bach(s). Or, at least, this one. All three were clear, precise, and musical. That is the genius of Bach. The Howells took us into not-quite-romantic writing but more dense harmonies. The Mendelssohn did take us into Romanticism, and it was a lovely journey. The Whitlock stretched us once again into hearing and listening in a different way. I wasn’t sold on a new sound but I was willing to listen. The Federlein (he was organist at Temple Emanu-El from 1915–1945, which included the new building and organ on Fifth Avenue (1929)) was definitely a concert piece (though Dr. Henderson played it as a postlude recently at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church—I asked; he told me!). It could possibly have been incorporated into a silent film score, to my mind. The Elgar pieces were arrangements of orchestral works, which merely goes to show how the pipe organ is the “almost-equivalent” of an orchestra.

The “organ cam” gave us great insight into the logistics—still, Dr. Henderson made it look easy-peasy. And it is not.

I know.*

ConcertMeister
*Ask, if you’re interested.