Greenwood Organ Company 56 W.St 45Th St
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THE DIAPASON AN INTERNATIONAL MONTHLY DEVOTED TO THE ORGAN AND THE INTERESTS OF ORGANISTS S;xly-,set:otul J't'ar, No.3 - II' lIo /~ N o. 755 FEBRUARY. 19i1 Subscriptions $!J.OO a year - 30 ct'ntJ a copy 1970 A. G. O. MID-WINTER CONVENTION Relieved of go,'cnlmcnL members and such an atlrdcti\c acousllCilI selling. First Conb>Tq;ational United Church melody as it J;Ot more ornamented workers (or ill few days between Christ. Au organist is enchanh.'d by the re\'er· completely did the job. It is withoul througbout the variations. and the di· III:!;S :md New Ycar, the Nation's capitol heranl acoustics of the W:uhinglon Ca· a doubt the loudest and harshest organ rations themselves do not seem. to em· was invadro by o\'er 2,1)() members of thedral in spite o( an}' practical limita' this fC\'iewer h35 heard in a long time. body the idea of baroque AlltIc'~nlehre . the A.C.O. who held their Mid-Winter tiolls th"1' might pose. On the other J\nd Mr. Cooper had difficulty playing One could not wish for a better per· "",,'halcha.rna·caU·it" on Dec. 27, 28, 29, hand, the audience accustomed to hear· it Starting with unfortunate registra.. fonnance o[ Durufl~'s work on the: and 30. Headquartered at Washing· ing concert music in the less subtle tions willi very predominant quints in name Alain. Obviously. Mr. Russell was ton's excellent Statler-Hilton Hotel just em ironment of a typical symphony hall harmonic texture and far too many in his glory playing this work. for the a rew blocks (rom the White House, justifiably wants to hear the music clear. mistakes in the Pachelbel, he ncver got convention. what i5 now officiallv a "convention," ly articulated. but dear Ihis was not. For loose in the Brahms which W3J played FanlaJie in G, Bach; Partita on Jeau, and what used to be called :Ii "con such imposing (orces and premises, this consetvath'el" and wooden. Thc E mi· meine Freude, Walther; Prclu~ ct chn'c," and what the \\'ashington, D.C. concert represented lilde more than Pl or Prrludc' and Fugue hy Bach is no Fugue lur Ie nom d'Alain, DuruOe. Chapter suggests should he called a mediocre achievement. Although the piece for some experl'i, lei alone an "congrcss," and what In reality is a 5OIoi515' pronunciation was exemplary, inexperienced recitalist. 3nd insecure Festival Service gathering took place in wann and clear as was their vocal production (except for rh1thm and lempo in the prelude and A service of Morning Prayer followec.I some straining and 5harping on the plln a chaotically fast tempo which could weather (for the Northerners, anyway). Mr. RU!55Cll's recital. members of his of the tenor). the minor soloists, bor· The cDin-entian Committee. headed by liol be controlled su£ficiently def~ilted choir singing the psalms and canticles rowed from the choir, :md the choir it· Gl.'Ofrrey Simon, 15 to be congratulated Mr. Cooper's pia} ing of it. Things went hy Walter·Faxon. Arnatt, Sowerby, and for the fine arrangements, The hotd self were less successful in projecling b~tter in the more modem music, but White, most of which might be called tllc texts. French is a patently diWc: uJI was com'enient, comfortablc, and rea· we stiJI came otway from the ~dtal large organ pieces with .:horal ac· sonable in price as well as ideally 10' language to sing, but oratorio demands I«ling that Mr. Cooper h:u much more companiment. The choir W35 well reo clarity of narruth'e \o\,'hatever the Jan· cated. Truruporulion to an e\'cnts was pructicing to do in oruer to "get Ihings hearsed, produced an amazing amonnt good. anti there \\'as no premium of guage. Just as important ;u textual tusether·· and mah music out of these of volume for a smaU group. did not spacc all che buSt'S. One might wish ror clarity in this piece is clarity of pil c.h big pictt5. It w:u c1~arl}' not the Olliber :'ling with good intonation. and in· !teeter rood than one Ii;Ot OIl the conven· and rhythm. The pastorale qua1itk~ 0 " one would exp<."Ct at a l1:1tional conven· cluded too many soloists to make a tion banquet, csp<"cially in view of the 1.:eu/nncc flu ellr;st - the undersl:ue tion. I'erhaps a la'i awc"Mh e nrgan good ensemble. Otherwist:, Mr. Russell stiff registration fcc ($:.0), and one ment of dynalllia. orcheslralion. and \\'ould have hc1pt.'d. and his choir provided very fine sen'· could also hope for hetter progralll!i rhythm in !Inch IInc\'entful It Ilt;th