The Royal Canadian College of Organists, Kingston Centre

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The Royal Canadian College of Organists Le Collège royal canadien des organistes

KINGSTON CENTRE

NEWSLETTER Opus 51 - March 2003

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From the Chair

T he end of the season - and of the winter weather - is in sight! Yesterday, for the first time, the air smelled fresh and spring-like and the snow is almost melted. And this reminds us that our busiest season of the year as organists is at hand. The Council Meeting of the RCCO was held at the beginning of March and I returned from it reflecting on how much the organization has given me both as a church musician and personally in the time that I have been associated with it. At Council, members gather from around the country to discuss matters of business and share ideas. Most helpful are the Directors' Reports which summarize activities in individual centres. I have always come away from the meetings filled with inspiration for new events and encouraged about the health of our profession in Canada. There was a report from this meeting as well about the annual convention of the RCCO which will be held in Ottawa from July 21st to July 25th. I would encourage everyone to attend. The line-up of clinicians and recitalists is most impressive and it is very fortunate to have the event in what is almost our back yard. We seldom get more than two or three members from Kingston at a National Convention; this time it is so near that it should be easier to fit it into your summer schedule. Let's try for a record representation! I know that Dave and I plan to be there. I hope that for all of you there will be time for quiet contemplation in the weeks leading up to Easter. In these troublesome times I pray for peace in the world and hope that love will prevail.

Twelfth Night Party

T he Centre's Twelfth Night Party duly took place at 7.30 p.m. on Friday, January 10th at St Thomas' Church, Reddendale. Nora Vincent, assisted by her husband, Tom, looked after the set-up and the relations with the church, for all of which we are very grateful to them. The light-hearted entertainment was arranged by Carol Ramer, who contributed to it the reading of a poem and a story. Fran Harkness, to use the old phrase, presided at the piano, accompanying Janice Coles in several comedy songs, including William Bolcom's "Lime Jello Marshmallow Surprise", and Michael Goodwin's rendition of Michael Flanders' witty and well-known version of a Mozart Horn Concerto, "An Ill `Wind". (In this she was more fortunate than Donald Swann, since Flanders, who originally sang the song, took his cue from the inordinately fast performance by the famous horn-player Dennis Brain, which Flanders listened to on a cassette player which also ran too fast, as a result of which Swann developed severe cramp in his hand after a performance or two.)

Flanders and Swann also surfaced in an offering based on "The Hippopotamus Song" by Sarah Pugh, who also sang with Janice. Ted Brown contributed his own lovely jazz version of "Over the Rainbow", and Fran left her pianist's bench to tell the true story of "The Funeral from Hell". All in all, lots of good clean fun, accompanied by the usual delicious pot-luck selections. Many thanks once again to the Rector and Wardens of St Thomas' for their hospitality. St Thomas' hall is a splendid place for such a function, and hopefully we shall visit it again.

Organ Renewal at Chalmers Church

by David Cameron

This will be not so much an article as a personal letter to all my colleagues and friends in the Kingston Centre. I want to share with you my own excitement at the virtual completion of the organ in Chalmers Church.

F irst of all, let me sketch the organ's history for those who aren't familiar with it. It was built in 1960-61 by Casavant Frères, under the tonal direction of the late Lawrence Phelps, and installed and finished by that irascible perfectionist, Raymond L. Barnes. Its inspiration was the German Baroque organ, with light wind pressures, articulate voicing, and complete choruses in each division. In North America the movement to tracker action was barely beginning in 1960, so the organ was built with Casavant's electro-pneumatic action; and unlike some later Casavant work (Grant Hall, for example) it did have a Swell division. But with Positiv and Great facing each other across the chancel, and differently pitched mixtures in all four divisions, it functioned effectively as a Werkprinzip instrument: each division or Werk had its own ensemble, and its own distinct physical location. It was the exciting and tightly blended sound of this organ which persuaded me to accept the job at Chalmers, a decision which has largely shaped nearly four decades of my life.

