Review Details
MUSIC IN THE UNIVERSITY ALTERNATIM! 3 DAVID J. SMITH Organ THE FRIDAY SCHOLA
Alan Cooper
16 October 2009
King's College Chapel
The third in the series of Alternatim concerts in King’s College Chapel had a slightly larger audience and was given by David J. Smith with the Friday Schola. The two previous recitals had concentrated on music by English composers and in this third recital David Smith used the music of Peter Philips, the subject of his doctoral thesis, as a kind of bridge between England and the continent. This was because although Philips was born in England, he fled eventually to Brussels having been denounced as being involved in a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I. Philips was a Catholic and he lived at a time when this was dangerous in England. He may well have had nothing to do with any plot but the atmosphere in England at that time was possibly not unlike Iran today. Philips was lucky to be appointed as organist to the Chapel of Albert VII, Archduke of Austria who at that time was governor of the Low Countries. As we were to hear from his music, he was one of the most accomplished organists of his time. One of his nearest colleagues was the Flemish organist Pieter or Peeter Cornet and it was with his Alternatim, Salve Regina that David Smith began his recital. The opening piece for organ had the sturdy feel of a processional and it was this theme that was given a sort of air and variations treatment, each section becoming richer or more ornate with the pedals gradually being brought in and climaxing in a splendidly rich finale. The sections of plainsong sounded much more fulsome this week since there were several more voices making up the Friday Schola. Although Pieter Cornet’s music had a definite sense of sturdiness to it, there was also a sense of elegance running through it.
The idea of air and variations seems to have been a signature of the Brussels school and Peter Philip’s Veni Sancte Spiritus followed a similar pattern. Much of the music by Peters had a dance-like feel to it and the penultimate organ section had a wonderful bird-like playfulness on upper stops before a wonderfully rich finale for full organ. The complexity of the plainsong sections was much more highly developed in this music and the Friday Schola certainly filled the Chapel with its soaring lines.