PHI CD 214: Organ ShowCase Hull City Hall - John Pemberton - organ Volume One

J.A. Meale - Alla Fanfare
Johann Ernst: arr. J.S. Bach - Concerto in G Major BWV 592
Michael Christian Festing: arr. G.T. Thalben ­ Ball
John Stanley - Voluntary in G Major
Alexandre Guilmant - March upon Handel's "Lift Up Your Heads" Op: 15
J.S. Bach - Chorale Prelude "Gelobet Seist Du Jesu Christe" BWV 723
J.S. Bach - Fugue in B Minor on a Theme of Corelli BWV 579
George Thalben-Ball - Elegy
César Franck - Choral in A Minor No 3
Edward Elgar arr. C.J. Grey - Salut D'Amour
Norman Cocker - Tuba Tune

TOTAL PLAYING TIME: 62.28

Released 8/3/05

This is the first C.D. to be recorded at the City Hall by John Pemberton since his appointment in July 2003 as Organ Curator. This programme and its duration have been chosen to reflect the type of music which is being enjoyed by the regular audiences at the "Organ ShowCase" series held monthly at the City Hall on Wednesdays at 12.30 pm. For further details please visit Hull City Hall website: www.hullcc.gov.uk/hullcityhall E mail: info@hullcc.gov.uk

Sound Engineer: Geoffrey Russell, Barrow on Humber, North Lincolnshire.
Produced by Martin Monkman, Amphion Recordings.

Programme Notes by John Pemberton

[1] J.A. Meale: Alla Fanfare
John Arthur Meale was born at Huddersfield in 1880 and was a well known performer, giving his first recital at the age of 14 to an audience of 1000 people. In 1905 he was appointed the first organist at the Queen's Hall Mission, Hull, his previous appointment having been in Selby. J.A. Meale drew up the specification for the Hull City Hall organ which was built by Forster and Andrews and completed in 1911. He left Hull in 1912 to become organist of the Central Hall, Westminster. He died in 1932.
He wrote a considerable number of highly romantic organ compositions of which the Alla Fanfare, composed in 1917 is possibly the best known.
[2] Johann Ernst: Concerto in G Major arr. J.S. Bach BWV 592
Prince Johann Ernst (1696 ­ 1715) was educated at the university of Utrecht and studied composition, (concerto in particular) with J.G. Walther, organist of the town church at Weimer and a relative of J.S. Bach.
The three-movement concerto in G Major composed by the young prince Johann Ernst was originally scored for 5 violins, viola, cello and figured bass. The two outer movements in ritornello (repetitive) form with the lyrical slow middle movement are quintessentially Italianate in style. In the first movement the full and solo (echo) effects are easily emulated on the organ by changes of manual. In the third movement the full and solo (echo) effects are portrayed more by the musical texture than by the use of terraced dynamics.
[3] Michael Christian Festing: Largo, Allegro, Aria and Two variations. arr. G.T. Thalben-Ball
In 1934 George Thalben-Ball, G.D.Cunningham and Walter Alcock gave the opening recital on the recently re-furbished organ at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
There is an apocryphal story that Thalben-Ball, wishing to perform a piece of music which was little known but worthwhile and attractive, searched the archives of the Royal College of Music in London where he was a Professor, to find the "Sonata in E for Violin and Thorough-Bass" by Michael Christian Festing. He transcribed it for organ and the piece not only featured in that performance but clearly became one of his favourite recital works.
Festing was at the forefront of the London musical scene in the first half of the 18thC. He was a composer and virtuoso violinist who also worked in opera. It would be interesting to speculate that he may have been among the contemporary musicans who listened to John Stanley, (the composer of the next work) playing at the Temple Church in London where George Thalben-Ball was appointed organist nearly 200 years later in 1923.
[4] John Stanley: Voluntary in G Major (Opus 7 No 9)
John Stanley born in 1713 and blind from the age of two was without doubt one of the greatest musicians of his generation. He was a pupil of John Reading (sometime Organist of Lincoln Cathedral) and Maurice Green, graduating from Oxford University at the age of sixteen. In 1734 he became Organist of the Temple Church, London where for 50 years his performances attracted not only the musical cognoscente but also Handel himself.
The Voluntaries comprising opuses 5, 6 and 7 are true musical masterpieces. The Voluntary in G Major Op7 No 9 is in two movements ­ Prelude and Fugue. The stately opening Adagio Prelude, ending on the dominant leads into the Vivace, a Fugue with easy flowing counterpoint founded on an attractive subject.
[5] Alexandre Guilmant: March upon Handel's "Lift Up Your Heads" (Opus 15)
Guilmant was born in 1837 at Boulogne-sur-Mer, the son of an organist and died in Paris aged seventy-four in 1911. He studied with Lemmens in Brussels, established a reputation as a virtuoso performer and was Titulaire Organist at Sainte-Trinite, Paris for 30 years.
He composed eight organ sonatas, of which the first is undoubtedly the finest, together with twenty-five sets of organ pieces in various styles.
It is difficult to comprehend how Guilmant takes Handel's innocent little tune on "Lift up Your Heads" from Messiah and creates this organ extravaganza from it. Is it the composer, the listener or indeed the performer who has his "tongue in his cheek"?
[6] J.S. Bach: Chorale Prelude - "Gelobet Seist Du Jesu Christ" BWV 723
The Chorale Prelude is a musical form with a hymn tune (chorale) as the theme. The chorale "Gelobet Seist Du Jesu Christ" is an advent hymn about the incarnation. The Chorale Prelude BWV 723, with the cantus firmus in the treble and the three-part accompaniment inspired by the chorale melody, is clearly influenced by the composer Johann Pachelbel who taught J.S. Bach's oldest brother Johann Christoph when he was living at Erfurt.
In this composition Bach's sincerely held christian beliefs generate a pathos which transforms the mind of the listener into a state of spiritual stillness, in preparation as it were, for the long-anticipated incarnation.

