March 11, 2025 – Edmonton, AB

Brenda Portman (b. 1980)
Fanfare, Chorale, and Exultation

7’00

Brenda Portman
Fantasy on “Ubi caritas”

8’15

J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
Sonata No. 4 in E minor, BWV 528

12’00

Rachel Laurin (1961-2023)
Four Pilgrimages in Lorraine, Op. 30

10’00

Joseph Jongen (1873-1953)
Prière

9’00

Iain Farrington (b. 1977)

17’30

Total: 63’45

Commissioned by Village Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village, Kansas, for its 75th anniversary, Fanfare, Chorale, and Exultation was composed in 2023 at the request of Elisa Bickers, principal organist at Village Church, and premiered on March 1, 2024.

A single movement with three clearly delineated sections, the piece takes inspiration from the wind ensemble repertoire in its form, rhythm, and texture. The opening section is a fanfare in G# minor, using 7-beat and 5-beat meters (primarily 7/4 and 5/4 – for the 75th anniversary) which weaves in fragments of the hymn tune AURELIA, although they may not be entirely noticeable. This hymn, “The Church’s One Foundation,” was sung on the first Sunday of Village Church’s existence in 1949. The second section becomes quiet and meditative, in A-flat major, quoting from the hymn “How Can I Keep from Singing,” a favorite of Elisa Bickers and the Village Church. This moves directly into a joyous, dancelike third section in G# minor and 5/8 meter, beginning quietly and gradually growing. The hymn AURELIA returns partway through, in long notes, alternating between the pedal and the top voice, during which the toccata-like figurations continue to intensify until the end.–BP

Fantasy on “Ubi caritas” was commissioned by Carson Cooman and is based on the familiar plainchant, best known as one of the foot-washing antiphons for Maundy Thursday. The wonderful sentiment of the text (“Where charity and love are, there God is.”) makes it suitable for use at any time, and both the chant and its text have served as the basis for many popular choral compositions. The fantasy is cast in a loose arch form and begins with music for the organ’s rich foundations. A two-voice texture in the pedals alternates with phrases of the chant harmonized for manuals and pedal. In the following section, the melody is turned into a flowing cantilena over an active accompaniment. This music dissolves into a section where the melody is freely elaborated in repeated notes and arpeggios. A further increase in energy to triplets accompanies phrases from the melody, now harmonized in triads. The remaining sections of the piece return to the ideas of the previous parts: the cantilena (now accompanied with triplets), the free melodic elaboration with repeated notes, and finally the warm foundation chorale-like texture to end. –CC

Bach’s six trio sonatas for organ, composed for his eldest son Wilhelm Friedemann, are works of incredible beauty and also daunting complexity for the performer.  Dating from Leipzig in the late 1720s, each sonata has three movements, some of which are reworkings of prior compositions of Bach from cantatas, chamber music, or organ works.  The first movement of Sonata No. 4, for example, is a transcription of the sinfonia that begins the second part of the cantata Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes, BWV 76, scored for oboe d’amore, viola da gamba, and continuo. –BP

Commissioned by the president of Association Jeanne-d’Arc and Artistic Director of Europart-Music, M. l’Abbé Armand Ory, this suite was composed and published in 1996. It was intended to represent the four departments of this region in north-eastern France, for the huge annual music fair “Salon Musicora” in Paris. The four movements are composed on Gregorian themes, and each one depicts one of the four departments of Lorraine.

The second movement, Invocation, is associated with the Meurthe-et-Moselle department. The beautiful and panoramic sacred site of the Sanctuary Notre-Dame de Sion gave inspiration to a mystic and prayerful musical moment, composed on the “Litanies de Lorette.”

The last movement, Marche pour la Paix, stops in Verdun, where an important site, the “Verdun World Peace Centre,” is now devoted to international peace. Verdun is located in the Meuse department and is sadly known for a horrible battle during the First World War, one of the most costly in human lives of all the Great World Wars. It is now the final resting place for over 14,000 Americans who died on this field. The music is paraphrasing the Gregorian response Da Pacem, Domine (Give Peace, O Lord), and it describes a crowded march organized to promote the peace in the world. It evolves into a big gathering where prayers, songs, and slogans are mixed in a collective clamor, leading to a very dramatic and “crashing” chord sustained on a fermata in the last part of the piece, suggesting a pleading message “Nevermore these horrible wars!!!” This gives way to very soft ethereal chords, with a brief melody on the 4’ flute evoking a beautiful dove of peace in the air. –RL

Joseph Jongen was born in Liège, Belgium, and studied at the Liège Conservatory. He composed a great deal of music throughout his life, in many genres including symphonies, concertos, and chamber music, but today the only works performed with any regularity are his organ works. He is best known for his Symphonie Concertante, Op. 81 and Sonata Eroïca, Op. 94. Jongen’s style can be classified as romantic, with inspiration from Mendelssohn, Chopin, Wagner, Franck, and Fauré. The Prière, Op. 37, No. 3 comes from a set of four pieces composed in 1910-1911 and is a beautiful adagio featuring the string and flute stops. –BP

Iain Farrington has a busy and diverse career as a pianist, organist, composer, and arranger. British-born and raised, he studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London and at Cambridge University. Some career highlights include composing and performing on numerous occasions for the BBC Proms, playing piano in the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics, and arranging orchestral works for the 2023 coronation of King Charles III. His concert programs often mix popular and jazz elements into the traditional classical repertoire.

Lay my burden down is a series of organ pieces based on African-American spirituals and traditional songs, composed mostly in February 2017, except for Steal Away, which was composed in September 2015 for Damian Howard at St. Peter’s Cathedral, Lancaster. It features five compositions, each one being based on a particular melody and freely using influences of gospel, soul, and jazz, with four of the five being heard today. The collection opens with When I lay my burden down, an energetic, positive and gospel-inspired work. Sometimes I feel like a motherless child is an elegiac and solemn piece, building to a passionate climax before subsiding into a reflective resignation. Steal Away is mostly simple and reflective, the melody sounding over a rocking accompaniment, becoming gradually more intense, then disappearing in the highest register. The final number in the set is Every time I feel the spirit, a jazzy display piece that develops into a toccata to finish the group. –IF/BP