Dinner & John Walker program, May 13, 2013

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Dinner and Program featuring John Walker

Monday May 13, 2013

St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, College Park, Maryland

Dale Krider, Host

We began at 6 PM in the parish hall with appetizers before our buffet supper.  Here Charlie Saxon of Office Catering has just finished setting up the table and is chatting with Sub Dean Emily Koons at the end of the table.  In her position as Sub Dean, Emily has been responsible for all the programming for the past two seasons, and has set up many of the programs that will occur as she becomes Dean. 

Having eaten most of the appetizers, we move on to supper and fill our plates. As usual, the food was delicious and there was more than enough. We had a good time chatting around the round tables, and they were close enough that we could speak with those at other tables. 

At 7:30 PM we adjourned to the church, where we sat in the choir pews in the chancel for a short business meeting.  

Then Dr. John Walker gave us a talk on "A Funny Thing Happened At Church", both to him and to others.  This was quite amusing. He ended with telling us about meeting Dr. Dale Krider as they began to set up the Committee for the Part Time Organist at the National AGO office.

Dr. Krider described how the Committee came up with the January Jubilee, the first of which was held in our area at Christ Congregational Church in Silver Spring, Maryland, with many of our members assisting.  These have become popular and will be held around the country next year.  They offer several classes for part time organists to learn many facets of their positions. 

After that we began the concert portion of our program.  The first piece was "Trilogie” by French Canadian composer Denis Bédard (Edition Cheldar), an organ duet played by Dr. Walker and Dr. Krider. This was in three pars and was interesting. 

Following this Dr. Walker played the "Adagio in E Minor" by Herbert Nanney, one of his former teachers. This also was in sections.  I was sitting next to Emily Koons, who remarked that she was not aware this was an E.M. Skinner organ, but it sure sounded like it!  This was a lot of fun to hear.  

The final work was the well-known "Prelude and Fugue on BACH" by Liszt. Dr. Walker was kind to those of us in close proximity, and did not fire off the Festival Trumpet or ring the Tower Bells, but we did hear and feel the rest of the organ, including the big 32' stops.  

Many thanks to Dr. Krider and St. Andrew's Church for hosting the event, and to Dr. Walker for his great presentation.  

This is from the first movement of the duet.

This is the second movement.

The beginning of the third movement.

The end of the third movement.

The Instruments Your Organ's Stops Were Named For

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On Monday, March 11, 2013, the Northern Virginia and Potomac Chapters of the American Guild of Organists presented the program

The Instruments Your Organ's Stops Were Named For

at 

St. Luke's Catholic Church, McLean, Virginia

Paul Skevington, Director of Music, was our Host

Potomac SubDean Emily Koons introduced the musicians:

From the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, Tom Marshall, organ, holding a Gemshorn, Ruth van Baak Griffoen, holding a Krummhorn, and talented student Patrick Dittamo, holding a Sackbut.

Here is a description of the event by Past Dean Carol Dennis:

SACKBUTS, SERPENTS AND SHAWMS, OH MY!

Carol Dennis

One Monday evening in March, my husband and I trekked across the river to St. Luke’s Catholic Church in McLean, VA, to attend the combined meeting of the Potomac and Northern Virginia AGO chapters.  There we learned about the mysterious instruments that are used as names for those mysterious stops on the pipe organ.  “Organ Stops & Their Origin,” may sound dry, but our presenters from the College of William and Mary, Early Music specialist Ruth van Baak Griffoen, organist Tom Marshall, and talented student, Patrick Dittamo, made it exciting.

They demonstrated the Recorder which dates from the Middle Ages and long preceded the modern transverse orchestral flute.  The Recorder (Blockflöte in German) ranges in size from six inches to over nine feet in length. We were treated to a Consort of Recorders when our presenters played a hot dance tune from the 1500s. 

(editor's note:  Ruth also demonstrated the difference between the recorder and the traverse flute, which is the ancestor of our present orchestral flute.)

