Lammermuir Festival: Trumpet and Organ
On a most delightful early autumn day, I found myself at Crichton Collegiate Church, a superb small church buried deep in the Midlothian countryside near Pathhead, for a recital of music for trumpet and organ, given as part of this year’s Lammermuir Festival, featuring Aaron Akugbo (trumpet) and John Kitchen (organ). Down a small road off the A68, followed by an even smaller lane, one eventually arrives at a most marvellous building. Built in 1449, in the reign of James II of Scotland, it was founded by the Crichton family as an establishment where priests and boy singers could pray and sing each day for the souls of the family who constructed it. A stairway to heaven indeed!
Aaron Akugbo, having only recently emerged from music college, is already making a splash in musical circles. Born into a Scottish/Nigerian family in Edinburgh, he received his early education at St Mary’s Music School in the city and was in fact briefly taught by John Kitchen. Here I must declare a connection with John myself, as I knew him at St Andrews University, where, as a very young man, he had been appointed to the staff at the University Music Department in 1976. In fact, he taught my then girlfriend, now wife, Fran, as she worked towards her degree in Music. Since then, after moving to Edinburgh, he has become Mr Music in the Capital, becoming a Senior Lecturer, and now Fellow of Edinburgh University. He retired from teaching full-time in 2014, but continues in his post as Edinburgh City Organist, and is still much in demand as a harpsichord player and organist.
After leaving school, Aaron went to the Royal Academy of Music in London, and is now freelancing as a soloist and orchestral player, and is establishing an international reputation. Possessing a unique and beautiful tone on the instrument, he also has acquired a formidable technique, which allows him to play the most difficult music with ease. His charisma was apparent throughout the recital, as he introduced the music to the audience, and put us at our ease in this slightly unfamiliar repertoire. His thank you speech at the end rivalled Oscar Night, with due acknowledgement to his supportive parents, and if he had saluted the church cat, I am sure we would have cheered!
The programme was given a nice shape by putting two sonatas by the Italian Baroque composer, Giuseppe Torelli, at the beginning and end, with music by amongst others Pachelbel, Telemann and Bach in the middle. A couple of 20th century pieces added a little variety to the recital, which lasted about an hour and fifteen minutes without interval. John Kitchen played two solo organ pieces to give Aaron’s lips a break: firstly a set of variations by Pachelbel based on the chorale “Alle Menschen müssen sterben” (All men must die), a surprisingly jolly tune for a rather bleak theme. Among the eight variations, there was one which, in its chromaticism and almost jazzy feel, seemed to transport us into the 20th century; and secondly, an organ concerto worked by Johann Walther, a contemporary and distant relative of Bach, from a concerto for instrument and strings by Joseph Meck, giving the organist the chance to play both the solo and orchestral parts. Naturally, John played both these pieces admirably.
The Torelli sonatas were, for me, the high point of the recital, beautifully and precisely articulated by Aaron Akugbo. Born in Verona in 1658, Torelli was famous as a violinist and viola player, principally in Bologna, where he spent much of his adult life. He was notable in the history of music as a pioneer of the instrumental concerto and was the Baroque period’s most prolific composer of music for trumpet. The piccolo trumpet played in this piece sounded splendid in the lovely acoustic of Crichton. At first, I was worried that its bright sound might overwhelm the organ, an 1899 instrument made by J Brook and Company of Glasgow, lovingly restored in 2012, but, as my ears adjusted to the sound, the balance was actually very good. In the first sonata, there was a long period of solo organ, into which the trumpet announced itself in a blaze of glory, and both pieces featured the upper register of Aaron’s instrument to great effect. I have been lucky over the years to sing with some of Europe’s finest baroque trumpeters, in particular the wonderful Mark Bennett and Mike Harrison, in works ranging from Purcell’s King Arthur, through Bach’s Christmas Oratorio (the great bass and trumpet aria ‘Groβer Herr’) and, of course, ‘The Trumpet shall sound’ from Handel’s Messiah. Although playing on a modern trumpet, Aaron articulated his sound in a perfectly crisp way, revealing a complete command of Baroque style.
Switching to the more usual standard modern trumpet, Aaron Akugbo also introduced us to two modern exponents of the repertoire for trumpet and organ, Alan Hovhaness and Florence Price. Aaron introduced the Hovhaness piece with a contemporary quote from 1962 - “it exhibits a hushed, reverential, mystical atmosphere”. This was true, although I felt, with three movements, that it rather overstayed its welcome, and I would have liked a bit more variety. The piece by Florence Price, an African American organist and composer (1887-1953), revealed a fine talent. Its almost hymn-like quality suggested that it could be a great addition to funeral services the world over, with its calm and serene beauty.
This was an exceptional concert in a beautiful venue on a lovely day. What’s not to like about that?
