The Bulletin is Montreal Centre's newsletter which keeps members and subscribers informed about local events, concerts, supply organists and job openings. Subscriptions are available to non-members at a cost of $25 for four issues. Advertising rates start at $22 for a business card, $50 for a half page and $70 for a full page. For further information regarding subscriptions and advertising, please email info@rcco-montreal.org
Click on the following article titles to read highlights from past Montreal Centre Bulletins:
RCCO Ottawa and Montreal Centres Collaborate
Encounter of the Century
Regards sur la "Rencontre du Siècle" Québec 2000
Organs of the Baltic Countries: Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia
Orgues slovaques
Bengt Hambraeus and his "Livre d'Orgue"
The Importance of Brahms` Early Organ Works
Maestro Scottannini on the Road in Germany with "La Diva", Natalie Choquette
Maestro Scottannini in Japan with "La Diva", Natalie Choquette
On January 19, 2004, the RCCO Ottawa Centre held their annual 'Clergy/Organist' dinner at Capones Italian restaurant in Ottawa. This annual event remains one of the Ottawa Centre's major activities for their members. Four individuals from the Montreal Centre Executive - Karl Raudsepp (President), Scott Bradford, Gordon White and Frederick Francis attended this event and were all very warmly welcomed by the Ottawa Centre Executive and membership. The guest speaker at the dinner was the former Titular Organist of Montreal's Oratoire St-Joseph, M. Raymond Daveluy. M. Daveluy's talk was a stimulating retrospective of the "highlights" of his long and illustrious career as a church organist, teacher and composer. The Montreal Centre Executive members had an opportunity to speak and to congradulate M. Daveluy. Gracious as always, he was genuinely touched by the presence of several colleagues from Montreal.
To start with, I should mention that the Convention was an ingenious combination of associations and languages which has not before been seen, as far as I can tell, in North America. The Royal Canadian College of Organists worked with the Fédération Québécoise des Amis de l'Orgue to produce a most amazing "Encounter of the Century". Apparently there were a total of 287 participants, which is 100 more than the Hamilton convention! This included a large contingent of organists from South of the Border. It was amazing to watch those who knew little French communicating with those who knew little English at dinners, on buses, at concerts and receptions. A most worthwhile experiment!
L'été 2000 s'est avérée des plus sensationelle puisque le CRCO et la FQAO se sont joints pour nous peindre une image de ce qui se fait à Québec et ce qu'on peut faire sur ces instruments plus magnifiques les uns que les autres. Je tiens à soulinger que tout s'est déroulé avec grâce et bon goût, le tout dans un accueil très chaleureux. Un épisode marquant du congrès fut le concert au Saints-Martyrs-Canadiens. Le concert des Violons du Roy, dirigé par Yannick Nézet-Séguin avec Richard Paré à l'orgue, a littéralement subjugé l'assistance. D'abord, en première partie le Tchaikovski était absoluement parfait. En deuxième partie de concert le Concerto pour orgue et orchestre à cordes de Denis Bédard a déclenché le délire total dans la foule - le délire aux concerts d'orgue, du jamais vu - jamais j'oublierais.
On October 25, 2000 the Montreal Centre of the RCCO began the fall season with a very captivating talk and video presentation by Karl Raudsepp. The talk provided an informative historical background of the region and a detailed overview of organ builders and organ building practices in the three Baltic countries. The many magnificent and detailed organ cases and the beautiful tone of the instruments were a feast for the eyes and ears. Unfortunately, a large number of the instruments visited were no longer operational or in less than perfect condition due to the hardship years spent under Soviet occupation. One can only imagine how they must have sounded.
Située au coeur de l'Europe, la Slovaquie s'avère un pays fort intéressant pour les mordus de la musique d'orgue. Elle est bordée au nord par la Pologne, à l'est par l'Ukraine, au sud par la Hongrie et à l'ouest par la Moravie et l'Autriche. La majorité de la population est catholique romaine, mais on y trouve aussi des protestants, des catholiques byzantins et des catholiques orthodoxes. La ville de Hronsky Benadik est située au nord-ouest de Bratislava. Pour se rendre à l'église, il faut prendre un escalier de 200 mètres et passer, si ma mémoire est bonne, à travers un jardin un peu mystérieux. L'église date du Moyen Âge. Nous voici dans un lieu sombre et mystique, où brûlent plusieurs lampions et trois personnes sont en prière. On se retourne pour apercevoir un joli buffet très ancien avec des portes peintes qui doivent protéger l'orgue en question... horreur!!! Il n'y a pas de tuyaux. On m'informe que les Allemands auraient eu besoin du métal pour fabriquer des armes.
Bengt Hambraeus came to Canada in 1972 from his native Sweden to take a post as Professor of Music at McGill University. As a composer, Hambraeus was part of the Swedish avant-garde in the fifties and was a pioneer in the development of electronic music in Europe. Many of the sound-concepts that he developed in his electronic music were derived from his studies of the acoustics of organ sound. In a reciprocal manner many of Hambraeus' innovations in his organ works can be related to the sonic material of his electronic music. The Livre d'Orgue was written to inaugurate the French classical organ built by Hellmuth Wolff for McGill in 1981. As Hambraeus points out in his preface, an instrument based on historical models must also function for music of our time; the internal substance makes his Livre d'Orgue an entirely personal document.
In February of 1856, Johannes Brahms had come to a compositional impasse. He wrote his friend and confidante Clara Schumann (prodigious pianist, and wife of Robert) that he felt his ability to write anything original had run out, and that his compositional training lacked a solid technical foundation. Brahms sought inspiration in the past, particularly in Renaissance vocal polyphony and in the works (both keyboard and vocal) of J.S. Bach. Bach's contrapuntal techniques were subjected to detailed analysis by Brahms: he left extensive marginalia in each of his volumes of the Bachgesellschaft edition to which he subscribed from 1856 until his death in 1897. Out of this 'remedial course' in counterpoint were born Brahms' early organ works: the Prelude and Fugue in G minor, the Prelude and Fugue in A minor, and the Fugue in A-flat minor. In these pieces, Brahms demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of contrapuntal combination and fugal procedure, which, although derived from Baroque models, is refracted through a Romantic prism.
Last May, 2001 I enjoyed an extraordinary tour throughout Germany performing seven shows with Natalie Choquette, including a taping by a nothern television station, Hessischer Rundfunk, which broadcast an hour-long version of our concert last New Year's Eve 2001. For those who don't know, Natalie became known to the organists of Montreal when she sang for the ICO '93 press launch. Engaged to provide the entertainment after the banquet, Natalie and I realized we shared the same sense of humour as we created sketches such as "Wedding Soloists We Have Met... or Might Yet?!" and as they say, the rest is history.
The Kyoto Concert Hall is a stunning rectangular acoustic space, serving clarity and subtlety. Rehearsing with the choir on stage with the 9-foot Steinway left no time at all to practice on the the dressing room piano - a 7-foot Yamaha Grand! After the show, the house manager granted me permission to play the resident organ - "you may have 2 minutes". The Klais organ (German) - a 5-manual tracker - boasts four stops using Japanese names to describe the flute or reed quality of a national instrument: Shinobue, Hichiriki, Shakuhach, and Sho. With barely any time to try each colour, my host perfunctorily stated, "Time's up". I learned more about this stunning instrument by entering the website on my return: www.kyotoconcerthall.org
(http://www.kyotoconcerthall.org/poruguan/risuto.htm for the stoplist)