Well, I came back after the summer and discovered that the person who was to be a new addition to my choir had not moved to Kingston after all; that another person was not really well enough to continue singing; that two people had retired and were planning to travel for most of the year - and that all this had left me with two altos, a bass, two tenors and a few sopranos. When I go to the anthem reading, do I buy SAB, SA, SATB, SSA???.....I just love September!
I'm hoping that by the middle of October things will be back to normal (or as normal as they ever are with a church choir), and that I will remember this time, like all the Septembers of the past, as just a bad dream. One of the reasons that I really like belonging to the RCCO is that I can talk to my colleagues, and there's always someone in the same boat, or maybe even worse off. At the very least I get lots of sympathy.
The June Newsletter contained a list of all the exciting events the Centre is planning for this year, and further details, where available, are printed in this issue. I hope that I will see each of you at some of these activities. I hope, as well, to hear comments and suggestions from you about the programme, so that we can continue to offer what the members feel is needed.
The best of luck to you all in the coming year!
Music on Amherst Island
One hardly expects to hear a high-calibre organ recital on a two-manual electronic organ in a small church on an island, but that's what awaited the capacity crowd at St Alban's Anglican Church on Amherst Island on the evening of July 27th. Since the recitalist was Maxine Thevenot, the programme was varied, well-chosen and likely to appeal to a wide spectrum of tastes; and the performance exploited to the full the instrument's somewhat limited tonal range. The longer first half consisted of works by Buxtehude (Prelude, Fugue and Ciacona in C), Guilan (Tierce en Taille and Basse de Trompette from the Suite du Deuxième Ton), J.S.Bach (Fantasia in g minor and the Second Movement from the Trio Sonata in d minor), César Franck (Prelude, Fugue and Variation) and Nicholas Bruhns (Praeludium in e minor). For intermission fare, we had a delicious assortment of savouries and sweets, washed down with punch. The second half began with a commemoration of the much loved and admired composer and organist Gerald Bales, who died on July 4th. (A tribute by David Cameron appears below.) Maxine played his Toccatina on "Go tell it on the Mountain", Simple Gifts, and Lord of the Dance. This was followed by the Adagio from Vierne's Third Symphony, and the recital ended with Paul Spicer's Dreams of Derry and James Hewitt's Variations on Yankee Doodle. An encore was called for, and we heard again "the lush romantic strains of a fascinating version of the Londonderry Air (of which I am ashamed to say that I never noticed the name of the composer)" - to quote from my account of the St George's recital. I have to say that I didn't notice the name of the composer this time either. But I enjoyed it again.
Those of us who had not heard before of the existence of the Amherst Island Waterside Summer Series of excellent concerts enjoyed a splendid surprise. One caution: if you go next season to a concert in this admirable series, I should warn you that the statement that St Alban's Church is only five minutes' walk from the ferry turned out to be an under-statement (or over-, depending on how you look at it). To complete it in ten minutes required pretty energetic walking!
The Program for 2002-3
The Executive, as you might imagine, returns to town invigorated and raring to go for the new season. However, September is a tough month for organists (see the Chair's column, which the Editor, and no doubt others, could echo), and it has not yet had time to finalize all the arrangements for the months to come. We have, however, formed a Telephone Committee under the capable direction of Bev Koski, which we hope will ensure complete and timely information being circulated about events of which the final details are not available at press time. For the present we report simply on the three events slated for the months before Christmas.
Anthem Reading
Saturday, September 28th, 10 a.m. to 12 noon: An Anthem Reading at First Baptist Church, with music supplied by Bert Van der Hoek of Hysen Music in London. The music will be for sale and 10% of the takings will go to the Centre. The leader will be Carol Ramer and the accompanist Fran Harkness. This much we told you in June. We may now add that there will be some organ music as well as choral music, that the music has already been sent and displays an unusually good range of styles, and that there will (naturally, since Joan Egnatoff is once more our hostess) be refreshments available at 9.45 and during the intermission. Important note: could you think of one organist of your acquaintance who is not a member and invite/persuade them to come with you? This would be a tremendous way to boost membership and subscribership.
