August 3 2013 - Alex Ross, organ

Thank you to everyone who came to Alex Ross's excellent organ recital yesterday. We hope you enjoy this review from an impressed audience member. (If you would like to do a concert review, please email l'oasismusicale@gmail.com!)

Concert Review

Montreal is the North American city, more than any other, where the pipe organ is king. Buxtehude, Bach and Messiaen are the crown princes. Alex Ross, organ scholar at Christ ChurchCathedral, did the occasional organ concert-goer a service this past Saturday by introducing us to some other members of the royal family. Perhaps we have heard Langlais but who among us peasants ever thought that even Amadeus composed for the organ king. Alex, student turned teacher, started us off with the virtuosity of Joseph Bonnet, the opening passage, a brief toccata clearly indebted to Bach, and, after Bonnet, Alex skillfully led us through Karam, Lübeck and Langlais to the complexity of Mozart. We were in turn surprised by Bourgeois’ Serenade composed in 11/8 and 13/8 time as a lively postlude for Bourgeois’ own wedding. The closing work was Jehan Alain’s Litanies in which the comic is eventually resolved into the serious and reason gives way to faith. Bravo, bravo, Alex, arcibravo! Evviva the King of Instruments!

samedi 3 août 2013 / Saturday 3rd August 2013

16h 30 / 4.30 pm
Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal
Ste-Catherine/University

Alex Ross, organ  / orgue

'The King of Instruments / Le Roi des instruments'

Variations de concert op. 1 (1906)

          I. Introduction et thème

          II. 1er variation

          III. 2me variation

          IV. 3me variation

          V. 4me variation et finale                                                                Joseph Bonnet  (1884–1944)

Divertimento (1959)                                                                           Frederick Karam (1926–1978)

Præambulum in E-Dur LübWV 7                                                        Vincent Lübeck (1654–1740)

Suite médiévale: Méditation sur ubi caritas et Jesu dulcis memoria (1950)       

                                                                                                                        Jean Langlais (1907–1991)

Fantaisie en fa mineur K. 594 (1790)

          I. Adagio

          II. Allegro

          III. Adagio                                                                                            W. A. Mozart (1756–1791)

Serenade op. 22 (1990)                                                                               Derek Bourgeois (n. 1941)

Litanies JA 119 (1937)                                                                                     Jehan Alain (1911–1940)