For those of us who are struggling to perform even a few of the 280-odd organ works of Bach to a standard that we are happy with, the idea of playing the complete oeuvre in recital would seem a mind-boggling impossibility. But this is a challenge that Margaret Phillips will meet twice this year. She says “I shall remember 2015 as a very special year, with the wonderful opportunity to play the complete organ works of J S Bach twice over. First, from March to the end of August, in the intimate setting of the English Organ School and Museum in Milborne Port, Somerset, mostly using the Peter Collins organ built in 2000. Then again in central London on the magnificent new Richards, Fowkes organ in St George’s Hanover Square, an instrument which has a real affinity with German Baroque repertoire, especially that of J S Bach. The two series will be a culmination of my recording project of the same repertoire, something that has occupied a significant part of my life over the last ten years or so.”
(I can recommend Margaret’s elegant complete Bach recordings as perfect long-distance car journey listening, by the way. Listening to organ CDs in the car can be a bit frustrating, due to the wide dynamic range of the instrument – but Bach’s terraced dynamics are just perfect.)
Back to the live recital series, I asked Margaret if she created her own performing editions. “I have consulted a number of different editions, and where there are discrepancies, I have taken what seems to be the most logical or musical solution. All editions seem to have wrong notes!” she said. “I mostly play from Peters, as it is uncluttered and has fewer page-turns than more modern editions. The new Breitkopf edition wasn’t published when I was making the recordings, and I haven’t yet acquired any of the volumes that are now available.”
When I asked her what the biggest challenge is when performing all the works of Bach, she replied “Just the sheer volume of it! And because I am including more or less everything, including works of doubtful authenticity, there are many, mostly smaller, pieces which are not standard repertoire. Some of these can be quite tricky, and even though I have recorded them all, some come up very fresh so need a lot of work.”
And how does she prepare, when the recitals are coming thick and fast? “By the end of August I will have played all the concerts at the English Organ School in Milborne Port, Somerset, so at least I will have performed all the repertoire this year before the start of the London concerts. As to preparation during the six weeks of the concerts: this is a bit of an unknown quantity! I will have to see how much practice is usefully productive as the series progresses.”
Simon Williams, who is Organist & Director of Music at St George’s, where the second series will take place, comments “There has not been a chance to experience Bach’s complete oeuvre for organ in London for some years and I can think of nowhere else I would rather do so.”
For more about Margaret and the English Organ School and Museum visit www.margaretphillips.org.uk
The series of concerts at St George’s Hanover Square, London, runs weekly on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 6.00pm from 24 September to 31 October 2015 (with the exception of that on Saturday 26 September, which will begin at 7.00pm). Except for the first and last, each concert will last for approximately one hour.
Margaret Phillips begins the series with a performance of Clavierübung Part III, the collection of mature chorale settings in highly varied styles, framed by the majestic Prelude and Fugue in E flat major BWV 552, ‘the St Anne’.
The series ends with the complete Leipzig Chorales (‘The 18’) in a recital which is both the opening concert of the London Bach Society’s 25th Anniversary Bachfest and the 3rd anniversary recital of St George’s organ.
Admission to all concerts, except the last, is free with a retiring collection. Tickets for the final concert will be available at the door and in advance from the London Bach Society.
For more details and how to find the venue visit www.stgeorgeshanoversquare.org.
