Leeds Parish Church
www.leedsparishchurch.org.uk
The Friends of the Music of Leeds Parish Church present
English Glory
Lunchtime Recitals on Fridays in
February 2009 at 12.30
Simon Lindley
organist
All are warmly welcome at Friday Midday Prayers from 12.00 in the Lady Chapel
SOUVENIR PROGRAMME
You are asked to give generously to the Retiring Collection at each Recital –
please complete a Gift Aid Envelope if you are a UK Tax Payer; it helps greatly.
All proceeds are devoted to the tuning and maintenance of the Parish Church’s
magnificent organ – a task funded on an annual basis by grants from the
Friends of the Music of Leeds Parish Church.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & THANKS
The Friends of the Music of Leeds Parish Church express special thanks to all who
generously assist in the presentation of lunchtime organ music in general and the February
2009 Series in particular:
The Precentor, for the use of the building
Iain Howell, Senior Verger & Registrar
Peter & Kathleen Holway and David Hawkin for much help with publicity
All Staff of the Parish Church Coffee Shop, for provision of refreshments
Andrew Carter and A J Carter, Organ Builders
Michael Vary & Mark Walker, Allfab Engineering
The Organ of Leeds Parish Church
The first Organ at Leeds Parish Church was installed in 1714. Major work on the instrument was
undertaken by Greenwood Brothers of Leeds in 1815 - and again in 1841, when the organ was
moved to the present building in time for the consecration on 2nd September. Additions were
provided by Holt, Hill and Schulze in 1859 and the instrument rebuilt by Abbott & Smith of Leeds
in 1883 and 1899, by which time it had five manuals and pedals.
The major re-construction of the organ by Harrison & Harrison of Durham in 1913 gave us the
organ as we now know it. Further work by Harrison took place in 1927 and, importantly, in 1949.
Somewhat unusually for a Harrison, the Leeds organ - though speaking unmistakably with a
Harrison voice - incorporates recognisable earlier pipework by other famous hands: Hill, Schulze,
Abbott & Smith and, after 1965, by Wood, Wordsworth and Stinkens. The Leeds firm of Wood,
Wordsworth & Co undertook a major scheme in 1965 when the pipework of the famous Altar
Organ was incorporated into the main body of the instrument. Several new stops were added and
the console re-furbished. The character of the original pipework was, in general, carefully
maintained up to, and during the programme of restoration recently completed.
Leeds Parish Church Restoration Appeal of 1994 provided funds for a substantial and thorough
restoration of the organ, including re-construction of the Blowing Plant, replacement of the
console mechanisms, actions and a complete cleaning and overhaul; this work was carried out by
A J Carter Organ Builders of Wakefield, which firm has had the care of the instrument for many
years. The Blowing Plant works were by Allfab Engineering of Methley. The Consultants to the
Vicar and Churchwardens were Dr Noel Rawsthorne of Liverpool [Main Adviser], the Organist
and Master of the Music [Simon Lindley] and the Ripon Diocesan Organs Adviser [Mr Anthony J
Cooke].
 A complete history of the organ is in Parish, Past and Present by Dr Donald Webster [£5]
 Recordings of the Organ, Choir and Organists are also available from the Visitors’ Centre
Not to be missed in March!