The College Service
Sunday, October 27th at 7.30 p.m.: The College Service will be held at St Paul's Church, Queen Street. Contrary to the previous announcement, the time will be 7.30 p.m. on October 27th. The Executive will form the basis of a choir for the occasion, and will rehearse at 4.00 p.m. on that Sunday; all who are free to join them at that time are cordially invited - nay, urged - to do so. (There is a KSO concert in the afternoon, hence the change of time.) Evensong will be conducted by the Rev. David Ward, the Rector. Before the service, there will be a presentation of diplomas to scholarship winners, two of whom (Jill Mingo and Marek Krowicki) will play preludes and, as a postlude, an organ duet.
Don't forget - book the date now for the "Twelfth Night" Party - the evening of FRIDAY, JANUARY 10th. Place and time to be announced.
Congratulations - and Thanks!
It is sometimes inspiring to meditate on the devotion and commitment of other people. Mrs Margaret McKendry gives us occasion for such reflection; she is just celebrating her fiftieth anniversary as organist at Glenburnie United Church. On behalf of the Centre, we extend her our warmest felicitations and best wishes on this notable occasion.
Thanks are also due. We do, of course, owe thanks to Mrs McKendry herself on behalf of the company of organists for her sterling example; but on the occasion of her celebration we have been afforded a more direct reasom for gratitude. The church authorities at Glenburnie, searching for an apposite way of marking Mrs McKendry's service and achievement, felicitously hit upon the idea of awarding an Organ Scholarship in her name. This scholarship is being presented to the Centre to administer in the same way as the other Centre scholarships, and will be given in 2003 and for two or so more years as finances permit. It will, naturally, be known as the McKendry Scholarship.
A formal presentation will be made at the church on Sunday September 29that a reception in Mrs McKendry's honour. Fran Harkness, as Centre Chair, will accept the award on the Centre's behalf. We offer our thanks to the Minister and congregation of Glenburnie United Church for their generosity, and for their farsighted concern for the musi of the Church.
Craftsmen in Concert
The Inaugural Concert on the Recently Completed Hybrid Pipe/Digital Organ at St Paul's United Church, Perth
by Brad Mills
On Saturday October 26th at 7.30 p.m., Don Anderson, Bruce Cross and Thomas Fitches, who are the three craftsmen who did the completion work on the St Paul's United Church organ, will don their concert attire to present the inaugural recital on this magnificent instrument.
The pipe organ at St Paul's Church, Perth, was originally built in 1939 by Casavant of St Hyacinthe, Québec. This 21-rank organ was completely rebuilt and enlarged by Dubay Organs of Burlington, Ontario in 1981. A three-manual solid-state console controlling 40 ranks of pipes replaced the two-manual electro-pneumatic console. At that time, several stops were omitted with the intention that they would be installed later. Proceeds from all concerts and special donations for the next 20 years accumulated in an Organ Completion Fund, and in June 2001 the Church Council approved the "completion" of the instrument.
The original intention in the early 1980s was to add an 8' Principal and 8' Oboe to the Swell, a 4-rank Mixture and 16' bassoon to the Pedal, and an 8' Erzahler to the Positiv. In the intervening years, the cost of the proposed pipe additions continued to rise to the point where other options needed to be considered. After entertaining several proposals from pipe-organ firms, we began to look at the possibility of digitally-sampled pipe sounds.
Two firms working with digital sounds were considered, and a visit was made to Chalmers United Church in Kingston to check out the Classic Organs pipe/digital hybrid there. This visit convinced us that the pipe/digital combination could be very successful. After much consideration, Don Anderson of Aria Systems, Peterborough, representing Phoenix Organs of England, was engaged to draw up a proposal.
The Phoenix proposal would give us the several stops we originally intended to install, plus a completely modernized console with the latest Phoenix digital pipe control system (the first organ to use this), expanded memory, additional couplers and new piston rails, MIDI and digital sequencer, an enlarged pedal division (including three 32' stops!), and a complete floating Choir division of 14 stops. A second specification is available, where all digital stops of the organ change over to a different set of sounds, which include orchestral samples. New interior console parts of solid walnut were made and installed at the Phoenix shop in Peterborough, Canada. The completed instrument is a 3-manual, 75 rank, 65 stop, five-division organ (Swell, Great, Positiv, Choir and Pedal).
