Review Details
ALTERNATIM! 5 CHRISTOPHER BEAUMONT Organ THE FRIDAY SCHOLA
Alan Cooper
30 October 2009
KING’S COLLEGE CHAPEL
The fifth concert in the Alternatim series featured a performance by University Organ Scholar Christopher Beaumont. Some of these later concerts will concentrate on music that relates to the compositional mindset of Alternatim rather than representing the most rigorous examples of the tradition as understood in its strictest terms. Many later musical formats for organ can be thought of as having roots leading back to the Alternatim tradition; thus, next week we will hear an example of improvisation while in this week’s recital, Christopher Beaumont included two early examples of the organ voluntary which later, in the eighteenth century, was to become one of England’s major contributions to organ literature.
Chris Beaumont’s first piece was a Voluntary composed somewhere around 1540 by that most prolific of composers, Anon. This three part invention was given a somewhat circumspect if not wary performance but as the recital progressed, Christopher Beaumont seemed to relax and his performance developed considerably in fluency. The harmony and polyphony of all three pieces seemed to match in style and in turning to a genuine example of Alternatim, Lucis Creator Optime, we were back with Thomas Preston whose Offertory on Felix Namque was played by Roger Williams last week. This week’s example had a rather more extensive plainsong input sung by the Friday Schola who seemed more completely focused in their singing. As I have said, Christopher Beaumont’s performance developed in fluency as the music grew in contrapuntal richness and complexity. His final piece, a Voluntary by John Bull (1563-1628), composer, organist and organ builder, was given a fine confident performance that sent the audience, once again larger than before, out into the night in good spirits.