CONCERTS AT ST. CHRYSOSTOM’S
VIERNE & THE FISK
THOMAS COLAO ORGANIST
FRIDAY, 20 NOVEMBER 2020 7:00 P.M.
ST. CHRYSOSTOM’S CHURCH CHICAGO
LOUIS VIERNE AT THE CONSOLE OF THE CAVAILLÉ-COLL ORGAN, NOTRE DAME
VIERNE & THE FISK
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LOUIS VIERNE 1870-1937
Carillon de Westminster
Symphonie No. 3 II. Cantilène
Symphonie No. 1 IV. Allegro vivace
Pièces de Fantaisie Clair de Lune
Symphonie No. 3 V. Final
- PROGRAM NOTES - ______
Louis Vierne, Organiste Titulaire of Notre Dame, Paris until 1937, student of César Franck, Charles Marie Widor, whose brilliant protegé he was, and Alexandre Guilmant, was appointed Organiste- Titulaire by unanimous acclaim at Notre Dame, where he reigned supreme until his death at the organ in 1937. This evening we celebrate the 150th anniversary of his birth.
A composer and brilliant teacher as well, he expanded the French symphonic organ tradition he inherited from his three Maîtres with six symphonies and many other works for organ, all highly imaginative in their use of the instrument and in harmonic development. His music is characterized by an inventive use of harmony and chromaticism, an Impressionistic sense of coloration, the ability to portray various emotions and moods, and a glorious sense of melodic lyric line.
His music, even at its most ecstatic, nevertheless carries a tinge of melancholy beneath the flowing, elegant surface. The tragedies of his personal life certainly can be felt in his music.
An amazing career was combined with a rather tragic personal life: he suffered from near- blindness and glaucoma most of his life, several family problems contributed to deep depression, and the constant struggles with the clergy at Notre Dame over the restoration of the Cavaillé-Coll organ made for a complicated life. Widor made him his assistant at the Conservatoire in 1894-1896 and he then continued as the Assistant to Guilmant who had become the Organ Professor after Widor. Each man passed many of his students to him, all of whom revered him and regarded him as their true Maître. His roster of students includes organists who were the nucleus of the French organ school of the generation that influenced and taught so many of the present generations of European and American organists: Marcel Dupré, Joseph Bonnet, Nadia Boulanger, Olivier Messiaen, Maurice Duruflé, Gaston Litaize, and Jean Langlais.
He made one concert tour to great acclaim in the Winter/Spring of 1927 across America: New York and Boston to Los Angeles. He arrived in Chicago in March and was a sensation when he appeared with Frederick Stock conducting the CSO in a French program which included his own works. Indeed, at the end of the second program Stock proclaimed from the stage: “Vive la France”! He also played a recital in Kimball Hall, the concert hall in the headquarters of the W. W. Kimball Company, now Lewis Center at DePaul University.
Vierne’s festive Carillon de Westminster, inspired by a visit to London, is a marvelous work built on the famous Westminster chimes melody. Rapid figurations in the manuals over the familiar tune build to a thrilling finale.
The First Symphony contains some of his most joyous writing, produced at a moment when his life had not become quite so dark. The fourth movement is a brilliant, scherzo-like movement contrasting light and fleet passages with a typical melodic and cantabile middle section.
The Symphonie No. 3, written during a summer of convalescence at the Dupré home, contains some of his most brilliant writing. The beautiful Cantilène develops a long and expressive melody in an exquisite way, while showing the many beautiful colors of the organ: Flûte Harmonique, les fonds d’orgue, Trompette, Hautbois, and les Voix Célestes. The Final is a brilliant toccata in the French style: rapid figurations over a strong pedal melody build to an ecstatic resolution.
Vierne’s music is so well suited on our splendid C. B. Fisk organ. Our fiery French reed stops and the luxurious foundation stops of this instrument create France here, in Chicago.
WELCOME TO ST. CHRYSOSTOM’S CHURCH ______
We are delighted to virtually welcome you online to St. Chrysostom’s Church as we continue our 2020 season and our celebration of the 15th anniversary of the arrival of C. B. Fisk’s Opus 123.
This concert is the eighth this season celebrating this glorious instrument and the fifth of several concerts we are presenting online each month. Please see the announcement on Page 10 of upcoming concerts and information about this season’s concerts which were postponed to 2021.
