The George Hewson Memorial Recital, given in St Patrick's Cathedral last Wednesday by Ian Tracey, drew on the tradition of organ transcriptions much favoured by Hewson.
The overture to Handel's Occasional Oratorio arranged by W.T. Best (1826-1897), Bach's Chaconne in D minor and Mendelssohn's Scherzo from A Midsummer Night's Dream, both arranged by W.H. Goss-Custard (18711964), became mighty organ works but were with difficulty to be attributed to their original composers.
The colossal sound of the instrument, at times seeming to shake the fabric of the cathedral, made Mendelssohn's Scherzo into a more sluggish dance than was intended and Bach's contrapuntal dexterity was lost in an indulgent flood of varied colours. The instrument dictated to the music rather than the other way round.
However, the arrangement of Bach's Suite No 2 in B, by Ian Tracey himself, showed that organ transcriptions do not have to be distortions. The other arrangers wished to overpower; Tracey was content to translate, as faithfully as possible, and the result was full of delicate charm.
Better suited to the resources of the organ were the works conceived for that medium.
Scherzo in G minor by Bossi (1861-1915) was celebrated in its day, but it was with Franck's Choral No 2 in B minor that Tracey had the opportunity, of which he took full advantage, of wedding 19thcentury music to what is in effect a 19th-century organ with additions.
Even more exciting and resourceful in its combinations of tone-colours was the Lied Symphony Op 66 by Flor Peeters (1903-1986). This succession of five pictures (Ocean, Desert, Flowers, Mountains, Sun) was in turn overwhelming, austere, beguiling, impressive and radiant, and Tracey, conductor of an orchestra in which he played all the instruments, was inspired.