The marriage of the 1939 Casavant pipework and the 1981 pipework installed by Dubay was never completely successful. Bruce Cross and Thomas Fitches were engaged to revoice all of the existing pipework to provide a solid foundation on which to build all the digitally-sampled pipe sounds. Thomas has been a much sought-after voicer in Toronto for thirty years, and has worked on all the major organs in the city. Bruce Cross worked for Alan T. Jackson (Casavant) for seven years, and now runs his own pipe organ service firm. Tom and Bruce spent two weeks last August completing the voicing work. The pipework now has a warmth and cohesiveness that is a pleasure to listen to.
The console was removed and taken to the Aria Systems shop in Peterborough in September where the new digital operating system, console upgrades and digital sounds were installed over the next several months. A great deal of keyboard and pedalboard touch regulation was done as well. The console returned in December, and voicing and adjusting took place in the early part of this year.
I am extremely pleased with the results. The new Choir division speaks from the front left of the church where only Pedal stops originally sounded. This has provided uniform leadership for hymn singing right across the sanctuary, quieter possibilities for accompaniment and meditative music, new antiphonal and solo possibilities and an augmented sound on louder registrations. The Swell division has been wanting an 8' Principal and 8' Oboe since the 1981 rebuild and now sounds complete. A mechanical Harp which has not worked for years was digitally sampled (by striking the bars with a mallet) and now is sounding again. The Pedal division has added weight and presence with the addition of a wide range of stops. A digital Piano played from the touch-sensitive Positiv has been extremely useful for those anthems that really cry out for a piano sound (complete with sustain on a toe stud). The sequencer will prove useful for checking registrations, covering preludes when I'm warming up the choirs, and (I hope) playing the early service for me when I'm rehearsing the teen choirs. The success of our instrument has resulted in the Free Methodist church in Perth installing a completely new Phoenix three-manual instrument.
All three of our craftsmen possess a high degree of skill as organists.. Don Anderson studied organ with Melville Cook and at the Royal School of Church Music in England. He is currently organist at St John's Anglican Church in Peterborough. Bruce Cross grew up in Perth where he began organ studies with the present writer. He continued his studies with David Cameron at Queen's, where he completed his Bachelor of Music, and is now organist and choirmaster at the Church of the Ascension in Hamilton. Thomas Fitches was appointed to the position of Organist and Choirmaster at St Clement's Anglican Church in 1973. Mr Fitches has performed on CBC Radio in the series "Organists in Recital" and was a guest artist in the "Twilight Organ Series" at Roy Thomson Hall. He is currently President of the Toronto Centre of the Royal Canadian College of Organists.
The inaugural concert on October 26th will feature music by Bach, Rheinberger, Litaize and Fagiani.
It is hoped that all organists in the region will join us for this very special concert. Tickets will be available at the door: Adults $8.00, Children $5.00 and Family $20.00.
If you wish to know more about this instrument including specifications and digital photos, please visit the Phoenix website at http://webhome.idirect.com/~aria/.
A Tribute to Gerald Bales (1919-2002)
by David Cameron
Composer and conductor Gerald Bales, who served for many years as organist and choirmaster for the Cathedral Church of St Mark in Minneapolis, died July 4 in London, Ontario. He was 83 and had been retired for some time.
During his 1959-1971 tenure at the Cathedral Church of St Mark, Bales started the Cathedral Music Series, and premiered works for chorus, orchestra and organ by Canadian and American composers.
Born in Toronto, Bales worked at churches in Toronto and Calgary, Alberta, before taking the position at the Cathedral Church of St Mark. In 1957, he represented Canada at the first International Congress of Organists, held in London. He was President of the Royal Canadian College of Organists from 1980 to '82, and was awarded the Order of Canada in 1996.
This obituary from the Minneapolis-St Paul Star-Tribune concentrates, as is natural, on the important portion of Gerald's career which was centred at St Mark's Cathedral in Minneapolis. It doesn't mention the crucial turning-point in his life, which came when he was violently assaulted in the Cathedral by an unknown intruder. The physical damage which he sustained virtually ended his career as a virtuoso organ recitalist, but his gifts enabled him to make positive changes at that time which have brought direct benefits to the whole musical community, and particularly to us in eastern Canada.
Before moving to the Twin Cities, Gerald Bales had established an enviable reputation as a player. He served at Rosedale United Church in Toronto (where my father was his paid tenor, and his playing helped to excite my interest in the organ); then at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, which now faces Roy Thompson Hall in downtown Toronto. From there he moved to the Cathedral Church of the Redeemer in Calgary, and then to Minneapolis. His reputation as a player was so high that he represented Canada in the 1957 International Congress of Organists in London, playing a notable recital at Westminster Cathedral on a console with fixed combinations only (I have the recording - and you would never know that he was fighting an obsolete and recalcitrant console; yet another way in which Gerald inspired one young Canadian organist).
