VCHpresents: Organ - Organ, Omakase

ORGAN, OMAKASE

SUN 8 SEP 2019 VICTORIA CONCERT HALL SPONSORED BY

MASATO SUZUKI, ORGAN

A multifaceted musician, Masato Suzuki appears on the concert platform in the capacity of conductor, composer and keyboard player.

On the conducting podium, this season Suzuki returns to both the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony and Tokyo Symphony Orchestras as well as making his debut as a conductor with the NHK Symphony Orchestra.

Elsewhere in Japan, Suzuki works with orchestras including the Japan, Sendai and Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestras, as well as Ensemble Kanazawa and Kyushu Symphony Orchestra. This season Suzuki makes his conducting debut with the Singapore Symphony and the Academy of Ancient Music in London.

As Principal Conductor of Bach Collegium Japan, Suzuki made his subscription series conducting debut with the ensemble directing Bach’s St John Passion and Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazionedi Poppea; on tour, he has taken them to the Thüringen

Bachwochen and Varazdin Baroque Festival. December 2019 sees BIS release the first disc of the complete Bach Harpsichord concerti Suzuki has recorded leading from the keyboard.

Festival appearances as a recitalist and chamber musician include the Chofu International Music Festival, Schleswig Holstein and Verbier. He continues a collaboration with violist Antoine Tamestit and their recording of Bach’s three viola da gamba sonatas was released by Harmonia Mundi in August 2019.

Suzuki’s composition portfolio includes works for both instrumental ensembles and choir; his work is published by Schott Japan and he has received recent commissions from Sette Voci, Tokyo Musik Kreisand Yokohama Minato Mirai Hall. Suzuki studied Composition and Early Music at the Tokyo University for Fine Arts and Music before studying Organ and Improvisation at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague.

PROGRAMME J.S. BACH Prelude and Fugue in G major, BWV 541

8 mins

An Wasserflüssen Babylon from the Leipzig Chorale Preludes, BWV 653

6 mins

Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565

9 mins

Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele from the Leipzig Chorale Preludes, BWV 654

8 mins

BRAHMS Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele from 11 Chorale Preludes, Op. 122, No. 5

3 mins

J.S. BACH Komm, Heiliger Geist from the Leipzig Chorale Preludes, BWV 651

8 mins

SCHUMANN Fugue No. 1 in B-flat major from Six Fugues on B-A-C-H, Op. 60

6 mins

LISZT Prelude on B-A-C-H, S. 260

14 mins

BRAHMS O Welt, ich muss dich lassen from 11 Chorale Preludes, Op. 122, No. 11 Masato Suzuki will sign autographs after the concert

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4 mins

PROGRAMME NOTES Today’s Bach-inspired programme features three of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Great Eighteen Chorales, alternating with a Prelude and Fugue, and a Toccata and Fugue. Then, we turn to works written by Schumann, Liszt and Brahms, who took an active part in the revival of Bach’s music in the 19th century.

Except for the Toccata and Fugue, all of Bach’s works in this programme were composed when he was working as court organist in Weimar and Köthen (c.1708-1723). These pieces were revised later in his life, when he was Kantor at St. Thomas in Leipzig; a position he held from 1723, until his death in 1750.

We begin with the Prelude and Fugue in G, BWV 541, which starts with a solo passage sounding much like a string instrument, and continues in a style reminiscent of a Vivaldi concerto. The fugue employs repeated notes in its theme, a common feature in North German organ fugues, such as those by Dietrich Buxtehude (c.1637-1707).

The chorale prelude is a liturgical composition for organ, based on a chorale melody. In An Wasserflüssen Babylon (By the rivers of Babylon), BWV653, the chorale theme lies in the tenor voice, whilst accompanied by three other voices. This is a mournful sarabande, depicting the scene from Psalm 137, where the Israelites lament their exile from the “Promised Land”.

The Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565, is arguably Bach’s most wellknown work for organ. Despite its fame, doubt has been cast by scholars over its provenance: if Bach in fact wrote it, when Bach wrote it; or whether it was first composed for the organ at all, but rather a transcription originally meant for another instrument, such as the violin or lute.

