Friday, June 1 - 10:30 a.m.

(photos below)

The trumpet and organ is a powerful, gorgeous, and always interesting combination. With Marc Reese on trumpet and organist Douglas Major those adjectives were right on target. The recital offered a wonderfully varied program, which allowed all to experience the best of both instruments.

The concert opened with the second movement of Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms which is based on the 23rd Psalm. Their performance of this lovely piece reflected the sentiments contained in the Psalm. The trumpet’s pretty, flowing melodic line over the organ’s chordal accompaniment gave way to a pointed middle section, full of rhythmic interplay between the two. The calm, reflective music of the first section returned with its simple beauty. James Stephenson adapted the piece for trumpet and organ.

Stephenson also wrote a piece for this duo who gave the world premiere today. Entitled Reese’s Piece (subtitled Sound and Fury), the work began with a lovely trumpet melody accompanied by a rich harmonic palette. The Sound gave way to Fury as the pulse quickened and grew more dissonant. Its opening melodic material was brought back bringing the piece to a restful conclusion. Reese and Major performed the work as if they’d played it for years. Reese’s Piece is a wonderful new—and very accessible— addition to the repertoire. It is, no doubt, enjoyable for performer to play and is certainly a treat for the listener.

From Mussorgksy’s Pictures at an Exhibition, this arrangement for trumpet and organ of “Il Vecchio Castillo”(The Old Castle) explored the warmer, lower sounds of the two instruments. Also adapted by Stephenson, the arrangement works very well. Reese’s sonorous sound was on display throughout this familiar tune.

Four Themes on Paintings of Edward Munch by Anthony Plog closed the recital. The piece is based on four paintingss from the Norwegian, Expressionist painter.

I. “The Sun.” was a dialogue of moving lines from each instrument. Brighter sounds and registrations were used to musically imagine the sun’s radiating constancy in the sky.

II. “The Dance of Life.” The painting has couples dancing outside with two dead figures looking on. A cup muted line with simple organ writing followed by a rhythmic, accompanied line conjured up the gaiety of a dance while haunting harmonic lines depicted the other-worldly onlookers.

III. “Woman Embracing Death.” The dark side of Munch the painter was demonstrated musically by odd rhythms in the organ pedals with pointillist interjections in the upper organ manual. Again the cup muted trumpet sustained a flowing yet angular line. The organ took up the line after which the piece slowly died away with just two notes from the organ’s extremes registers.

IV. “Night.” From the painting of one who is in bed looking out to a cloudy, spooky nighttime scene, the trumpet and organ brought out the sense of a disturbed nocturnal experience. Full sounds from the organ and trumpet (cup-muted) gave an eerie perspective. It ended rather abruptly adding to the uneasy atmosphere the piece calls for.

Full ranges of technique, style, and panoply of sounds from both trumpet and organ were heard in Plog’s writing. Both of these fine performers played with seasoned expertise, perfect ensemble, and the highest musicianship.