Cathy Lamb (Lichfield)
Henry Thomas Smart: Festive March in D
Rachel Laurin: Symphonie No 1, for organ Op 36
Francis Jackson: Toccata, Chorale and Fugue, for organ Op 16
Sir Edward C Bairstow: First Prelude: Andante, from Three Short Preludes for organ
Ghislaine Reece-Trapp: Fantasia on Sumer is icumen in, for organ
Léon Boëllmann: Toccata, from Suite Gothique, for organ Op 25
Cathy Lamb has vast experience of varied strands of musical life. She has played at the Albert Hall twice before, so we are delighted to see her again. She presents some engaging but little known pieces in this wide-ranging recital.
She begins and ends with Victorian warhorses: Henry Smart claimed to have been descended from Robin Hood and gives us something suitably heroic here, while the Toccata from Böellmann’s Suite Gothique has been described by an impish critic as “sounding like a Keystone Cops car chase”. There are two homages to York Minster: we mourned the death earlier this year of Francis Jackson at the good age of 104; he played at the Albert Hall and we are to hear his well-known Toccata, Chorale and Fugue. We also hear from his teacher Sir Edward Bairstow, in quieter mood than he often was in real life! Then two contemporary composers: Ghislaine Reece-Trapp’s enjoyable Fantasia on Sumer is icumen in and a symphony by the Canadian organist Rachel Laurin: not at all unlike Vierne’s symphonies, and a very important addition to the twenty-first century organ repertoire.
The concert will begin at 2.45pm. Tickets £6, under-18s free.