The original organ had forty-one ranks of pipes, in twenty-nine stops across three manuals and pedal. Fine though it was in many ways, there were certain faults. Its reeds, like most light-pressure reeds from the early '60's, were unstable. Indeed, because of the weekly broadcast which Chalmers has now carried on for more than fifty years, I tuned the Swell Trompette every Sunday for almost thirty years (we calculate that, by the standards of organs which are tuned three or four times a year, this represented about three hundred years of tuning). Several of Phelps' organs - as well as Chalmers, I think of St. George's United, Toronto and First Baptist, Ottawa-- developed a problem with the flue ranks. Their languids (the metal piece which directs the wind across the mouth of the pipe) were made of rather light metal, and they tended over time to sag with their own weight. The consequences for the speech and tuning stability of the pipes were disastrous.

This languid problem had become serious enough by 1980 that something had to be done, and in that year François Caron of Montreal sent all the foundation ranks back to Casavant for new languids, and revoiced the organ throughout. In its first two incarnations, new after Phelps, and revoiced after Caron, the organ served very well not only for our services and concerts, but also as an important teaching organ (there are more than fifty "Chalmers grads" working in churches and universities across Canada). Nevertheless it was clear that, though an excellent vehicle for German Baroque music, it had serious deficiencies both as an accompanying instrument, and as a medium for the Romantic music which was then beginning to reclaim its place in the repertoire. The work by the Caron firm was financed by a campaign under the acronym CORF, for 'Chalmers Organ Restoration Fund', and at the same time the congregation approved a longer-term plan to address some of the musical deficiencies by expanding the stoplist.

Early in 1995 Fran and I were travelling in the Georgian Bay area, and I called to check something with the church office. The call was more exciting than I had expected; because when I spoke to the secretary, the church building across the street was actually on fire. That became a very profitable day for Bell Canada; as it became clear that the church would be closed for some time; I called Toronto and arranged for an Artisan-Classic electronic to be installed in MacGillivray-Brown Hall; then I arranged for the next choir rehearsal to be moved; all of this by long-distance telephone. But it worked; we did not miss a service, singing our full broadcast from the Hall on the next Sunday and throughout the following year. The Casavant, however, was silenced, not only because it was in an unsafe building, but also because the sprinkler system which had saved the building had also flooded the organ, with particular damage to the console and to the Swell windchest.

Chalmers Church was in the happy position of having paid fire insurance premiums for more than a hundred and fifty years, without ever before having made a claim. The policy was a good one, providing for the replacement value of most damaged components, and so we found ourselves with a substantial addition to the already existing organ fund. A committee under the chairmanship of Dr. Cliff Hospital, then Principal of Queen's Theological College and himself a capable organist, had already spent several months examining our options. That committee had reached the conclusion that digitally sampled electronic sounds were now good enough that there was, in principle, no reason why they couldn't be integrated into a seriously conceived and executed pipe organ ensemble. After the fire, further study confirmed that, given our resources of space and money, a very good argument could be made for the pipe-digital combination.

Accordingly, in late 1995 and early 1996, work was carried out by two firms. The contract for cleaning and revoicing the pipework, and for rebuilding the chest actions, went to our local firm of Frederick Wm. Knapton and Son. A new organ chamber was constructed, moving all the divisions into the same space, though retaining the musically important separation of divisions (in the new layout Great and Choir speak from the right of the chancel window, and Swell and Positiv from the left; the Pedal division fills the centre).

At the same time, the contract for a new console, and for a number of new digital stops, went to Artisan-Classic Organs (now Classic Organ Works) of Toronto. Working in tandem with the Knaptons, they installed the revitalized organ, and it was first heard in the late summer of 1996. At that time it consisted of a reduced number of pipe ranks-thirty-five instead of the original forty-one-and twenty-four digital stops. Eleven of these digital stops were in a new floating Choir division. With the revoicing carried out by Knaptons, and other additions, the Choir division has finally made this a good accompanying organ. A really complete combination action, with sixty levels of memory and a wide selection of pistons (over 1200 general-piston settings can be held in memory), has made the playing both of service music and of the organ literature a real pleasure. Since 1996 fund-raising has continued, and we have been able to replace five of the missing six ranks of pipes, and to add three electronic pedal 32' stops.

