Search - Peter Conte :: Christmas in the Grand Tradition

Santa Brings Us the Wanamaker Organ--Plus Brass!

James Yelvington | USA | 12/29/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For organists any new recording of the big and beautiful Wanamaker organ is a significant event. In the present case we have not only the organ, played by its current master (Peter Richard Conte), but also the Philadelphia Brass Ensemble (a quintet). The occasion is the Christmas season, and the CD, recorded digitally in the summer of 2008 at Macy's in Philadelphia, is called "Christmas in the Grand Tradition." It is a 69-minute collection of 17 mostly familiar, Christmas-themed pieces for organ with or without brass from traditional and composed sources. (See detailed track listing below.) The package is an attractive 3-part cardboard foldout with several photos and illustrations, but rather brief notes.



The "Grand Tradition" may be somewhat overstated--not all the pieces are grand or showy in character--but the organ is certainly a grand instrument, the brass often add celebratory flourishes, and the music is mostly quite excellent. Mr. Conte is, by all accounts including the evidence of this disk, a very talented performer and arranger. The Philadelphia Brass Ensemble is a seasoned and able group whose members play here with clean precision, fine tone quality, and appropriate style. If you are looking for Christmas music of high quality, and especially if you're a lover of organs, brass, and their music, this CD may be just the thing to brighten your holidays.



The liner notes include adequate biographical sketches of Mr. Conte and the Brass, along with too brief a description of the great Wanamaker instrument. (The reader is referred to the Gothic Records website for a full list of stops, but Wikipedia offers a much more thorough description under "Wanamaker organ.") The music itself receives rather short shrift, including a few possibly misleading bits. The tracks are:



1. "Bring a Torch, Jennette Isabella" [Un Flambeau, Jeanette, Isabelle] has its title is mangled here: the names should be Jeannette and Isabelle, and they are French shepherdesses. The organ arrangement, by Keith Chapman (Conte's predecessor as master of the Wanamaker), is a standard of the repertoire, being both interesting and original. Unfortunately, I do not think it is well presented here: the fast, rhythmic, syncopated motifs get blurred too much in the vast, reverberant space of Macy's Grand Court. No doubt the arrangement and the playing are excellent, but the acoustic environment does not quite do either justice. (The reverberation has been increased since Chapman's time by glassing in certain areas.)



2. "O Tannenbaum" [O Christmas Tree] was not written by Carmen Dragon (as implied here), but is a very old German song, no doubt arranged by Dragon and then adapted by Conte. The organ and brass offer a very fine presentation, powerful, interesting and thoroughly satisfying. The awesome bass of the Wanamaker is heard here, especially on the final note.



3. "O Holy Night" is the Cantique de Noël by the French composer Adolphe Adam so popular as a choral song at Christmas. This arrangement by the Canadian Bass effectively blends the sonorities of brass and organ to offer up a delicious musical treat. The opening organ accompaniment displays the Wanamaker at its best, with an aura of velvety smooth, plush, ear-filling harmonies unattainable on any other instrument. A solo trumpet introduces the melody, which is subsequently handed back and forth between the brass and organ.



4. "I Saw Three Ships" This is a traditional English carol dating back to the 17th century at least and thus was not composed by Geoffrey Bush, but arranged by him (for organ) and rearranged here by Conte for brass and organ. It is an upbeat, lively 6/8-sounding tune which comes across extremely well in this witty arrangement.



5. "Greensleeves" Again, a very old tune, not composed by Vaughan Williams but beautifully arranged by him for orchestra. Conte's arrangement for organ retains much of the character of the Vaughan Williams setting.



6. "For Unto Us a Child is Born" One of the very best tracks on the disk is Conte's arrangement for brass and organ of this chorus from Händel's "Messiah." It is lively, interesting, musically satisfying, and grand enough for anyone!



7. "In Dulci Jubilo" Dupré's short organ solo treatment of the old chorale melody places the tune above a gentle foundation of constantly moving string voices and shifting harmonies. It is more peaceful than grand, and thus very true to its "dulci" [sweet] title.



8. "In Dulci Jubilo" Bach's harmonization of the tune is strong, robust, straightforward and fully authoritative. Conte combines the organ with brass to achieve a delicious dialogue featuring the best qualities of both.



9. "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing" The Canadian Brass arranged Mendelssohn's music for themselves with organ to create a very fine presentation of this lovely and familiar "good news" carol.



10. "Silent Night" This is the inimitable and irrepressible Virgil Fox's arrangement of Gruber's classic carol for organ, featuring tubular chimes at the beginning and going on to display other sonorities from the seemingly limitless palette offered by the Wanamaker in three peaceful, but full-voiced, stanzas of the tune.



11. "Canzona" No arranger is named for this Giovanni Gabrieli canzona per sonare, but I think Conte must have done some adaptation for brass and organ. Not really Christmas music, this fine piece nonetheless fits in perfectly with the other music here and offers a welcome bit of variety in this ear-charming performance. I find it absolutely delicious, especially the closing!



12. "La Nativité" Jean Langlais' musical depiction of the birth of Jesus is lovely and peaceful, emphasizing the sweet and miraculous qualities of the event in often impressionistic solo organ sounds.



13. "Winter's Night" Hebble's organ arrangement of a piece by Delius does not seem particularly grand nor traditional, but it is a welcome reminder of the English composer's great mastery of the picturesque in music--you can almost see the horsedrawn carriages passing over the snow.



14. "Good King Wenceslas" Again we have an arrangement by the Canadian Brass of a Christmas staple, presented well by the Philadelphia Brass Ensemble with the organ.



15. "Sinfonia from the Christmas Oratorio" Bach's magnificent music clearly needs neither defense nor explanation. This arrangement, however, is not so persuasive: it doesn't seem to capture the musical joy of the original so much as we might desire. While listening to it I keep comparing it, to its disadvantage, to that original and wondering why it is included. Maybe it's only a personal thing, but I keep hearing it as a somewhat weak imitation.



16. "Variations on 'Adeste Fideles'" I know nothing of Gaston-Marie Dethier (1875-1958) except that he was an organist. This set of variations, however, shows a respectable ability to fashion imaginative variations. Under Conte's fingers the organ delivers a delightful smorgasbord of possibilities inherent in the tune attributed to 18th century composer John Francis Wade.



17. "Deck the Halls" Carmen Dragon presumably arranged the old Welsh New Year's song upon which Conte bases this organ and brass piece. Gorgeous sonorities and a high-spirited celebratory mood make this a marvelous finale, guaranteed to make even Ebenezer Scrooge shout "Merry Christmas!"



Admirers of the Wanamaker will probably want to add this CD to their collections, not only as a further sample of what the instrument can do, but also as a festive treat for the Christmas season. As a 20-year veteran of the organ Peter Richard Conte must be in a uniquely excellent position to exploit its prodigious musical resources, and, as if that were not enough, the considerable talents of the Philadelphia Brass Ensemble are added in to make this CD almost a surefire success. The few quibbles I have expressed are easily outweighed by the many attractive qualities of the disk, and thus I have no reservations in recommending it most highly.



P.S. Another CD of the Wanamaker is nearly ready for distribution by the Friends of the Wanamaker, a nonprofit group supporting the organ. It captures the sound of the "Great 150th Anniversary Concert" featuring Peter Conte playing the organ with the Philadelphia Orchestra on September 27, 2008. The program includes the Jongen Symphonie Concertante, Howard Shore's Fanfare, and Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor."