Lichfield Cathedral concert
Last Thursday, we went to a concert at Lichfield Cathedral—-as part of the Lichfield Festival—-which celebrated Arvo Pärt’s 70th birthday. The majority of the concert was choral, with the Hilliard Ensemble and Ex Cathedra joining forces for the evening, but there was also an organ piece by Arvo Pärt called ‘Annum Per Annum’.
When the programme notes suggested that the work was “prefaced by a thunderous introduction”, they weren’t exaggerating; I think everyone jumped a little. That’s fine by me. I think that you’re probably failing somewhat as a composer for organ if you don’t use both the tiny, mouse’s whisper high notes, as well as the thunderous bass notes—-how else are you going to get the dust out of those big pipes? This piece did all of that, as well as making use of the organ stop marked ‘Armageddon with Knobs On1’. I got the impression that it was a virtuoso piece to show off the capabilities of the organ, but it was great entertainment.
