Pipe organ recital at TranquilityFriday, July 3 2009
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A grand piano is dwarfed by a pipe organ similar to the one Christian Lumsden will play at his recital on Sunday....
THE ORGAN is the King of instruments” and Tobago-born Christian Lumsden plays it with flair and mastery befitting royalty!
A past student of Fatima College, a graduate of the Trinity College of Music and a distinguished student of organ performance, Christian Lumsden will be giving a pipe organ recital at the Tranquility Methodist Church, this Sunday at 6 pm.
This recital is presented by Dr. Pat Bishop and the Lydians to introduce the public of Trinidad and Tobago to the talent of a son of the soil who has excelled abroad and has now returned home. This recital performance is a rare treat for music lovers across Trinidad and Tobago and is a celebration of a gifted musician who treasures both the instrument and the art form.
Christian has chosen to play the organ at the Tranquility Methodist Church. This “Walker” pipe organ was selected for it’s clarity of sound and the beauty of its timbre, its exquisite craftsmanship and, of course, ease of access. For those who may have never enjoyed the splendour or grandeur of listening to live organ music, be sure to seize the opportunity to be a part of this one of a kind experience.
“When I play, I have an emotional connection to the music as well as the instrument, feeling a deeper purpose and participating in a spiritual connection to the Transcendent,” Lumsden said.
Growing up in Scarborough Tobago (and Charlotteville-Delaford) as a boy has given Christian strong roots and ties to his culture. On returning to Trinidad a few months ago, Christian met Dr. Bishop for the first time at a funeral at All Saint’s Church. The ceremony was about to begin, but there was no accompanist present. Seeking a quick ‘stand-in’, Cannon Berkely suggested “a visiting organist” who happened to be on the compound that day.
“Well, from the time I saw Christian, I knew he was the real deal when I looked at his feet,” Dr Pat Bishop recalled.
Christian emerged from the rectory in his well-worn organ shoes and like a true ‘Trini’, ‘fell in’ as the accompanist for the funeral service.
Of his shoes, Christian said: “Well they are definitely not a fashion statement. The shoes don’t go with anything except the organ.”
What was pure happenstance turned into divine intervention as his sensitive playing on the All Saints Church pipe organ lifted the music of the funeral service.
After pursuing the usual route of Trinity College of Music, Christian completed external examinations up to Grade VIII on the pianoforte, and at the age of 16, he began to consider the pipe organ. To this end, Prof Kenneth Inkster in Toronto, Canada, introduced him to the pipe organ with formal lessons.
In Trinidad, Christian continued with the pipe organ under the tutelage of John Rajah up to Grade VII (organ), and then he left Trinidad and Tobago to pursue further studies in the United Kingdom. In the United Kingdom, Christian studied monastic theology and classical philosophy at St Benet’s Hall, Oxford University; musicology and performance at Trinity College of Music, London under the tutelage of Prof Philip Fowke, FRAM; organ performance and Christian Sacred Music at Christchurch University Canterbury under the tutelage of Dr David Flood of Canterbury Cathedral and externally with Mme Marie-Claire Alain of the Paris Conservatoire.
Throughout the entire history of the organ, the organ’s ability to impart ‘a wonderful splendour’ to ceremonies has always been present. Its allure has not diminished.
The organ is one of the oldest instruments in western civilisation. The use of the earliest piped instrument resembling the organ is recorded in Ancient Egypt.
This instrument was called the Hydraulis and was used in the courts of the Egyptian Pharaohs as early as the Middle Kingdom (c.2040 - 1640BC). Its use is recorded on the walls of the Great Hypostyle Hall in the temple of Amun, Karnak, Thebes (modern Luxor).
In mediaeval Europe, the organ continued to be played and developed through many stages attaining its contemporary form in the Baroque period (c.1585 - 1750). However, with the invention of electricity, the bellows are now kept inflated by an electric blower rather than man power!
The organ came to the fore as a recital instrument in the early Baroque, with performers like Sweelinck, Riencken and Buxtehude. However, it was only with the resplendent Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750) that the organ came into its own.
Bach played on the manuals with such skill that organ builders of his time would employ him to “test the lungs” of a new instrument. His autobiographer Spitta, tells us that Bach played as quickly on the pedals with his feet as he did on the manuals with his fingers.
The contemporary organ now has more than one keyboard (or manual) with many diverse sounds corralled into ranks of pipes called stops (eg flue stops, trumpets, etc). The lowest keyboard is the pedal manual played by the feet and is equal to the upper manuals played by the hands.
The height to which the art of solo organ playing has soared does not diminish the fact that the organ remains an accompanying instrument par excellence. All the major Christian churches – the Methodist, Lutheran, Roman Catholic and Anglican still use it because nothing can replace its musical beauty in the Liturgy.
In Trinidad, several churches have preserved and still use their grand pipe organ instruments. Though organ playing in Trinidad and Tobago is rare, and an organ recital even more rare, Christian Lumsden plays beautifully and for any music appreciator, this recital must not be missed.
One can expect a repertoire including Prelude in E-Flat Major (St Anne) by Johann Sebastian Bach and Priere de Notre Dame (from Suite Gothique) by Leon Boellmann plus many more selections, which are intended to display the “heights of organ music.”
Tickets cost $100 and are available from all choir members and at Signature 2000, Hotel Normandie, 10 Nook Ave St Anns (624-2958).
