Jonathan Allsopp (Southwell Minster)
Arthur Bliss (arr.Gower): Overture to Caesar and Cleopatra
Johann Sebastian Bach: Prelude and Fugue in C, BWV 547
Charles-Marie Widor: Choral (from Symphony No 10 Romane)
Felix Mendelssohn: Sonata No 2 in C minor
Edwin Lemare: Andantino in D flat
Widor: Marche Pontificale (from Symphony No 1)
Jonathan Allsopp is no stranger to the Albert Hall, where he can be heard at the organ for Nottingham Harmonic concerts, and it is good to have him for a solo recital. The Binns organ was built at a time when large instruments were seen as a “one man orchestra”, and appropriately he begins with a transcription, of film music in this case, the transcription having been made by Robert Gower who was organist “over the road” at St Barnabas’s Cathedral and who has for over half a century been a champion of English romantic music.
The Great Master follows, with a piece dating apparently from his early years at Leipzig, the energetic Prelude being followed by a Fugue where Bach sets himself a challenge with a subject only one bar long; the use of the pedals is long delayed, but when they come in you certainly notice it. It is appropriate for Bach to be accompanied in this recital by Mendelssohn, who did so much to popularise Bach’s music, particularly in England where the organ music was concerned. Mendelssohn’s organ sonatas were an English commission, and we are to hear the second sonata. This sonata features a march, which brings us to Widor’s Marche Pontificale, one of his earliest works and just the thing at big cathedral ceremonies. Widor was said to have had a “Handelian” sense of occasion and he certainly brought pontifical dignity to the services he accompanied at St-Sulpice, this episcopal march calling up the benign spirits of Mendelssohn and Meyerbeer. If earlier in life Widor was distinctly worldly, even in church, in middle age he became interested in the great plainsong revival, incorporating Gregorian chant in his last two symphonies.
Lemare is indeed an appropriate choice because it was he who opened the Albert Hall organ in the autumn of 1910. To describe his Andantino in D flat as his greatest hit is far from inappropriate, because in the fullness of time it became a highly successful pop song.
The concert runs from 1.10pm to 1.55pm. Admission £5 at the door, or book online. Feel free to bring your own lunch.
Jonathan Allsopp has been Assistant Director of Music at Southwell Minster since 2019; in this role, he is the principal accompanist to the Cathedral Choir, playing for all services in the Minster. He regularly conducts the Cathedral Choir, and directs the Minster Chorale, the Cathedral’s adult voluntary choir. He has previously held organ scholarships at the cathedrals of Westminster, Durham and Hereford.
Jonathan also maintains an active freelance career. He has given organ recitals in cathedrals and churches across the country, as well as in Holland and Canada. He is Musical Director of the Derbyshire Singers, and accompanist to Nottingham Harmonic Choir; until recently, he was Musical Director of the Lincoln Chorale. He regularly works with the Musical & Amicable Society in both Southwell and Derbyshire.
Jonathan began the organ with Ronny Krippner while at school; he currently studies with Tom Bell and Colin Walsh. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists.
In his spare time, Jonathan pursues a keen interest in the world of wine, and is currently taking the Level 3 qualification of the Wine & Spirits Educational Trust.