Backman DMA Recital #2 February 2, 2018, 8:00 pm; Gothic Hall Toccata and Fugue in D, Op. 59, No. 5 & 6 Max Reger (1873-1916) Legende in G-Minor, Op. 29 Gerard Bunk (1888-1958) Book of Visions (World Premiere) Daniel R. Knagg (b. 1983) I. Intro: Alpha and Omega II. A Great Portent IX. Aria: Behold, I Stand at the Door and Knock Octaves, from Six Études, Op. 5 No. 6 Jeanne Demessieux (1921-1968) **Short Pause** Passacaglia in C Minor, BWV 582 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Scherzo, Op. 2 Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986) Elegiac Rhapsody Cyril Bradley Rootham (1875-1938) Pièces de Fantasie, Deuxime Suite, Op. 54 Louis Vierne (1870-1937) V. Clair de Lune VI. Toccata
Program Notes If a musically informed individual were asked which composer had the greatest influence on Max Reger, this person would answer J.S. Bach without a moment of reluctance or hesitation. Musical language aside, both composers occupied similar positions in the history of music. Both men were steeped in traditional contrapuntal technique but were innovators in their own right. In the case of Reger, he was firmly rooted in the Brahmsian tradition of Romanticism but also paved the way for future developments by Arnold Schoenberg and other composers of the Second Viennese School. The dualistic tension between Max Reger as a classically inspired composer and Max Reger as an avant-garde composer is readily perceptible in the Toccata and Fugue pair that concludes the first half of his fifty-ninth opus. The Toccata exhibits many features associated with composers of the late Baroque. Its formal scheme, which features an alteration of ritornelli and episodes, is reminiscent of such works as Bach s Fantasia in G Minor, BWV 542/1. Furthermore, the canonic treatment of various figurations is unquestionably Baroque in its inspiration. However, the combination of densely chromatic harmonic and acute fluctuations in tempo and dynamics establish it in an idiom that is ultra-romantic with modernist inclinations. The Fugue exhibits this same dualism, albeit in a different manner. The fugue subject has a vocal quality that is reminiscent of such works as Bach s Fugue in F Major, BWV 540/2, or the Dona Nobis Pacem from his monumental B Minor Mass. This motet-like fugue begins slowly at a pianississimo dynamic, and gradually increases both in tempo and dynamic. This gradual increase in intensity results in a thrilling apotheosis when the fugue subject returns in the home key of D major, but in augmentation in the pedal. The Alsatian composer, pianist, and organist, Gerard Bunk was well acquainted with Max Reger and composed his Legend only seven years after the latter composed his Twelve Pieces, Op. 59. Though Bunk championed the music of the elder composer, he composed in a much different aesthetic idiom. Reger s chromatically saturated harmonic language challenged the very limits of functional tonality and sometimes approached the threshold of atonality. Bunk, on the other hand, is comparable to Sergei Rachmaninoff in that he continued to compose in a romantic, harmonically conservative idiom until his death. Bunk s aesthetic preferences concerning the pipe organ remained Romantic even as the Orgelbewegung influenced the vast majority of Germanic organ builders and composers. He was fortunate to spend the majority of his career at the Dortmund Reinoldikirche where he presided over the Walcker organ an organ that he regarded as the supreme embodiment of the ideals of the Alsatian Organ Reform Movement. When designing this instrument, which synthesized elements of German and French organs, Oscar Walcker made a number of trips to France to study the organs of Cavaillé-Coll. The influence of the Reinoldikirche organ on the music of Bunk is, in many ways, analogous to the influence of the organ of Saint Sulpice on the music of Widor.
As a performer, Bunk advertised himself both as an organist and a pianist, and it is clear from his music that the corpus of repertoire for each of the instruments influenced his harmonic language. The texture of his organ music, which is largely homophonic and features many instances of both hands playing in octaves, is often very pianistic. Albert Schweitzer, who was both a pivotal figure in the Alsatian organ reform movement and a lifelong friend of Bunk s, praised the Legend as a stylistic combination of Mendelssohn and Franck. Additional critics have noted a Wagnerian quality of the recitative section in the middle of the work. In the opinion of today s performer, the work belies the influence of many of Liszt s organ works. Most poignantly, the fanfaric motives are reminiscent of Liszt s Fantasie und Fuge über den Choral: Ad nos, ad salutaren undam!, a work with which Bunk was touring Europe in the same year that he composed the Legende. This evening, it is esteemed privilege of the performer to premiere three movements from Daniel Knaggs collection of solo organ music entitled Book of Visions. Daniel, a native of Michigan, has been the recipient of many awards, premiere competition prizes, and commissions. Many of his vocal and instrumental works have been performed and published both in America and in Europe. In his preface to the Book of Visions, the composer says the following: Book of Visions is a family of twelve stand-alone pieces for solo organ that are nonetheless grouped together because of their interrelatedness and their overall unifying theme (imagery from the book of Revelation). Six of these works feature relevant chant worked into their fabric in various ways, and many of these quote other pieces from throughout this book or other compositions of mine. I. Intro: Alpha and Omega begins the Book of Visions with a sense of tentativeness or uncertainty about the visions to follow in the piece but confidence and strength gradually emerge. II. A Great Portent decorates the chant Signum Magnum and includes a quotation of my choral work La Donna Vestita di Sole (The Woman Clothed With the Sun). The text from the quoted portion of La Donna translates as A great sign appeared in the heavens: a woman clothed with the sun. IX. Aria: Behold, I Stand at the Door and Knock is an intimate appeal. It is called aria because it carries a prominent cantabile melody that is sung to the listener. The designation as aria also captures the sense in which arias often feature a stopping of time or plot in order to focus on a particular thought or realization. Although this piece very clearly begins in a C major center, it is left open-ended at its close, awaiting a response
