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On Friday, November 6, about 1,000 people made the pilgrimage to the Community of Christ Auditorium in Independence to hear Principal Organist and Director of Music Jan Kraybill perform a recital that was 50 years in the making - and well worth the wait.  In echo to the rich array of requiems and remembrances held this week following Halloween and All Souls Day, Dr. Kraybill presented a musical memorial to artist-giants of yesteryear with her re-creation of the inaugural recital given by Catharine Crozier on the legendary Æolian-Skinner organ.

On Friday, November 6, 1959 over 7,000 people jammed into the RLDS Auditorium (re-named Community of Christ Auditorium in 2001) to experience the first sounds of the new organ in its colossal home.  The foundation of the immense oval concrete-domed Auditorium was begun in 1926, and completed in 1962, with its construction interrupted during the World War II years.  Dr. Kraybill, an internationally renowned concert artist and compelling educator, provided fascinating glimpses into the historic event that inspired Friday's concert in between performing the works on the program. 

The Auditorium is outfitted with 5,600 seats, and its opening concert sold out.  That indicates that about 1,400 people stood along the vast circumference of the chamber and in its 30 balcony doorways, while others sat in the aisles to hear the concert.  Those who couldn't find standing room sat in the basement to hear the sounds that came through the floor.  And according to the news story of the event published the next day in the Kansas City Star, hundreds more were turned away.  This past Friday night, at least a couple dozen audience members indicated that they had attended the original concert.  One of them was overheard to comment that Kraybill gave an even more exciting and perfect performance than that of the great Catharine Crozier, who is remembered as a marvelous technician, and the first of a Who's Who list of guest artists to perform upon the organ - the likes of which include Paul Manz, Maurice Duruflé and Gerre Hancock, to name but three.

From the first antiphonally echoed 'en chamade' solo trumpet tones of the opening Fanfare in C Major by Henry Purcell, a rich variety of tonal effects regaled the senses in a performance that could have blown a Bose sound demo CD under the table.  The Opus 1309 Æolian-Skinner organ was the largest free-standing organ in America when it was completed in 1959.  It currently boasts nine divisions, 113 ranks, and 6,334 pipes - or as Dr. Kraybill related, "More pipes than there are seats in the Auditorium."  And in her 11th year as Principal Organist, Kraybill demonstrated that she knows how to coax the full array of beauty out of every last one of them.

The Auditorium organ has known only three Principal Organists in the 50 years since its inception.  The first to hold that esteemed position was Bethel Knoche (1958-1967), who oversaw its installation and voicing, and initiated the series of recitals still given - daily in the summer, and weekly in the winter months - so that visitors to the Auditorium may have the opportunity to hear its majestic breadth.  Dr. Kraybill recognized the volunteer Organ Staff present, currently 25 gifted organists who regularly perform for these recitals.  The second person to hold the Principal Organist position was internationally acclaimed organist, Dr. John Obetz (1967 - 1998), who initiated the weekly broadcast recitals that ran for over 25 years, allowing listeners all over the world to hear the instrument.  This past October 4^th, Dr. Obetz presented the opening recital of the 50^th anniversary series.  Kraybill shared with the audience that the Auditorium organ has always been a significant sound in her life, having listened to Dr. Obetz's weekly radio broadcasts from her childhood home in Colby, Kansas.

Repeating the same concert program as Crozier 50 years ago, Kraybill delivered a compelling interpretation of Johann Sebastian Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue, BWV 582.  Its imposing opening eight bar pedal ostinato was stated with well-paced deliberation.  Kraybill infused the following 20 variations with excellent variety in tonal timbre and dynamic contrast.  She created a terrific build-up to its climax in the 12th variation, and maintained a warm energy that carried through to its final resounding cadence.

Marcel Dupré most likely first improvised his Variations sur un Noël, Op. 20, based upon the 15^th century traditional French New Year's carol Noël Nouvelet, while on tour in America and England in 1922, and notated the improvisations during the train trips along the tour route.  He gave its premiere in 1923, at the Wanamaker Auditorium in New York.  Kraybill shared that each variation was inspired by Dupre's impressions of the great cathedrals and organs in the cities in his tour. 

At the time Catharine Crozier performed the inaugural recital of the Auditorium organ in 1959, Dupré enjoyed the reputation of a virtuoso performer, despite painful arthritis, and he was highly sought as an inspirational teacher.  Dupré notated meticulously the sounds he wanted in the composition, and Kraybill brought gripping artistry in her realization of his intent.  I especially enjoyed the contrast of the Variation 4 pedal tone octaves to the breezy swirling movement of Variation 5 with its sound of wind sailing through bare branches.  The accordion waltz of Variation 9 was an unexpected sound, followed by the final variation that ended the work in grandeur, namely a fugue in the style of Bach - on steroids.  It brought down the house.     

The final piece on the program was the darkly impassioned Sonata on the 94th Psalm by Julius Reubke.  The organ work, composed in the style of Liszt, with whom Reubke studied, expresses the daunting psalm which protests injustice and mucks through sorrow before arriving at radiant gratitude.  Reubke premiered the piece in 1857, only a year before his death from tuberculosis at the age of 24.  So many organists are technically proficient. Kraybill hurdled the technical demands seemingly effortlessly and also expressed its complex range of musical nuance with brilliant command.    

The program ended on a high note with the same virtuosic encore piece that Crozier presented namely the Prelude and Fugue in G minor, Op. 7, No. 3, by Marcel Dupré.  Kraybill mentioned in her commentary that when Dupré composed the work as a student, the publishers wouldn't publish it for a long time because it was too hard to play.  Bravo! to Dr. Kraybill, who not only delivered an artistically stellar interpretation, but who also executed its double pedal tones flawlessly - a technique in which each foot plays two notes at the same time by simultaneously pressing the heel and the toe on different pedals.  The audience rewarded the success of her performance with an immediate standing ovation.

Dr. Kraybill's CD recording The Auditorium Organ: Fifty Years of Excellence is available to order at www.jankraybill.com  Two more concerts are scheduled in celebration of The Auditorium Organ's Golden Anniversary year: Ken Cowan and Lisa Shihoten, organ and violin duo on Sunday, January 10, at 3 p.m.; and Frederick Swann, retired organist of the Crystal Cathedral in Los Angeles, on Sunday, March 14, at 3 p.m.  Both concerts are free.  Another noteworthy (and free) concert is Dr. Kraybill's annual Super Bowl Sunday Recital, this year on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 3 pm.  For more information on this and upcoming events on the Dome and Spire Series, visit http://www.cofchrist.org/dome_spire/calendar.asp .

REVIEW
Dome and Spire Series
Jan Kraybill Presents the 50th Anniversary Recital on the Auditorium Organ
Friday, November 6, 2009
The Community of Christ Auditorium
1001 West Walnut Street, Independence MO 64050
For free tickets call 816-833-1000 or visit www.cofchrist.org/dome_spire/ for more information.

Top Photo: Jan Kraybill

By Gayle G. Hathorne

Classical and Vocal Contributor (Past writer)

Comments(1):

1. 50th

   Thank you, thank you, thank you, for this review, Gayle! I've searched the Internet for a shred of information about the concert. I had planned to attend for over a year and then couldn't due to business travel. Your writing helped me get a good impression of what it would have been to be there in person. Congrats to Jan, too. Very deserved accolades, I'm sure. The new CD is also welcome news. I'll order it today.

   Thursday, November 12, 2009 Matthew