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Christ Church Cathedral
February 24, 2012
As is well known, Bach believed that the German baroque style of his day was a composite of the French and Italian styles. A goal of this evening's recital was to trace the influence of the French style on the organ music of Bach and his German contemporaries. I have to say that I found the connection between some of the pieces on the programme and French music to be rather tenuous, but I have no complaints about the end result. Whatever the premise of the performance, we heard a fine performance of (mainly) German music from the end of the seventeenth century to the middle of the eighteenth.
I arrived right on the stroke of 7:30, only to find a large audience already assembled. All of the programmes had been distributed but, such is the power of MiV, one was found for your faithful reviewer. As I settled into my pew, a glance at the programme revealed that the programme would open with Bach's Prelude in E flat Major, BWV 552.
A large part of the art of the organist is the choice of registers, and I had been told in advance of the performance that Jonathan Oldengarm is a particularly fine "registrant." I was a little worried that this would mean that there would be a certain fussiness in the choice of registers, but I was immediately reassured. Bach's Prelude was given a noble, gimmick-free performance.
To my mind, however, the highlight of the evening was the next piece on the programme, Georg Böhm's Partita Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele. This was given a performance of rare beauty. Give or take an Emma Kirkby performance - she was in town last month - Oldengarm's performance of this piece was the best thing I have heard this year. OK, it is only the end of February, but still this performance was truly remarkable.
I was still making notes on the Bach Prelude when the Böhm began. Before more than a few notes had been played, waves of emotion began to wash over me - the sound was that lovely. As the piece unfolded, we heard a little of Oldengarm's mastery of registration. The choices of register were not just for the sake of tonal colour or empty display. Rather, they lent a new freshness to the affect. Even the use of the zimbelstern (one of the organ's bells and whistles - literally) was beautifully integrated into the whole. (For a description of the zimbelstern see: here.)
Next up was a French composer who can be demonstrated to have had an effect on Bach. Bach copied the entire Livre d'orgue (1699) of Nicolas de Grigny. We heard the Pange lingua from Grigny's collection, including a en taille à 5, a Fugue à 5, and a Récit sur l'hymne precedent. At first I thought that the music (I believe that this is the first time that I have heard it) was rather workmanlike, but by the time Oldengarm reached the fugue, he had sold me on Grigny as a composer and I began to hear what Bach had admired in the music. The concluding récit was ineffably touching.
The first half of the concert ended with the Toccata VII in C Major from Georg Muffat's Apparatus musico-organisticus (1690). Muffat spent most of his career in Germany. He spent ten years working for the Archbishop of Salzburg and was later the Kapellmeister of the Bishop of Passau. Muffat was, however, born in Savoy, now a part of France, and he studied in Paris with Lully so one might expect that his work would be heavily influenced by the French style. He also studied in Italy with Bernardo Pasquini, however, and met the Corelli, whose works Muffat greatly admired. His style really was a composite of the Italian and French styles. Oldengarm's performance of the Toccata employed a wide range of the resources afforded by the instrument and ranged from the grand to the ethereal.
The French influence on the music of Johann Gottfried Müthel is more tenuous. In his programme notes, Oldengarm says that the French influence is "more derivative than direct": he was influenced by composers, including his teacher Bach, who were influenced by French music. To my ear, the French style is almost inaudible in the Empfindsamer Stil, which Müthel espoused, but no matter. The performance of his Fantasie in g minor was intoxicating and brought much of the audience to its feet.
After the Müthel, we heard Bach’s Canonic Variations on Vom Himmel boch, da komm ich her, BWV 796. In this piece Bach is just showing off, so the performer might as well show off too. Oldengarm changed the registration for each new variation. The overall effect was pleasingly playful.
Johann Kaspar Kerll was represented on this programme by his famous Ciaccona in C Major. The French influence on Johann Kaspar Kerll is also a little hard to discern. His teacher was the Italian, Giovanni Valentini, Kappellmister at the Imperial court in Vienna and the ciaccona is an Italian form. But, again, no matter, particularly since - as I have had occasion to remark in recent MiV review - I do like a chaconne. Oldengarm's reading of the piece (which is often played on harpsichord) was suitably delicate.
The programme concluded with the fugue from Bach's BWV 552. Oldengarm built up to the inevitable (in an organ recital) rousing conclusion that left the Cathedral, beautiful in the dim light, rumbling.
The enthusiastic audience was rewarded with a Tierce en taile from Grigny's Livre d’orgue. The thoughtful and measured reading of this piece sent a calmed and happy audience out into the cool night air.
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