Celebrity Organ Recital by Martin Baker, at St Edmundsbury Cathedral, Bury St Edmunds, Wednesday 21st May 2008, part of the Bury Festival.

I must confess is that I am no expert in organ playing and so, if you want a knowledgeable summary of Martin Baker’s concert on Wednesday 21st May this probably isn’t the review for you – sorry! (If you were there yourself, remember you can send onesuffolk your views on the concert too).  I  did know that Martin Baker was the Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral and played the organ at Princess Diana’s funeral. I knew he was performing as part of the Bury Festival, and I was looking forward to a new experience, an organ concert.

I went to the cathedral with some-one who plays the organ and, for both of us, an unexpected bonus were the television screens placed around the cathedral. These meant Martin was not only able to talk to the audience, via a camera in the organ loft, explaining more about the pieces he was to perform, but we could clearly see the four manuals, as he played. Usually all a congregation sees is the back of the organist’s head!

The concert began with Overture to Egmont (Beethoven, arranged by M. Baker), followed by Prelude and Fugue in B minor, (J.S. Bach). Martin Baker followed this with two works by living composers. The first, La Cité Celeste (L.Rogg) , began with a dark forbidding atmosphere, building through the piece until the very floor of the cathedral was vibrating, ending with a long dramatic chord.  This was followed Evocation II (T. Escaich) an almost cinematic piece of music which involved much nimble keyboard work and left me wondering if the organist actually had more than two hands! This was a very dynamic and modern work, much enjoyed by the audience.

Returning to more traditional compositions, we then heard Prière (C.Franck) with its haunting echoes and repeated themes, followed by Chorale Fantasia (M.Reger, 1873-1916) this a piece with emotion and drive, contrasting with quieter passages too. 

For me the highlight of the evening was the final item in the programme. Entitled “Improvisation on a submitted theme”, Martin was handed  a sheet of music, Now is the Month of Maying (T.Morley) which he played through once, spent a few moments thinking about and then proceeded to improvise around the tune using the sounds of different instruments, pitch, speed and volume, cleverly moving from one interpretation to another without a hesitation. So clever! How would he end the improvisation? As all the items ended of course, with a confident crescendo.

Rachel Sloane
22nd May 2008

list all reviews | send a comment on this review | onesuffolk What's On listing