Відео

played with great feeling Ben

A very fine performance, beautifully registered: bravo, Ben! Howells' organ music works wonderfully well on the splendid Harrison and Harrison instrument of the Temple Church. Apparently, this work was completed on 16 December, 1939 . . . but it had to wait to be first played by Sumsion at the Three Choirs Festival at Gloucester in 1950, and again by Dr William H. Harris in the Organ Music Society’s series, 'Seven Centuries of English Organ Music', compiled for the Festival of Britain in 1951 (so a little surprising that Sumsion waited a decade to perform this work dedicated to him). In 'The Musical Times' (vol 94 no.1325), an article describes this piece as “the longest, the most exacting, and the biggest of the collection in more ways than one,” and suggests “there can be no doubt that those who study this lovely movement - it does not yield everything at once - will realise the rightness of every note, and, what is much more, the satisfying and inevitable curve of the whole.” By sharp contrast, however, Howells’ friend and colleague, the composer Gerald Finzi, is much less effusive in his praise! He wrote just nine months later in the same journal that: "The ‘Fugue, Chorale and Epilogue’ from which one at first expects much, leads to the question why Howells's fugal expositions are sometimes so dead. It is the same in the slow movement of the organ sonata and in ‘H. H. His Fancy’ in the clavichord set. Yet Howells’s contrapuntal mastery is second to none.” Finzi also refers to Howells’s “diamond-cut brilliance” when describing his contrapuntal technique, so some praise as well as some criticism! But in another negative vein, Diane Nolan Cooke (organist and musicologist currently working at The Library of Congress, Washington, DC.) goes on to draw on Finzi’s assessment of Howells when she states: “being nearly twice as long (when performed) as the other pieces, the work perhaps offers fodder for the not infrequent criticism that Howells engages in ‘note-spinning when inspiration has slackened’.” While she sees promise in the pathos of the first fugue subject, and the chant-like quality of the second, her final assessment is less positive: “the listener is certain to notice a tediousness in the material both leading up to and following the chorale, which is the piece’s high point; further, the moment of clarity offered by the chorale seems too fleeting, in spite of its internal effectiveness and robust presentation,” and ultimately that this piece “seems to lack the emotional depth present in the other pieces in this set.” Oh dear! Critics can be so unkind, but I'm sure both Finzi and Cooke would have reviewed this upload, Ben, in the most glowing of terms - like me!

Merci pour cette découverte, Ben.

Thank you for introducing me to Jeanne Angèle Desirée Yvonne Joulain, and this organ work from 1959, which I think has an improvisatory feel to it. Your excellent performance sees the tonal resources of this magnificent organ matched perfectly to the unmistakably French character of the music: bravo, Ben!

Fabbo. Let's hope this Jeanne was better treated than Mme Demessieux..

Brilliant

No one ever says John Stanley...

is this copyright free?

Ben - brilliant! As an American I love the cross Atlantic darts the most. Viewing the very ending I think I pulled a muscle laughing - well worth it. Keep it up!

Interesting & enjoyable, beautifully presented. Thanks BB!

Thank you for introducing me to the organ music of Auguste Fauchard. You give a very reverential performance of this work and the Gregorian influence is clearly evident. Your registration choices on this glorious organ demonstrate the instrument's tonal resources to great effect: bravo, Ben!

Wonderful rendition, great melody!

Probably my favourite from my 3 volumes of Stanley. Enjoyed your ornamentations.

Thank you for this delightful episode, Ben. (Now I must go back and catch up with the others.) It is entertaining, educational and inspirational all at once. What a privilege to hear Martin Baker's thoughts; your interview questions were so well-considered. Applause!!

I've enjoyed your 'teasing' re John Stanley in the podcasts . . . so it's good to actually hear you play this Voluntary, and for you to praise the musical craftsmanship of the composer, who wrote some wonderful music worthy of being heard more than it is. Being overshadowed by those considered our superiors is a sad fact of life, but Stanley has earned more love and respect than often comes his way. Your certainly ensure this organ does full justice to his music: bravo, Ben!

Le combo parfait!! Magnifique !!!!!!!!

Bwv 541 Bach

Bwv 541 Bach

there's something remarkably futuristic about this piece, it sounds very reminiscent of the music you hear in British Pathé films lol

Thanks for introducing me to the world of Henri Carol. Beautiful playing and fabulously lush music.

Howells didn’t write well of the organ

Brilliant Ben. I love it with its typically Howellsian harmonic progressions. You make it look so easy.