Saturday 14th March 2009 at 2.30 pm
Old ones, new ones, loved ones, neglected ones
Dr Gordon Stewart
with guest artists
Admission Free – Retiring Collection in aid of the Choral Foundation Appeal
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Friday English Glory Programmes at 12.30 in February 2009
Friday 6th February – the Fifth-Seventh Anniversary of the Accession to the throne of Her
Gracious Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second
Sir Edward Elgar
Imperial March [1897]
Sir William Walton
Popular Song [Façade]
Eric Coates
Knightsbridge March
Ronald Binge
Elizabethan Serenade
Johann Christian Rinck
Variations and Finale
Sir Edward Elgar
Chanson de Martin
Sir William Walton
Coronation March 1953: Orb and Sceptre
Friday 13th February
Herbert Howells
Sir Hubert Parry
Sir Edward Bairstow
Sir Edward Bairstow
Sir Hubert Parry
Paean & Master Tallis’s Testament [Six Pieces, 1940]
For the little Organ Book
Three Pieces for Organ [1911]
Prelude: Vexilla Regis – Elegy – Toccata-Prelude: Pange lingua
Evening Song [1899]
Jerusalem
Friday 20th February
Samuel Sebastian Wesley
Samuel Wesley
Matthew Camidge
Healey Willan
Healey Willan
Choral Song and Fugue
Air and Gavotte [from Twelve Short Pieces]
Concerto IV in G major, Op 13
Larghetto [Introduction]/Allegro [Fugue] – Larghetto – Allegretto
[March]
Five Preludes on Plainchant Hymn Melodies
Aeterna Christi munera – Christe, Redemptor omnium
Ecce, jam noctis – Ave maris stella – Urbs Hierusalem beata
Introduction, Passacaglia & Fugue in E flat minor, Op 119
Friday 27th February
Francis Jackson
Francis Jackson
Sir Walter Alcock
Sir William Harris
Peter Warlock
Francis Jackson
Fanfare [1956]
Hymn Prelude: East Acklam [1984]
Introduction & Passacaglia
A Fancy
Capriol Suite
Basse Danse–Pavane–Tordion–Bransles–Pieds en l’air–Mattachins
Toccata, Chorale & Fugue
March Friday Lunchtime Concerts by David Houlder
Special Events in April:
Wednesday 1st at 7.30 – Collegium Regale from Cambridge
Monday 6th at 1.30 in the Town Hall – The Saviour
Friday 10th at 7.00 – The Dream of Gerontius
Booking for Good Friday at the door on the night, or from City Centre Box Office
on 0113 224 3801
or to personal callers at Carriageworks Theatre, Millennium Square
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Simon Lindley
is Organist of Leeds Parish Church and Leeds Town Hall
At the Church his work includes the direction of its world-famous Choir and
Simon is also Music Director of St Peter’s Singers
He came to Yorkshire early in 1975 to succeed Dr Donald Hunt at the Parish
Church and was collated as fourth City Organist in January of the following year.
Educated at Magdalen College School and the Royal College of Music, Simon still
sustains strong links with the City of London where his career began over forty
years ago. He served at Westminster Cathedral, and, as Peter Hurford’s first fulltime assistant, at St Albans Cathedral before taking up work here in Leeds. He is
active in many aspects of music-making in the West Riding and works regularly
with choral societies and brass bands. Additional to St Peter’s Singers, he conducts
Overgate Hospice Choir and Leeds College of Music Community Choral Society.
In September 2009 he takes up the post of Conductor of Sheffield Bach Society.
A notable debut at London’s Westminster Cathedral and, particularly, his
performance of the Elgar Organ Sonata broadcast live on Radio Three from the
Royal Albert Hall during the 1975 season of Henry Wood Promenade Concerts,
established his reputation as a player of distinctive style – a reputation consolidated
by many recordings, broadcasts and recitals. An extensive discography includes two
best-selling Naxos CDs – French Organ Music from Leeds Parish Church and
Handel Concertos with Northern Sinfonia. His playing is also to be heard on many
Chandos CDs including Christmas Music with Huddersfield Choral Society and a
clutch of recordings with the Orchestra of Opera North. Also for Chandos, he
contributed to Phillip McCann’s popular series of discs – The World’s Most Beautiful
Melodies.
Recent concert work has included recitals in Russia, the United States and South
Africa and, nearer home, on the famous instruments at Parish Churches in Barnard
Castle, Dundee and Ludlow.
