The Autumn Shades series of three mini organ recitals by Professor Ian Tracey held at the ChurchOrganWorld showroom and adjacent Holy Trinity Church in Shaw on Saturday 5th October was a well-attended and splendid affair enjoyed by all.
In the first recital, Ian concentrated on the new Makin range of instruments playing five pieces and giving a full tonal tour of both Rydal 2-25 and Derwent 4-68 instruments. The ‘Adagio from the Organ Symphony of G minor’ by Percy Whitlock, also known as ‘Elegy’ beautifully transcribed by Malcolm Riley was unknown to many, but what a beautiful piece demonstrating as it did so well the typically English quiet registers on the organ.
The second recital was held on the Makin Thirlmere 2-30 instrument permanently installed some ten years ago at the adjacent Holy Trinity Church. Hearing a Makin in a church acoustic playing eight very varied pieces of music was so exciting. Following this, we quickly sold out of copies of the Nicholas Choveaux ‘Toccata’ which ended the session.
Following lunch, with plenty of time to browse over 2,000 copies of sheet organ music, the final recital featured the Johannus LiVE III AGO instrument with Ian playing five pieces that are just so exciting on this instrument including Widor’s Allegro from his 6th Symphony using the Cavaillé-Coll organ at Notre-Dame d’Auteuil. What a way to finish.
Managing Director, Dr Keith Harrington, commented, “We simply love putting on events like the October ‘Autumn Shades’ in Shaw and the corresponding ‘Sounds of the Summer’ at Mixbury each May”. He added “Watching the faces of customers when they hear, often for the first time, quality digital instruments is wonderful. It’s just like seeing a child in a sweet shop. Having bought my first Makin instrument nearly 25 years ago, I very much understand the emotions they are going though”.
One customer commented “I just wanted to drop you a note of thanks for the wonderful day you hosted yesterday at CoW for ‘The Autumn Shades’. It was my first experience at one of these events and it certainly turned out to be well worth the drive. Ian is always entertaining with his tales of experiences gathered from visits to many parts of the globe on his ‘organ adventures’! And of course his playing is always just superb and, somewhat enviously, he rarely looks at the music score!! You clearly have a very good ‘set-up’ at CoW along with a coherent and dedicated team jointly providing expertise, enthusiasm and professionalism. And all credit to the caterers too as the lunch spread was lovely and beyond what was expected.”
