衛武營國家藝術文化中心 National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)

By LIN Po-chieh

Many people think improvisation is only for jazz, but in fact, several hundred years ago, organists were the best at it. Thierry ESCAICH, a French organist who will perform at Weiwuying in October, is one of today's few amazing improv organists.

The organ has always mainly been a church instrument, and in response to the complex demands of a Sunday service, church organists have to be extremely flexible to adjust to ever-changing circumstances. BACH and HANDEL were the most exceptional improv organists of the Baroque period. 19th-century France produced its own improv organ school. Its members could both compose and perform, and they created a new vocabulary for the organ. This musical heritage began with C. FRANK (1822-1890) and continued with such names as L. VIERNE (1870-1937), M. DURUFLÉ (1902-1986), and today's ESCAICH (1965- ).

ESCAICH will take the highly venerated position of organist at the Notre-Dame de Paris late this year, but we don't need to go to Paris to see him play. On October 13 at the Weiwuying Concert Hall, he will put on a solo concert of some of the best of 300 years of organ music. The first piece is BACH's Passacaglia and Fugue in c minor, which is his most important masterpiece, written when he was a bit over 20 while working as a church organist. The passacaglia was a music form from Spain, and he turned it into a piece of 20 variations. SCHUMANN described them as "intertwined so ingeniously that one can never cease to be amazed."

After starting with BACH, since ESCAICH is a transmitter of the French organ school, he has selected pieces from his predecessor countrymen. VIERNE was a legend in organ history who lived a century ago. Despite being born blind, he became the organist at the Notre-Dame de Paris in 1900. In 1937, he died during his 1,750th solo concert at the cathedral, which was in fact a lifelong dream of his. At Weiwuying, ESCAICH will perform VIERNE's "Naiades" from 24 Pièces de Fantaisie.

When VIERNE collapsed at the organ, his pupil DURUFLÉ was at his side. After World War II, DURUFLÉ became the greatest living French organist. A stringent perfectionist, he published little work, the most famous being his 1932 Toccata. After he died, ESCAICH succeeded him as organist at the St-Étienne-du-Mont in Paris. At Weiwuying, ESCAICH will dazzle the eyes and ears with VIERNE's Toccata.

O. MESSIAEN, hailed as the greatest French composer of the 20th century, was also an organist of the highest repute. He wrote the symphony L'Ascension in 1932 and later rearranged it for the organ, which became his most outstanding pre-war piece. At Weiwuying, ESCAICH will play the second movement, "Alléluias sereins d'un âme que désire le ciel." In addition, to show the audience the allure of folk music as produced by the feet and hands of an organist, he has rearranged Hungarian composer B. BARTOK's Romanian Folk Dances, a suite of six short pieces: "Stick Dance," "Sash Dance," "In One Spot," "Dance from Bucsum," "Romanian Polka," and "Fast Dance."

Of course, everyone will be looking most forward to ESCAICH's three improv pieces to be played at different points in the program, their inspiration being the organist's impressions of Paris, New York, and Kaohsiung.

Sometimes, good things come in pairs! Besides the recital on October 13, ESCAICH will team up with Weiwuying General and Artistic Director CHIEN Wen-pin the night before in leading the Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra in the huge recital Timeless Encounter with French Masters. Such opportunities are rare, and Weiwuying is offering two back-to-back, so make sure to go to both!

  Programs  

2024/10/12(Sat)19:30
►CHIEN Wen-pin & Thierry ESCAICH & Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra - Timeless Encounter with French Masters

2024/10/13 (Sun) 14:30
►Thierry ESCAICH Organ Recital