Forthcoming concerts include:
Thursday 5 February 11.00 at Fulneck Moravian Church – These you have loved
Saturday 14th February 2.30 at St Paul’s Church Shipley, in aid of the Binns Organ
Sunday 15th February 2.30 at Holy Trinity Church, Dobcross, Organ & Brass
Saturday 21st February 7.30 at The Crossing Church Worksop, SL/Keith Swallow
Organ and Piano Spectacular including the very rarely-heard Flor Peeters Concerto
Monday 6th April 1.05 at Leeds Town Hall – William Lloyd Webber: The Saviour
with the Choir of Leeds Parish Church conducted by David Houlder
th
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PROGRAMME NOTES
Devised specifically for the celebrations accompanying Queen Victoria’s Diamond
Jubilee in 1897, Elgar’s Imperial March – together with the Triumphal March from
Caractacus composed in the following year – demonstrates clearly the quality of its
composer’s musical rhetoric. Catchy rhythms and swirling harmonies vie for the
listener’s attention and the central melody of the trio soars aloft. Ultimately, the
infectious rejoicing of the bustling opening figuration returns triumphant in the final
coda. The superb arrangement for organ is by Sir George Martin (1844-1916),
Stainer’s successor as Organist of St Paul’s Cathedral and composer of one of the
finest Victorian hymn tunes (St Helen for Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendour). Both
the Imperial March and the Triumphal March look forward clearly to the glories of
Elgar’s set of Pomp and Circumstance marches. Somehow, the 1911 Coronation
March never quite matches the élan and bravura of these earlier essays.
Born in Oldham,William Walton’s early musical education was as a Chorister at
Christ Church, Oxford, under the youthful Henry Ley, who had been appointed to
the prestigious organist’s post there at the age of only nineteen. Walton was taken
up by the Dean of Christ Church and given much encouragement (and patronage)
by the Sitwell family. Artistic collaborations between Walton and the Sitwells
proved highly fruitful in the form of such classics as the Suite: Façade and the
magnificent choral tour-de-force produced at the 1931 Leeds Festival – Belshazzar’s
Feast. Popular Song from the celebrated entertainment entitled Façade is played in
the stylish transcription by Robert Gower.
Viola playing at the highest level claimed Nottinghamshire-born Eric Coates in his
early career. He was principal in the Queen’s Hall Orchestra under Sir Henry Wood
before the First World War. After the “war to end all wars”, composing occupied
him full time and he was one of the most significant figures in the early history of
broadcasting - busy conducting as well as writing music. The catchy Knightsbridge
March is from the evocative London Suite and was used as the signature tune for the
Radio programme In Town Tonight.
Derby-born Ronald Binge [1910-1979] was a leading figure in English music.
Celebrated as much for the creation of the magical cascading string sonorities
devised for the Mantovani orchestra as for his own compositions, Binge produced a
kaleidoscopic range of instrumental and orchestral output. Elizabethan Serenade was
written for Mantovani and first performed in 1951. Its cheery ambience captured to
a tee the optimistic mood of the early 1950s as Britain began to emerge from the
austerities of post-War life.
Johann Heinrich Christian Rinck was born on 18 February 1770 at Elgersburg in
Thuringia. At the age of sixteen he went to Erfurt as a pupil of Johann Christian
Kittel, himself one of Bach’s most important pupils, who valued his talent so highly
that he soon made him his deputy as organist at the Predigerkirche. By 1789 Rinck
had reached the position of organist at the principal church in Giessen and shortly
5
after being appointed director of music at Giessen University, he moved, in 1805, to
the better paid position of cantor/organist at Darmstadt, where he remained until
his death on 7 August 1846. His organ pupils included Friedrich Hesse and he
influenced a whole generation of organists in Germany and subsequently in France.
Rinck’s popularity among the organists of his time is seen in the presence of his
compositions in almost all of the numerous collections of organ music for liturgical
purposes. His celebrated Organ School includes a fine set of variations on a wellknown tune.
Eminent organist-composer Dr Francis Jackson appointed Organist Emeritus of
York Minster after thirty-eight years of distinguished service there, received a CBE
in the Queen’s Birthday Honours of June 2007. His many compositions for the king
of instruments include a number of fanfares; that dating from 1956 first appeared in
an anthology of organ pieces published by Oxford University. It is based in the
tonality of B flat and dedicated to John Bradley.
