DANIEL MOULT THE ENGLISH CONNECTION 12 FEB 2022, 7.30PM VICTORIA CONCERT HALL Sponsored by
PROGRAMME FELIX MENDELSSOHN (arr. BEST) War March of the Priests from Athalie
5 mins
HENRY PURCELL Voluntary in G major, Z720
4 mins
GEORGE FREDERICK HANDEL (arr. WALSH) Organ Concerto in B-flat major, Op. 4, No. 2 I. A tempo ordinario e staccato II. Allegro III. Adagio e staccato IV. Allegro ma non presto
10 mins
SAMUEL WESLEY Nos. 8 & 9 from Twelve Short Pieces
4 mins
GEORGE THALBEN-BALL Variations on a Theme by Paganini for Organ Pedals
8 mins
WILLIAM WALTON (arr. GOWER) Touch her soft lips and part
3 mins
HAROLD BRITTON Variations on Gershwin's “I Got Rhythm”
9 mins
CONCERT DURATION: approximately 1 hour (with no intermission) This concert is supported by the Singapore Chapter of the American Guild of Organists
Daniel Moult organ
"Daniel Moult is an astounding organist." (Fanfare) Daniel Moult, "one of the finest organists of our time" (The Organ), is an acclaimed concert organist, film presenter and recording artist. His musicianship has been praised as "exhilarating" (Gramophone), "dazzling" (The Organ), and "formidable" (Organists' Review). He plays "with intelligence, agility, and a lightly worn but altogether becoming authority" (Choir and Organ). Based in London, he is the Head of Organ at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, and leads masterclasses, workshops and courses around the world.
Daniel performs regularly throughout the UK, Europe, Asia and Australia. He has performed on various CDs and DVDs, including as concerto soloist on Signum Classics' Handel at Vauxhall. He has pioneered the use of film as a means of promoting organ music, and is the presenter and performer of the massive sevendisc boxset, The English Organ. This history of instruments and repertoire spans 500 years and 33 locations. "Simply put, this is one of the most important organ recordings of all time" (Fanfare). "Every one of his performances here is highly recommendable" (Gramophone). Born in Manchester, Daniel studied at Oxford University and the Amsterdam Conservatorium. He has published several editions, including various organ anthologies for Bärenreiter. He broadcasts frequently on BBC television and radio and has recorded for various record labels including Fugue State, Signum, Regent, and Sony BMG.
PROGRAMME NOTES What is Englishness? And what gives English music its character? These are difficult questions, but listening to English music, we are often aware of entering a unique sound world. This world is sometimes nostalgic and wistful, sometimes pompous, and sometimes understated and elegant (as in the charming two Pieces No. 8 and No. 9 by Samuel Wesley (1766 1837). In the music of Henry Purcell (1659 95), we hear this wistfulness clearly in the first section of his Voluntary in G Major, before the clouds lift in the lighter and shorter second section. But we are also reminded of another English trait. Despite (or because of) being an island, we have always been influenced by the European mainland. Purcell's Italian-influenced harmonies and French ornaments remind us that England was a cosmopolitan and varied nation.
This cosmopolitan aspect is seen in the English welcome to musicians from overseas, most famously the resettlement of George Frederick Handel (1685 - 1759) from Halle to London. Handel was enormously popular with the English public, and his own displays of virtuosity in the organ concerti thrilled the audiences. They proved so popular that Handel allowed his publisher, John Walsh, to arrange them for solo organ. Such works, heard in music rooms and pleasure gardens, remind us of the secular popularity of the organ throughout England. This reached its zenith in the 'town hall' tradition, where many would come to hear the organ in accessible programmes. W.T Best (1826 - 1897) was one such famous organist in this tradition, where his Liverpool concerts would resound with orchestral arrangements such as this War March by Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847). The German Mendelssohn made many visits to England, and was Queen Victoria's favourite composer.
The popularity of arranging orchestral music for the organ remains to this day, as in this transcription by Robert Gower (b.1952) of the film music for Shakespeare's Henry V by Sir William Walton (1902 - 1983). This tender love song marks the occasion of Valentine's Day! But town hall style concerts were not restricted to orchestral extracts. The highly demanding and virtuosic Variations on a theme by Paganini for pedals (where the hands enter only in the final two of ten variations) have become a popular audience sensation. Sir George Thalben-Ball (1896 - 1987) composed them for a tour to the United States of America. Over the last hundred years, English organ culture has absorbed jazz and popular idioms, especially during the cinema organ explosion of the 1920s and '30s. We hear this in the Variations on 'I got rhythm' by Harold Britton (b. 1923), where George Gershwin's famous melody is treated in many different textures and idioms. It seems worlds apart from the Purcell and Handel earlier on in our concert, reminding us of the constantly evolving and highly varied facets of English music.
Programme notes by Daniel Moult
SUPPORTED BY
PATRON SPONSOR