DAVID HALLS GIVES OPENING RECITAL OF SALISBURY CATHEDRAL'S ORGAN RECITAL SERIES 2006 - Archived

David Halls, Director of Music at Salisbury Cathedral, will give the first organ recital on the Cathedral’s famous Father Willis organ following the overhaul of the organ’s console on Wednesday 26 April at 7.30pm.

“This is only the second recital I have given since becoming Director of Music. I seem to spend a lot of time conducting the choir nowadays so it’s good to get my hands on the instrument again!

“My recital opens with Bach’s Prelude & Fugue in E minor BWV 548, one of the great masterpieces written for organ and composed when Bach worked in Leipzig. Next is Nimrod from Elgar’s Enigma Variations which shows off the marvellous orchestral sounds of the organ. César Franck’s much-loved Choral No 3 in A minor follows; this is precisely the sort of music the Father Willis organ was built for. Pierre Villette’s Elevation, a beautiful, lovely meditative piece explores the quieter sounds of the Willis while Healy Willan’s Introduction, Passacaglia & Fugue, dedicated to Sir Walter Alcock, organist of Salisbury Cathedral from 1917 to 1947, is yet another masterpiece of the organ repertoire. Louis Vierne Naiades, the water nymphs from Pièces de Fantasie, follows. The rippling semiquaver figure running throughout wonderfully evokes the movement of water and the enchanted beings dwelling there. My recital ends with the great showpiece Dieu parmi nous from Messiaen’s La Nativite du Seigneur.”

Tickets, price £8.00, are available at the door on the night.