Two settings of the chorale Schmücke dich, O liebe Seele (Deck thyself, my soul) follow: by Bach (BWV 654), and Brahms (Op. 122 no. 5). This is a serene meditation on the rite of communion.

In Bach’s setting, the statements of the chorale melody are lavishly ornamented, and alternated with graceful, dancelike interludes. Schumann, after hearing another great Bach proponent, Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), play it to him, described it as “golden garlands of leaves around the cantus firmus (chorale melody)”. In Brahm’s three-voice setting, the chorale melody is heard in the top voice, whilst two other voices weave imitatively, including the lowest, which sometimes assumes the role of basso continuo.

We return to Bach for the last time, with the Pentecostal hymn Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott, BWV 651. The chorale melody is derived from the German version of the Gregorian antiphon Veni, Sancte Spiritus (Come, Holy Spirit).

Throughout the piece, an unrelenting perpetual motion of semiquavers denotes the “rushing wind” and “flames” of the Holy Spirit as they descend upon the Apostles, and are underpinned by the chorale melody in the pedal.

Now, we hear two pieces by Schumann and Liszt based on the name of Bach: Schumann, with the first of his Six Fugues on B-A-C-H, Op. 60, and Liszt’s Fantasy and Fugue on the Theme of B-A-C-H, S. 260. In the German alphabet, Bach’s name translates to B♭-A-C-B♮, and the works are based on this motif.

Bach encoded it into his own works, such as the Art of Fugue, and The Musical Offering.

Schumann composed the Six Fugues during a year-long labour of “Fugenpassion” (as he himself called it) in Dresden, whilst recuperating from a mental breakdown. They were indicated for either organ, or pedal piano. Perhaps hoping the strict rules of counterpoint would focus his energies and speed his convalescence, he declared it “The work which, I believe, will longest outlive my others”. Today, we hear the first fugue, which is marked langsam, and gradually builds in speed, volume, and texture, towards a resolute and majestic conclusion.

Although a piano virtuoso, Liszt was himself a keen organist and admired Bach’s music greatly. He took priest’s orders later in his life, and dedicated himself to composing sacred music. He wrote three substantial solo works for the organ, including the Fantasy and Fugue, which was composed in 1856 and revised in 1870. The Fantasy begins with the pedal stating the Bach motif, and the fugal subject cleverly uses all twelve notes of the chromatic scale. However, it quickly drops the guise of a formal fugue after a four-voice exposition, returning to the style of brilliant pianism Liszt was famed for.

The final piece in the programme, O Welt, ich muss dich lassen (Oh world, I now must leave thee) Op. 122 no. 11 is – quite aptly – the last music Brahms wrote. In the year before his death (1896), Brahms was already in poor health, and mourning the loss of close friends, in particular Clara Schumann. In this year, he completed the 11 Chorale Preludes, which were published posthumously in 1902. It is interesting that Brahms, who hardly wrote for the organ, composed for the instrument at the very end of his life. It is clearly marked with an awareness of his own mortality: full of reflection, introspection, and stamped with a purposeful sense of finality on all his life’s work.

Programme notes by Koh Jia Hwei

Visit www.sso.org.sg/klaisorgan to learn more about Victoria Concert Hall’s Klais organ, Singapore’s only fully mechanical organ.

What’s on at Victoria Concert Hall EXCITE!

ORGAN

SHREDDING WITH RACHEL BARTON PINE 27 OCT, 4PM

Rachel Barton Pine, violin Musicians of the SSO

PIPES DE DEUX 4 NOV, 12.30PM Evelyn Lim, organ Joanna Paul, organ

CHAMBER

CHAMBER

LOVE AND LONGING 10 NOV, 4PM

FRENCH CONNECTIONS 14 NOV, 7.30PM

Long Long, tenor Tengku Irfan, piano

SUPPORTED BY

Lynnette Seah, violin Gulnara Mashurova, harp Musicians of the SSO

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