Bamboozled by Pipe Organ

What is more exciting than combining a pipe organ with an orchestra?

That isn't a setup for a joke, but I relish when I go to an orchestra concert and get the added bonus of pipe organ with it.

Respighi was notorious for adding organ pedal to fill out the bass after all, and Mahler has some examples of including organ, usually due to a chorus ending up in the vicinity.

Pipe organ was Leo Sowerby's instrument, so it only makes sense he would combine it with orchestra. It is a tricky effect, for an orchestra contains winds as well, so you can end up with a rather thick soup of sound.

Also, don't go in to this recording expecting blockbusters either; the composer is much more subtle with combining the two, particularly his take on Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence.

Can I say I am bamboozled by the inclusion of an organ solo appearing on an album entitled Works for Organ and Orchestra?

A review from 2021

Leo Sowerby’s music for organ and orchestra on this Naxos American Classics series release, was ported over from a mid-90’s Marco Polo recording. Sowerby’s sound is a mix of the Romantic and the Modernist; generally pleasing to the ear, but not afraid of dissonance, and a bit rambling without strong tunes.

The two 20-minute, three-movement works, Classic Concerto and Festival Musick, best show off the full range of the organ. Festival is scored for brass and percussion, while Concerto uses only a string orchestra, so the variety of settings are remarkable.

I am most enthusiastic for the 20-minute Medieval Poem. It is full of yearning orchestral lines and solos, and a myriad of textures from the organ, despite a rather subdued and atmospheric mood during its runtime. I think Medieval is perhaps the perfect marriage of orchestral effects; some nice percussion thrown in plus a non-lexical vocal soprano, and organ wizardry that doesn’t rely on bombast and spectacle. Good Stuff!

It is so interesting how Sowerby relegates the major performing forces in these works; the organ will leap in front of the spotlight and the next moment the orchestra is front and center with the pipe organ sustaining a foundation in the background. Rarely are organ and instruments having to complete for presence, a common product of lesser composers; Sowerby is most skillful in this respect.

I am not familiar with The Fairfield Orchestra, a Connecticut-based ensemble, but they play with panache. Naxos’ sound captures all of these elements remarkably well, and the depth of the pipe organ is pleasantly full. It is striking how the dry sound of strings in the Classic Concerto balance the sustaining of a major wind instrument like an organ; a mix of Sowerby’s expertise and Naxos’ fine engineering.

The virtuosic, 10-minute organ solo Pageant is thrown onto the program, I assume to pad the runtime. A sort of fantasia on “Let All Mortal Flesh”, a church hymn I have always enjoyed, Sowerby puts the performer through the wringer. Despite its fine performance, it is an odd addition to an album entitled Works for Organ and Orchestra.

There is not a lot of glitz and glamour on this recording, something one might expect for a pairing of symphony orchestra and pipe organ. What we do have is competent, serious music making of high quality. I can’t say it all sticks with me, but at its very least, this is a pleasant experience.

Listen on YouTube

Works
Classic Concerto (18.03)
Medieval Poem (19.59)
Pageant (10.45)
Festival Musick (8.21)

Soloists
David Craighead, organist
David Mulbury, organist

Ensemble
Fairfield Orchestra
John Welsh, conductor

Label: Naxos
Year: 1999
Total Timing: 70.29

 

Another worthwhile entry from American Classics on Naxos, featuring subtle, not always satisfying music for Organ and Orchestra.

Shall we talk about naming our recordings too...?

Find other Sowerby recordings HERE!