An early work, Elgar’s Chanson de Matin was devised in its original form for violin
and piano and achieved fame in the composer’s version for small orchestra – and,
not least, through Ken Russell’s famous BBC TV documentary on Elgar. A soaring
melody at the outset is in contrast to a more reflective second subject. The organ
transcription generally used is that by Elgar’s friend and colleague Sir Herbert
Brewer, Organist of Gloucester Cathedral from 1897 to 1928.
Walton’s brilliant orchestration, melodic felicity, sheer musical wit and general
“oomph” rhythmically made him a natural candidate to produce a Coronation
March for the 1937 Coronation of His Majesty King George VI and Her Majesty
Queen Elizabeth (The Queen Mother). Overlooked in all this was Walford Davies,
Master of the King’s Musick, and himself no slouch at Marches (about half of The
RAF March Past is his, though the indulgent Trio theme was worked by Halifax born
Sir George Dyson). It may not be fanciful to suggest that Wigan born Sir Ernest
Bullock – as Westminster Abbey Organist responsible for the Coronation musical
arrangements – may have preferred Walton as much out of regional loyalty as on
account of his musical gifts. Be that as it may, the 1937 March was an absolute “hit”
from day one – so good was it that Sir Ernest’s successor, Sir William McKie, made
Walton responsible for the same music at the 1953 service and another stupendous
essay resulted in Orb and Sceptre – it is McKie’s arrangement of the March that is
generally heard today. Even half a century on, Orb and Sceptre still fizzes with joie de
vivre and sounds as if it were written only yesterday.
Herbert Howells’ glorious Six Pieces for Organ date from the darkest days of the
Second World War and were dedicated to his great friend Dr Herbert Sumsion,
Organist of Gloucester Cathedral from 1928 to 1967. Both Sumsion and Howells
had been, as young students, articled to Sumsion’s predecessor as Cathedral
Organist, Sir Herbert Brewer – along with gifted but tragically ill-fated composer
Ivor Gurney and others. The Paean is the finale of the set – a brilliantly-etched
Toccata abounding in energy and élan. Master Tallis’s Testament is a lyrical set of
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variants on a quasi-tudor theme presented rather in the manner of a French tribute
in the tombeau tradition. The melody is decorated and inflected as only Howells can
and the searing, exquisite beauty of his musical utterance combines pain and
pleasure in sensual sonorities of disturbing power.
It was in Parry’s memory that colleagues and pupils produced A Little Organ Book
published in 1924. The preface to that book advises that
at Parry’s funeral in St Paul’s Cathedral on 16th October 1918, a few friends
made a small wreath of melodies, which were woven together and played…
The 1924 tribute, from which royalties were gifted to the Parry Room at the Royal
College of Music, was an expansion of this prototype effort. The first piece, Parry’s
own, a lilting slow dance in triple time, was headed up For The Little Organ Book –
and is sometimes known as Preston though no title is provided.
Bairstow’s output for the organ was regrettably small. Maybe his hectic professional
schedule prevented him writing more for the king of instruments. Most of his organ
pieces belong to his early career and were composed during his terms of office as
organist in turn of the great parish churches of Wigan and Leeds. The Three Pieces
of 1911 were obviously designed for the Leeds instrument with its massive bass
registers and multitude of expressive solo stops. The first and last are founded upon
traditional plainchant melodies – in order of appearance Vexilla Regis prodeunt (The
Royal Banners forward go) and Pange lingua gloriosi (Sing, my tongue, the glorious
battle). At the heart of the group of three is an exquisite Elegy of great beauty and
expressive power. Both plainchant-based pieces deploy extremes of dynamic
contrast and vast sonorities. Of the two, the highly original Toccata-Prelude with
which the set ends is quite one of English organ music’s most inventive concepts.
The lively manual figuration appears atop the massive statement of the theme in the
pedal at the outset. Ultimately, though, it is the more refined timbres and most
intimate of expressive devices that carry the day and the piece closes in hushed
tones. This Toccata-Prelude – exultant and reflective by turns – is a work of immense
originality founded upon the ancient plainchant theme Sing, my tongue the glorious
Battle – an office hymn proper to Passiontide and Holy Week and to the feast of
Corpus Christi. Despite its triumphant ambience at the start, there are – at the heart
of this fabulous piece – more meditative, reflective sections and the pieces finishes
quietly, the loud, triumphant lay of the hymn having well and truly subsided.