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Join us online each Sunday for our livestreams broadcast on YouTube. You can watch via the link on our Facebook page posted at 10 :45 A.M. each Sunday: https://www.facebook.com/StChrysChicago
or go directly to our YouTube Channel : St. Chrysostom’s https://bit.ly/stchrysyoutube
10:50 A.M. Organ Prelude 11:00 A.M. Holy Eucharist 12 :15 P.M. Carillon Recital
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Thomas Colao enjoys a diverse musical career as an organist, conductor, and classical singer.
He was appointed the Associate Director of Music at St. Chrysostom’s Episcopal Church in Chicago in September 2019, where he helps to lead all aspects of the church’s renowned sacred music program, including overseeing the Children’s Chorister program, assisting in the direction of the professional Choir of St. Chrysostom’s Church, as well as the volunteer Parish Choir, and playing the church’s landmark organ, Fisk Op. 123, in worship services and recital programs.
Prior to this appointment, he served as Director of Music & Organist at All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Princeton, New Jersey, where he oversaw all aspects of the church’s active music ministry, including a re-built Children’s Chorister program as well as one of the premier Adult Choir programs in the Diocese of New Jersey. During this time, he also served as Associate Conductor of the Continuo Arts Foundation in Summit, NJ; as Music Director for then-Princeton based Opera MODO; and as accompanist for the Princeton Pro Musica symphonic chorus.
Since relocating to the Chicago area in August of 2018, he has been active as an organ recitalist and collaborative pianist, and also serves as Associate Conductor of the Northwest Choral Society. He held the post of Principal Organist & Choral Accompanist at Grace Church in Naperville, Illinois, from 2018 - 2019.
As a professional choral artist, he is currently on the roster of the Grammy®-nominated Kinnara Ensemble, based in Princeton and Atlanta (for which he has also served as accompanist), and the choral ensemble Brevitas, based in Salt Lake City. Colao attended the Mannes College of Music, where he studied choral conducting with Mark Shapiro and vocal performance with Beth Roberts, as well as Westminster Choir College, where he studied organ with Matthew Lewis, and was a member of the renowned Westminster Choir, serving as a singer and accompanist on two national tours, and appearing with the Choir at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC, where he made his professional operatic debut as ‘Le Chansonnier’ in Charpentier’s Louise.
He holds the certificate of Associate of the American Guild of Organists, which he received in 2016. In his spare time, he enjoys composing and arranging for choirs and instruments, and is also an avid outdoorsman.
THE FISK ORGAN ______
The culmination of a 2-year project to rebuild or replace the 1979 M. P. Moeller organ, our glorious new organ, built by C. B. Fisk Organs of Gloucester, Massachusetts, was installed September 2004 and dedicated February 25, 2005.
On a bright, sunny day – September 12, 2004 – a huge semi-truck from Gloucester, Massachusetts pulled up to our curb at 10:58 A.M. and after the 11 :00 A.M. service, we all gathered in the courtyard to enjoy Ron Franklin’s BBQ. After lunch 112 of us began to carry the thousands of organ parts into the church. The truck was empty by 9:30 P.M. that evening, and early next morning the assembly of the organ began. About five weeks later we heard the first voiced stop (8’ Octave of the Great) at a service.
The organ is direct mechanical action with electric slider chests for certain large pipes. The handsome case, designed by Charles Nazarian, is African mahogany, the console is quarter- sawn white oak, the draw-knobs are Cocobollo wood, the keys are bone and ebony, the front pipes are polished and hammered lead.
There are 24 voices, 33 ranks, 1,729 pipes, the manuals are 58-notes, the pedalboard is 30- notes, straight and concave. The stop-action is electrically controlled solenoids. There are 262 levels of SSL memory. ______
C. B. FISK, INC. – OPUS 123 GLOUCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS
Michael B. Kraft - President Steven A. Dieck – Chairman of the Board David C. Pike – Senior Vice President & Tonal Director Gregory R. Bover – Vice President for Operations Andrew X. Gingery – Vice President-Project Manager
Pedal Great Swell 16’ Contrebasse 16’ Prestant 8’ Viole de Gambe 16’ Prestant Great 8’ Octave 8’ Voix Céleste 16’ Soubasse 8’ Spire Flute 8’ Bourdon 8’ Octave 4’ Octave 8’ Flûte Traversiere 8’ Bourdon 4’ Open Flute 4’ Prestant 4’ Super Octave 2’ Fifteenth 4’ Flûte Octaviante 16’ Trombone IV-VI Mixture 1 1/3’ 2’ Octavin 8’ Trumpet 8’ Trompette IV Plein Jeu 2’ II Cornet 16’ Bombarde 8’ Trompette 8’ Hautbois
The Organ is maintained by Erickson, Christian, & Associates With special thanks to Dean Christian, Martin Hill, and Ray Davidson
MUSIC AT ST. CHRYSOSTOM’S ______
Concerts at St. Chrysostom’s Church are made possible by the generosity of parishioners and friends. We thank all those who have contributed to and supported Concerts at St. Chrysostom’s. We are profoundly grateful to all.
