Wednesday 17th September 2014
12.30 Lunchtime Concert

Anthony Cairns, organ










Supported by:
Leatherhead Concert & Arts Society

Programme

In Time of War

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621)
Est-ce Mars? variations on Pierre Guédron's air of 1613

Samuel Scheidt (1587-1654)
Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr (1624)

Frank Bridge (1879-1941)
Lento (In Memoriam CHHP), H139 (1918)
written for the funeral of C Hubert H Parry
Minuet
from Three Pieces, H190 (1939)

Joseph Jongen (1873-1953)
Pensée d'automne, Op 47/2 (1915)
Improvisation - Pastorale, Op 121/2 (1941)   

Paul Hindemith (1895-1963)
Ach Gott, wem soll ich’s klagen (1940)
from Organ Sonata No 3 on Ancient Folk Songs

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)
Très lent (from Diptyque, 1930)

William Walton (1902-1983)
Spitfire Prelude (1942)
from the film score for The First of the Few

Flor Peeters (1903-1986)
Aria, Op 51(1945)

Philip Hammond (b1951)
Postlude (1979)




Rialto Lounge will be in the Church selling sandwiches and drinks after this concert.
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The Hill Norman & Beard organ at Christ Church (United Reformed), Leatherhead

TEXTS:

Est-ce Mars?
Is it Mars, the great God of alarms, that I see?
If he is to be judged by his arms, I do believe it.
Yet every time his looks tell me
that it is Cupid rather than Mars.   

Allein Gott in der Höh’ sei Ehr’
All glory be to God on high,
  Who hath our race befriended!
To us no harm shall now come nigh,
  The feud at last is ended;
God showeth his goodwill toward men,
And peace shall dwell on earth again;
  Oh thank him for his goodness.

Ach Gott, wem soll ich’s klagen
(Sinner:) O God, my plaint I bring Thee,
My heart is full of pain.
(Father:) Then let not doubting sting thee,
But tell thy sorrow plain.
(Sinner:) My conscience is offended,
It pricks me grievously!
(Father:) Thy breach may yet be mended,
Take heart, nor timid be.








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The Hill, Norman & Beard Organ

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.

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Anthony Cairns

Anthony Cairns, MA, BMus, ARCM, has been organist and choirmaster at Christ Church since 1965, and was consultant for organ rebuilds there in 1970 and 1995. He briefly studied piano teaching, cello, and choir training at the Royal College of Music and holds degrees in law (Cambridge, 1961) and music (London, 1977).  

Anthony taught class music in Surrey secondary schools, becoming Head of Music at Esher College in 1977. He taught academic music and keyboard harmony at the Purcell School 1987-97. He was conductor of Leatherhead Choral Society 1991-2000, and formed the Leatherhead chamber choir AntiphoniA in 2007.

As an organist Anthony is largely self-taught, and particularly admires Peter Hurford and Olivier Latry.

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Concert at Home

Here are some links to online recordings of works performed in this month's lunchtime recital



Arjen Leistra plays Sweelinck's Est-ce Mars variations on the Flentrop organ in the Great Church of Schiedam, Netherlands:

sweelinck  -  est-ce mars

Matteo Imbruno is the organist is this recording of
Scheidt's Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr'
(To God alone, in the highest, be glory)
from St Peters Church, Leiden:

Scheidt  -  allein gott, in der höh'

Unable to match Anthony's choice of the Frank Bridge works, here instead is his Andante Moderato in C minor, played in
Westminster Presbyterian Church, Albany, New York State:

bridge  -  andante moderato in c minor

Jongen lived in England during the First World War. He wrote Pensée d'Automne for a 1915 recital in Manchester Town Hall.
It is played here by David Aprahamian Liddle on the organ of
St Michael's Church, Cornhill (near the Bank of England):

jongen  -  pensée d'automne

Next a recording of Hindemith's Ach Gott, wem soll ich's klagen:

hindemith  -  ach gott wem soll ich's klagen

A sound-only recording here of Messiaen's Diptyque.
Worth listening to the whole piece, as the
organist is Olivier Messiaen himself, at the great
Cavaillé-Coll organ in the Église de la Sainte-Trinité, Paris:

messiaen - diptyque  -  messiaen

Apologies for the poor start to this recording of Walton's
Spitfire Prelude. The familiar tune is played by Ben Morris,
Senior Organ Scholar of Jesus College Cambridge:

walton  -  spitfire prelude

We rarely have the chance to hear another Hill Norman and Beard instrument, so it is a pleasure to include this recording of the Flor Peeters Ario, Opus 51, by Gordon Atkinson playing the organ in Ivanhoe Uniting Church, Melbourne, Victoria:

flor peeters  -  aria op 51

As several pieces from today's concert could not be
matched to online recordings, here's a bonus of
Jongen's Prelude and Fugue in E flat,
played by Joel Hastings, on the organ of
St Paul's Lutheran Church, Toledo, Ohio:

jongen  -  prelude & fugue in e flat

Christ Church URC - map

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