F A B U L O U S ! Wow, Ben - what a virtuosic performance of Howellls' toccata like Paean. As you remark, the piece is restless and peppered with undeniable optimism - a magnificent celebration of life and a truly triumphant hymn of praise. I first heard the piece back in the 1970s (before you were born!) when, as a teenager, I bought the RCA record of "The Organ of Ripon Cathedral" played by Ronald Perrin. I remember being blown away by the Tuba on that instrument, which featured repeatedly in Perrin's performance of this work, and the 32' Pedal reed - both stops of thrilling power. Mind you, the Temple Church has some fiery reeds as well and you are not shy about letting them burst forth with exuberance. This is only the second time I have heard this masterpiece played in a recording - and it was worth the fifty year wait. B R A V O !

Interesting Ben.

I m French,yet I'll do m'y best to sày : Fantastic Pièce and Fantastic Organist !

Thank you for sharing this ! I get the impression that this is one of his more original little pieces.

Very soulful piece. You've chosen well, Ben. Thank you!

A cute organist.

Very nice.

this is very beautiful Ben and beautifully played - thanks for the biographical notes on the composer unknown to me.

Very nice music. I did not know this music. Thank you !

A beautiful performance, Ben: bravo! It's lovely to hear the softer stops and gentler side of this magnificent Downes/Walker Organ and the tranquil 'Prière à Notre-Dame de Miséricorde' by Henri Carol enables this perfectly.

Fabulous that you are playing Whitlock at Rochester . . . and what a Tuba! Oh, how I wish I was there to hear your recital!

Ooh lovely, wish I could be there Ben. Best of luck! What a tuba as well!

More shorts! Also, I’m dying from a lack of my weekly chiff chat podcast. 😢😂

Just to add, we both wished it was LOUDER!! :D

You were excellent today!

My wife and I listened to you in Chichester Cathedral today. We very much enjoyed it.

Ooh, wish I could be there! Hope it went well!

Just wish I could be there to hear you live: bon chance!

A very fine performance of a majestic work. You usually see organists working the pedals in special thin-soled organ shoes. Not so Ben, who is very sensibly doing it in his socks. No one is watching his feet except for the camera, so why not? -- at least on a modern organ where you don't need to depress the pedals with brute force,

One of the most famous of Bach's preludes and fugues a very fine rendition Ben.

1000 Bravos dear Ben. You played that absolutely spot on. One thing stood out and that was, I heard every note of the Fugue. You are the only organist I have been able to say that to. Your tempo was under control throughout. Why some other organists race through the Fugue, I will never know! Perhaps you should start giving Master Classes on the works of J.S.Bach focusing on tempo and in some cases, registration: Keep up the good work Ben,ypu rate one of the best in my book any day

I was very interested to read the story of this organ's evolution (especially as the church in Yorkshire where I was organist in my teens had a J J Binns organ, and much of the rebuilt instrument at BCBC consists of pipe work from two organs built by Binns). The current specification is generous for a three manual instrument . . . and I particularly enjoyed hearing the 32' Sackbut in the final pedal entry of the fugue: Bach sounds good on this organ! Your notes on BWV 552 are wonderfully comprehensive, Ben. I was interested to read you state that the number of bars in the prelude and fugue (205+117=322), satisfies the Golden Ratio, and so you, with many eminent others, recognise what appears to be the importance of numerology in Bach's compositions. We know that as a man of great faith and a sincerely devout Lutheran, Bach's music was always looking to worship God, and so quite often in its mathematical perfection, Bach's music can be seen to reflect the perfection of Christ. Thus the mathematical nature of Bach’s works has entered popular myth . . . though maybe we should be just a little more cautious about the supposed numerical bases of his compositions, even though such notions date back to the 1740s and are repeated in his obituary and subsequent biographies. Some academics have identified a problem here as we do not know what numbers or numerical processes some of these claims are referring to. As a result, they have attracted an array of wild and often historically implausible explanations about Bach’s use of numbers. Mind you, that has not stopped musicians and music lovers from rapidly running out of superlatives when it comes to describing Bach's purported genius. To Beethoven, he was ‘the immortal god of harmony’; to Wagner, ‘the most stupendous miracle in all music’; to Max Reger, ‘the beginning and end of all music’. So connections to the divine are never far off, as in Mauricio Kagel’s quip that no one believes in God anymore . . . but everyone believes in Bach; or even - in the words of a contemporary atheist philosopher - that Bach is the best argument for the existence of God! And you, Ben, rank with the very best performers, who makes us all sense the divine in Bach's music! B R A V O !

First time I have heard this Rowley work, but beautifully crafted music and played wonderfully on this splendid organ: bravo, Ben! (I wonder if GTB ever made a recording of the piece at the Temple Church?)

Brilliant and so fluent in registration changes

Fabulous piece fabulously played

Very good. I enjoyed all of that, especially the humour. 👍🏻

Phrasing, tempo, registration, articulation all excellent and well recorded too. I'm playing this for Trinity Sunday this week. Thanks for the great video.

I ca n listen to you play all day , L Richard USA 🇺🇸New York