A prodigious organist on a glorious organ
Lake County Journal
By Melanie Fuhrmann
03/05/06
http://www.lakecountyjournals.com
Nathan Laube
Review Date: Sunday March 05, 2006
Venue: Holy Cross Lutheran Church
29700 St. Mary's Road, Libertyville, IL 60048
A prodigious organist on a glorious organ
On a snowy Sunday afternoon, dozens of people
were warmed by the lovely Holy Cross Lutheran
Church, and entertained with a spectacular organ
recital. The recital of Nathan Laube was part of the
“Around the Cross” Concert Series sponsored by
this church.
Organist Nathan Laube is unusual for a few
reasons. He is only seventeen years old. He has
performed extensively, has won several prestigious
competitions, and he hails from Gurnee, IL. The
first time I'd heard of Laube was from a feature
newspaper article about four years ago. Here in
Lake County, he has studied piano with Donna
Fortney and organ with Dr. Elizabeth Naegele.
Currently, Laube is in his second year at the
famous Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, is
employed at several venues in that region and
composes many organ transcriptions of orchestral
works.
Laube engaged his audience right away with J. S.
Bach's Sinfonia from Cantata No. 29, for which he
wrote a Free Transcription and played it from
memory. Clear melody and energetic, crisp notes
in the accompaniment gave way to echoing
passages near the end. Clearly this is an organist
with expressive playing that mesmerizes and
nimble fingers that amaze. To consider that he
wrote this transcription, as well as one later in the
recital, tells us that we are listening to a prodigy.
Laube spoke to the audience between pieces,
giving clear explanations of the works he would
play and what we should watch for or listen for.
In the second piece, Aria by Charles Callahan,
Laube chose lovely solo english horn and flute
stops and a collection of string stops. This piece
showcased the capabilities of both swell boxes,
with a soft beginning and utilizing the far-away
sound that closed swell boxes can provide. This
organ really has a lovely, soft sound. Aria featured
mildly chromatic harmonies similar to those used
in some of the music of John Rutter.
The third selection was from Olivier Messiaen's
l'Ascension, the third movement. It was translated
as "Outburst of joy from a soul before the Glory of
Christ." As Laube pointed out, the antiphonal
effects show off what the French composers like to
do with the organs and the acoustics in the French
churches. Holy Cross's 1400 watts of digital stereo
surround sound speakers are terrific for this,
because the rear right and left speakers allow
music to come from more areas of the church
rather than just the pipes in the front. Hence
"surround sound" which many people in 2006 are
familiar with in home stereo equipment; in
decades and centuries past, this was only
possible in churches where additional pipes were
installed elsewhere in the sanctuary, or in venues
where multiple orchestras or multiple choirs were
placed in various locations throughout. Messiaen
composed l’Ascension for Ascension Sunday, the
seventh Sunday of Easter. This piece is one that I
would love to hear on several different organs,
played by different organists, because so many of
the sounds heard can vary so much from organ to
organ, especially when one adds the different
choices in stops that any organist will choose.
Even weather conditions can make a difference.
This entire recital encouraged me to listen to organ
music much more.
The final piece prior to intermission was an
audience favorite, largely due to its familiarity. It
was a transcription that Laube wrote for the
Overture to William Tell by Giacomo Rossini. As
Laube enthused, "it is fun to have an entire
orchestra at the organ console!" He pointed out
the five celli in the sarcastic Introduction and the
Thunderstorm section with organ pedals
representing timpani in an orchestra. The
english horn in the Pastorale section was a
melody in the left hand while the right hand was
popping around quickly providing the bird-chatter
texture of the high woodwinds. The final Gallop
which even non-musicians know as the Lone
Ranger's Theme elicited the most smiles from
the crowd. Laube had asked the audience to
watch for a "thumbing down" technique, where he
played with four fingers on one manual, while the
thumb reached to the manual beneath it to play a
separate melody. Also, we watched for the
chords on the pedals which he played with the
right foot, heel on one note and toe on another
note, of course with the chords changing
throughout the section. Simultaneously, the left
foot was playing something else entirely. The
Gallop section made me want to laugh and cry at
the same time, because it was conceived and
played so brilliantly, with such wit and yet with
such beauty. There were so many things going
on in this piece, I didn’t know how one brain could
accomplish everything at the same time and keep
it all straight. Some audience members might
mentally follow the trumpet line; others follow
what the strings are doing, the same way we
would listen to an orchestral piece. How can any
one organist accomplish so many textures, notes
and rhythms, especially one who is only
seventeen years old?
The sole piece on the second half of the recital
was by Sigfrid Karg-Elert, entitled Jesu, meine
Freude, Symphonischer Choral, op. 87/2. It is
based on J.S. Bach's Lutheran Chorale "Jesu,
meine Freude." This chorale envisions the Gates
of Hell. Laube found some stops on the Holy
Cross organ, which seemed like demonic colors
and he was eager to share these non-heavenly
sounds with us. The reeds on the organ were not
piercingly loud, but were just enough to sound
nasal. The Totentanz (Dance of Death) Fugue
near the end had many waves of crescendi. There
are some organ stops which seem to buzz,
especially in the louder dynamics, which I was
told was part of the limitations of the digital pipe
interface. Some organists would shy away from
allowing the sound, "Oh my, that buzzes, we'd
better not try that." A former instructor of Laube
told me that he would say, "Who cares if it buzzes
a little, that is the sound that I want." Eventually
digital technology and speaker systems will be
able to handle everything Laube and his amazing
skills can dish out. And when the technology is
ready, he will already be asking it to do more.
Thus is the one of the marks of a genius.
After much appreciative applause, Laube graced
us with an encore, Carillon by Herbert Murrill.
The acoustics of the sanctuary at Holy Cross are
resonant without having too much of an echo. The
organ console is prominently displayed, which is
one reason that makes this church with its 24
ranks an excellent place for an organ recital. In
fact, the American Guild of Organists has already
scheduled events here. With the seating
arrangement in a large semicircle, there are
many vantage points from which to observe the
organist's hands (and feet, if you are near the
front.) There are three manuals (keyboards,
known as Great, Swell and Choir), two swell
boxes (which cover the sound for the Choir or
Swell).
