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This work pays an
affectionate general homage to two major figures in twentieth century French
organ music, Jehan Alain [1911-40] and Maurice Duruflé [1902-86]. Although
stylistic affinities are probably momentary and certainly of an incidental
nature, the presence of Alain may perhaps be detected in the melodic shape which
forms a secondary episode in the Toccata. This bears a passing resemblance to
the germinal motif in Alain’s celebrated Litanies, a work to which overt reference is made here in the
Fugue’s final chord (familiar to most devotees of the organ repertoire).
Duruflé is evoked, perhaps at greater length, in the rhythmic and melodic
contours of the Fugue, which amounts –at least in its early stages –to a
kind of deliberate but approximate echo of his own in the Prélude et Fugue sur le Nom d’Alain. The secondary episode of the
Toccata carries a faint suggestion also of the In Paradisum plainchant, and hence also of the final movement in
Duruflé’s Requiem. However, the
more general rhythmic character of the Introduction,
Toccata & Fugue has its roots in many other musical places, some of them
centuries older. Structurally it is relatively simple. The Introduction presents
material which recurs at later stages in the design, -most notably between the
Toccata and the Fugue and towards the very end. The Toccata is based upon free
use of additive rhythms, but adheres ostensibly to sonata principle in
presenting a secondary melodic paragraph and then a form of development. After
the climax of this, however, the recapitulation is attenuated and inconclusive,
leading to a reflective passage before the Fugue. The Fugue deliberately hints
at the sectional design of Duruflé’s. Its subject is an inversion of the
Toccata’s secondary theme, but is not restored to that earlier form until a
new section of the Fugue begins with running semiquavers. This passage therefore
serves as a recapitulation previously denied in the Toccata. It leads to a
recurrence of the Toccata’s additive rhythms and chordal figurations before
the Introduction reasserts itself in the closing stages. The Toccata and the
Fugue are thus indivisible, and could not be performed separately even were they
not linked by continuous music. The Fugue features
free use of ‘stretto’ with and without augmentation, including a final, free
canonic statement of the subject simultaneously in its original and inverted
forms. © Francis Pott, 2004 This is important music and will be a good starting point for serious players wishing to make inroads into this unique voice Kevin Bowyer Church
Music Quarterly, 2005 [These] balance homophony and polyphony in a manner reminiscent of the finest sixteenth century anthems but in an entirely contemporary language. The close imitations and springy rhythms of O Sing unto the Lord escape the tyranny of the barline without causing metrical difficulties for the singers. Response to the words is precise to the point of word-painting, as in the solemnity of ‘for he is come to judge the earth’ and the antiphony describing ‘a psalm of thanksgiving’. There is a similar sure touch of harmonic effect at ‘and in thy presence rest’ in Jesu, the Very Thought of Thee. – A Meditation selects perfectly appropriate words from Thomas Traherne for a service of baptism and sets them with sensitivity but without a trace of sentimentality. Choir and Organ ***** First comes the word and here we have a composer who has an implicit understanding and love of the text, which manifests itself throughout his music. Judy Martin is a choral director who has a perfect understanding of this relationship. She draws from the mixed-voice choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, in beautifully expressive and finely honed performances. This elegant and individual music gains its own momentum as it builds toward each climax. Choral works include the Mass in five parts, Turn our Captivity, A Remembrance and O Lord, support us all the day long. The composer's organ writing is represented by his stunning Introduction, Toccata and Fugue, which is given a first-rate performance by the cathedral's young Australian organist Tristan Russcher. Highly Recommended. Shirley Ratcliffe The Times, May 2006 **** The music of Francis Pott is rapidly gaining attention for its silky lines and sensitivity. The items that give the album its title, Meditations and Remembrances, are settings of the 17th-century thinker Thomas Traherne. One senses Pott's pleasure at painting the word "love" with such glowing warmth in A Meditation. He is well served by a beautifully tuned choir. The Osanna in the Five-Part Mass is light and crisp and Psalm 126 ends with the sort of melismatic Amen for which the Church was once reprimanded. Rick Jones
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