Smashing sound! Superb recital! An evening at St John’s
Smashing sound! Superb recital! What an evening at St John’s to celebrate the “new” organ.
Over the summer, the organ at St. John the Evangelist Church in Newbury underwent a major refurbishment.
The church has a rich history since its founding in 1859. The current Grade II listed church replaced the first church, destroyed in a German air raid in 1943, and incorporates glass salvaged from the old church.
The organ, too, has a rich history, originally installed at St Mary, Speenhamland. It was moved and rebuilt in 1974 and it has had various modifications and improvements since. Such huge musical instruments demand a major overhaul form time-to-time.
Jack Oades, Director of Music at St. Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh, gave a recital – free to attend – in celebration, and what an occasion it was! Delivering a programme of mixed genres and style, the evening began with three “classical” 17th Century organ pieces of prelude and fantasia, of course featuring JS Bach. There followed the completely different style of Jean Langlais – a prolific composer of modern classical organ (and other) music – and, while perhaps the Chant de Paix conveyed more that was sad than was peace, the Chant de Joie truly was a song of joy.
The audience was treated to two pieces by Jack himself: Impromptu, that was a so successful as an improvisation that it was formed into a written piece, and the hauntingly mystical Reverie. No wonder Jack is viewed as an exciting up and coming young organist, conductor and composer.
But perhaps the evening was stolen by the beautiful, meditative and yearning Elegy of 20th Century organist and composer George Thalben-Ball. Again, it was originally an improvisation, which Thalben-Ball played at the end of a live BBC daily religious service during World War II, when the service finished a couple of minutes earlier than expected. So many listeners to the broadcast telephoned the BBC to ask what the composition was that he decided to write down his improvisation as well as he could remember it. That’s talent!
All in all, a smashing evening in the heart of Newbury.