Everyone recognizes the trombone, but what if it has a narrower bell like those played by angels on Christmas cards?  That’s a Sackbut (Posaune in German), and the sound is softer and sweeter than our modern trombone.  Bach’s Arnstadt organ had a 16 foot posaune pedal rank.  

The Cornett (Zink) is a woodwind instrument with brass-style mouthpiece.  It was highly popular in the 1600s and was the soprano of the family.  

The tenor has a slight curve and is called a Lizard; best of all, the bass member is called the Serpent.

The Shawm (Schalmei) became the oboe and was used as an organ stop as early as 1509.  It makes a wonderfully haunting solo stop if the timbre is not “snarling.”  We have the double-reed Rauschpfeife that is loud and rude.  There’s the reedy, nasal Crumhorn (Krummhorn) shaped like an upside-down cane and dating as an organ stop from 1489. 

We mustn’t forget the Gemshorn (Gemsserhörner) recorders that originally were made from the horns of goats and date from 1511 as organ stops.

Then there are the strings.  The Viola da Gamba is the high-class cousin of the future violin, the Viola da Braccio (on the arm).  They developed side by side but were never the same instrument.  

 The Viola da Gamba (on the leg) is played on the lap or between the legs much like the modern cello.  It is bowed underhand and has a softer, sweeter tone than the modern violin.  Bach’s Arnstadt organ had a viola da gamba stop.

The AGO program was fun and educational.  We enjoyed hearing the early instruments and comparing them with organ stops.  What a wonderful world of sound they make.  How lucky we are to have them as stops on our King of Instruments. 

All of the instruments used in the program were out for display afterwards, so we could see all of them and how they differ from those we use today. 

Following the program there was a reception in the church's fellowship hall. 

Pitch Matching, Good Singing Tone and Note Reading - OH MY!

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On February 25 the well-known choral clinician John Horman presented a program titled “Pitch Matching, Good Singing Tone and Note Reading – OH MY!” at Warner Memorial Presbyterian Church of Kensington, Maryland.  Using the book “This is Your Brain on Music” by Daniel J. Levitin as background, he pointed out methods that we can use to teach those who feel they cannot sing to match pitch as well as to understand the basic tenets of music.  

He is pictured using memory boxes to match related sounds when they are shaken, which then leads on to matching related pitches. After many examples, several anthems were shared to demonstrate the concepts. Following the presentation there was a reception in the social hall. 

A Caribbean Christmas Cruise

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THE ADVENTURE OF THE RUNAWAYS

Carol Dennis

After years on the organ bench, or being a song leader, or having a household full of family, these two Young at Hearts decided to take a Caribbean Cruise for Christmas.  When asked whether we should run away, our sons replied, “Go for it!”  So we did.

December 23 found Jerry and me flying to Fort Lauderdale, FL.  We avoided the college vacation crowd and headed for our floating hotel and our week in the sun.  We were greeted with palm trees and Christmas trees just like the cards our snowbird friends send each year.

Our first full day was Christmas Eve at sea as we headed to our first-ever tropical isle.  On board ship we had the lighting of the Christmas tree in the Atrium as “snow” sprinkled down on us and some of the show people sang holiday songs.  

Dinner was a formal affair with roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.  There was even a Midnight Mass for the occasion, although these two runaways were too tired for that late hour. 

  Anyway as musicians, we had done our share of late night church services over the years.  This time, we relaxed and attended mass late on Christmas afternoon just before another formal dinner of sirloin beef and plum pudding.  

It was an odd juxtaposition since we had spent the day under palm trees and swimming in the Caribbean on Grand Turk Island.

Grand Turk and Caicos Islands are in a Caribbean archipelago and are territories of Great Britain.  Grand Turk is also famous as the island near where John Glenn’s Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft splashed down in 1962.  The name for the island comes from the local Turk’s Cap Cactus that is reminiscent of the shape of the Ottoman fez.

Wednesday found us in San Juan, Puerto Rice, visiting the Old City.  Being from New York City, we have known Puerto Ricans all our lives so it was interesting to learn more of the history of this United States territory.  There we were visiting Fort Cristóbal run by the United States National Park Service, walking in Spanish plazas, seeing homes in what were to us the French style of New Orleans, and hearing English and Spanish just as we do here in the D. C. area.  We even visited the local CVS and mailed postcards at the United States Post Office.