The sad tale of the short-lived musical genius is a frequently recurring one in the history of western music. Though Jeanne Demessieux only lived to be forty-seven, the volume of her achievements might deceptively suggest that she had lived a century. As a pupil of Marcel Dupré, she studied interpretation and improvisation and achieved a level of technical prowess that astounded her contemporaries. Though Demessieux s legacy lives on primarily as an interpreter and performer, she was also a composer. Though her six Etudes are notable for their musical merits, they were conceived primarily as a means of developing and refining technical abilities. As the title Octaves suggests, this etude aims to bolster proficiency in playing in parallel octaves. As such, both feet move simultaneously up and down the pedalboard in octaves throughout the piece. Far from a sterile technical exercise, this piece embodies a primeval rhythmic drive that is reminiscent of Stravinsky s ballets. One sign of a polished or mature composer lies in the ability to sustain the interest of the listener for an extended period of time while maintaining one consistent theme or idea. Though Bach was only estimated to have been in his early twenties when he composed this work, his colossal Passacaglia deftly maintains musical interest for nearly fifteen minutes with only one theme. This piece features a set of 21 variations and concludes with a permutation fugue. In this fugue, three separate themes one of which is the ground bass theme are intertwined in a variety of vertical combinations, thus achieving great variety with a limited amount of musical material. In the variations leading up to the fugue, a variety of musical rhetorical devices and figures are superimposed on the unwavering theme. Historically speaking, Passacaglias and Chaconnes have generally exhibited the theme exclusively in the bass register or occasionally in the tenor range. However, Bach sets this theme in a variety of registers and figurations. Through this variety, he is able to create a sense of shape, wherein one senses departure and return. However, this is somewhat of an aural illusion, as the theme never truly ceases! In summation, Bach s Passacaglia is a veritable study in a compositional economy of means, yet exhibits at affective and emotional vigor. As a composer, Maurice Duruflé has confounded many individuals. He published so few works, yet each of them is demonstrates great inventiveness, tightness of form, and affective appeal. Neither his music nor his persona are readily described as jocular, yet his limited output contains a work by the title of Scherzo. However, this title is by no means a misnomer. On the surface, the vivacious compound meter renders a very playful affect, as does the light, piquant timbre called for in the score. Much of the playfulness of this work lies in the construction of the piece. Here, the composer manipulates meter through a device known as the hemiola. Through this device, Duruflé creates an illusion of fluctuating tempo, despite the fact that the underlying tactus does not change. This work is dedicated to Charles Tournemire, with whom the composer was studying when he composed this piece. The rhapsodic treatment of texture and the impressionistic harmonic language of this work are a clear
hommage to Tournemire s own compositional language. Cyril Bradley Rootham s lifespan was nearly identical to that of Gustav Holst. However, there was more common ground between these two gentlemen than the mere fact that they were both English composers born in the mid-1870 s. Both men studied at the Royal College of Music under Charles V. Stanford and absorbed stylistic elements of their common teacher. Both Holst and Rootham, like their countryman, Ralph Vaughan Williams, took a keen interest in the rich patrimony of English folksongs. To that end, Rootham incorporated pre-existing English folksongs into his works. Rootham, though an active composer, was primarily employed as an organist. At the turn of the twentieth century, he was appointed organist of St. John s College in Cambridge, and held that post until his death. His Elegiac Rhapsody presents a series of variations on the hymn tune Iste Confessor. While this tune (alternatively known as Rouen) is French in origin, it was firmly ingrained in the Anglican community by the time Rootham composed the Elegiac Rhapsody in 1910. This stalwart melody appears multiple times in the 1904 English Hymnal. Rootham s treatment of this theme, particularly in the second and third variations, bares striking resemblance to Vaughan Williams treatment of English folksongs. Louis Vierne managed to explore many divergent styles throughout his creative life without ever a sense of his own compositional identity. He was, at the core, a Romantic composer who preferred traditional forms such as the Sonata-Allegro. One year after the completion of his cyclic Fifth Symphony, he took a foray into impressionism and released the first volume of his 24 Pièces de Fantaisie. In contrast to the idiom of absolute music embodied in his symphonies, Vierne inscribed these compositions with programmatic titles that were evocative of specific images. At the same time that Vierne was beginning to explore impressionism more overtly, he was touring the United States of America. During these tours, he became enamored of certain tonal characteristics that were unique to American organs. As a result, many movements in the Pièces de Fantaisie were dedicated to American organists and organbuilders and called for registrations that were conducive to American instruments. His Clair de Lune, for example, is dedicated to the great American organ builder, Ernest M. Skinner. As the title of the Clair de Lune suggests, the work is stylistically impressionistic. Though there is a strong sense of tonal centricity throughout, it features a substantial amount of non-functional harmony and has asymmetrical phrase structures. The serene affect established by the soaring flute solo in the piece s opening establishes the moonlit scenery implied by the title quite effectively. By contrast to the serenity of the Clair de Lune, the Toccata that follows it is quite driving and agitated.