Details
St Mary the Virgin Church
145 West 46th Street
Manhattan
New York
New York
10036
United States
Programme
Cesar Franck – Trois Pièces pour Grand Orgue
Cesar Franck – Trois Chorals pour Grand Orgue
Performers
Paul Jacobs – pipe organ
Programme Note
-- This event requires proof of Covid-19 vaccinations and photo ID --
The GRAMMY award-winning organist Paul Jacobs will launch his two-part Franck recital series at The Church of Saint Mary The Virgin (Times Square) on Tuesday evening, March 29, 2022, at 7:30 pm EDT. Mr. Jacobs will be performing on the 1933 Aeolian-Skinner “Opus 891” organ. The first program will consist of Trois Pièces (1878) and Trois Chorals (1890) and the second program on Tuesday evening, June 7, 2022, at 7:30 pm, EDT will feature the composer’s Six Pièces pour Grand Orgue (1868).
This recital series is sponsored by The American Guild of Organists. In 2021, Mr. Jacobs was the recipient of the coveted American Guild of Organists’ International Performer of the Year Award. The award is considered by many to be the highest honor given to organists by a professional musicians' guild in the United States.
"I am deeply honored to receive this award from the American Guild of Organists," says Mr. Jacobs. "It remains my unwavering commitment to advance the contemporary, versatile, and marvelously exciting art of organ playing, which traverses a full range of human passion and experience."
Considered by many the greatest composer of organ music after Bach, César Franck’s works were some of the finest organ pieces to come from France in over a century, and laid the groundwork for the French symphonic organ style. Comprising the second half of the March 29th recital, the Franck Chorals hold a special place in Mr. Jacobs’ heart. "All three Chorals, written in 1890--the year the Franck died, were the composer's last music bequeathed to us," says Mr. Jacobs. "Despite being struck by a horse-drawn trolley that same year, Franck was, in the weeks immediately preceding his death, so determined to put the finishing touches on his masterful Chorals that he managed to climb the steep stairs to the gallery of St. Clotide, where his beloved great Cavaille-Coll resided, and make notes in his manuscript. The B-minor Choral reveals Franck at the height of his creative powers. It begins forebodingly, with open fifths between the hands and feet that evoke tolling bells. The piece twists and turns through a kaleidoscope of harmonic shifts, building to a terrifying fortissimo climax at full organ; then, by a sudden, unexpected turn, he quickly yet seamlessly blows away the ominous clouds to conclude with such sweetness, tenderness, and serenity that it proves almost a miracle to the listener."
