Out and about yesterday

Yesterday I played for the Parish Eucharist at All Saints, Northcote.  After all the running around last week it seemed like time for the musical equivalent of comfort food, so here is what I played.

Noel Alsacien -- Alexandre Guilmant
Noel -- Sigfrid Karg-Elert
Piece d'Orgue [BWV 572] -- J.S. Bach

Merry Christmas

Out and about on Christmas Eve

Christmas is usually a very busy time, as bulletins from around this time of the last couple of years will attest.  This year is no exception, but in a slightly different way to recent years on account of the large amount of travel involved -- I have a round-trip of about 160km from leaving home to play for the first service to returning from the last one.

I have two services on Christmas eve.  The first will be at Our Lady Help of Christians in Eltham at 7.30pm, which is a sort of carols-service-cum-Mass.  The music will include pieces by Harold Darke and Adolphe Adam.

The second is midnight Mass at Tarrawarra Abbey.

Neither of these services lays huge demands on the organ per se, so it has been difficult to plan any repertoire.

To all who visit this place: I hope you enjoy Christmas celebrations among friends and loved ones, and that your break (summer or winter!) is a restful one.

Out and about on Christmas Day

On Wednesday morning I will be playing for the 10.30am Solemn Mass of Christmas Day at St Aloysius.  This will be the last stop on the long road trip that begins tomorrow, after which I point myself homeward.

Here's the organ music I have planned.

Prelude: Christmas Pastorale -- Jacques Lemmens
Processional:  Lobt Gott, ihr Christen, allzugleich -- J.G. Walther
Offertory: In Dulci Jubilo -- J.S. Bach
Elevation: Vom Himmel hoch [1] -- Johann Pachelbel
Communion: Vom Himmel hoch [2] -- Johann Pachelbel
Postlude: Marche des Rois Mages -- Theodore Dubois

The local $2 shop: a study in un-PC-ness

More out and about on Sunday: Pop Up Concert

On Sunday afternoon I will be 'popping up' as one half of an organ and trumpet duo, along with Matthew Schultz.

The concert is at Richmond Uniting Church, and will include music by Charles Ives, Naji Hakim, Jean Langlais, and much else.  The program is loosely based around the Christmas story, and the music explores some different angles of the story.

Why a pop up concert, I hear you ask.

Well, Matthew and I have played a couple of recitals this year where one of the requirements of the programmes was that it should focus on Baroque music.  There's no problem with that, but it does sometimes leave you wanting to play other music.  Hence, we're popping up to share some of the other music for organ and trumpet that we've explored, mulled over, and marked for some prospective recital at some point in an indefinite future.

The turning point from 'some prospective recital...' was when I had the opportunity to explore the organ at Richmond Uniting Church when I played a recital there a couple of months ago.  The instrument and the building have the wow factor in spades, so we decided to book the church and put on a concert for whoever turns up.

Out and about on Sunday

This week I will be back at St Aloysius, Caulfield, to play the organ for the 10.30am sung Mass.  It will be a fairly busy day, as you'll see from concert posters hanging around here.

Here is the music I have planned.

Prelude: Tempo Moderato and Intermezzo from Sonata 4 (Op. 98) -- Josef Rheinberger
Offertory: Bells -- Jean Langlais
Communion: Intermezzo -- Jean Langlais

Postlude: Fuga Chromatica from Sonata 4 (Op. 98) -- Josef Rheinberger

A very good question...

Out and about on Sunday afternoon

On Sunday afternoon I will be playing for Vespers at St Aloysius, Caulfield.

This week they're having Vespers with a Bishop, which makes the service a bit more solemn than usual.  Having said that, compared the level of ceremonial elaboration that goes into a Pontifical High Mass, Solemn Vespers remains a relatively simple affair.

The service is fairly simple, and the organ pretty much tops and tails.  Here's what I have planned.

Prelude: Voluntary -- anon.
Processional: Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland -- Johann Buttstedt
Postlude: A Fancy -- Peter Hurford

Out and about on Friday

This is going to be an extraordinarily busy weekend, from Friday till Sunday.

On Friday I am playing for two events in the Catholic Youth Festival being staged in and around Australian Catholic University.

The first is a High Mass for the feast of St Nicholas, to be celebrated incomplete vastness of Sacred Heart church, Rathdowne Street, Carlton, at 8.30am.  This is the festival showcase for the Latin Mass community in Caulfield, where I have spent quite a bit of time over the last twelve months.

Here is the organ music I have planned for the service:

Prelude: Nun komm' der Heiden Heiland [BWV 659] -- Johann Sebastian Bach 
Processional: Pleins Jeux -- Nicolas de Grigny 
Offertory: Prelude in G [BWV 541] -- J.S. Bach 
Elevation: Rorate Caeli -- Jeanne Demessieux
Communion: Adagio from Organ Sonata I (Op. 65, No. 1) -- Felix Mendelssohn 
Postlude: Dialogue sur les Mixtures from Suite Breve -- Jean Langlais

In addition to this, the choir will be singing Mass IV with organ accompaniment.

At 3.00pm I will be accompanying the singing of Vespers by the Cistercians of Tarrawarra Abbey in the chapel at Australian Catholic University.  For the organ this is largely a top-and-tail operation, so here is what I have planned:

Adagio from Sonata IV [BWV 525] -- J.S. Bach
Fantasie -- Abraham van den Kerckhoven