KEY VIDEO Reviewed by Joan
Dovener
CLASSICAL organist Carol Williams'
latest project
Blenheim Palace - A Musical Tour,
blends regal
surroundings with an equally regal performance. Informal conversations
between
Ms Williams and various members of staff afford the viewer the
privilege of
a personal conducted tour through the Duke of Mariborough's magnificent
stately
home.
The sumptuous interior of the building
and the sweeping grandeur of the surrounding parkland provide an
elegant backdrop to a varied programme performed on the resident
'Father' Willis organ, Postill family chapel organ and Steinway grand
piano.
The programme is anything but stuffy,
as Carol's
piano renditions of the jazzy number Lady Bird and Dave Brubeck's It's
A
Raggy Waltz demonstrate. And the Willis organ stirs up some dust during
Sousa's
Washington Post and Widor's Toccata Symphony No.5 Op.42.
Other Willis organ tracks include
Walton's Prelude - the Spitfire, Fantasia Op 117, and MacDowell's To a
Wild Rose. And there is also a time for contemplation with chapel organ
pieces including Dearest Jesus We Are Here, Jerusalem, and Were You
There.
Those interested in history will enjoy
the guided tour and also the references to Sir Winston Churchill. Organ
enthusiasts will likewise enjoy a look around the 'innards' of the
Willis organ,
courtesy of Mark Wood of Peter Wood & Son (Organ Builders) who are
responsible for the maintenance of the instrument.
A delightful video in every respect,
Blenheim Palace - A Musical Tour, is out now on the Valentine Music
Group label (OSV 507).
As a further point of interest, Carol
Williams has recently accepted the post of Civic Organist at Balboa
Park in San Diego, California where the Spreckels organ, dedicated in
1914, is the only instrument of its kind still being maintained and
played in an outdoor setting.
Joan Dovener also
chose this video as her video choice of 2001.
Used by kind permission of "Keyboard
Player" magazine (Issue 252): www.keyboardplayer.com
We start this month's round-up of new
releases with a trip to Blenheim Palace, birthplace of Sir Winston
Churchill, to hear the Father Willis organ which has graced this
historic building since 1891. The organist here is Carol Williams one
of the UK's most highly acclaimed, contemporary, classical artistes.
Although this might be a good moment to
draw attention to the fact that, given half a chance, she also enjoys
thrashing around on a good theatre organ and is equally at home jazzing
it up on piano, as other recordings will testify.
But on this occasion Music From
Blenheim Palace
features mainly classical compositions with a few lollipops thrown in.
The
programme opens with the title tune from the long-running TV series
Songs
of Praise, before moving onto Purcell's Trumpet Tune and Air, Lemmens
Fanfare,
Widor's famous Toccata, Elgar's Salut d'Amour, Clarke's Trumpet
Voluntary,
Sousa's Liberty Bell, Lemare's Andantino, Festival Toccata by Percy
Fletcher,
Percy Whitlock's Folk Tune and the March from the Occasional Oratorio
by
Handel. Then three tracks taken from the opening recital in 1891. These
include
Fantasia Opus 117, composed especially for the occasion by Edouard
Silas,
O For The Wings of a Dove, and Sir Arthur Sullivan's famous composition
The
Lost Chord.
The 74 minute programme concludes with
a tribute
to the late Sir Winston Churchill opening with Nigel Ogden's
composition England's
Glory, I Vow to Thee My Country from Holst's Planet Suite, In The News,
Prelude
- The Spitfire, by Sir William Walton and concluding with Sir Hubert
Parry's
Jerusalem arranged by Carol Williams.
An exemplary performance capturing the
grandeur of this magnificent organ and its equally magnificent
surroundings, His Grace the 11th Duke of Marlborough is moved to
compliment Carol Williams and to wish the recording every success.
Used by kind permission of "Keyboard
Player" magazine (Issue 240): www.keyboardplayer.com
The Video & CD is available from
Carol Williams direct.
