I've been enjoying my jOrgan virtual pipe organ setup. The jOrgan Puppy Linux computer hasn't been turned off since I last wrote about it, and it still works fine. I find myself using the Baroque and American Classic organ dispositions quite a lot. Because of the limited CPU power on that computer however, it can't handle software reverb internally, so I run the computer's soundcard audio out through an external stereo reverb unit, and from there to the Allen's internal amplifier which feeds the 9 speakers. The subwoofer actually sounds stronger with the jOrgan than with the Allen's internal 32 foot stops. Practice has been a bit sketchy the last couple weeks due to travel, business, and family celebrations. In fact, I wrote the first draft of this blog on the road. Unfortunately, my organ does not travel as well as my internet tablet. Hopefully a solution for that small problem will be found some day. Inflatable midi console and pedalboard anyone? Oh, and maybe I have been just a bit intimidated by the realization that I will never play as well as EPB, VF, MCE, OL, CC, or PJ. But I remind myself, it is not the destination, it is the journey.
Meanwhile, for more inspiration, I attended another concert at symphony hall by a very well known organist and pedagogue with the initials PJ. He was very relaxed and expertly performed what seemed like a too brief concert. His casual anecdotes, shared philosophy, and introductions to performance pieces compensated for what felt like an almost too technically perfect performance of a somewhat challenging program. And as for attire, he dared not deviate from the mandatory black suit except when he tossed his jacket off in order to play Reger's "wickedly difficult" Inferno wearing his shirt sleeves. Although the organ console was initially turned at a slight angle, he thoughtfully arranged to have it turned to an equal and opposite angle for the second half of the concert. This decision received applause when he mentioned deviating from the usual straight on back view. He commented that Liszt was one of the first to do this with the piano.
The most interesting pieces of the evening, aside from the toe-tapping The Gigue Fugue attributed questionably to Bach (BWV 577 - who says Bach couldn't write rock and roll?) were works composed by composers with whom the organist had personal connections. The opening piece, Fantasia for Organ by Weaver, one of his teachers, was breathtaking. Equal parts electronica, theater organ, and classic organ articulately and played with supreme confidence. A real crowd pleaser.
Another noteworthy piece was a West Coast premiere of Reverie by Wayne Oquin, a pianist colleague of his. In introducing this piece, the organist lamented the fact that many composers fear the organ. There is a tendency to find the piano a safe alternative. To compensate, PJ gave the composer free access to an organ. Apparently this was the composers first work for organ, but there was nothing to indicate this in the resulting piece, and one can only hope that this is an indication of more to come from Oquin. As the organist put it, "beauty is not icing on the cake, it is part of the cake" and "popular culture fills our stomachs with facts, but starves us of wonder". This piece was a welcome antidote. As the name implies, it was a dreamy expression of taking the time to contemplate beauty and the arts. Filled with a calliopic intro, birdlike flute solos over left hand chords, there were shades Messiaen. As the organist later commented, you could have heard a pin drop.
Readers of this blog may already have guessed my impression of Durufle. The dirge like, agonizing and child-scaring Durufle Suite for Organ, Opus 5 proved that PJ can play difficult pieces. But even Durufle apparently had little good to say about the Toccata. Enough said.
After extended applause, PJ returned to the console, indicating with an index finger that he would play one encore, and commenting "We haven't had enough Bach" and played Bach's Fugue in A-minor, if my distinctly non-Mozartian musical memory and subsequent comparisons with YouTube organ fugue recordings is reliable. I am not yet enough of a Bach connoisseur to play "name that tune" with Bach, so it is entirely possible that this was the G-minor fugue or some other equally unknown to me fugue, but the A-minor theme seems the closest to my ears. Whatever it was, bottom line, I liked it. If you were there and remember which it was, feel free to comment and enlighten me.
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