Organ RecitalsAuthor(s): Paul VernonSource: The Musical Times, Vol. 120, No. 1639 (Sep., 1979), p. 769Published by: Musical Times Publications Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/962373 .

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ROYAL COLLEGE OF ORGANISTS Elections At the Annual General Meeting held on July 21, Dr William Cole was re-elected Hon. Treasurer, Sir John Dykes Bower was re-elected Hon. Secretary and Messrs. Pannell Fitzpatrick & Co. were re- elected as Auditors.

Forthcoming Events Saturday, October 6 at 2.15 p.m.

Study Session for Associateship directed by DR ARTHUR J. PRITCHARD and DERRICK CANTRELL. Tickets will be required.

The Organ Works of J. S. Bach During the academic year 1979-80, the organ works of J. S. Bach will be performed in a series of 22 recitals by JAMES DALTON, organist of the Queen's College, Oxford. The recitals will be held on Tuesdays from 1.05 p.m. to 2 p.m. starting on October 16. There will be no charge for admission

but there will be a charge of 50p (60p by post) for the programme covering the whole series, which will be available from September 17. Tickets, available from the same date, will be required and postal applications should be accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope. Although neither programmes nor tickets will be despatched before September 17, early application will be welcome. Dates of recitals this coming term: October 16, 23, 30; November 6, 13, 20, 27; December 4.

Organ Practice for Examination Candidates Candidates are advised to book organ practice early. It will not normally be possible to allot more than one hour to each candidate after November 26.

Examination Results and Reports are on p.770. Kensington Gore, JOHN DYKES BOWER London SW7 2QS Hon. Secretary

ORGAN RECITALS There was an ideal opportunity for the Grant, Degens & Bradbeer organ in St Mary's, Woodford, to show its resources during the July series of recitals of German music. Within these confines it proved that it could serve for good accounts of music from the 15th century to the 20th; although none of the recitalists (of whom two were German) avoided J. S. Bach, a refreshingly wide range of styles was drawn upon, without too much emphasis on the classical repertory.

The series was launched by Nicholas Danby (July 3), who was ever ready to demonstrate the instrument's tonal qualities. The fine choruses yielded bold, strident sounds for Isaac and Georg Muffat and a mellow, rounder tone for Brahms's chorale preludes. Hindemith's Sonata no.1 provided opportunities for varied sonorities; those chosen were apt, and sometimes ingeniously obtained. As with the other players, the proximity of the Brustwerk to the console led to some misjudgments on Mr Danby's part in relation to the Schwellwerk (situated on top of the Hauptwerk), but he achieved excellent control of the shutters in Brahms's Herzliebster Jesu, to telling effect. His final piece, Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue, was carried off with rhyth- mic vitality (a hallmark of the whole recital) and reached a well engineered climax; here his playing was faultless.

Wolfgang Stockmeier (July 10) I missed; but Graham Barber (July 17) included his stylish com- pletion of Bach's Fantasy in C Bwv573. The per- formance however was disappointing, as were other items in Mr Barber's programme, the more so as he is on home ground at St Mary's. Possibly the organ's rebellious mood had something to do with it; but, ciphers apart, Mr Barber's rhythm was sometimes unsteady, in particular in the Andante of Trio Sonata no.4. The recital was redeemed by a worthy rendering of Karg-Elert's Music for Organ (op.145) and three Reger Monologues (op.63), played with great sensitivity.

The symmetrical programme of Egidius Doll (July 24)-each half contained two 17th- or 18th-

century pieces and ended with a Reger chorale fantasy-gave us a further chance to discover the instrument's versatility. Mr Doll played magnifi- cently, with clear articulation and complete absence of haste (although the breaks between and during the verses of the Scheidt variations were excessive), and proved himself an able trio player with Bach's Sonata no.2 and with his encore of the first move- ment of no.1. Nicolas Kynaston (July 31) made a surprising number of careless slips, and played the 'Wedge' Prelude and Fugue with little sense of style, preferring to overstate rather than allow the music to assert itself. But this subjective approach worked well in the Reubke Sonata, of which he gave a technically assured and broadly spanned account, including some unauthentic but spine- chillingly astringent stop combinations.

PAUL VERNON

Thomas Trotter won first prize in the Interpretation Competition and the Bach prize at the International Organ Festival at St Albans; Keith John and Peter Solomon won second and third prizes. English Church Music 1979 has been published; it includes articles on John Ireland, Boyce, Gibbons and organ building in Britain, and is available (price, 2.24) from the Royal School of Church Music, Addington Palace, Croydon CR9 5AD.

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