Normally when you think of someone offering an organ concert on Halloween, you expect to hear Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D minor” or some other organ piece deemed scary. Come of think of it, how is it that piece became associated with ghouls and goblins, anyway?
According to James Bennett, II, Bach’s most famous organ piece is “forever associated with the ghastly and macabre sights one expects to see in horror films. But why is this masterful work for organ something we associate with cinematic terror, especially when there are many other works with explicitly sinister titles? (Saint-Saën’s Danse Macabre and Rachmaninoff’s Isle of the Dead instantly come to mind.)”
“…it was the organ piece’s use during the silent film era that cemented its status as the go-to spooky music — a decade before Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde premiered on the silver screen. In the early days of film, theaters would keep a house organist or pianist around to provide some musical context for the silent action happening onscreen. Something extra-freaky or ghoulish going down? The house organist knew that the Toccata and Fugue would be the perfect accompaniment.”
Yesterday was Halloween, October 31, 2020 and the organ recital I went to did not have a single spooky piece in it—in fact, it was fun! Ina Young, new organist at St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Kailua, presented the following program:
The audience was safely seated outside the church, where the organ could be heard easily, and luckily it was not raining, even though I had to turn on my windshield wipers while I passed through Pali Highway on my way to Kailua.
By far the most interesting piece of the afternoon was the Pieces from ‘Suite Maritime’ by Marcus Hollingshaus. I had not heard of this composer before but found his website. He was born in 1974 in Mainz/Rhein, Germany and studied at the Johannes Gutenberg-Universität in Mainz. He has held organ positions at St. Josef in Wiesbaden-Dotzheim, Evangelischen Kirche zu St. Goarshausen, and Kirchenmusiker at St. Peter und Paul Rheingau in St. Hildegard, Rudesheim-Eibingen. His “Suite Maritime” highlights various stops on the organ.
Ina had children in costumes dancing during the Mermaids, Jellyfish, Pufferfish interludes and during the Octopus Waltz (all played on the pedals), she wore this delightful costume.
In the evening I watched the Hawaii Symphony program at the Hawaii Theatre, which was presented live but virtually. What great fun it was to see my former student, Steven Severin, play the Albinoni “Adagio,” on the Robert Morton theatre organ!
