Grey Cells

Since you last read a new post here things have not been idle on the west coast. Davies Symphony Hall has had multiple organ concerts, among them Paul Jacobs and Isabelle Demers.

Fascinating to me are the prodigious feats of memory that concert organists exhibit. One of the first things to be whisked away when one of these prodigies takes over the console is the music desk. Yes, it is difficult for all musicians to memorize entire concerts, but it is incredible to imagine the unseen difficulties involved when performing by memory while visiting an organ say at most three times a year. Like a football team playing on unfamiliar turf, possibly a bit jet lagged, the musician must not only play his repertoire to perfection, he must also remember where all the little buttons are on the organ console he is at here and now. In an age when politicians and rock stars can barely remember the name of the current city, organists must remember scores of memory piston presets and stop locations, not to mention which keyboard to play on at any particular time. And this is no small matter, because many organ pieces have huge contrasts between quiet and massive sounds. Playing the wrong one at the wrong time might just spoil the effect a little. But never mind, away with that music desk. No need for paper when you have grey cells to memorize everything. Astounding.

I have weighed the pros and cons of giving note by note comments on the performances during the most recent organ concerts, but decided against it. I will save you the time and trouble by summarizing: I have particularly enjoyed what seems to be a new trend towards playing transcriptions of orchestral pieces. Isabelle's transcription of Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet" comes to mind as a beautiful example. Paul Jacob's Elgar Organ Sonata No. 1 in G major, Opus 28, while not really a transcription, is not played often enough, so Elgar is not really thought of as a composer for organ. This piece was written for organ and gave me chills. It is perhaps one of the best arguments for becoming an Elgar fan that I have heard recently. And yes, Paul Jacobs also played Elgar's familiar graduation march tune Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 in its entirety. As well as Demessieux's Transcendental Études. A piece I could have lived without hearing, but it was impressive to hear them played.

But one concert I missed was this weekend's Christopher Houlihan concert. Just found out about it after the fact, and that even though I'm subscribed to Christopher's YouTube channel! In case you missed it, I've included a link to some video of him in rehearsal. Again, a transcription, perhaps his Ravel? Or is this Widor? Hopefully it will give you an idea of what the SF Symphony organ sounds like. Enjoy!