Huddersfield-born, Edward Cuthbert Bairstow was educated in Nottingham and
London. Organist in turn of Paddington’s All Saints, Norfolk Square and the Parish
Churches of Wigan and Leeds, Bairstow succeeded Thomas Tertius Noble as
Organist of York Minster in 1913, remaining in post until his death thirty three
years later, when he was succeeded by former chorister, pupil, assistant and – most
recently – biographer, the much loved Francis Jackson.
Evening Song dates from 1899 and was, in its original form, for cello and piano. The
piece was written for one of many musical soirées at the home of his London Vicar,
The Revd William Boyd (composer of the saccharine and weak hymn-tune Pentecost
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once (wholly unsuitably) much sung to Fight the good fight. Though its composer
looked somewhat askance at his early and Romantic music, Evening Song seems to
have been set apart from other pieces; as Lady Bairstow’s favourite work from her
husband’s pen, it was invariably the voluntary at Minster Evensong on her birthday
each year.
Jerusalem has emerged as a worthy companion piece to the National Anthem.
Probably composed in 1915 or 1916, this noble number came about as a result of a
request from the Poet Laureate, Robert Bridges, for a setting to use at a meeting of
the Fight for Right movement at London’s Queen’s Hall. The work enjoyed
particular impact when used at the Royal Albert Hall in March of 1918. Here in
Leeds we may take not a little pride in recalling that the stupendous orchestration of
the accompaniment to this soaring melody was the work of no less a figure than Sir
Edward Elgar - being first heard in the Victoria Hall at Leeds Town Hall during the
1922 Leeds Triennial Festival.
And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?
And did the countenance divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among those dark Satanic mills?
Bring me my bow of burning gold!
Bring me my arrows of desire!
Bring me my spear! O clouds, unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire!
I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land.
First organist of the then new Leeds Parish Church, Samuel Sebastian Wesley
resided here from 1842 to 1849. He had come to Leeds in September of 1841 to play
for the service of Consecration and the week of celebrations associated with the
opening of Chantrell’s new edifice built for the redoubtable Vicar of Leeds Walter
Farquhar Hook. Hook offered Wesley a salary of £200 p.a. guaranteed for ten years.
Wesley had previously been Organist of Hereford and Exeter Cathedrals, and held
posts after tenure here at Leeds at the Cathedrals of Winchester and Gloucester.
Wesley’s noble Choral Song is heard in the edition by Walter Emery, based on that
by G M Garrett and issued by Novello in the 1950s. The introduction features
antiphonal interplay between the manual dispositions while the fluent fugue unfolds
in a manner highly characteristic of Wesley at his persuasive best.
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Of Samuel Wesley, father of Samuel Sebastian and often referred to as Old Sam, his
friend Vincent Novello said of him:
He was one of the greatest musical geniuses that England ever produced.
And the celebrated authority of English music, Francis Routh, asserts similarly:
Samuel Wesley was the most important composer of the classical period in
England, the very opposite of insular or provincial. His importance lies partly
in his musical style, partly in his very clear aesthetic purpose, partly in his
position, historically , in the English musical tradition. His mature style, after
1784, represents a meeting point of many traditions: in the choral works, of
Byrd, Bach, Haydn; in the orchestral and instrumental works, of Beethoven,
Weber, Mendelssohn. His best works are the first by an English composer in
classical vein to link the English musical heritage of the past with the
mainstream European tradition of his time, in a musical language that is both
individual and distinctive combined with a visionary quality that caused him
to transcend the limitations and constrictions of his day.