Prelude, Fugue and Chaconne in n ice music, President o[ the AGO, Starlc than were prO\'ided at the convention. make the wor'" at hest dlghtly fatigning. minor, Pachelbel; Fugue in A·fiat mi. Wright, gave the address which wa, On the whole, we were disappointed It takes the mMt thorough approach l10r, Brahmlj Prelude and Fugue In E mostly about his own (<<lings regard. with the quallt, of (he performance. to detail for this Berlioz 10 he com'inc minor (wedge), Bach; AlltgrO (rom Sym. Ing attitudes and priorities for the fu . particul3rly 5ince we know th3t there ing. an this occasion , the otherwise de· phony 2, Vicmej Cantllene rrom Suite I'lre of the Guild. Speaking informally. are some fine musicians in Washing· licious reverberation became more a Ree\'e, Langlais; Dietl panni nous, president Wright pointed to are:1S of ton. D.C. who were not asked to per. source of annoyance and confusion than Megiaen. Guild life that need attention. We hope fonn for thi5 com'ention. A5 U51131 at it did a compliment 10 the music or that his address will find its way to AGO com'enlions, 100 Ulany events were e,'en a co"er fo r lhe lack of refinement. Albert RUMeli Ihe membership at large via Guild com· scheduled on one day (particularly The well-balanced choral sound was On the other hand, Albert Rus,o;cU munication channe15. Wednesday. which sponcd a master c1ass, orten very lovely in and or itself, and W3!i completely at home at his 1969 live recitals, 3nd 3. (hor:ll concert). The the orchestr:ll sound Ion M.'Cmeti [0 en· r, res.'i · Mik~ organ :u SI. John's EpiKO' amount of organ music in that day wa5 joy itsel£ in the bath of ,uch warm pal Church, Lafayeue Square. In spite Arthur Poister, Master Cln.u simply too much 10 dlgcsi. In self-de a«oustics, hut the c:ue and enerl;" Iff an ilggra\'aling electronic re\'erhera· Monday aflernoon was taL:en up al fense, we h:n'e learned In read the pro· nceded to make this a successful pro· lioll 5},slem ("'ith01U \o\,'hich music in St. John's Episcopal Church where Ihrec gram carefully. 01111..1 Ihcn 10 avoid one duction were tJcfinilcl)' missing. Ihio; church is completel)' wllbont any local organists (Nancy Mauhal, Unl or two events in order to catch our Vcn(allu dn Christ, Hrctor Rrrliol. revcrbcr.ation). and an organ that is far larian Church of Arlington, Va,: Mel· breath and clear our cars. Two e,'ents H-;len Vanni, mez:w..soprunoj Da"id from ideally located <in lhe side or the "in Butler. First Congregational Church, were scheduled as pre,cUln'cntion con· Lloyd. tenor; Richard Stilwell, boirhont:'; challct'l wa1l), Mr. Russ.ell prOVided U:'l Washington: Albert Wagner, Augustana certs on Sunday e\'cning. We diel not Philip Booth. hassi The Cathedral with a Im'ely short recital preceding l.utheran Church, lV3Jhington) played attend the st:cond. a conccrt of Jewish Choral Society, Paul Callaway, condnc· Ihe opening service. His registrations works by Messiaen, Bach, and Widor Music at Washington Hebrew Congre· tor. were intcrt.'Sting, his grasp of musical (or Mr. Poi5ter's remarks and criticism. gation. It did not bt.'gin until 9 p.m. - llon Spies phrao;c and form was excellent, and his Indeed, the playing of these " three or· after the concert at Washington Ca· playing was thoroughly professional. gunists was so fine that one \4,'ould thedral. -RS John Cooper We wonder about those interpretive di· have a difficult time delivering hard Monday morning did not COme early. rL"Ctions for the Walther V3riations criticism of their playing. It W<u sollie The Cathedral Choral Society but, if one was not full)' nwake al 10 (I rallquillo, andante, un poco mosso, of the best playing of the convention. The first concert of a bus)' week for a.m. when John r::oo!'('r (organist CIC.) which are definitely one editor's and Mr. Poister made note of thaI. But the convenlion delcgales probably choinnaster, St. Anne's Episcopal idea, not the composer's. In following he also Iound much to speak about pleased most of the organists present. Church, Annapolis, Md,) began his reo these carefully. Mr. Russell did Jose regarding style. technique, detail or It is not often that they hear music in cital, the 1961 Casavant organ in the some of the phrasing of the chorale (Continu~d on p. 2) (Continued from p. I) demonstration-performance was reduced Interpretation. and general background. from 4 to 2 perfonners, and most of And few organ teachers will rh'al h il'i it was done by John Fcspcnnan, a humor t wannlh.