Lenten Organ Meditations Series 2021

Kerry News

Organ Meditations:
Lenten Lecture-Recital Series
with Sebastian Moreno

Organ Meditations: Lenten Lecture-Recital Series, by parish organist Sebastian Moreno, explores the history of organ meditations. In this new four-part virtual series, Moreno will discuss and perform a variety of repertoire that conveys the different compositional and improvisational approaches to organ meditations, predominantly in French Catholic and English Protestant traditions. The series will include performances at St. Bartholomew’s, The Cathedral Church of St. James, and St. Peter’s Anglican Erindale.

Sebastian Moreno was appointed Parish Organist of S. Bartholomew’s in 2014. He completed a MMus in musicology and BFA under Prof. Stephanie Martin, from whom he found a passion for Anglo-Catholic music and ancient liturgy. His musicological research focuses on contemporary seminary music education, as well as the use of Gregorian Chant in Romantic and Neo-classical French organ repertoire. Sebastian is currently the Programme Committee Director and Vice President of the Royal Canadian College of Organists Toronto Centre.

All videos will be posted to the S. Bart’s YouTube Channel: here

WEEK 1: WHAT IS AN ORGAN MEDITATION?

Friday, 26 February, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. | Now posted here

  • Lecture: Defining organ meditations in the Anglican context.
  • Repertoire: A Meditation on ‘Brother James’ Air’ – Harold Darke
WEEK 2: THE FRENCH SYMPHONIC MEDITATION

Friday, 5 March, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. | Now posted here

  • Lecture: The early French symphonic style and the introduction of published organ meditations.
  • Repertoire: (Recorded at St. Peter’s Anglican, Erindale)
    VI. Méditation (Symphonie No. 1, Op. 13) – Charles-Marie Widor
    II. Méditation (Organ Sonata No. 6, Op. 86) – Alexandre Guilmant
WEEK 3: MEDITATIONS AS LARGE-SCALE WORKS

Friday, 12 March, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. | Now posted here

  • Lecture: The construction of large-scale meditations based on biblical themes.
  • Repertoire: (Recorded at The Cathedral Church of St. James, Toronto)
    Jésus accepte la souffrance (La Nativité du Seigneur) – Olivier Messiaen
    “Woman behold thy son! Son, behold thy mother!” (Meditations on The Seven Last Words of Christ) – John Huston
WEEK 4: MEDITATIONS IN THE STYLE OF LANGLAIS

Friday, 26 March, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. | Now posted here

  • Lecture: Exploring Langlais’ improvisatory style and extensive use of organ meditations.
  • Repertoire: IV. Méditation (Suite Médiévale) – Jean Langlais
Lenten Organ Meditations Series 2021