Heidelberg University organ instructor Joan Holder McConnell will present a faculty recital at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 30, at Trinity United Church of Christ, 131 E. Perry St. McConnell will be joined by guest soloist Jonathan Waters, assistant professor of music education and director of bands, on the tuba.
For the recital, McConnell kicks off with L’homme arme’, which cautions the audience to “beware the armed man.” As strange as it might seem to our sense of sacred and secular music, 14th and 15th century composers used the L’homme arme’ tune as a basis for their mass compositions. Centuries later, Margaret Sandresky took that very old tune and used it in a modern musical setting of six movements, corresponding to the “ordinary” of the Catholic Mass: Introit, Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei. Her skillful use of dissonance and a variety of textures and styles work to depict the different characters of the parts of the Mass.
Dragons and Deeps by 20th century American composer Daniel Pinkham relies on the text of Psalm 148 for its inspiration: “Praise the Lord from the Earth, you sea monsters and all deeps.” For this musical adventure, the composer chose the combination of tuba and organ to portray the ocean depths and its marvelous creatures.
The balance of the recital includes Sonata VI (variations on the German hymn Vater unser) by Felix Mendelssohn, and several hymn preludes by Johann Sebastian Bach and Heidelberg professor of composition and theory Dr. Doug McConnell. He has been composing hymn-based organ works for Joan since 1988 and is currently working to have several of them published. This recital will include three of his pieces on American hymn tunes: Simple Gifts (Shaker tune), I Want Jesus to Walk with Me (African-American spiritual) and All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name (tune by New England composer Oliver Holden).
The recital is free and open to the community.