The London Organ Concerts Guide is principally a guide to two things: one, good organs in London; the other, more importantly, concerts held in venues where good organs reside. Though we do not often celebrate anniversaries of organ installations, composers' dates are a crucial feed to concert content each year.

In fact, year by year more attention seems to be paid to the anniversaries of composers' births or deaths. Could this reflect a change in what we expect from programmes?

Time was when UK organ concerts consisted, typically, of: THE Bach Toccata and Fugue (or another for variety); some Mendelssohn perhaps, or a clock piece by Mozart/Haydn; and then lots of French Romantic music, maybe the Widor Toccata in F or Vierne Final in D topped with an audacious burst of "modern" music by Duruflé or Messiaen, say, or an improvisation.

It is likely there will be plenty of renditions of the old favourites this year as every year, but in addition, there will be a different emphasis. We focus on the diverse musical languages of Buxtehude (d 1707), Elgar (b 1857), and Langlais (b 1907). Not all, possibly, will sit happily in the same programme, or be suited to the same instrument. Artists can enjoy exploring each, say, in the context of music by their contemporaries, or alongside music which influenced them or which their music inspired, at an instrument appropriate to each.

Isn't this the sort of creative programming expected by an increasingly informed audience? Moreover, music-lovers not accustomed to the arcane rites of organ concerts may find this approach a more user-friendly introduction, and who knows, become enthusiasts, alongside those who are the aficionados of the instrument itself.
 

Catherine Ennis

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Last updated: 05 May, 2008