THUNDER BAY, ON, ---  February 21, 2009  ---  How often do we have a chance to hear a pipe organ in recital in Thunder Bay? About every two years the local chapter of the Royal Canadian College of Organists brings in one of the College’s traveling clinicians to Thunder Bay for a weekend concert and workshop. There are not that many people in the country who are capable of presenting such a recital, and it is only through the resources of the national RCCO that the local centre was able to present this recital.

2009 is the year two pipe organs in our city turn 100 years old. The Karn-Waren/Letourneau organ at Wesley United Church has its origins from 1909. In 1988 the church selected the Quebec organ firm Orgues Létourneau to rebuild and refurbish this organ while at the same time preserving most of its unique characteristics. The transformation produced what Fernand Létourneau terms a classical English-Romantic organ, is now capable of playing most organ repertoire. This organ is capable of producing a flood of warm 8 foot sound, and is well suited to works of Mendelssohn and other English Romantic composers.

This recital is a return visit for Karen Holmes. The former president of the National RCCO, she also appeared in recital in the late 1990’s at St. Paul’s United. A lot has change since that time, her nephew Damian Rivers-Moore has taken up a music career with the TBSO where he plays French horn. Karen Holmes used the opportunity to present a recital for organ and French horn. The addition of the French horn in the program added variety and interest to the recital.

Karen Holmes has been performing in recital and presenting work-shops for a long time. What sort of programme would she choose for this eclectic English-Romantic organ? Her recital began with Bach’s majestic prelude and fugue in C minor.  The balance of the first half of the recital can be best described as a study in the way Bach treated the Lutheran Choral “Jesus, Priceless Treasure”, and then compared the same Choral by another German composers such as Johann Christoph Oley (1739- 1789). The next two pieces also were settings of the same tune, one by Johan Ludwig Krebs, the celebrated student of Bach, and a contemporary composition by Günther Marks (1887-1978). The last two versions of this choral were written for organ and French horn.

The second half of the program capitalized on the orchestral ability of this organ. Karen Holmes opened with Mendelssohn’s fifth organ sonata, other compositions by Frank Haworth and Daniel Pinkham also sounded very good on this 100 year old organ. Karen Holmes had saved her best music for the end of the recital. Rachel Laurin’s “Cathédral de Metz” is a worthy composition, especially when played by the reeds available on this organ. It is nice to have a Cornopean to overwhelm the great trompette! To contrast with this piece she chose Amédée Tremblay’s “Menuet français” played on the flutes and diapason stops of this organ.

The closing piece “Toccata” by Henry Easun (1866 – 1943) is a stunning show-piece for both the performer and the pipe organ. Fernand Létourneau would have been proud to hear the organ he rebuilt this night. At 100 years the instrument sounds better than when it was first built, and is every bit the eclectic recital organ Fernand Létourneau imagined it could be.

Organists spend much of their time working in isolation. The Traveling Clinicians program offered by the National RCCO is a boon for smaller centres such as Thunder Bay because it gives us a chance to hear quality music on some of our heritage instruments. In addition to the recital, Karen will present a choral workshop for church choirs of participating local RCCO members. This weekend’s visit will be a chance for centre members to learn, listen and share ideas and talent with others. Karen acts as an ambassador for the college in centres such as ours. Her recital and workshop is an opportunity for the college to expand its influence in this city, and her discussions here will be brought back to the national body of the RCCO in a way that will build a better understanding between the governing body of the RCCO and its regional centres.

The organ is an instrument with a very deep history; the oldest playable instrument is in France built in the 1400’s. New music and new pipe organs are still being built. This musical legacy is kept alive in Canada by organizations such as the RCCO, which like the organ at Wesley is also celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. If you ever get a chance to hear a professionally played recital on one of the city’s great heritage instruments, take advantage of the opportunity. You will hear music and sound like you have never heard before. After the recital I heard comments from TBSO musicians that Damian Rivers-Moore “really had a good workout this evening”.  That is certainly true; this 41 stop orchestral organ has the power to equal an orchestra. The French horn blends well with this organ. While the organ can supply volumes of sound and colour to the recital, the playing of Damian Rivers-Moore adds expression and articulation to the music in a way that is difficult for an organist to emulate.

Keeping the organ relevant to both churches and the public is a challenge that faces organists and the RCCO alike. Karen is to be commended for reaching out to include a member of the professional music community in her recital. Successful collaborations such as this create opportunities for other projects, and perhaps other recitals will feature the organ. There were several TBSO musicians in the audience Friday night. The local centre is small and has difficulty promoting concerts, the bi-annual visit by a RCCO clinician has created a little burst of organ activity in our community, so Karen’s visit to Thunder Bay was a success on many levels.

Bert Rowson
Arts Editor:
LakeSuperiorNews.com