Now, in the first quarter of 2003, we have installed all but two of the remaining stops, to complete the stoplist I first drew up in 1981. When the work is finished the organ will be very complete, with sixty-two stops in four manual divisions plus pedal. Those sixty-two stops are drawn from a total of eighty independent ranks. Seven years of experience have now convinced me that for use in ensemble, no distinction need be made between digital and pipe ranks. The organ now has a reed chorus in the Great, as well as the its primary one in the Swell; no less than three Cornets of different characters; a variety of reed types, with distinctive Trumpet ranks in Swell, Great, Pedal and Choir (the latter being a biggish, though not overwhelming, Fanfare Trumpet), and 4' Clarions in both Swell and Great. Among the softer reeds are lovely warm Hautbois, and Krummhorn/Clarinet types in both Positiv and Choir. There are really complete Principal choruses in Swell and Great, the latter with a 16' foundation, and each of them with two mixtures, lower and higher; there is also a complete Diapason chorus with a small mixture in the Choir, and a Positiv chorus based on the 4' Principal.

We have decided to add one extra stop to the original plan. If the organ is weak in any resource, it is in String tone. It has Phelps' original Viola and Viola Celeste in the Swell, and they are very beautiful, but fairly big. The 1996 rebuild added a Dulciana in the Choir, and now we have Gemshorn in the Great as well. But after playing and teaching all kinds of music for several years, I came to the conclusion that we needed a really quiet Celeste rank. So we have added another stop to the Choir, an Unda Maris to beat with the existing Dulciana; this stop is special for me, because my family has given it in memory of my father, who died not long after I moved to Kingston.

The emerging Chalmers organ reflects the original vision of a fine organ builder, Lawrence Phelps, but in the changes of 1981, 1996, and this winter it has also been formed largely by my own vision of a complete church and teaching organ on a modest scale-modest at least by the standard of St. Joseph's Oratory in Montreal or Metropolitan United Church in Toronto. To have an organ built very largely as I have dreamt it is a thrilling late stage in my career, and I feel enormously privileged to be able to play it and to teach others with it. At the same time, I and the others involved have tried to be intelligently conscious of the future needs of the church, and the requirements of the church's music so far as we can foresee them this early in the new century. It's my hope that we have built for the decades ahead, and that this organ will speak to its listeners with beauty and integrity, while at the same time it enables and stimulates its players to give of their best. Just in time for Massimo Nosetti's brilliant recital on March 2nd, the organ was almost completed-"almost" because it still lacks two Pedal stops, the remaining two pipe ranks. When they come the organ will have one pipe rank more than the original Casavant specification, as well as its digital voices. Those two Pedal stops will have to come later, when further funds have accumulated. But except for them, the job is done

I hope our readers will come and hear the result; the next opportunity as I write will be the RCCO Student Recital, Organ 2003, on the afternoon of March 23rd. We at Chalmers have built the organ first of all, of course, for our own services and weekly broadcast. But we have built also for the many people from outside Chalmers Church who use the organ as students, or as guests, and we want it to be a resource for the whole community. So do come, visit us, and share in our delight and excitement!

The Nosetti Recital
by Jill Mingo

O n Sunday March 2nd the Italian organ recitalist and teacher Massimo Nosetti gave a recital at Chalmers United Church in Kingston. The concert celebrated the addition of stops to the (now complete) manual divisions of the Drury Memorial organ, which currently has 62 stops, 67 ranks.

First on the programme was Sonata No 8 op 91 by the 19th century French organist and teacher Alexandre Guilmant. This piece had a lively opening motif, increasing in complexity; then a serene middle section which grew into a fanfare type theme. The piece ended with marked dissonances.

Next was an organ transcription, by Italian teacher and composer Ulisse Matthey, of the Ciaccona in d minor from Partita No 2 (BWV 1004) by J.S. Bach. This afforded Professor Nosetti a wonderful opportunity to display the stop colours of the organ, with imaginative contrasts and combinations.

The third item was Introduzione, tema con variazioni e finale op 11, by late-18th century composer Giovanni Morandi. This employed a folk tune in charming and ingenious variations. Variations on an Old Flemish Folk Tune op 20 by Belgian organist Flor Peeters made an elegant pastoral ending to the first half of the programme.

