Jane Flynn features in the eighth recital of the Festival, playing on the Casavant organ of Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church, Atlanta, USA.
Programme:
Transports de joie (L’Ascension) - Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)
Pari intervallo - Arvo Pärt (b.1935)
Majestas - Timothy Rogers (b.1961)
Prelude, Fugue & Postlude on the ‘In Nomine’ - William Flynn (b.1956)
Programme notes:
Messiaen’s ‘Transports de joie d’une âme devant la gloire du Christ qui est la sienne’ is inspired by the text: "We give thanks to God the Father, who has made us fit to share in the heritage of the saints in the light... We have been raised up and seated in the heavens in Jesus Christ." (St Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and the Ephesians). The four-movement work was scored for orchestra in 1932-33, though Messiaen arranged an organ version soon after. ‘Transports de joie’, a virtuosic showpiece, was composed anew for the organ arrangement.
Arvo Pärt’s ‘Pari Intervallo’ is an elegy written in 1976 in memory of Pärt's friend ‘M. K.’
Anonymous notes in the piece suggest that its motto could be 'If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord' (Romans 14:8). The title refers to the fact that two melodic lines move together at the same interval (a minor 3rd); the other voices expand this sonority with other consonances, although their rhythmic displacement creates occasional mild dissonance. Pärt describes the resulting bell-like effect as his 'tintinnabuli' style.
Timothy Rogers' ‘Majestas’ was commissioned by Alice Bliss in memory of her mother, Evelyn Lee Witherspoon. The composer writes,
“This dramatic piece provides a musical response to Epstein's Majestas, which is sited in Llandaff Cathedral. Drawing inspiration from the challenging figure of the ascended Christ, the work mirrors the central messages of the vast aluminium and concrete structure in a way that captures not only its theological concepts, but also the physical shape of its design and form.”
William Flynn describes his Prelude, Fugue, and Postlude on the 'In Nomine':
This piece had its 'genesis' in a piece for mime on the Noah story, commissioned by the Washington DC chapter of the AGO. However, the solo organ arrangement has been so substantially reworked that it is a recomposition of portions of the earlier work rather than a transcription. The thematic material is derived from the antiphon Gloria tibi trinitas, and specifically from John Taverner's setting of the words 'in nomine Domini' (in the name of the Lord). While I do not quote from either the antiphon or from Taverner directly, my piece is full of references to the antiphon's rocking minor third and repetition at the interval of a fifth.
The quiet prelude introduces the theme in a style reminiscent of the 'points' of early English composers. A fugue follows-themes are rhythmically transformed and the tempo is gradually increased. As the fugue crashes to a halt, the music becomes warmer. Then the opening prelude is repeated with two additional voices added (in a cross-rhythm) making it seem more like a French plein jeu-hints of the plainsong Veni Creator can be heard in the added voices.
It may be helpful to think of the original dramatic nature of the piece: one can hear the rising flood waters, the wind and lightning, the thunder, the calm, the floating of the ark, and finally the promise represented by the rainbow.
Dr Jane Flynn is Director of Music at St Edward, King and Confessor, Clifford, and teaches on the Keyboard Studies Programme. She is a Visiting Fellow in the School of History, University of Leeds, and a freelance music teacher. She holds degrees in organ performance from Westminster Choir College, Princeton, and Duke University, Durham (USA), and specialises in early music. Her research focuses on music education during the early modern period, especially on keyboard improvisation techniques. Publications include ‘Tudor organ versets: echoes of an improvised tradition’, Journal of the Royal College of Organists 3 (2009); ‘To play upon the organs any manner playnsong’, BIOS 34 (2010); ‘The Education of Choristers in England during the Sixteenth Century’, in Institutions and Patronage in Renaissance Music, ed. T. Schmidt-Beste (Ashgate, 2012); ‘Sum liber thomae mullineri iohanne heywoode teste: The Mulliner Book, the early In nomine, and the Prayerbook of 1559’, RCO (2019).
The organ of Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church was built by Casavant Frères in 1982: www.agoatlanta.org/organ/glen...
Glenn Memorial UMC photo credits: AGO, Atlanta Chapter
Music used:
The Happy Breed: IV. Brazil 99 - www.amazon.co.uk/Gracious-Gro...
Satyagraha - www.amazon.co.uk/Organ-Leeds-...
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