On Thursday, we had a fascinating international experience when we visited Saint-Martin/Sint Maarten Island in the North East Caribbean. The island is divided in two with 60 percent belonging to France and 40 percent belonging to the Kingdom of the Netherlands.  Our bus tour took us around the island, and the only sign that you were leaving one territory and entering the other territory is a monument with the Dutch flag on one side and the French flag on the opposite side.  We learned so much of the history of the islands of the Caribbean and of the wars fought for European possession of these lands.  What a heartbreaking history the people of the Caribbean have.  The lands are more peaceful now, but the people still suffer periodically from devastating hurricanes.

On Friday, we were again at sea.  It was lovely to walk the deck for exercise, rest and read on the deck chairs with pleasant temperate breezes, and of course, do a little shopping and enjoy an afternoon Dutch high tea.

Our last cruise day was spent on Half Moon Cay, one of the 700 islands of the Bahamas archipelago.  It is owned by the cruise line and is pristine, safe and full of activities for children both young and old.  Or if you prefer, you may lounge in your shady clam shell, swim the turquoise water and eat in the shaded pavilions with meals provided as part of your cruise.  

There is even a charming little chapel with an altar and a few pews with open doors front and back to catch the tropical breezes.  Alas, there was no organ (with pipes or without) to add a harmonious note.  

Oh yes, I mustn’t forget - you can also shop.  That evening found us once more at mass for the vigil of the Feast of the Holy Family followed by an international gourmet dinner with an offering of several delicious entrees. Later, reality set in as we packed for our early morning disembarkation.

We enjoyed running away for our once-in-a-lifetime Christmas adventure on tropical islands.  Now it was time to return for the start of the New Year complete with winter’s cold, snow and ice.  Of course, we were ready to come home – weren’t we?

Epiphany Evensong and 12th night dinner 1/7/13

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Potomac Chapter, American Guild of Organists

Epiphany Evensong and Annual 12th Night Dinner

January 7,  2013

All Saints Episcopal Church, Chevy Chase, Maryland

The Rev. Edward T. Kelaher, Rector

Peter Crisafulli, Minister of Music

We began at 6:30 with a rehearsal; here the bells are rehearsing the Handbell ostinato for the hymn O Gracious Light, by Tad Cavuoti

Here Tad is conducting the choir in rehearsal. We performed his Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in G. 

Closer view of Tad conducting. 

Peter Crisafulli, right, introduced  the Reverend Edward T. Kelaher, who welcomed us to All Saints Church. 

Here the handbells are introducing the hymn O Gracious Light and playing the Ostinato by Tad Cavuoti in verse 1, sung by the Women. Verse 2 was sung by the Men, and Verse 3 in Canon, Women/Men

We also sang What Star is This to the tune Puer Nobis in various voicings. Carl Schwartz played Noel Vosgien by Jean Bovard for the Prelude and Of the Father's Love Begotten by Wilbur Held as the postlude. 

This was a lovely and moving service. As always, we wished more of our members could have been in attendance. 

After the service we adjourned to Memorial Hall, an intimate room that worked perfectly for our fellowship and meal.  The meal was by Office Catering, and was excellent, as always.  The main table contained the salad and hot dishes, which included: Chicken Roulade, breasts stuffed with tomatoes, cheese, bread crumbs and herbs; BBQ brisket over roasted potatoes; Cauliflower au Gratin and Sauteed Haricot Vert. 

The appetizer table included Shrimp Skewers, which were excellent, the Artisinal Cheese Platter with dried fruit and nuts, and the Rustic Bread assortment. 

The beverage table.  Carl Schwartz also served as Sommelier and provided a selection of wines. 

Our dessert was Apple and Mixed Berry Crisp.  This was so good there was little left to take home. 

The meal was just wonderful, as was the conversation.  Afterwards we divided up what food was left, and it was enjoyed the following day.  

Many thanks to Peter Crisafulli for hosting and to those that worked on the program.