After the intermission we heard Scherzo in g minor op 49, No 2 by Italian organist Marco Enrico Bossi, most notable for its impish theme. Ciaccona con variazioni op 142 No 7 by Sigfried Karg-Elert was next, and the concert concluded with the Toccata-Carillon with its bell-like theme, composed by Ulisse Matthey.

Professor Nosetti selected pieces comprising variations in order to use as many of the Drury Memorial organ stops as possible, and he provided us with a wonderful display of technical mastery and thoughtful interpretation.

[Note: The Centre expresses its thanks to the Four Points Sheraton Hotel for kindly providing Professor Nosetti with accommodation during his three night stay with us. Thanks in particular to Mr Rebelo for arranging this. - N.B.]

Organ 2003

T he Annual Student Recital, Organ 2003, which David Cameron referred to in the article above, was duly held at Chalmers Church on Sunday, March 23rd, at 3.00 p.m.. Seven players took part, and provided an hour of music, which was all pleasing to listen to and in many cases excellently played.

The recital was described as being given "by RCCO Kingston Scholarship Winners and other organists-in-training and examination candidates". It was somewhat surprising, therefore, to see an experienced musician such as our Chair/President, Fran Harkness, leading off the programme. However, her CV (brief CVs were given of each performer) cleared up the mystery; Fran has "this year, by way of professional renewal,.returned to organ study with her former teacher, and continuing partner, David Cameron". What a salutary reminder - we should all be organists-in-training - never too old or experienced to learn! Fran played the Prelude and Fugue No.1, in c minor, by Mendelssohn - a confident and energetic performance which was a delight to listen to.

The second performer, Marek Krowicki (Robert Bell), played the first of two performances of J.S.Bach's Prelude and Fugue in e minor (BWV 533). Marek this year for the second time won the Donna Gobin Memorial Rose Bowl for piano in the Kiwanis Festival. He is not only studying piano with John Burge at Queen's (after completing the ARCT Piano Performer diploma with First Class Honours in 2000), but studying violin with Gisele Szczesniak, Concertmaster of the Kingston Symphony, after receiving his Grade 10 violin diploma in 2001. He played the Bach with the flair one would expect.

Frances Li holds the Associate diploma in piano from Trinity College, London, and now studies organ with Robert Bell. She played the Canon on a Ground by Henry Purcell, the interest of which suggested that we should hear more Purcell organ music outside of Trumpet tunes!

Ashley Wales, who has spent two years on RCCO scholarships under the tutelage of David Cameron, and now contributes to the musical life of no fewer than three churches as well as playing clarinet and flute and jazz piano at her school, hopes to enter a university music programme in September. She played J.S.Bach's Fantasia in C and the Prière à Notre Dame from Boëlmann's Suite gothique.

Next came two more performances of J.S.Bach. Zachary Havens, who studies with Jeff Reusing, gave us a second interpretation of Prelude and Fugue in e minor (BWV 533), perhaps more conventional than the first but no less pleasing, and Sheila-Rae MacDonald (David Cameron) played the familiar but challenging Toccata and Fugue in d minor (BWV 565).

The final offerings were from Jill Mingo, now in her second year as Assistant Organist at St Mary's Cathedral. Last year Jill won a Silver Medal for her performance in the Royal Conservatory Grade 8 organ and was also awarded the Frederic Harris Publisher's Award for the highest marks in Canada on that examination. She chose the Récit de Nazard from the Suite du 2ième ton of Louis-Nicholas Clérambault, and Arabesque from Three Pieces by Francis Jackson. In the Clérambault, which consists 67.895% (approximately) of ornaments, the ornaments were impeccably played, and subordinated to the flow of the melody. The Jackson, which was as imaginative as the title suggests, would have been heard to more advantage in a less dry acoustic; no discredit to the suitable registrations or nimble fingers of Jill Mingo.

After the performances we all retired to the church hall for refreshments, kindly served by Joan Egnatoff. As last year, the whole event was very successful. The Members' Recital
by Fran Harkness

A small audience gathered at 3 in the afternoon on Sunday February 16th 2003 at First Baptist Church to hear the first Kingston Centre RCCO Members' recital. The event was organized by Charles Balme, and the players were introduced by Robert Hunter Bell.