During his lifetime he was largely ignored, and after his death the arbiters of
Victorian taste disowned him, largely in favour of his organist son Samuel
Sebastian, with whom even today the composer is still sometimes confused. Das
Land ohne Musik gave scant place to Wesley. His achievement was concealed in the
arid years of the nineteenth century. So to us today he is barely known. The 20 th
century re-discovery of Samuel Wesley’s larger-scale music began in the 1970s, with
the first performance in modern times of Confitebor in York Minster in June 1972.
Organists, however, have always kept his name alive – not least through the two
best known of the so-called ‘Twelve’ Short Pieces (a collection of actually thirteen or
event fourteen) – the nick-named Air and Gavotte and also the celebrated Duet for
Organ of 1812 written for the composer to play with Vincent Novello at the Hanover
Square [Concert] Rooms.
The second of the three Camidges intimately associated with the music at York
Minster for over a century, Matthew held the post of organist there from 1799 to
1842. One of six concertos for solo organ, No 4 follows its creator's normal four
movement pattern - closing with a final March. The second of the piece's two
Larghettos is in E minor and alternates the Diapasons with a quieter Swell
registration. The March is for full organ at the outset with the middle portion
directed to be played on the Swell. Given the inherently attractive nature of the
music, it is not hard to see why Dr Jackson’s editions of his famous precursor's
music have achieved widespread circulation and added greatly to the repertoire of a
period in English organ repertory sadly devoid of music of such charm, grace and
elegance.
The great majority of Healey Willan’s long professional career was spent in
Toronto, where his leadership of music in that city was immensely distinguished.
He had in 1913 emigrated to become Organist at Saint Paul’s Anglican Church,
Bloor Street but it was the organist’s post at the Anglo-Catholic Church of Saint
Mary Magdalene that became his life’s work. He served Saint Mary Magdalene’s,
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and the University and City of Toronto with immense distinction and devotion. As
a composer, he produced a vast amount of music (much of it for unaccompanied
voices) for his singers at Saint Mary Magdalene’s. A very large scale motet, An
Apostrophe to the Heavenly Hosts, was written for the acclaimed Mendelssohn Choir of
Toronto, whose founder/conductor Dr Herbert Austin Fricker had been second
City Organist of Leeds and emigrated to Canada four years after Healey Willan
himself. The stylishly-wrought Five Preludes on Plainchant Hymn Melodies date from
the early 1950s and are inscribed to the composer’s Canadian friend and colleague
Dr Charles Peaker. The tunes are each office hymn melodies. The set begins with
The eternal gifts of Christ the King – a sturdy setting. The next three pieces are much
more reflective, especially Hail, O Star that pointest placed five. A noble Processional is
founded on the Dedication Festival hymn Blessed City, heavenly Salem and the
melody is heard in long notes on the tuba stop played in the left hand.
The monumental Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue is Willan’s masterpiece. He
wrote actually two works with the same title, but the later essay, although stylish
and well-crafted, does not possess the visionary glow or passion of its older sibling.
Dedicated to Sir Walter Alcock, the distinguished British organist who played at
three Coronations out of this century’s four, the Introduction Passacaglia and Fugue in
E flat minor was completed on 31st July 1916, being designed for the Saint Paul’s
organ - at that time this instrument was the largest in Canada, and the eighth largest
in the world. It was Willan’s claim that each one of the seventeen treatments of the
Passacaglia theme was composed on tram rides to and from his summer retreat at
Jackson’s Point. We gather that the Passacaglia was written first, then the Fugue with
the Introduction last of all. Many would rate Willan’s Passacaglia as without equal,
saving that of Bach himself. Joseph Bonnet, the brilliant Franco-Canadian
organist/composer wrote of the work:
It is a rare and admirable composition, conceived in an extraordinarily pure
and lofty spirit, built up on solid architectural lines, illuminated by the light of
harmonies by turns sumptuous and delicate. This work does the greatest
honour to the organ literature of our time
Among many highlights in the varied treatments of the memorable theme is the
stupendous marcia funèbre, with the tune in vast chords on the tubas in the left hand
crowned by virtuoso passagework in the right, each bar comprising a toccata-inminiature.
