Paul Jacobs to Rededicate the Alice Tully Hall Organ 11/16

By: Oct. 12, 2010
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Organist Paul Jacobs will perform Johann Sebastian Bach's organ masterwork, Clavierübung III in its entirety at New York's Alice Tully Hall on Tuesday, November 16 at 7:30 p.m. The performance will be the first to be held on the newly reinstallEd Kuhn organ.

When Mr. Jacobs was invited by the Lincoln Center of the Performing Arts to perform this rededication concert as part of the White Light Festival, he wanted to ensure that the music he selected would be worthy of the instrument and the occasion: "The return of the organ to Alice Tully Hall is an historic occasion for New York City, making it the only major concert hall in the city with its own organ. I believe that a full performance of this monumental work by Bach not only befits this auspicious occasion but is itself an occasion of note," he says.

The work is the third volume of Bach's compendium on keyboard music, Clavierübung ("keyboard practice") that was published between 1731 and 1741. While other volumes of this collection include more popular and familiar Bach pieces such as the Italian Concerto (Vol. II) and the Goldberg Variations (Vol. IV), the third volume has largely been, in the words of music theorist Carl Schachter, "unaccountably neglected".

"I am frequently surprised to learn of what little acquaintance many fine musicians and even scholars have with Bach's organ works and, in fact, I would challenge anyone to identify any major Bach work that is as unheralded as Clavierübung III has been," says Mr. Jacobs. "Hopefully this performance will provide an opportunity to deepen the understanding and fervor we have for Bach."

Clavierübung III was published in 1739. It opens and closes with the "St. Anne" prelude and triple fugue in E-flat (later orchestrated by Arnold Schoenberg), but the core of the work is 21 chorale preludes based on Lutheran hymn tunes inspired by Lutheran Catechism. It is these works, steeped in theology, that are little known. Noted Bach scholar Dr. Robin A. Leaver comments: "Part of the problem is that most of the pieces are settings of many different chorale melodies, instantly recognizable to the people of Bach's day but not so to us today."

In order to demystify and decode these pieces, Mr. Jacobs has invited the Clarion Choir directed by early music specialist Steven Fox to sing each chorale a cappella before he plays it: "It is impossible to overemphasize the importance of chorale melodies in Bach's life and work. They formed the basis for so many of his compositions: cantatas, passions, keyboard works, and, of course, numerous organ preludes," says Mr. Jacobs. "While Clavierubung III is strictly an instrumental work, it seems appropriate, before hearing the exquisitely varied organ-preludes, in having a chamber choir sing the actual chorales that Bach and the people of his time knew intimately. By inviting the Clarion Choir and Mr. Fox to be a part of this concert, and to help the audience to place the work in a better context and ultimately provide listeners with a more illuminating and uplifting experience."

Prior to the November 16 concert, Mr. Jacobs will present a lecture and demonstration on Wednesday, October 27 at Christ & St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, 120 W. 69th Street at 7:00 p.m. and also a pre-concert discussion on the evening of the concert at 6:15 p.m.

"Clavierübung III is a work imbued with theology and reveals the composer's extraordinary devotion to the Lutheran faith. The scope and design of this creation are truly awe-inspiring and I hope that anyone wanting to take this musical journey with me will take advantage of these pre-concert events which go someway in providing a roadmap to this magnificent work."

Mr. Jacobs's full performance of Clavierübung III on the 19-ton, 4,192-pipe Alice Tully Hall organ will be recorded by American Public Media's Pipedreams for nationwide broadcast during the week of Bach's next birthday, March 21, 2011, and broadcast in New York City on March 27, 2011 on WQXR-105.9FM.

The November 16 performance of Bach's Clavierübung III follows the September release on CD of Mr. Jacobs's recording of Olivier Messiaen's Livre du Saint Sacrement. Mr. Jacobs says although these works were published almost 250 years apart - Livre du Saint Sacrement in 1984 - these two works and composers share similar traits: "Both Bach and Messiaen were deeply devout men and their music frequently reveals this. The experience of listening to these two seminal organ works can have a transcendental affect. Both are late works of these masters for the organ, an instrument that both intimately understood."

A fervent proponent for bringing the organ's rich literature to audiences, Mr. Jacobs has also been a vocal champion for the reinstallation of the Alice Tully Hall organ, which was a personal gift of Mrs. Tully herself when the hall was originally built: "There is a treasure trove of organ music, old and new, just waiting to be discovered by the Lincoln Center's audiences. Now that Mrs. Tully's organ is back, the field is ripe for harvesting," he says.
Mr. Jacobs made musical history at the age of 23 when, on the 250th anniversary of the death of J. S. Bach in 2000, he played the composer's complete organ music in an 18-hour marathon performance. Today, Mr. Jacobs, hailed for his solid musicianship, prodigious technique and vivid interpretive imagination in performances throughout the United States, Europe, South America, Asia, and Australia, is widely acknowledged for reinvigorating the American organ scene with a fresh performance style and "an unbridled joy of music-making" (Baltimore Sun). In 2003 Mr. Jacobs was invited to join the faculty of The Juilliard School, and the following year, he was named chairman of the organ department, one of the youngest faculty appointments in Juilliard's history. Last November Mr. Jacobs reached a major geographic milestone; when he completed his performance in Anchorage, Alaska, he had performed in every one of America's 50 states.

The 33-year-old organist began studying the piano at the age of six and the organ at age 13. At 15 he was appointed head organist of a parish of 3,500 families in his hometown of Washington, Pennsylvania. Mr. Jacobs attended The Curtis Institute of Music, where he double-majored in organ with John Weaver and harpsichord with Lionel Party. He subsequently attended Yale University, where he studied with Thomas Murray and received a Master of Music degree and has since received Yale School of Music's Distinguished Alumni Award. Among other honors, Mr. Jacobs is the recipient of Juilliard's 2007 William Schuman Scholar's Chair.

October 12, 2010

Wednesday, October 27, 7:00 p.m.

Christ and St. Stephen's Episcopal Church
120 W. 69th Street, Phone 212-787-2755

Preview lecture on Bach's Clavierübung III

Admission: $10.00 suggested contribution to Christ and St. Stephen's Episcopal Church at the door, no assigned seating.

Tuesday, November 16, 7:30 p.m.

Pre-concert discussion with Paul Jacobs & Ara Guzelimian at 6:15 p.m.

Alice Tully Hall, Starr Theater
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
White Light Festival

Paul Jacobs, organ

The Clarion Choir
Steven Fox, director

BACH Clavierübung III

Tickets $45, $50 available from www.lincolncenter.org or CenterCharge 212-721-6500



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