A wide variety of music was performed ranging from selections for the organ by Clérambault - Stan Stinchcombe's Récit de Nazard and Jill Mingo's selections from the Suite du Premier Ton - to Scherzo #1 in b minor, Opus 20 by Chopin, played on the piano by Kirsten Moller.

Some of the compositions played were relatively unknown, such as Fugue on a Basque Theme and Prayer by José Antonio de Erauquin, played by John Uttley, and Charles Walker's offerings by Zipoli and Gabrieli. Others, such as the Prière à Notre-Dame by Boëllmann played by Ashley Wales, were more well-known. Joan Egnatoff played two very useful selections from American composer John Behnke's Five Preludes that could easily be used in service playing.

Ted Brown varied the succession of conventional performances by leading Jill Mingo through an interesting set of exercises on improvisation. The concert ended with a tribute to the nearness of Valentine's Day; Betty Wagner, accompanied by Norman Brown, sang us four wedding songs: versions of Whither thou goest by Heinrich Schütz and Flor Peeters, and O Love be Deep and May They in Thee be One by Walter McNutt.

Refreshments organized by Charles Balme's wife Eithme were served after the concert, and performers and audience gathered to socialize, congratulate the performers and thank Charles and his wife for a very pleasant afternoon. We hope the event will become an annual one.

How I Came to Play for the Queen
by John Uttley

L ast September I had an unusual call from Chief Don Maracle of the Tyendinaga Territory. It was a request. Would I accompany the Mohawk Singers on the piano as they sang in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen? It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I couldn't turn it down.

About 90 people travelled to the grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto from Tyendinaga a few weeks later, on October 9th. Besides the Mohawk Singers, there were municipal officials and thirty dancers from the Quinte Mohawk School. Admission to the Festival of Ontario, on the afternoon of the Queen's visit, was by invitation only. Chief Maracle arranged for invitations, which were received only after our names had passed a security check.

We were herded into one side of the vast CNE hall while the other side was checked for bombs. During this time we had a chance to visit many booths, representing, for example, Ontario's municipalities, police, firemen, Girl Guides and a farm display - which included the cleanest pair of cows I had ever seen. Scattered through the hall were stages offering entertainment from ethnic dances to judo demonstrations. When the Queen arrived, her progress through the hall could be traced by everyone by means of TV images projected high on the walls. As she approached the Mohawk booth, I was given the signal to play "God save the Queen", which was sung by the Mohawk Singers in their native tongue. Chief Maracle addressed the Queen with a declaration of loyalty and best wishes.

One of the dancers, a ten-year old girl, presented her with a bouquet of flowers. Retired Diocese of Ontario Bishop Allan Read shook Prince Philip's hand and showed him the Queen Anne silver, sent to the Mohawk Valley in 1712.

As I gazed on Her Majesty, I thought: "This is the woman I was taught about at Confirmation. She is head of the Church of England, for whom I have been praying all these years in the words: 'O Lord, save the Queen'".

In less than five minutes, the Queen and Prince Philip moved on to visit selected booths. A 500-voice children's choir sang "A Place to Stand, a Place to Grow, Ontari-ari-ario" as the royal couple left to attend a banquet.

As for the Mohawk delegation, we had a banquet of our own. We stopped at a Chinese restaurant on the way home.

This story originally appeared in Cornerstone, the parish magazine of St Thomas', Belleville, where Fr Uttley is Associate Priest and Director of Music. It subsequently appeared in the December issue of the Anglican Review, and is reprinted here by permission.

Organ and Cello Concert
T he long awaited concert by Matthew Larkin, who was some years ago Assistant at St George's and is now Organist at St Matthew's Church in Ottawa, and Wolf Tormann, the Principal Cello in the Kingston Symphony and Adjunct Instructor of Cello at Queen's University School of Music, will take place at 8.00 p.m. on Friday May 30th at Chalmers, as a further event in celebration of the rebuild. We regret that we still have no further news about their programme.

Maxine Thevenot to Return
R eaders will be glad to know that Maxine Thevenot, who gave such a fine recital in February 2002, will be returning later this year to give another recital at St George's Cathedral. Her programme will include some Bach and some Reger. She will also give a master class and is willing to give one or two private lessons. The proposed date is Saturday October 24th. Arrangements for organising the master class and lessons will be announced later.

