During an open forum at the Annual Festival of New Organ Music in October 2006, we discussed the topic of collaboration between composer and performer. Later, at the evening concert, I particularly enjoyed the performance given by Emma Gibbins. I wrote to Emma straight away to ask if she would be willing to collaborate with me on the composition of a new work for organ.
Christe qui lux es et dies is the result of this collaboration. The plainsong theme is one of Emma’s favourites and forms the basis of the composition. The work is made up of eight versets, each of which reflects a different stanza of this fine Lenten hymn. In each verset the plainsong melody is played
complete, but always transformed. Only in the final statement of the theme (verset VII) does the melody appear in its original mode.
Emma and Tim at St Marylebone
I. O Christ who art the Light and Day A figure taken from the second phrase of the plainsong gradually leads towards the Light and the first complete statement of the theme in the pedals.
II. Grant us, dear Lord, in Thee to rest The plainsong is accompanied by delicate chords and later appears in canon with a gentle 4’ pedal stop.
III. Still be the heart to Thee awake The plainsong is highly ornamented in this more passionate verset. It is played on a solo cremona/clarinet over a gently rocking accompaniment based on the opening figure. The verset ends with an echo of verset II.
The organ at St Marylebone
IV. The Tempter with his wiles A scherzo and trio. In the scherzo the Tempter perverts the plainsong into a gnarly and snappy chromatic fugal subject and treats it to some devious contrapuntal and rhythmic play. The trio is the Tempter’s wild and obscene dance of triumph. The scherzo returns briefly with further contrapuntal manipulation and mocking figures, but is stopped in its tracks by……
V. Bid the powers of darkness fly The Strong Defender comes to our aid with tuba and clarion call in the pedal.
VI. Remember us, dear Lord, we pray Echoes of earlier material, over which the plainsong is presented as a gentle, dancing figure on a soft reed.
VII. Blest Three in One and One in Three The triumphant final statement of the plainsong in its original mode and in canon with the pedals, with a running figure in the left hand, drawn from the very opening of the work.
VIII. Amen A mighty climax leaving our prayer echoing into eternity.
The overall structure can be seen as being in four larger sections: 1. verset I 2. versets II and III 3. verset IV 4. versets V-VIII. However, the work should be performed as a single, continuous movement, without breaks between versets.
Duration: c.18 minutes.
Friends at the premiere
Left to right: Ben Davies, Norman Harper, Thomas Hyde, Joseph Harrison, Rachel Harrison, Laurence Harrison, Tim Harrison, Emma Gibbins, Martin Stacey, Andrew Trinick, Paul Gobey
Listen to an mp3 of Christe qui Lux es et Dies (part 1)
Listen to an mp3 of Christe qui Lux es et Dies (part 2)
Read the review from "The Organ" magazine (February-March 2008 issue)
Emma Gibbins – organ
Annual Festival of New Organ Music
St Marylebone Parsh Church, London
13 October 2007
The Annual Festival of New Organ Music, founded by Martin Stacey, is now in its second year and provides both a valuable platform for composers and players and a chance for audiences to hear music by both familiar names and new discoveries. As well as the concerts themselves, the website (www.afnom.org) allows the general public to find information about the pieces featured, listen to recordings of the works and purchase scores. The festival is already expanding beyond London. This year saw events also in Helsinki and Lisbon.
The exhibition concert on 13 October allowed us to hear seven pieces, three of which (by Rachel Laurin, Nicolay Apollyon and Philip Underwood) were performed by the composers, on the organ of St Marylebone Parish Church. But it was the two works receiving their premiere that stood out. John Joubert's Prelude on 'York' was a beautifully constructed miniature that reminded us once again of how finely crafted this composer's work always is. It was good to hear it in this his 80th birthday year played with sensitivity by Martin Stacey..
The highlight of the concert was unquestionably Christe qui Lux es et Dies by Timothy Craig Harrison (b.1962), a composer based in the north-east and currently director of music at Ushaw College, Durham. A large-scale work made up of eight sections that run continuously, this is one of the most impressive new works for organ I have heard. Each of the sections reflect a different stanza of the hymn. Particularly noteworthy was section 4 ('The Tempter with his wiles'), a boisterous scherzo in which the Tempter succeeded in winning over this listener with his devious chromatic fugue. The plainsong's triumphant statement in the finale was most convincing as were the gradually fading 'Amens' with which the work ends. This work deserves to be taken up by organists everywhere. Emma Gibbins, for whom the work was written, gave a performance with passion, commitment and some lovely touches in registration.
Thomas Hyde
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