Wednesday 15th July 2015
12.30 Lunchtime Concert Gary Sieling, organ Director of Music St Mary the Virgin Church, Henley-on-Thames |
Sponsors: 2015 Season Sponsor: Patricia Morgan Optician Supported by: Leatherhead Concert & Arts Society |
ProgrammeGeorg Muffat (1653-1704) from Apparatus musico-organisticus 1690 Toccata prima Jeremiah Clarke (1659-1707) Trumpet Voluntary / Prince of Denmark's March (c1700) John Stanley (1713-1786) Voluntary in G major Op 7 No 9 (1754) Edward Elgar (1857-1934) written for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Imperial March Op 32 (1897) Herbert Howells (1892-1983) Master Tallis's Testament (1940) Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) Prelude and Fugue on a theme of Vittoria (1946) Andreas Willscher (b1955, Hamburg) Toccata alla Rumba |
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Gary Sieling
Gary Sieling was born in Bedfordshire and educated at Dunstable Grammar School. He read for his BMus degree at the University of London, Goldsmiths’ College and while a student played for the debut of the London Cantata Choir with whom he is still associated. He studied organ with Peter Moorse, Nicholas Danby at the Royal College of Music, Dr Peter le Huray at St Catherine’s College Cambridge, and Jane Parker-Smith. He was awarded FRCO in 1981 and MA in Performance from Anglia Ruskin University in 1997, studying organ with Nicholas Kynaston at Caius College Cambridge.
Gary was organist of Dunstable Priory and then Assistant Master of Music at Peterborough Cathedral. During his time there he was Conductor of the Peterborough Philharmonic Society, Director of the St Peter’s Singers, and Founder and Associate Conductor of the City of Peterborough Symphony Orchestra. He also taught organ and piano at Oundle and Stamford Schools. He played for the Cathedral Choir on two tours of America in addition to regular TV and radio broadcasts and recordings.
After 6 years in London as Director of Music at Bromley Parish Church and All Saints Blackheath, Gary is now relocating to Reading to join the music staff at the Abbey School and take on the post of Director of Music at St Mary the Virgin, Henley-on-Thames. Meanwhile, he also directs the chamber choir ‘FineChants’ and works as a freelance organist, harpsichordist, conductor, adjudicator, and examiner for the Royal College of Organists. He spent the summers of 2009 and 2011 as the Music Adjudicator to the Sri Lanka Performing Arts Festival.
His recent CD recordings include one for Priory Records from Chelmsford Cathedral featuring the major organ works of Stanley Vann, sometime organist of Peterborough Cathedral, and the ‘Kenneth Leighton Memorial Album’ which Gary compiled and published. Gary has also recently recorded a CD of harpsichord and organ music at Bromley Parish Church. Organ concert venues in this country include St Paul’s, Canterbury and Westminster Cathedrals, King’s College Cambridge and Westminster Abbey. He has made ten international concert tours visiting Denmark, Germany, Italy and USA.
Gary likes to relax by travelling and exploring old churches.
Gary was organist of Dunstable Priory and then Assistant Master of Music at Peterborough Cathedral. During his time there he was Conductor of the Peterborough Philharmonic Society, Director of the St Peter’s Singers, and Founder and Associate Conductor of the City of Peterborough Symphony Orchestra. He also taught organ and piano at Oundle and Stamford Schools. He played for the Cathedral Choir on two tours of America in addition to regular TV and radio broadcasts and recordings.
After 6 years in London as Director of Music at Bromley Parish Church and All Saints Blackheath, Gary is now relocating to Reading to join the music staff at the Abbey School and take on the post of Director of Music at St Mary the Virgin, Henley-on-Thames. Meanwhile, he also directs the chamber choir ‘FineChants’ and works as a freelance organist, harpsichordist, conductor, adjudicator, and examiner for the Royal College of Organists. He spent the summers of 2009 and 2011 as the Music Adjudicator to the Sri Lanka Performing Arts Festival.
His recent CD recordings include one for Priory Records from Chelmsford Cathedral featuring the major organ works of Stanley Vann, sometime organist of Peterborough Cathedral, and the ‘Kenneth Leighton Memorial Album’ which Gary compiled and published. Gary has also recently recorded a CD of harpsichord and organ music at Bromley Parish Church. Organ concert venues in this country include St Paul’s, Canterbury and Westminster Cathedrals, King’s College Cambridge and Westminster Abbey. He has made ten international concert tours visiting Denmark, Germany, Italy and USA.
Gary likes to relax by travelling and exploring old churches.
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The Christ Church organ was built by Hill, Norman & Beard in 1970 with 16 stops, using some pipes from previous organs plus some neo-baroque sounds typical of the 1960's and '70's (Chimney Flute and Fifteenth on open-foot voicing, like the Royal Festival Hall organ). In 1995, HNB moved some loud stops from the Great to a new double case in the nave, 6 stops were added, and the tone was refined. |
The Hill Norman & Beard organ at Christ Church (United Reformed), Leatherhead
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Concert at Home
Here are some links to online recordings of works that feature in Gary Sieling's concert:
Here are some links to online recordings of works that feature in Gary Sieling's concert:
Gary Sieling opens his concert at Christ Church with
Georg Muffat's Toccata Prima, from the composer's
Apparatus Musico-organisticus of 1690.
There are many versions of Jeremiah Clarke's very popular
Trumpet Voluntary, or Prince of Denmark's March, on youtube.
Here it is played on the substantial organ of Calvary Church, Charlotte, North Carolina:
Here is the same piece, this time with
trumpet (Giuseppe Galante), organ, and timpani:
Our concert continues with John Stanley's Voluntary in G major:
Twice daily, Mondays to Saturdays, a concert is played on the world's largest functioning pipe organ.
It is of course in the United States of everything over-sized!
The Wanamaker organ is installed in the
Macy's department store, Center City, Philadelphia.
Here is a performance of the Imperial March which Elgar wrote for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897:
Allowing ourselves a little deviation from today's concert, here is a further performance from the Wanamaker organ. Together with the Wanamaker Chorus and Brass, we see and hear the Triumphal March from Verdi's Aida:
We continue with the more modest proportions
of a work by Herbert Howells.
Master Tallis's Testament is played here by Richard Carr,
on the organ of St Michael's Church, Bishop's Stortford
Our concert draws to its close with Hamburg-born Andreas Willscher's Toccata alla Rumba, played in this recording
by the frilly-cuffed Edgar Teufel, on the organ of
St Laurent-de-la-Salanque, near Perpignan, France.
We hope you have enjoyed this week's
Concert at Home.
