Tim Harper's Fourth Concert of the Six Sixes

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Trio Sonata No. 4 in E minor (BWV 528)
Adagio-vivace
Andante
Un poc’allegro
J. S. Bach composed his six Trio Sonatas to aid the musical training of his son, Wilhelm Friedemann. Each of the three movements is written in three parts - right hand, left hand, feet. No. 4 begins with a transcription of the Sinfonia to Cantata 76, while the second is a reworking of an earlier organ piece, before the graceful, dance-like finale.
J. S. Bach
Meine Seele erhebt den Herren (BWV 648)
Bach’s ‘Schübler’ Chorales are popularly named for the master engraver Johann Georg Schübler. With one possible exception, all were organ transcriptions of extracts from Bach’s cantatas. No. 4 comes from Cantata 10, My soul doth magnify the Lord, a movement originally setting the verse He remembering his mercy. A reed stop intones the ancient plainsong melody, played in the original by oboe and trumpet.
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-47)
Sonata No. 4 in B flat
Allegro con brio
Andante religioso
Allegretto
Allegro maestoso e vivace
Felix Mendelssohn promoted Bach’s organ works during his visits to this country, changing the course of British organ building in the process. In 1844 he was commissioned to write a set of organ voluntaries, which were published the following year as Six Sonatas for organ.
The outer movements of No. 4 originated as technical studies, while the gentle second movement began life as a bold march. The third movement is a textbook Mendelssohn Song without words.
Herbert Howells (1892-1983)
Fugue, Chorale & Epilogue
Herbert Howells composed his Six Pieces in 1940. During the Second World War he served as acting organist of St John’s College, Cambridge; he dedicated these pieces to the organist of his home cathedral of Gloucester, Herbert Sumsion. No. 4 is a double fugue: two subjects are worked out in turn. When they are combined, a crescendo leads to a full-organ chorale based on the second subject; this evaporates into an epilogue on the first subject, before fading into silence.
John Joubert (1927-2019)
Abridge
John Joubert was commissioned to write Six Short Preludes on English Hymn-Tunes for chamber organ as composer-in-residence of the 1990 Peterborough Festival, where they were first performed by Nicholas Danby. Be thou my guardian and my guide is treated canonically, the left hand leading the right both in the flowing interludes and in the still melody itself.
Louis Vierne (1870-1937)
Final (Symphony No. 4 in G minor)
Louis Vierne’s six Organ Symphonies are a cornerstone of his works, spanning most of his compositional career and reflecting the increasing trials of his life. In 1914 the First World War arrived, turning Vierne’s life further to tragedy; he also fell out with his assistant Dupré, dedicatee of No. 3. The fourth Final is the least optimistic of the set: its key and fast compound pulse might not be a complete coincidence given the popularity of Dupré’s Fugue in G minor, ditto the crashing chords at the end.

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