Friday night’s inaugural concert of the Hook and Hastings organ
at Christ Church was a solid two hours of musical selections from J.S. Bach to
the present and including a cellist, a harpist, dancers, and a choir.To an audience so packed folding that chairs
were brought out to accommodate the crowd, this marvelous instrument filled the
air with a tone that was clear and dynamically far ranging. This Hook and
Hastings organ is both perfectly suited for the acoustics of Christ Church and
for fast hand and foot work.

The Hook and Hastings organ, from 1893, has more than 1,850
pipes and more than 15,000 parts. It comes to Rochester from Maine, where it
has been in storage for approximately 10 years, following the closing of its
preceding parish. It joins the Craighead-Saunders organ, already at Christ
Church, and the Italian Baroque organ at the Memorial Art Gallery, to become
three of the many outstanding organs in the greater-Rochester area overseen by
the Eastman Rochester Organ Initiative.

Of the 11 program offerings on Friday night’s bill, three
clearly stood out as being perfect combinations of instrument, settings,
composition, and organist.

First, there was the beautiful “Prière,” Op. 158 (“prayer”)
by Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921). David Higgs at the organ with Rosemary
Elliott on cello was a moving combination of musicians that was perfectly in
tune to the music and to each other. Their phrasing of long lines was exquisite.
Higgs is a professor of organ and the chair of the Department of Organ and
Historical Keyboards at Eastman School of Music. Elliott teaches at ESM, and
hails from London, where she taught at the Royal College of Music.

Second to hit the mark was organist Edoardo Bellotti, during
the third of three fantasies from “Troisième Fantaisie,” Op. 157, by
Saint-Saëns. Bright lines of notes, driving to strong, accented chords seemed
the moment the organ was waiting for to show off its ability to express clean,
clear sound without vibrato or echo. This piece, in particular, was the proof
that a skilled musician can execute fast notes without having them turn into
acoustical bouillabaisse for mechanical or architectural reasons. Bellotti is a visiting professor to ESM from the Hochschule
für Künste (Bremen, Germany).

And then, there was the magnificent “Valediction” by David
Conte, performed by David Higgs on the organ and members of the Christ Church
Schola Cantorum and Choir, directed by Stephen Kennedy. The composition itself
was everything you could ask for:soaring high vocal notes, rich tenor and bass harmonies, sustained organ
chords, and organ notes deep enough to vibrate the floor under the audience’s
feet. There is not enough I can write about the artistic excellence that shone
forth from these musicians, the instrument, and the composition, except to say
what I couldn’t shout out in church:bravo!

Conte is an American composer and organist, and studied as a
Fulbright Scholar in Paris under the legendary composer, conductor, and teacher
Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979). He is a professor of composition at the San
Francisco Conservatory of Music.

To learn more about EROI and other organ recitals sponsored
by the Eastman School of Music, visit the EROI website.

This article appears in Nov 28 – Dec 4, 2012.