Toccata X by Georg Muffat (1653-1704)
Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
La Nativité du Seigneur Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)
III. Desseins Eternels (Eternal Designs)
Chorale Prelude on Nicaea by Healey Willan (1880-1968)
Fantasy and Fugue on “Ad nos ad salutarem undam” by Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Program Notes
Toccata X Georg Muffat (1653-1704)
Georg Muffat was born in the Duchy of Savoy, studied with Lully in Paris, lived in Vienna for some time, traveled to Prague, then Salzburg (where he worked for the Archbishop for ten years), subsequently studied organ with Pasquini in Italy, and finally ended up working as Kappellmeister to the Bishop of Passau, Germany. His pan-European expertise means that French, German, Italian, and Austrian composers all claim his music as their own, and he, too, saw himself as a synthesizer of styles, incorporating all these European musical idioms into his works, such as this toccata from the Apparatus musico-organisticus. His works provide excellent opportunities to demonstrate the organ's various timbres, and I was delighted to encounter his music for the first time while studying in Freiburg.
Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor JS Bach (1685-1750)
A passacaglia, like a chaconne, develops musical material over a repeating bass figure (an ostinato). This passacaglia, one of Bach’s most beloved organ works, was most likely written in his early 20s while he was in Arnstadt, right after his return from studying with Buxtehude in Lübeck. The fugue is a double fugue - meaning that it incorporates two different repeating subjects. The first subject transforms the first half of the repeating bass figure, and the second subject transforms the second half.
III. Desseins Éternels (from La Nativité) Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)
Messiaen’s phenomenal work “La Nativité du Seigneur, neuf mêditations pour orgue (The Birth of the Lord, nine meditations for organ)” is an extended, hour-long musical and theological reflection upon the birth of Christ. This movement, “Desseins éternels (Eternal purposes),” is a reflection on a passage from Ephesians 1: “In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace.”
Chorale Prelude on “Nicaea” Healey Willan (1880-1968)
Healey Willan, an English and Canadian organist and composer, wrote a series of readily accessible chorale preludes on famous hymn tunes. This one is a beautiful example of his elegant treatment of the hymn we often hear as “Holy, Holy, Holy.”
Fantasy and Fugue on “Ad nos ad salutarem undam” Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Liszt’s most monumental organ work, the Fantasy and Fugue on the chorale “Ad nos, ad salutarem undam,” was premiered in Merseburg Cathedral in 1855. The opening chorale comes from a famous Meyerbeer opera, “Le prophète”. After a rousing Fantasy, a beautiful adagio proceeds, transporting and developing the theme through various major keys and culminating in a fugue that also serves as the recapitulation and coda of the piece. This piece is one of the most significant examples of Liszt developing sonata form as an avenue of exploring one continuous through-composed work (the Sonata in B minor being the other greatest example). Though this piece is slightly less than half an hour of music, reports from the time of its premiere suggested that the original performance lasted forty-five minutes.
Biography of Matthew Wilkinson
Matthew Wilkinson is an American organist, now residing in Charleston, SC. Before moving here, he received a performance degree in piano from Lee University in Cleveland, TN, where he was awarded the school’s prestigious Instrumental Performance Award and Presser Scholarship. After serving as music director at St. Michael’s Anglican Church in Charleston for six years, he moved to Germany to pursue his Master’s degree at the Hochschule für Musik, Freiburg. His teachers included: Matthias Maierhofer, David Franke, and Vincent Dubois, and he has participated in lessons and masterclasses with Daniel Roth, Ullrich Böhme, Guy Bovet and Robert Hill (cembalo). He has performed concerts in Steinfeld, Glauchau, Frauenstein, Störmthal, Freiburg, Naumburg, Metten, and Memmingen, Germany; was an artist in the Roquevaire International Organ Festival in France, and a semi-finalist in the International Franz Schmidt Organ Competition.
After completing his master’s degree, he moved to Denton, Texas, where he earned his DMA in organ at the University of North Texas under Dr. Jesse Eschbach and served as the organist at Christ Church Cathedral, Plano. His dissertation is The Implementation of Lombardic Rhythm Inégalité in French Classical Music, and his related field was choral and orchestral conducting. He also runs a podcast, The Pursuit of Beauty, where he interviews composers, performers, iconographers, philosophers, architects and artists of all varieties. His first professional album, “Bach’s Clavierübung III,” recorded on the 1730 Waltershausen Trost organ, was released with Spektral Records last year.
You can also find and purchase Matthew’s hymn reharmonizations from his website, matthewwilkinson.net. He chose to return to St. Michael’s, Charleston, where he resides with his wife and two daughters.