[7] J.S. Bach: Fugue in B Minor on a Theme of Corelli BWV 579
This is a mature work from the Weimar period when we know that Bach was studying the music of composers of different nationalities ­ particularly the Italians. The typically Italianate subject and countersubject of this fugue are taken from the fourth sonata of a set of twelve church sonatas by Corelli. The opening notes of the subject bear a striking resemblance to that used by Bruhns in the fugal section of the Praeludium in E Minor.
Corelli makes an Allegro out of the theme whereas Bach gives it a solemn character highlighted by the repeating notes of the countersubject. As the Bach work progresses it gets wider and lighter producing a flowing contrapuntal composition some 102 bars in length.
[8] George Thalben-Ball: Elegy
George Thalben-Ball born in 1896 in Sydney, Australia was of Cornish parentage. Returning to England at an early age, he studied with G.D. Cunningham and later at the Royal College of Music where as a student he was the soloist in the first performance of the Rachmaninov Third Piano Concerto.
In 1923 he succeeded Walford Davis at the Temple Church in London and remained there for the rest of his life. In May 1941 the church was bombed whereupon he was appointed Musical Adviser to the Religious Broadcasting Department at the BBC. He played for many Daily Services and it was on one such occasion that he was asked to improvise in order to fill in time at the end. He thought of his mentor, Walford Davis and using "The Solemn Melody" as a model, he improvised what eventually became a formal composition called "Elegy".
[9] César Franck: Choral in A Minor No 3
César Franck, born in 1822 at Liege in Belgium became a student at the Paris Conservatoire in 1837 and in 1858 was appointed Titulaire Organist at the new Church of Ste-Clotilde on the south bank of the Seine in Paris. Here he presided over one of Cavaille-Col's finest romantic-symphonic organs from its inauguration in 1859 until his death at the age of 68.
In June 1890 Frank was knocked down by a horse-bus in Paris and whilst trying to recuperate from the accident (he died of pleurisy in the November) he composed Trois Chorals.
The Third Choral in A Minor fully demonstrates Franck's stylistic features of high chromaticism, long romantic melodies and improvisatory form. The work opens with toccata passage work and split chords (which repeats throughout) leading to the choral theme (of Franck's own devising) and the long melody of the central adagio section. Elements of this melody are then combined with a major key version of the choral theme. The opening toccata motif is re-stated leading relentlessly, after some initial doubt, to a triumphant conclusion on full organ.
[10] Edward Elgar: Salut D'Amour arr. C.J. Grey
Edward Elgar born in 1857 came from a musical family, his father owning a music shop in Worcester. His Roman Catholic upbringing was later to inform such works as "The Dream of Gerontius", "The Apostles" and "The Kingdom".
He became engaged in 1888 marrying a year later, his wife becoming his constant support and life-long inspiration. He composed little after her death.
The "Salut D'Amour" composed for his wife at the time of their engagement was conceived as a piano piece which he subsequently orchestrated.
This transcription for organ by C.J. Grey works well despite its obvious pianistic origins.
[11] Norman Cocker: Tuba Tune
The splendid high pressure Tuba on the City Hall organ is a new Compton rank dating from 1951. The 1911 Forster and Andrews Tuba is nowhere to be found so presumably it was committed to the melting pot. With such a magnificent replacement the loss can hardly be regretted.
Norman Cocker (1889 ­ 1953) was assistant organist at Manchester Cathedral from 1923 becoming Organist in 1943. In addition to his Cathedral duties he also played at the Regal Cinema, Altrincham. Many organists have composed Tuba Tunes but none approach the quality and splendour of the Norman Cocker example. It has been used to bring many a recital to an inspiring conclusion and here it not only demonstrates the fine Hull Tuba but also the organ in all its imperious edwardian splendour!
© John Pemberton, November 2004

HULL CITY HALL ORGAN
In 1900 a scheme was drawn up to build a public hall in the centre of Hull and J.H.Hirst, the city architect, working in consultation with the renowned architect Frank Matcham, designed the building copying the renaissance style of the Wren period. Work commenced in 1903 when the then Princess of Wales laid the foundation stone and the building was in use by 1909.
Mr J.A.Meale, organist of the Queen's Hall Mission, Hull, drew up the specification for the City Hall Organ for which space had been provided at the rear of the stage. The design proved controversial and some leading organ builders of the time declined to tender, considering the instrument unnecessarily large and too big for the allotted space. The contract was eventually placed with the famous Hull firm of Forster and Andrews with Philip Selfe (by then principal partner), directing the work and designing the distinguished organ case which blends so admirably with the architecture of the Hall. Edwin Lemare gave the opening recital on Thursday 30th March 1911.
In 1941 Hull City Hall was shut as a result of bomb damage to the roof, the organ also being badly affected. The restored Hall was re-opened in 1950 and in the following year the restoration and enhancement of the organ by the John Compton Organ Company was completed. Comptons respected and preserved the work of Forster and Andrews, but, by making sympathetic tonal alterations, corrected the organ's previous lack of power. The magnificent instrument as heard today has undergone no further major tonal modifications, and long may it remain unchanged.
Between 1985 and 1991, Rushworth and Dreaper rebuilt the organ console with drawstops, introduced solid state switching, re-leathered the bellows and restored the soundboards.
It is now hoped that the instrument will be heard more often and that this C.D. recording will help in that process.
© John Pemberton (Organ Curator) November 2003