Alla Hornpipe (Water Music) George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) tr. Jean Guillou (1930-2019)
Méditation (Thaïs) Jules Massenet (1842-1912) tr. Jonathan Scott
Passacaglia in C Minor, BWV 582 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Amazing Grace (Lay my burden down) Iain Farrington (born 1977)
Prelude in E minor, Op. 28, No. 4 Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849) tr. Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Sonata Eroïca, Op. 94 Joseph Jongen (1873-1953)
Program Notes
Handel's Water Music is a collection of orchestral works premiered in 1717 in response to King George I’s request for a concert on the River Thames. Alla Hornpipe, the most famous and recognizable movement from Water Music, captures the energy, style, and ebullience that typifies Handel’s output. French composer and organist Jean Guillou transcribed the piece for organ and added a virtuosic and original cadenza, bringing Handel’s baroque elegance into a juxtaposition with the flair of twentieth-century French organ improvisation.
Méditation is a symphonic intermezzo from the opera Thaïs by French composer Jules Massenet, scored for solo violin, orchestra and backstage chorus. The Méditation occurs while Thaïs, a beautiful and hedonistic courtesan, is considering leaving her life of luxury and pleasure and finding salvation through God with the Cenobite monk, Athanaël. Having gained popularity beyond the opera stage as a transcription, Jascha Heifetz’s performances for violin and piano being particularly notable, Méditation has been transcribed for organ by contemporary English organist and composer Jonathan Scott.
A passacaglia, often indistinguishable from a chaconne, consists of a series of variations based on a repeating pattern or ostinato in the bass, typically four or eight measures. Bach’s Passacaglia & Fugue in C minor is considered by scholars to have been composed early in his life, between 1706 and 1713, possibly in Arnstadt after his return from Lübeck, where he studied Dieterich Buxtehude’s ostinato works. The work consists of a theme and twenty variations, the last of which is extended without pause by a fugue, which could also count as variation twenty-one. The first half of the passacaglia's ostinato, which also serves as the fugue's main subject, was most probably taken from a short work by the French composer André Raison, Christe: Trio en passacaille from Messe du deuxième ton of the Premier livre d'orgue. It is possible that the second half of the ostinato was also taken from another Raison work, although some scholars feel the similarities are merely coincidental.
Iain Farrington has established himself as one of Britain’s foremost composers, arrangers, and performers, whose programs often mix popular and jazz elements into the classical genre. Lay My Burden Down is a series of pieces composed between 2015-17 based on African-American spirituals and traditional songs. It features five compositions, each one based on a particular traditional melody. Amazing Grace is a continuous sequence of jazz/gospel variations on the well-known tune, full of joy and optimism.
By Chopin’s request, his Prelude in E minor, Op. 28, No. 4, was played at his funeral along with Mozart’s Requiem. Only a page long, German conductor and composer Hans von Bülow called the prelude "suffocation", due to its sense of despair. Chopin's last dynamic marking in the piece is smorzando, which means "dying away". Although composed for piano, the Prelude in E minor adapts well to the organ, with Franz Liszt’s 1864 transcription being the most frequently performed by organists.
In 1930, Belgian organist and composer Joseph Jongen premiered his Sonata Eroïca in Brussels. Six years later, it was published as his Op. 94 in Paris, dedicated to Joseph Bonnet, who was the organist of the city’s St. Eustache Church. A grand opening, which is suggestive of fanfares and cadenzas, gives way to a distinct 11-bar melody in C-sharp minor, almost as if it were the theme in a set of variations. As such, the theme is repeated two more times, each at a slightly faster tempo. After a thorough development section, the theme occurs in large chords with the full organ, eventually moving into an elaborate fugue.
Biography of Eugene Lavery
New Zealand-American organist and choral conductor Eugene Lavery is highly sought after as a performer and teacher, having concertized at venues such as St. Paul’s Cathedral, London; Grace Cathedral, San Francisco; and Auckland Town Hall, New Zealand; performed with the American Symphony Orchestra and Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra; and having served on the faculty of Royal School of Church Music courses in the United States, New Zealand, and Nigeria. Eugene has also appeared as an organist for live broadcasts for Television New Zealand and Radio New Zealand.
Eugene currently serves as Organist and Director of Music at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Waco, TX where he directs the semi-professional adult choir, the St. Alban’s Chorister Program, the professional Vox Seraphim baroque choir and orchestra, and a vibrant concert series. Eugene has also recently overseen the design and installation of a new world-class organ, Schoenstein Op. 180.
Previous church positions in the United States include Director of Music at St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church in Louisville, KY, and Director of the Cathedral Choir School of Delaware, one of the most prominent Episcopal chorister programs in the United States.
Born in New Zealand, Eugene received his Bachelor of Music with First Class Honors from the University of Auckland while serving as Organ Scholar and then Assistant Organist at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Auckland, New Zealand. In 2007, Eugene relocated to New York after gaining entry to the prestigious Master of Music program at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Paul Jacobs.