$30.00
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| Publication | 2020 |
A major organ work, reminiscent of French models, in five movements: Intrada, Aria, a gigue-like Fugue, Scena (a recitative) and a fiery Toccata-Sortie. A challenging and exciting concert work in an early 20th century harmonic style.
Meet Christopher Maxim in person…
Both pieces [Easter Alleluias and Suite for Organ] show Maxim to be a composer of real inventiveness, with a strong and secure command of writing for the organ. His music shows a wide range of stylistic influences, including British composers of the later 20th century, such as Leighton and Mathias in the first two movements of the Suite, neo-Baroque writing in its fugue, and the vibrant manual textures of the late-Romantic French toccata.
The Suite is a substantial work, suitable for concert use in its totality, though each individual movement could also function well as a voluntary. The Intrada is an arresting movement, characterised by two contrasting themes and much use of parallel chordal writing. The slow Aria is especially satisfying; sparse textures and ostinato accompaniments support a haunting chromatically-inflected solo melody. The fugue is full of wit, before a brief but powerful Scena and a lengthy toccata bristling with nervous energy.[…]
Parts of the Suite make greater demands [than Easter Alleluias], especially the outer movements, where agile manual and pedal work are called for. Both [Easter Alleluias and Suite for Organ] will reward patient endeavour and offer something fresh for either recital or liturgical use.
Dr Martin Clarke (Organists’ Review)
The five movements of this Suite are dedicated to different organists, and although the whole forms an effective and substantial concert piece, it is probably as five individual voluntaries that most readers will play it. At the centre is a sprightly Fugue marked ‘scherzando’ and that might have been also marked ‘à la Gigue’. Surrounding that are slow movements: an ‘Aria’ before and a ‘Scena’ after that is like an operatic recitative building to a dramatic climax. The opening ‘Intrada’, with touches of Mathias, builds to an exciting climax that would form a brilliant conclusion to a festival service. The final movement of the Suite is a ‘Toccata-Sortie’ that increases in energy over its considerable extent in an audience-pleasing demonstration of virtuosity.
Duncan Watkins (Sunday by Sunday)