Dr Jackson’s lifelong association with the Minster music at York – a relationship in
his capacity as Organist Emeritus perhaps as strong as it has ever been – extends
back to the late 1920s and service as a chorister under the redoubtable Sir Edward
Bairstow. Dr Jackson served in many capacities in respect of his great mentor: pupil,
assistant, successor and, ultimately – biographer. His Hymn Prelude on East Acklam
was composed in 1984 and is inscribed to his publishers Ramsay and Margaret
Silver. The melody is heard in the tenor register with glorious countermelodies
woven around its rich sonorities.
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To West Riding music-lovers, Alcock will always be “the other Sir Walter”, first
loyalty being reserved, naturally enough, for Sir Walter Parratt. Both Alcock and
Parratt were hugely influential as long-serving Professors of Organ at London’s
Royal College of Music and both occupied distinguished posts in the world of
church and organ music - Parratt at Magdalen & St George’s Windsor, and Alcock
at the Chapel Royal (he was also Sub Organist of Westminster Abbey) and, for
thirty one years, at Salisbury Cathedral. The stupendous Introduction and Passacaglia
was written for its composer to perform at the 1933 Hereford Three Choirs’ Festival.
The opening movement as we know it was the composer’s second version - he
discarded entirely his first draft very shortly before the première as another new
piece at the same festival was, he felt, too similar to his prototype. The Tuba stop
features prominently in the Introduction and the noble Passacaglia treats variants on
the ground bass with ingenuity and considerable flair. Chromatic harmony abounds,
and the work vies with essays of Reger and Healey Willan as one of the very finest
organ passacaglias since the days of Bach and Buxtehude. It’s also terrific to play,
lying beautifully beneath hands and feet and in terms of resonance and timbre
ideally suited to the wonderful sonorities of the instrument here at the Parish
Church.
William Harris’s Fancy is one of the most deliciously light of all English organ
pieces. Inscribed to the memory of Percy Whitlock “for whom it was written”, Sir
William’s is one of the most economically scored of all organ scherzos. Its small
scale and piquant textures achieve a far greater effect than do many more bombastic
essays! Harris’s organ output includes a good number of substantial works that may
be said to have suffered undue neglect – among them a noble Fantasia on a theme of
Thomas Campion. This fine work from 1922 and the substantial Sonata of 1938 are,
surely, ripe for revival. Posterity has dealt rather more kindly with his shorter
essays. Fancy is a gorgeously etched miniature written for Percy Whitlock and
published in 1947 after that musician’s tragically early death the year previous. A
swirling triple time ambience pervades the piece and the excursions away from the
home key of G abound in deft harmonies and delightful textures. In short, a gem!
Peter Warlock was the nom-de-plume of Philip Heseltine [1894-1930]. His complex
character encompassed elements of a refined scholar, a hedonist, mystic and
emotional misfit. In his own name, Heseltine edited early English music and an illfated scholarly magazine entitled The Sackbut. Under the name Peter Warlock he
wrote numerous songs and effectively revived the English carol-writing tradition
single-handed. His most extensive works are The Curlew for voice and chamber
ensemble – a glorious and deeply felt song cycle heard far too infrequently – and the
celebrated Capriol Suite of 1926. Capriol is most often heard in performances by
string orchestra; there exist also the composer’s versions of these lovely dances for
solo piano and piano duo and, dating from 1928, one for full orchestra. The work
was inspired by melodies from a discourse on dancing, Orchésographie, written in the
16th century by a French priest named Arbeau. Capriol is a fictitious lawyer who
11
wishes to learn to dance. The book records the subsequent dialogue between Capriol
and Arbeau.
Cecil Gray, Warlock’s biographer, said that
if one compares these tunes with what the composer has made of them it will
be seen that to all intents and purposes it can be regarded as an original work.
