VCHpresents: Organ, Français

ORGAN, FRANÇAIS MON 24 FEB 2020 12.30PM VICTORIA CONCERT HALL

SPONSORED BY

PROGRAMME Jean-Adam Guilain Suite du premier ton Plein jeu Trio Duo Basse de trompette Récit Dialogue

12 mins

Johann Sebastian Bach (Trans. André Isoir) Stirb in mir from Cantata BWV 169 Sinfonia from Cantata BWV 29

6 mins 5 mins

César Franck Prélude, Fugue et Variation, Op. 18

11 mins

Louis Vierne Carillon de Westminster, Op. 54, No. 6

7 mins

Jehan Alain Deux danses à Agni Yavishta Litanies

5 mins 4 mins

This concert is supported by the Singapore Chapter of the American Guild of Organists

FRANÇOIS ESPINASSE ORGAN Born in 1961, François Espinasse studied under Xavier Darasse at the Conservatoire de Toulouse. In 1980, he was awarded the Premier Prix for organ and subsequently did his postgraduate studies under André Isoir. He was also a prizewinner at international competitions in Toulouse (Contemporary Music Category, 1986) as well as Musahino, Japan (1988).

François Espinasse is the co-titular organist at the Église Saint-Séverin, Paris. He also teaches at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Lyon and is a member of the National Commission for the Preservation of Historic Monuments (organ department). In 2010 he was appointed Organist par quartier of the Chapelle Royale at Versailles Palace alongside his colleagues Michel Bouvard, Frédéric Desenclos and Jean-Baptiste Robin.

As a concert musician and guest teacher, François Espinasse has visited more than twenty countries and sits on the juries of several international organ competitions.

His recordings have drawn glowing reviews from critics. A passionate exponent of contemporary music, François Espinasse also frequently premieres works by living composers.

PROGRAMME NOTES By the middle of the 17th century, the organ had been a fixture in French churches for several centuries, and it (as well as its music) had developed its own highly idiosyncratic style.

Any organist would know exactly what combinations of stops to draw for any given piece, helped along by instructional manuals written by his betters. The standardisation of the instrument’s construction helped to unify the French organ school of composition, with its crowning glory being the brilliant reed stops.

It was into this world that Jean-Adam Guilain (fl. 1702-1739) was thrust in.

While his life is poorly documented (his dates and place of origin are unknown), the style of a piece like the Suite du premier ton was quite well known, being much in character with the music of his time. Written as part of a collection of pieces for the Magnificat, they constituted a longstanding French tradition of composers releasing volumes of works with ecclesiastical connections.

Even the various movements of the Suite conform to French organ tradition: names like Plein jeu and Basse de trompette indicated the registration to be used, while the others represented genres commonly used by French organist-composers.

Its six movements were typical of an organ suite, to be played in alternation with seven versets in the liturgy.

While little is known of Guilain’s activities in general, a great deal more is known about his contemporary Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), who worked in the German city of Leipzig. While Bach busied himself

with much composition work there, one particular genre that occupied him during his first few years was cantatas for church and civic functions. The texts for these vocal works were quite varied, but they mostly existed to glorify either God or Man. ‘Stirb in mir’, or ‘Die in me’, is precisely what the soloist commands of worldly pleasures that are distracting her from her love for God – fitting, given that the cantata (BWV 169) that it is excerpted from expresses one’s devotion to the Almighty. The plaintive melismas of the melody are further enhanced by the lilting quality of the dance rhythm underpinning the aria.

The Sinfonia, better known to violinists in the orchestra-less E major version, was a movement from cantata BWV 29, which was written on the occasion of the election of the town council. Its festive character no doubt befitted a celebratory occasion for the leaders of the people.

By the time César Franck (1822-1890) came on onto the French organ scene, much had changed vastly from the time of Guilain. The French organ sound, while still retaining the glory of its reeds, had greatly expanded its timbral palette. Technological innovations and newly developed stops now gave it a richer and more expressive sound relative to its pre-Revolution predecessor. The Belgian-born Franck no doubt had this instrument in mind when composing his Prélude, fugue et variation. The complementariness of the lyrical melody and its accompaniment in the

outer sections, as well as the chorus of stops used in the fugue, reflect its influence, while Bach’s influence on Franck can be seen in the fugue, as well as in the contrapuntal interplay between the voices in the prélude.

The influence of the new organ style can be seen in Louis Vierne’s (18701937) Carillon de Westminster as well.

The ringing tones of the Big Ben are first presented unornamented, then in various incarnations throughout the piece, all the while given extra vitality by the thick choruses of stops specified in the score. The overall effect – turning Vierne’s Notre-Dame organ into a mini-orchestra – must have been the chief reason why both congregation and clergy were spellbound at its premiere.

Of interesting mention is André Isoir’s (b. 1935) relation to the entire programme, beyond his transcription of the aforementioned Bach pieces.

Isoir was born a generation after Vierne and Alain, but yet he maintains a connection to composers before: he has done much work in championing the works of Guilain’s generation, and has also recorded the complete works of Bach.

Notes by Phoon Yu

Jehan Alain’s (1911-1940) music interests were wider than the average Frenchman of his time: his innovations in rhythm reflected his interest in jazz and Indian music, while his love of modality came from Gregorian chant and early music. The Deux danses à Agni Yavishta use shifting tempi and irregular rhythms to depict Agni, the Vedic fire god of Hinduism, while the use of quartal, quintal, and seventhbased harmonies give the music an otherworldly feel to a listener steeped in conventional Western harmony.

His Litanies, representing the soul’s ceaseless beseeching of God, also displays a strong rhythmic impulse, backed up by modal melodies. The main theme builds in intensity through its incessant repetition, climaxing in a series of large chords.

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

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sso.org.sg/VCHpresents

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