My Impressions From The Organ Recital & Bach's Pieces

I attended an organ recital by Lynne Davis on Wednesday October 3rd, 2018 in Wiedemann Hall. The recital was dedicated to the memory of Madame Gabrielle Thomѐ. She was a dear friend to the performer and provided a back story about the deep gratitude the French had for the Americans. This concert contained three pieces of wonderful and splendid music to listen to. All of the pieces played were by the artist named “Johann Sebastian Bach”. The first piece was Prelude in C minor, BWV 546. The second piece was from 18 Leipzig Chorales-Allein Gott in der Hoh’ sei Her’, BWV 663-Glory to God on high “Cantus firmus in Tenore”. Finally, the last piece was Fugue in C minor, BWV 546.

As I walked into Wiedemann Hall I noticed the receptionist handing out flyers and I gladly took one and made my way down into the seating area. As I entered the auditorium I instantly recognized it because I had been in it not just a few days ago learning about this amazing instrument called the Marcussen Organ. I entered from a different way which was through the doors instead of down the stairs. This brought a whole new view and aspect to the auditorium. I was struck by the view of the auditorium and how it all caved down into showing this massive organ instrument. The staging was very well put together.

There was the microphone towards the front of the stage for the introduction. There was cameras pointing at the Marcussen from two different angles. One was pointing at the keyboards and gave a good view of the performer playing the instrument. The other was pointing towards the pedals at the bottom of the instrument. These showed towards the right of the stage by screens showing up close the performer playing. I sat down in a different spot to see if I could hear any difference with the sound of the instrument being playing. I could not have known how right I was by sitting down in a different spot alone could make such a huge difference. Luckily, I did not have to wait long before the recital began! I was excited to get to broaden my music taste and listen to these three pieces.

The first song by “Bach”, was Prelude in C minor, BWV 546. This piece starts out with some shrill sounding rhythms and melodies. The texture of this piece is very full and thick. This helps create a sound of long discord like a person playing on the piano in a funeral. The middle of this wonderful piece it starts show some dynamics of piano going to forte while shifting from slow rhythms to normal speed of the melody. This song also gives me an impression of two soldiers battling it out in war because of all the discord and different types of harmonies and melodies clashing together. But at the end it gradually slows down and plays legato style of notes and ends with a satisfying chord of notes which made me think of soldiers giving up on fighting each other and end up in peace.

The second song was “from 18 Leipzig Chorales-Allein Gott in der Hoh’ sei Her’, BWV 663”. The song starts out with a nice melody played in staccato notes that gives me the impression of someone walking through a garden happy as can be. It gives nice harmonies of the melody with some occasional discord of notes. The Timbre of this song is very thin which makes the song made me want to dance and move with the notes. Towards the middle of the song the notes start to have a legato style to it but with the same tempo. It also got quieter towards the middle of the song. This makes me think of a quiet but gentle peace that would encompass me when listening to this part of the song.

Towards the end of the song the rhythm starts to pick up again and play the main melody. It also starts to get louder again and a jumpier upbeat style. The texture of this song is thin and thick at the same time because at the start it begins to play with a thinner style of notes making the rhythm move somewhere while the thick style made me feel at peace and I was comfortable and safe where I was. The ending came together like I was jumping to lay down in the field happy as can be and left a very peaceful impression. The third song is Fugue in C minor, BWV 546.

The final song starts out with more discord. This makes me think of a king that is walking down his pathway to his throne because he is about to pass his judgement down on the surrounding lands or his people. The melody is very dark and oppressive. The dynamics are loud and rarely soft. This goes along with the king about to pass his harsh judgement down onto the people or lands. Texture is very thick and thin. The legato notes clash with the staccato melody. Towards the middle there is bass that starts to sound like the king is about to give his command. Some trumpets are played in this piece that make it sound like the king has given his judgement. And the ending is mixed with a dark melody of notes.

The song continues with the dark melody causing the picture in my head that the people did not like his judgement. It ends with a chord of notes that made me feel sad and not very satisfied. I was very thrilled and grateful for coming to this recital because I got to hear many new pieces I had not heard before. I very much enjoyed Allein Gott in der Hoh’ sei Her’ because of how well it was put together, and the thick texture put in with the legato melody made me feel so peaceful and calm. At the start of my “What to Listen for in Music” class I found it very difficult and hard to understand how to investigate the music and discern what was playing and how the rhythms, texture, and melody all played a part in making incredible music. But now I find it a little bit easier to discern with what is playing and can pick out some of the elements of music.

I very much enjoyed the concert and was surprised with how great the crowd looked and how respectable they were. I also enjoyed being able to hear new music I might not have ever listened to before. I am excited for all the other concert reports and am looking forward to being able to show off some of my skills in front of my friends at the end of this class. The organ recital was a huge success because the audience clapped very loudly and gave some shouts of “yeah” like there should be an encore. I am very glad I showed up and would definitely come out for another organ recital or even something new to continue to broaden my music taste and abilities.