Mayfair Organ Concert- Andrew Benson-Wilson

This week's Mayfair Organ Concert at St George's is given by Andrew Benson-Wilson (Basingstoke) who will be performing a programme showcasing two 17th Century German composers Samuel Scheidt and Matthias Weckmann.

Scheidt - Tabulatura nova
Scheidt - Echo ad manual duplex forte et lene
Scheidt - Fantasia super lo son derito lasso
Scheidt - Modus pleno organo pedaliter
Weckmann - Canzon in G major KN 147/14
Weckmann - Nun freut euch, lieben Christen gmein
Weckmann - Praeludium á 5 vocem

This concert celebrates the 400th and 350th anniversaries of two of the most important German composers of the early 17th century: the publication in 1624 of Samual Scheidt’s seminal three-volume Tabulatura nova and the death in 1674 of Matthias Weckmann.

Samuel Scheidt (1587-1654) was born in Halle and was one of the most distinguished pupils of Sweelinck in Amsterdam before returning to Halle as Court organist to the Margrave of Brandenburg. After the Thirty Years War he became the musical director of Halle’s three principal churches. His 1624 three-volume Tabulatura nova is a monumental collection of sacred and secular sets of variations, fantasias, toccatas, fugues and pieces for the Lutheran Mass and Office.

Matthias Weckmann (c. 1616-1674) trained in Dresden with Schütz and in Hamburg with Jacob Praetorius (another Sweelinck pupil). After some time in Denmark, and following a well-documented competition, he became organist at Hamburg’s Jakobkirche. His music combines Schütz’s adventurous Italian influence and the North German style developed by the pupils of Sweelinck.

The concert will include three contrasting pieces from each composer, demonstrating the change in style between the late Renaissance to the early Baroque over the one-generation gap between them.

The 2012 Richards, Fowkes & Co organ in St George’s Hanover Square is ideally suited to the music of 17th-century German style.

Admission is free, with a retiring collection.

Andrew Benson-Wilson specializes in the performance of early organ music, ranging from 14th-century manuscripts to the late Classical period. His playing is informed by his experience of historic organs, an understanding of period performance techniques, and several internationally renowned teachers. The first of his CDs of the complete Tallis organ works (with Chapelle du Roi) was Gramophone Magazine Record of the Month. The Organists’ Review noted that his “understanding of the historic English organ and its idiom is thorough, and the beautifully articulated, contoured result here is sufficient reason for hearing this disk. He is a player of authority in this period of keyboard music. ”
Another review suggested that a St John’s, Smith Square recital was “one of the most rewarding organ recitals heard in London in years, an enthralling experience”.

Another referred to his performance of Weckmann’s monumental Es is das Heil in St George’s, Hanover Sq that “The performance had a confident and assured touch of someone who understood the musical style. His clarity of counterpoint allied to the programme notes helped the listener to identify the processes and individual lines of the music. ” Another review of an early 17th North German programme stated that “Benson-Wilson’s playing was exemplary . . . a fabulous, joyous piece, full of exuberant flourishes, its infectious nature fully conveyed by Benson-Wilson . . . a sure grasp of structure while honouring the work’s more exploratory moments.

Andrew’s concerts have ranged from the enormous 1642 Festorgel organ in Klosterneuburg Abbey in Austria to a tiny 1668 chamber organ in a medieval castle in Croatia, and include the 1723 Hildebrandt organ in Störmthal, Leipzig (where Bach gave the opening recital), the famous 1558 Ebert organ in Innsbruck’s Hofkirche and a reconstruction of the 1517 ‘swallow’s nest’ organ in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland, alongside many recitals on historic English organs, including Christ Church Spitalfields.

In 2020, Andrew was elected to The Royal Society of Musicians (founded in 1738) and the Council of The National Early Music Association (NEMA).

Host or Publisher St George's Hanover Square