After his injury in Minneapolis, Gerald moved to the University of Ottawa to be Professor of Organ. The art of organ playing in this country was greatly enriched by his work there; I was in touch with him repeatedly concerning students who moved from one city to the other, and was always impressed not only by his musicianship - that goes without saying - but also by his deep and nurturing concern for the pupils whose work he directed. His personal graciousness was also very evident in his work for the RCCO; he served the College as a long-time Councillor, and as President in 1980-82.
But his greatest and most lasting gift to us came in his compositions. He was already a published composer when he moved to the United States. When the assault limited his powers as a player (though he continued to play church services for some years), he devoted more of his time to composition. The result is in music libraries all over the world: chamber music, music for orchestra, organ music, and a rich lode of music for choir.
In a note I received a few days ago, his widow Beth says: "He was a great man and we miss him dearly....His memory and his music will stay alive in all of us." Indeed this is so. He was a loveable and gentle man, a gentleman in the finest sense, who bore and overcame severe injuries, and an example of the rare artist who achieves the highest distinction in two separate musical disciplines. He will be an inspiration to all of us, and to the generations who will follow us.
(Editor's note: I myself have two personal debts to Gerald Bales. When membership of the National Executive demanded frequent visits to Toronto, and the Royal York became far too expensive a luxury, he introduced me to the Strathcona which stands in its shadow to the west, and where he used to stay himself. This saved me a lot of money! But more importantly, it meant that I frequently met him on such occasions, and my second and resulting debt concerns the great kindness and encouragement which he, as a musician of national eminence, gave me as I approached the daunting prospect of emerging from obscurity to undertake the Presidency of the College. Truly "a gentleman in the finest sense". - N.B.)
Requiescat in pace
Welcome!
We extend a warm welcome to Michael Goodwin, who recently moved into the Kingston Centre. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music in London, England, as an orchestral Horn player. He played with many orchestras including the BBC and the London Symphony in England, and with the NACO in Ottawa and the Symphony here in Kingston. Since retiring from horn-playing, he has spent his time accompnying for voice, instruments and dance, including the Ottawa winds whose CD is still occasionally heard on the CBC. He directed the Cornwall Ecumenical Choir, the Seaway Valley Singers and a group which he both founded and sang in, Renaissance Voyces.
For the last nine years he has been Organist/Choir Director at Lakeshore Drive United Church in Morrisburg, and now he has moved back to Kingston, where he hopes to continue accompanying and to find a church where he can both work and worship.
Best Wishes!
We learn that Eileen Fleming, who plays at St Peter's Anglican Church, has taken leave for the rest of this year for health reasons. (Robert Bell is filling in for her.) We offer her our sympathy and very best wishes for a speedy and complete recovery.
Watch Out!
St George's Cathedral is once again putting on its Advent series of Thursday lunch-hour concerts. Since there are only three Thursdays in Advent this year, the series will likely start on November 28th. Details were not complete at press time - look out for public announcements
National Notes
At the Convocation held at the National Convention in Charlottetown, Marnie Giesbrecht handed over the Presidential reins to Mark Toews. The new First Vice-President is Alan Reesor of Charlottetown, and the new Second Vice-President is our own David Cameron, who is due to become President in 2006. We wish him well in his new responsibilities.
You may not have heard that the Executive Director, James Lee, resigned as of August 31st. During the search for his successor, the Administrative Assistant, Sharon Beckstead, will continue to run the National Office.
A welter of submissions bombarded the National Publications Committee this summer. Four compositions have been chosen for publication, including (as one work) a set by F.R.C.Clarke. They are being published under the title Three Easy Anthems and are for SAB choirs, but may also be perfomed SA. The titles are: My soul, there is a country (General), Christ the lord is risen again (Easter) and Sing we triumphant hymns of praise (Ascension/General). The other current publications are by Winnagene Hatch (O Love, how deep), and Morning has broken and a setting of Psalm 51, both by Robin King. The last of these is recommended for those who love the Allegri but cannot guarantee the high Cs! For more information and pricing, contact the National Office.
On the subject of College publications, do you have your copy of the current edition of The Employment of a Church Musician?