Summer Organ Recital at St. Paul’s Cathedral

Sunday, August 26, 2012 at 4 pm at St. Paul Cathedral, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Zvonimir Nagy (organ) and Edward Kocher (trombone) of Duquesne University.

Beckerath Organ (restored by Taylor & Boody)

The recital features organ and trombone repertoire inspired by prayer and meditation. Music can help us apperceive the sense of our inner being as well as encounter the divine in some beautifully mysterious ways. The pipe organ, with its wide array of sound colors, seems to be the perfect vehicle for this experience.

The nature of musical performance can also be appreciated as musical ritual, in terms of an induced spiritual ethos, rather than a mere execution of idiomatically constructed musical sequences. As a composer and organist, I investigate the notion of the religious in musical performance as experienced by both the performer and listener. As a result, the introspective setting of the presented repertoire invites one to contemplate the structure and meaning of prayer through sound, as portrayed by musical themes and gestures.

As incense rises, the recital unfolds like a spiral from the compositions written in the present day towards Franck’s monumental Prière, when it folds back almost where it has started.

Program

• Prelude for a Prayer, Zvonimir Nagy (b. 1978)
• Incantation for a Holy Day, op. 64, Jean Langlais (1907-1991)
• Meditation (trombone & organ), Jules Massenet (1842-1912)
• Prayer, op. 20, César Franck (1822-1890)
• Hosanna (trombone & organ), Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
• Sweet Hour of Prayer, William Bolcom (b. 1938)
• Intercessions, Improvisation
• Prayer of Christ Ascending Towards His Father, Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)

The concert will take place at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Pittsburgh, PA. Admission to each concert is free. Free-will offerings will be received. For more details call the Cathedral Music Office at 421-621-6082.