Elections 2003

O ne of the ways in which we try to improve the programming in the Centre is by ensuring a flow of new ideas on the Executive by periodically adding fresh members. This is the time of year when we have to start thinking about the next season, as nominations for Executive positions become due. Accordingly the Nominating Committee, composed of Bev Koski and Carol Ramer, invites all members to submit nominations to one of them for consideration. Are you yourself interested, or do you know of any member who could make a contribution but is perhaps too retiring to come forward? The amount of time involved is not great; the Executive meets once a month in Kingston to plan and carry out the activities of the Centre. We are always looking for fresh ideas.

Perhaps you have a project which you would like to propose to the Executive. Feel free. This year Charles Balme (not a member) suggested the Members' Recital, and with the support of the Executive successfully organized it. We could do with more initiatives of that sort. Give either Bev or Carol a call or an e-mail: Bev: e-mail: bkoski@ ctg.queensu.ca Carol e-mail: gcramer@sympatico.ca Annual General Meeting

T he Annual General Meeting of the Centre will be held this year at 4.00 p.m. on the afternoon of Sunday, June 8th, at the home of Robert and Sharon Bell, whom once again we thank for their kind offer of hospitality. As usual, the meeting will be followed by a pot-luck barbecue: bring your favourite barbecuable. plus a salad or dessert, and strong drink if you want it. Anyone who has been to the Bells' delightful house and garden will know what a pleasant place it is to have a meeting. We hope that the weather will co-operate, but if it doesn't, there is enough covered room that we can still carry on.

Attendance at the A.G.M. has been improving recently - let's keep it up! The Bells live at 10 Thunderbird Circle, off Highway 2 East and about 6 miles from town. Cross the Causeway, and continue on past the barracks and right on past Treasure Island Marina. At the top of the next hill you'll pass (on the left) the entrance to the Glen Lawrence Golf Club; take the next right (Kinogama Avenue). Thunderbird Circle is first right off Kinogama. PLEASE reserve the date now!

Welcome to John Coenraads

O n behalf of the Centre, we extend a warm welcome to new member John Coenraads. He has recently retired from teaching after a career that spanned thirty-two years, and has joined the RCCO to pursue his interest in all things related to the organ.

John was born in Holland in 1944, and it is not hard to trace where his interest in organs originated. He has a B.Sc. in physics from McMaster University and a B.Ed from Queen's. For ten years he taught physics and maths at Loyalist C.V.I., and then returned to Queen's University for an M.Sc. in electrical engineering. After a year working as a software engineer, John returned to teaching, and has spent the last eighteen years at Regiopolis-Notre Dame C.H.S., teaching physics, maths, computer science and electronics. This includes a year at the Queen's Faculty of Education teaching prospective physics teachers.

John's avid interest in the organ is evidenced by the five organ tours he has made throughout Europe, where he had the opportunity to see, hear and play some of the world's most beautiful organs. John is an amateur organist who is largely self-taught, although during the early 1960s he did study for three years with the late Andrew Benvie, organist at Picton United Church.

Organ-building is another of John's interests. He has an eight-rank organ in his home which at one time was connected to a computer, turning it into a "player-organ". Currently, John is using a Roland synthesizer connected to a thirty-two note pedalboard as his practice instrument, and is, in fact, looking to sell or possibly donate his pipe organ.

John lives in Point St Mark with his wife Linda, a retired psychologist, who enjoys pursuing her passion for photography. John would like to get in touch with others who share his interests, and is available to give a hand to anyone doing organ maintenance or restoration. He is also considering the possibility of making himself available as a supply organist.

Website: http://www.rcco-kingston.org The Kingston Centre Newsletter is edited by Norman Brown e-mail: njpbrown@cogeco.ca. It is published four times a year, in September, December, March and June, and is sent free of charge to all members of the Kingston Centre of the R.C.C.O., and to current scholarship holders. It will be sent on request to others on payment of an annual subscription of $10.00, which should be sent to the Treasurer, Joan Egnatoff(cheques should be made payable to R.C.C.O. Kingston Centre).

OPUS 51 March 2003 News Letter