FLC organist to play a recital on November 4, 2015 at Stanford Memorial Church

by Jin-Kyung Lim – 

On the first day of July, I received an exciting email.

“Dear Ms. Lim, I hope that you are enjoying the summer thus far. I’m just putting together the recital series for the next academic year and was wondering if you might be interested in performing a recital here?…All the best, Robert.”

At first, I was wondering about how he knew me and got the contact information. I never met Mr. Robert Huw Morgan in person, although I had been hearing of his name and his musical endeavors at Stanford University. After having several correspondences, we nailed down the date for my recital, November 4. I was thrilled to think about the recital program, which made me write down a list of works that can easily make three or four hours! I was eager to play all of Bach’s 18 Leipzig chorales, which would require the audience to sit and listen to nothing but Bach for a couple of hours. I could play grand symphonic French organ works, since I need to prepare that repertory for the master classes and concert in Paris after Christmas. All those raw and wild ideas were balanced after I reminded myself of the mission that I kept in mind since the time I learned the organ seriously and played at church: to introduce, spread and pass down the beauty of the organ music that has been used to praise God for more than thousand years at church.

In general, it takes time to appreciate and understand the message that organ music contains. The complexity of the organ music is partly from the instrument itself. While a piano player can convey the most emphasized melody line by controlling other parts softened, an organ player has to deal with the equal amount of volume driven by the registration at the moment. In this regard, the contrapuntal style in which each part has equal importance has been ideal on the organ. Later in 19th century, the evolution of the organ building by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll (1811-1899) allowed the organ to express the dynamic more gradually using a swell box and an innovative pneumatic combination action system.  With this advanced technical support, the organ music at church flourished again, and composers were inspired to write organ music in a bigger scale with the effect of having the whole orchestra in one instrument.

For the program of the recital on November 4, I take advantage of playing two different styles of organs in the Stanford Memorial Church. The Fisk is a 4-manual Baroque organ with mechanical
action, and the Marray-Harris is a 3-manual Romantic organ with electric action. The first half includes different national styles in Baroque music. The Fantasia Cromatica by Jan Pieterszoon
Sweelinck (1562-1621) demonstrates the complexity of the contrapuntal style, which established the foothold in the North German composers and also greatly influenced J.S. Bach. The Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C major, BWV 564 by J.S. Bach (1685-1750) contains Italian elements in each movement. The written-down ornamentation was influenced by the vocal music of the time, and the harmonic structure of the dissonances and suspensions was derived from typical Italian toccatas. The second movement is a highly embellished aria. The hymn setting on Veni Creator Spiritus by Nicolas de Grigny (1672-1703) has 5 verses on the organ that alternate with the chant melody. The colorful registration of each movement is implied in the title of the movement, and French agrément (single-note ornaments) and note inégales (unequal notes) characterize the French Baroque period. The second half will be on the Harris organ as I explore the big dynamic range from serene tranquility to roaring thunder from thousands of pipes, and mainly consists of works by French composers. Choral No. 1 in E major by Cesar Franck (1822-1890), a couple of works by Louis Vierne (1870-1937), and other works can be included.

As I wrote in response to Robert, this recital is a big inspiration to me in terms of playing the very fine organs as well as refreshing me as an organist. I could have been in slump after working hard for three years at FLC, but I got motivated and strive for learning new repertory as preparing the recital. God’s timing always works even though I dare to fathom His marvelous plan.

“Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee.
O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever.”