The inaugural concert of the Pagham Concert Series, 17th October 2015
Mark Wardell – Fellow of the Royal College of Organists
Mark sat on the organ stool with his back to us so that we had the great pleasure of watching his hands and feet fly at 100 mph over the manuals and pedals. (His trousers polished the organ stool well and truly during this amazingly energetic concert.)
Everyone’s favourite ‘J S Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor’ – remembering James Mason as Captain Nemo, playing it in ‘20,000 Leagues under the Sea’. Then, shock, horror, we learned that Bach most probably did not compose this – it may not even have been composed as an organ piece and that no original manuscripts exist! Each of the contrasting items was interspersed with Mark delighting us with tales of the various composers’ lives. His great enthusiasm is continuing to inspire young musicians, as Director of Music at Barrow Hills School in Surrey. We remember him fondly as Assistant Organist of Chichester Cathedral 1997 – 2009.
Think of the hymn ‘Angel voices ever singing’ – re-write it – ‘Eyes and brain and hands and feet for Thy pleasure all combine.’ Sometimes the myriad stops were controlled by hand and at other times by feet – amazingly Mark turned over his own pages – hence the title at top of the page! Psalm 139 came to mind – ‘We are fearfully and wonderfully made’.
At the end of the recital, Mark’s great gift of improvisation came into play – during the interval, someone in the audience suggested the tune ‘Veni, sancte, spiritus’ for him to weave around two other tunes which were suggested by the audience, seconds before he began to intertwine ‘It ain’t necessarily so’ and ‘Locus Iste’ by Bruckner which delighted everyone, BUT it was a unique composition, never, ever to be heard again.
The concert came to an end all too soon – oh! except for the encore – what could he choose especially for the people of Pagham? What else but ‘Oh! I do like to be beside the seaside’! It was a very joyful and moving evening. Mark had to rush away to travel to Wimbledon to visit Mr Wardell Senior, as he’s not too well. In wishing him Godspeed, we pray that his father will be much improved in the coming days.