I can hear you saying it right now – not a whole disk of contemporary
music for organ. It’s a daunting prospect, and no matter how much
one enjoys a composer’s music a little bit of the sound of the
organ is much more than enough for many. These small pieces are
what many would consider to be typical organ music, but there’s
more to them than that for nothing this composer does is ordinary
– there’s always something unexpected in there. Somewhere.
There’s a version for wind quintet of the Fantasy and Fugue on Swing
Low, Sweet Chariot, Comin’ for to Carry Me Home (1997) on
MSR CLASSICS MS 1253 (Chamber Music I) and this is one of the
surprises on this disk. For a start, it’s not the kind of tune
one associates with this kind of treatment, or this instrument.
But it’s a delight, hearing the virtuoso flourishes and putting
the tune into an almost baroque setting. The lines are a little
clearer in the quintet version but this original version is
illuminating. It’s more fantasy than fugue, no problems there,
and it puts the tune through many different settings and registrations.
Harbach has long fought for the music of female composers, indeed,
she was once told, in the 1980s, by someone who should have
known better, that “Women have never composed anything at all,
and if they did it certainly wouldn’t be any good!” That misguided
person should be made to hear Harbach’s One of Ours – A Cather
Symphony (2004) often (MSR CLASSICS MS 1252) and then we
could watch him eat his words, with relish. Harbach tells a
story concerning the creation of this tune, which, for some
reason, she hasn’t recounted in her notes. Sarah Hannah Shephard
was a Mississippi slave who faced being sold, and separated
from her baby girl, in 1847. She stood on a bridge and contemplated
suicide, taking her baby with her thus saving the little one
from being sold. It was hearing the words of an old Black woman,
who was passing by at that moment, which stopped her: “someday
you will be reunited with your daughter”. They were sold separately
leaving Sheppard with little hope of ever seeing her daughter
again and she wrote Swing Low, Sweet Chariot to help
her deal with her despair at their joint situation. 25 years
later they were reunited. It’s easy to see why the composer
has lavished such attention and care on this tune.
The
Morning Trumpet is a rather subdued
clarion call, but with such beauty and care in both registration
and setting. This is a real prize and should be investigated
by all organists. The setting of O Waly Waly – my favourite
folksong – is quiet, delicate and meditative. The Chorale
Fantasy on Ein Feste Burg which follows has an American
sound to it – despite the tune being by Luther – in its figuration
and ornamentation, and the Finale on Ein Feste Burg is
a loud and jubilant postlude. Forest Green is a quiet
and restrained setting of O Little Town to Bethlehem
and Darwell’s 148th is a spirited setting
of Ye Holy Angles Bright.
I
hope that I’ve given some idea of the range and variety of these
settings – it’s pointless going through them all one by one.
There is so much to enjoy here but perhaps the pieces are best
sampled in small doses for, because of the small time scale
– but not musical scale – of each piece, there’s little to grasp
at first hearing, so repeated hearings are essential to get
to the hearts of these works. And for organists this is a real
treat for here are some very interesting and exciting new pieces
which would suit any service or recital programme. Try the Gloria,
an original composition which Harbach describes as a rollicking
Toccata and Fugue. A rollicking piece for organ? Oh yes,
you’d better believe it!
Harbach
is probably better known both as an organist and harpsichordist
than as a composer but it is to be hoped that this will change
and the three issues, so far, of her music on CD should be going
along way to introducing her special art to English audiences.
This disk is a fine example of her taste and capabilities in
creating music for what is, after all, a fairly limited medium
and one which hasn’t been visited too often by contemporary
composers.
The
recorded sound is magnificent. Crisp and clear with a little
reverberation but not so much that the music is lost in endless
echo, for this full praise must go to engineer Roger Fredrickson
for his perfectly placing the organ in the right aural setting.
The notes are brief but give a good introduction to the music,
there’s a complete registration of the instrument and a list
of Harbach’s other organ works. This is well worth investigating
for, as always with Harbach, there’s so much to enjoy in her
music.
Bob Briggs