DANIEL ROTH – 4 FEBRUARY 2020 We thank the following parishioners and friends whose gracious support has made this concert possible
David E. McNeel Lindsay Roberts & Richard W. Shepro Thomas C. & Pamela Sheffield Gretchen & Michael Zook A Faithful Parish Family
THE FISK SOCIETY We acknowledge and thank the following who have supported Music at St. Chrysostom’s with significant and sustained annual gifts
Anne Brinsmade Mark & Pamela Marks John Covell & Constance Frydenlund Leland & Karen Meader Caroline Cracraft Alice Moss Jean & Victor Elting Thomas C. & Pamela Sheffield Mark & Laura Fisher Richard W. Shepro & Lindsay Roberts Richard & Marilyn Helmholz Jason Williams A Parish Family Gretchen & Michael Zook David E. McNeel
Clara & Gordon Lang – for their gracious gift of a Mason & Hamlin grand piano
THE FRIENDS OF MUSIC AT ST. CHRYSOSTOM’S
Jeff Ammons The Huff Family Dorothy Ramm Sydney Armstrong The Hulings Family Libbet & Tobin Richter John Bankhurst & Ryan Kin The Hurley Family Jane Nicholl Sahlins Anne Brinsmade The Jacobs Family Keith Sanders Elizabeth Brown Barbara Jones The Schubert Family The Carpenter Family Judith Langendorf Karen Seda The Cerda Family Michel & Ann Kadinsky-Cade Susanna Steele Michelle Downey Sean Knudson Judith Stockdale William & Mary Jo Fairbanks The Lee Family Vicky Tesmer Ian Fielding The Maher-Pendry Family The Van Alyea Family The Grieb-Bradley Family Donald & Melinda Marshall Pat & Lilly Voelker Ginger & Del Hall Mary Pan Jason Williams William & Barbara Herzog The Quinlan Family Angela Yorath Harlow & Susan Higginbotham Shauna Rajah The Zackfia Family
FUND-A-SUNDAY 2020 Friends of Music who supported our Choral Music for the Summer
Jon & Barbara Brightman The Fershee Family Leland & Karen Meader Anne Brinsmade Mrs. Helen Fisher Alice Moss Alexander & Isabelle Carpenter Mark Fisher Thomas C. & Pamela Sheffield Macol & José Cerda Karen Hagberg Lindsay Roberts & Richard W. Shepro Victor & Jean Elting Barbara T. Jones Gretchen & Michael Zook Tom & Liz Kohlbeck
CONCERTS AT ST. CHRYSOSTOM’S ______
- JANUARY 22 -
7:00 P.M. CHICAGO COLLEAGUES Richard Hoskins celebrates Chicago composers Music by Ed Eicker, Marianne Kim, Keith Kalemba, Morgan Simmons Alan Hommerding, Florence Price & Leo Sowerby
- POSTPONED TO 2021 -
HANNAH DE PRIEST - SOPRANO & MICHAEL PECAK - FORTEPIANO These two gifted artists return with a celebration of Beethoven's 250th birthday
MARCH: CAFE ZIMMERMANN Ars Musica Chicago returns for our annual Bach’s birthday evening
CARILLON FESTIVAL SUNDAYS AT 4:00 P.M. - JUNE 6, 13 & 20, 2021 Join us in our lovely courtyard as celebrated carillonneurs play our beautiful 43-bell Gillett & Johnston carillon
ST. CHRYSOSTOM’S CHURCH
1424 NORTH DEARBORN PARKWAY
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60610
WWW.SAINTC.ORG
PHONE 312-944-1083
The Rev. Wes Smedley Rector
The Rev. Peihan Peggy Lo Assistant Priest
Richard Barrick Hoskins Director of Music & Organist
Thomas Colao Associate Director of Music & Organist
The Choir of St. Chrysostom’s Church
St. Chrysostom’s Singers
The Children’s Choirs
Kimberly Schafer Carillonneur
James Fackenthal Carillonneur
Erica Schuller Voice Teacher