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Newsletter for the Toronto Centre of the Royal Canadian College of Organists May 2016
Page 2 Maurice Clerc at St. Basil’s
Page 3 Recitals and Concerts
Page 4 2016 Nominations
Page 6 Annual General Meeting
In this issue:
2
The Bulletin May 2016
Maurice Clerc in Recital St. Basil’s Catholic Church Friday, April 22, 2016 7:30 pm Maurice Clerc, Organist of Dijon Cathedral received a warm welcome from a decent sized audience at St. Basil’s Church. Except for a Bach and Marcello piece, the rest of the pro-gram was French repertoire. His own transcription of the 1st Suite of Fanfares by 18th c. baroque composer Jean-Joseph Mouret provided a pleasing beginning. His gracious use of ornamentation never impeded the melodies and did much to add to the charm. The Andante movement from the Oboe Concerto in c minor of Benedetto Marcello had previously been transcribed by J.S. Bach in its original d minor key. Maurice Clerc’s transcrip-tion and performance served to enhance the dramatics. No two organists perform Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in d mi-nor in the same way. Following a dramatic Toccata, Mr. Clerc graciously began the Fugue with a variety of flute combinations. It was quite effective when the principal chorus with mixtures made their appearance once again, and then saving the reeds until the last ten bars. The first part of the programme ended with a courageous rendering of César Franck’s Pièce Héroique. In teaching the works of Franck, Jean Langlais always began with this pro-vocative proclamation: “There is no point in learning Franck’s music if you haven’t previously endured twenty-five years of love!” Some say that it is perhaps the best spir-it in which to consider the interpretation of Franck’s organ works. Maurice Clerc’s vision of Heroique was conveyed with a sense of forward movement without being hur-ried. He ended with a healthy sense of pride.
Two pieces by Louis Vierne began the second half of the programme – an exuberant playing of the Allegro, from Sym-phony #2; and a little known piece – Méditation, from Trois Improvisations transcribed by Maurice Duruflé. This quiet piece is another example of Vierne’s expressive writing us-ing a variety of foundation stops. Maurice Clerc highlighted the romantically rich harmonic language without being sen-timental. Paraphrase sur le Te Deum is from Three Gregorian Pieces by 20th C. composer Jean Langlais. Its fantasia style clothed the plainsong theme, and Maurice performed it with great flourish. Vierne’s well-known Berceuse was recalled many times during Pierre Cochereau’s Berceuse. Transcribed by Frédéric Blanc, the music begins ominously and during its variety of colours builds to a formidable forte before it set-tles peacefully. An impressive work and performance! The finale was another Duruflé transcription. This time, Charles Tournemire’s Choral-Improvisation on “Victimae Paschali Laudes”. This complex piece was skillfully per-formed and brought to a close a very successful night of music. Maurice’s encore closed the evening the same tuneful way it began, with The Prince of Denmark’s March.
-Tom Fitches
Thanks go to the executive members who welcomed
people as they arrived. A special thanks to John Paul
Farahat, organist of St. Basil’s for hosting the concert,
and to David Weind for his hospitality.
MUSIC SALE!
RCCO Toronto will be holding a used music sale next September. Do you have some music you’d like to donate? Email David Weind for pick-up information.
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The Bulletin May 2016
Recitals & Concerts
Membership Matters
David Jafelice has reinstated his membership in the RCCO as a Regular
member of the Toronto Centre. Email: [email protected]
Tony Browning has joined the RCCO as a Regular member of the Toronto Centre.
Email: [email protected] Degrees: BA, MA, ARCM, LRAM
Positions: Director of music, Trinity Anglican Church, Aurora
Vladimir Soloviev has joined the RCCO as a Regular member of the Toronto Centre.
Email: [email protected] Degrees: MM (Piano Performance and Literature, 2015), Eastman School of Music; BMus (Piano Performance and Literature, 2013), Western University
KINGSWAY ORGAN CONCERT SERIES
at All Saints' Kingsway every other Wednesday afternoon starting with or-ganist Simon Walker on June 8, 12:30 - 1:15.