Toccata, Chorale & Fugue was composed by Francis Jackson in 1955 and published
by Novello in 1957. The dedication was to Healey Willan, an expatriate
Englishman who, with pungent wit, used to declare he was Irish by descent, English
by birth, Canadian by adoption and Scotch - by absorption! Willan’s remarkable
work in Toronto between his arrival in 1913 and his death fifty three years later is
well documented. An arresting striding opening with hugely seminal dotted rhythms
gives place to a delightful toccata of élan and considerable brilliance whose
infectious figuration is positively guaranteed to bring a tap to the most reluctant of
feet. Ultimately, all this bustle gives place to yield an exquisite central section of
consummate beauty in the effulgent key of B major. The fugue presents a jaunty,
angular subject treated to a remarkable series of transformations before the work
proceeds headlong to a triumphant conclusion on full organ. This is one of the finest
organ works by an English 20th century composer and is, understandably,
undeniably attractive for performer and listener alike. By any yardstick, the piece
may be judged to have been a very handsome gift to the colourful Dr Willan himself the composer of a final musical triptych, the Introduction, Passacaglia and
Fugue of which Dr Jackson’s virtuosic recording on the Minster organ is the
benchmark beside which all other interpretations of Willan’s masterwork are
inevitably judged.
Admission to these Concerts is Free
Please give generously to the Retiring Collections in
support of the maintenance of our fine organ
Completing and signing a Gift Aid Envelope enhances
the value of your gift!
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Advance Notice!
The Friends of the Music of Leeds Parish Church present
three very special musical events
at Leeds Parish Church
A unique afternoon with the great
DR GORDON STEWART
“Old ones, new ones, loved ones, neglected ones”
Gordon with his guests
Saturday 14th March at 2.30 pm
The Choral Scholars of King’s College Cambridge
COLLEGIUM REGALE
in concert – a return visit to LPC of these acclaimed artists
with Organist Greg Drott
Wednesday 1st April at 7.30 pm
The Battle of the Organs – back by popular demand!
IAN TRACEY – DANIEL BISHOP
DAVID HOULDER – SIMON LINDLEY
Wednesday 10th June at 7.30 pm
Admission Free on each occasion
Retiring Collections in aid of the Parish Church
Choral Foundation Appeal
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LEEDS PARISH CHURCH
SOME UPCOMING DATES FOR YOUR DIARIES
Monday, 16 February
at Leeds Town Hall
1.05 pm
St Peter’s Singers sing Mendelssohn
Hear my prayer – Lauda Sion &c
Wednesday, 25 February Ash Wednesday Eucharist
7.30 pm
Music by Noble and Palestrina
Saturday, 28 February
Choral Evensong
4.00 pm
RSCM Northern Cathedral Singers
Boys and Men: Director: Gordon Appleton
Saturday, 14 March
Dr Gordon Stewart in concert
2.30 pm
in aid of the Choral Foundation Appeal
Saturday, 21 March
Solemn Vespers
4.00 pm
Choirs of York Minster, LPC and the
Cathedrals of Bradford, Leeds, Ripon,
Sheffield & Wakefield
Wednesday, 1 April
Collegium Regale in Concert
7.30 pm
A Gala by singers from King’s, Cambridge
Monday, 6 April
at Leeds Town Hall
1.05 pm
Lloyd Webber – The Saviour
The Choir of Leeds Parish Church
David Houlder – Simon Lindley
Good Friday, 10 April
The Dream of Gerontius
7.00 pm
St Peter’s Singers – LPC Boys & Men
National Festival Orchestra
Kathryn Woodruff – Paul Dutton
Quentin Brown – Simon Lindley
Sunday, 26 April
Traditional Easter Carol Service
6.30 pm
The popular service of music & readings
The Dream of Gerontius
Elgar
A special performance for Good Friday in the year of the
75th anniversary of the composer’s death in 1934
St Peter’s Singers
with the Boy Choristers, Choral Scholars & Lay Clerks of LPC
Kathryn Woodruff
Paul Dutton
Quentin Brown
National Festival Orchestra
led by Sally Robinson
David Houlder
organ
Simon Lindley
conductor
Leeds Parish Church
Good Friday 10th April 2009 at 7.00 pm
Admission £12 [£8 discounts]
Booking from the City Centre Box Office
Carriageworks Theatre – Millennium Square
0113 224 3801
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