Organists wishing to participate are invited to contact
Gordon Mansell: phone/text: 416-571-3680 email: [email protected]
Tuesday, May 17 1:00 pm Alastair Williams, organist St. James Cathedral
Thursday, May 19 12:15 pm
Janet Obermeyer, soprano; Robert Bruce, pianist Metropolitan United Church
Sunday, May 22 4:00 pm
David Briggs, organist St. James Cathedral
Tuesday, May 24 1:00 pm David Briggs, organist St. James Cathedral
Thursday, May 26 12:15 pm
Joey Jang, tenor Metropolitan United Church
Sunday, May 29 4:00 pm
David Briggs, organist St. James Cathedral
Tuesday, May 31 1:00 pm David Briggs, organist St. James Cathedral
Thursday, June 2 12:15 pm
Christina Stelmacovich, mezzo-soprano; Andrew Ager, pianist
Metropolitan United Church
Sunday, June 5 3:00 pm Sarah Svendsen, organist St. Paul’s Bloor Street
Music by Willan and Laurin Free Admission
Sunday, June 5 4:00 pm
Phoenix Boys Choir St. James Cathedral
Tuesday, June 7 1:00 pm Imre Olah, organist St. James Cathedral
4
The Bulletin May 2016
RCCO Toronto
Report of the Nominations Committee May 9, 2016
The Nominations Committee submits the following slate of
Officers and Members-at-Large for 2016-2017:
Officers:
President: Steven Frketic
Vice-President: Karen Price
Treasurer: OPEN
Secretary: William Wright
Bulletin Editor: Matthew Whitfield
Program Chair: Tom Bell
Membership: Hazel Ogilvie
Chaplain: Sherman Hesselgrave
Members-at-Large:
David Briggs
Tom Fitches
Joanne Hart
Karen Price
Mark Toews
Patricia Wright
We are saying farewell to:
Alan Jackson
Ron Jordan
Elisa Mangina
The new internet stream www.orgelradio.eu was launched only three months ago. This organ radio delivers 24/7 organ
music. Every day of the week has its own theme, e.g. on Wednesday you can hear Dutch recordings, on Thursday it is
only J.S.Bach, on Friday we broadcast worldwide recordings, etc. Every two
weeks the content changes.
Before the end of the year orgelradio.eu would like to have reached 100.000 lis-
teners with 1.000 listening hours a day. We strive to become a worldwide player in promoting organ music and organists.
5
The Bulletin May 2016
Bulletin Information
The Editor of the Bulletin is Matthew Whitfield, Organist & Director of Music at
St. John the Baptist, Norway Anglican Church.
The submission deadline for the Summer issue of the Bulletin is:
Friday, June 3rd.
To make a submission, please email the editor at: [email protected]
Or contact him through his website: www.orguenouveau.com
For more information and to see upcoming events,
please visit the RCCO Toronto website, www.rccotoronto.ca
Organs of Toronto
Would you like to know more about any of the organs
mentioned in this issue of the Bulletin?
If so, consider purchasing Organs of Toronto, a comprehensive guide to Toronto’s pipe organs. The Organs of Toronto CD, an
accompaniment to Alan Jackson & James Bailey’s book Organs of Toronto, is a compilation of fourteen instruments contained
within the book.
The book is available for $40, and the CD for $10.
Buy your copy through RCCO Toronto:
Email: [email protected]
Top Ten Reasons for Being a Tenor
10) Tenors get high without drugs.
09) Name a musical where the Bass got the girl.
08) You can show the Sopranos how it SHOULD be sung.
07) Did you ever hear of anyone paying $1000 for
a ticket to see the 3 Basses?
06) Who needs brains when you've got resonance?
05) Tenors never have to waste time looking through the self-improvement section of the bookstore.
04) You get to sing along with John Denver singing High Calyp-
so.
03) When you get really good at falsetto, you can make tons of money doing voice-overs for cartoon characters.
02) Gregorian chant was practically invented for Tenors. Nobody
invented a genre for Basses.
01) You can entertain your friends by impersonating Julia Child.
6
When: Monday June 13, 2016 @ 6:30 PM
Where: Church of the Holy Trinity
19 Trinity Square
Please note that this event is Pot Luck. Attendees are encouraged to bring
salads, mains, and desserts. Appetizers will be provided.